Comic-Con 2012: '666 Park Avenue' Keeps the Mystery Going, Crowd Celebrates Terry O'Quinn's Birthday
The "Lost" alum joined Vanessa Williams, Rachael Taylor, Dave Annable and exec producers David Wilcox and Matthew Miller on Friday to chat up their new ABC drama.
by Philiana Ng
What better else on Friday the 13th than to view the pilot of ABC's horror drama 666 Park Avenue, debuting this fall.
For the cast members, which included Comic-Con newbie Terry O'Quinn (surprising considering his role on Lost), Vanessa Williams, Rachael Taylor and Dave Annable, they're as informed about what's to come for their characters than the San Diego crowd is. “I’ve only seen as much of Gavin as you have seen," O'Quinn admitted to the crowd after the full pilot screened Friday. "I have the same questions – hopefully you have questions [too]."
But the Lost alum did offer a conjecture: “He seems, at the moment, purely evil.”
“There’s a lot to find out about this this guy. He’s not exactly who you think he is," executive producer David Wilcox offered. “It’ll take a long time to find out.”
“I guess I’m Mrs. Evil,” Williams said. “We definitely are trying to seduce this couple [Taylor and Annable] to live this lifestyle. …. To show that the Drake lifestyle is something that everybody wants. We shot in the Ansonia building on the Upper West Side [in New York City]. As a New Yorker, you always dream about being in those luxury buildings.”
666 Park Avenue centers on the luxurious Drake building where supernatural forces are at play that may or may not explain the mysterious disappearances of several residents. Young couple Jane and Henry move into the building, but they soon see that things may be affecting people's lives.
“Jane is a sweet, innocent girl with a moral center. This one, on the other hand, can be more easily led to temptation,” Taylor says, looking at co-star Annable.
“Henry is incredibly ambitious which is why they moved into the building. There could be plenty of opportunities to work with Gavin. It’s exciting to see where it [can go],” Annable says.
Loosely based on the book of the same name, the producers emphasized that the series would be a departure from the Gabrielle Pierce novel.
“The show is taking a life of its own," Wilcox says. "We’re digging into these stories and following these characters where they go. They’re surprising us as we go. We don’t go back to the book. ... This is a different show.”
As for the overall mythology, exec producer Matthew Miller says that there will be procedural elements to the episodes, but they will fold into a larger mystery.
“The episodes themselves will hopefully have self-contained beginning, middle and end but feed the bigger part of the show," says Miller. "Who is Gavin? Why does he want Henry? Why does he want Jane? The show is quite a departure from the book and it really is a singular creepy vision of David Wilcox that has brought this thing to life."
Wilcox was adamant that the show not follow a set formula.
“We don’t want the show to be formulaic," he says. "When the show becomes formulaic, we’ve failed. We don’t want you guys to know what’s going to happen. … we want you to be constantly surprised, that’s how we’re approaching the season.”
The room also sang O’Quinn “happy birthday,” whose birthday is in two days. “I’ve had my deal with the devil and so I’ll be turning 127,” he joked.
666 Park Avenue premieres this fall and will air Sundays.
