Revolution Stars Billy Burke and Tracy Spiridakos on Working with Abrams, Kripke and Favreau
Cast members discuss the upcoming series, about a world where all technology has ceased to function.
by Eric Goldman
June 1, 2012
Coming from the impressive trio of Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek, etc., etc.) and director Jon Favreau (Iron Man), NBC’s upcoming series Revolution has quite a pedigree.
The series takes place fifteen years after all electronics instantly stopped working in the world, with no explanation (yet!) for how or why it happened. Tracy Spiridakos (Being Human) stars as Charlie, a teenage girl trying to rescue her brother, after he’s taken by the leader of a local militia (Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito). Needing help, Charlie goes to find her uncle, Miles (Billy Burke), a man she’s never met – but one whose skills can certainly be of use to her.
I spoke to both Burke and Spiridakos recently, at NBC’s Upfront, and both actors were very enthusiastic about Revolution. Said Burke, “I just saw it the other day, and I kind of can’t believe I got lucky enough to be on this show.”
When it came to the creative team behind the series, the actor added, “I cannot say enough good stuff about all of them. Kripke and I hit it off right away. I think we totally get each other. And Favreau, as a director, is an actor’s dream. He absolutely puts it in a different perspective, you know? I hope he’ll direct thousands more of them.”
Spiridakos shared the praise for Favreau, telling me, “He’s wonderful. He knows what you’re thinking when you’re in that moment of not being able to go where you need to. He’s just very supportive, so smart and able to help us. He’s done such a beautiful job with everything so far. I’m a huge fan of his separately from this, so it’s been such an honor to work with him.”
Describing his character, Miles, Burke said, “He’s a little bit crusty on top but has some soft spots in the middle. But yeah, there’s nothing like being able to fantasize about playing a freedom fighter and then actually execute it. It’s been so much fun.”
As for Charlie, Spiridakos noted, “She’s grown up in this type of world, so for her it’s not that overwhelming of a concept. But then with the changes that happen to her and that are going to be happening throughout the series, she grows, just like any other person her age would - through the loses and the challenges she goes through.” Added Spiridakos, “She’s a fighter, for sure. She’s a fighter. She’s ready to tackle it out if she needs to.”
Both Charlie and Miles are handy with weapons, with Spiridakos explaining she uses a crossbow in the series. Miles, meanwhile, has a big swordfight in the pilot, and Burke laughed, remarking, “If you had told me a few months ago that I’d be sword fighting, I’d have said, ‘You’re out of your mind.’ We have a fantastic stunt coordinator Jeff Wolfe, who did all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and stuff like that. So it’s big.”
The idea of our modern society suddenly not having any of the technology we depend on is a compelling one and Burke told me, “Every day on the set there were always discussions like, ‘Well, what if this happened, and what if this.’ And the reality is, all this stuff is possible. Sure, we’re fictionalizing a lot, but a lot of this stuff is possible, a lot of the concepts and situations. But really the show, underneath all that, is really about what would people do? How are they going to connect, how are people going to find each other without all of these distractions that we’re so used to.”
When it comes to pondering actually being in the situation the characters in Revolution are in, Spiridakos remarked, “You know, I’ve thought about that a lot." She mentioned to me that she was a gamer and brought up Fallout, noting, “I play that game and I love it. So I’ve kind of explored that realm of what that world would be like, and I think it’s terrifying. But it’s exciting in a way as well. It’s different.” And no, I couldn’t resist asking Spiridakos what other games she was playing, and she told me, “I just beat Uncharted 3, which is really fun. And then my boyfriend and I just got Rage. So we’re going to start playing that one and Mass Effect 3.”
I asked Spiridakos if Kripke had given her any ideas on where the show would go and what twists and turns might be in store. She smiled and nodded, saying, “Yeah, we hung out on set a lot. But I don’t know what I’m allowed to tell you. So I’m going to leave it at that!”
Revolution premieres this fall on NBC.
