Viewers only caught a brief glimpse of Audrey Parker’s alter ego Mara in the Season 4 finale. But at the time, it was enough to send shivers down fans’ spines. Season 5 brings Mara to the forefront of HAVEN and the majority of the season will deal with the quest to get Audrey (Emily Rose) back, even though she is right there with them – just trapped in the body of Mara.
In a recent press conference call, stars Emily Rose and Lucas Bryant candidly shared what it is like filming two episodes at a time for the extended 26-episode Season 5, carefully and playfully teased whether there might be something going on between Nathan (Lucas Bryant) and Mara (Emily Rose), and gave props to the HAVEN fans for steadfastly standing by the show and venturing out to the remote coast of Nova Scotia from the four corners of the globe just to visit the set of where HAVEN films.
What were you expecting for HAVEN Season 5 since last season ended on such a big cliffhanger?
LUCAS: I don’t think that I had any idea how this season was going to go.
EMILY: I had no hope for this season. I had no clue cause we ended in that cave.
LUCAS: Not as in a “no hope” sense, but like it’s hopeless. We just had no idea of where we were going or what we were going to do. In some ways, I think it kind of developed as it went. There is a larger idea for this double-season that we’re shooting right now, but I think some specifics were changed along the way because of what was happening during [filming] and what people were reacting to on screen. Personally, I guess what I knew coming into this season was that we would be [filming] double episode blocks. That was exciting in that it promised instead of having to deal with the Troubles quickly and succinctly every week, we had more time to explore the effect that those Troubles would have on our characters.
EMILY: It is a 13-episode arc.
LUCAS: And that gave us a longer storytelling format. That’s been pleasant.
EMILY: It was nice to take a breather and not necessarily have everything wrapped up so quickly. It did get very confusing in the preparation of it because you have two episodes in your head that you are currently shooting while you’re prepping for the next two coming up. In a way — while confusing — it was nice because you did know big chunks of the season; at any given point, you knew what was happening for four episodes, so you could make a longer arc, or know more fully where you were and where you were going. We haven’t had that advantage in past seasons. In terms of what I was hoping for, I really had no clue. I knew only from the last sentence that I said in the cave as Mara last year. I didn’t know that she was going to be such a big main character of this year. I’m glad she is. That was a pleasant surprise, really enjoyable and a cool challenge. It’s interesting to come back every year with some of the people coming back as the same people. They know these characters backwards and forwards, up and down. But having to come back and not play Audrey Parker and play a totally different entity — a different person, a different personality — was like getting to know someone new all over again. To have those early conversations with the showrunners and writers about what we all felt like Mara would do and how she would act, it was like giving birth to a new character and that is always a new adventure. It was a real gift and I really appreciate them giving her to me.
With the double-episode shooting format, does that mean that the “Trouble of the Week” story will also span 2 episodes?
EMILY: Pretty much.
LUCAS: It has kind of worked out that way. Sometimes there are multiple Troubles or situations that are spun out over the 2 episodes. It seems like in order to shoot 26-episodes this season that it was the smartest way to get it done. A happy accident, if you will — well, not necessarily an accident – and a nice product of having to do it that way has been what we’ve gotten to do storytelling-wise. There is a lot more character interaction and time to really see how these things affect these characters. The part that I enjoy is getting that time to not just have to run from one fire to another, but to get to rest a bit and learn more about where we came from, where we’re going and why.
EMILY: The other cool thing is it offers a big reason for viewers to come back each week and watch what’s going to be happening. It links 2 episodes together. Before there was an underlying mythology, but now you add the Trouble as a cliffhanger as well. It really ups the stakes for the “I want to be sure that I come back and watch it live,” so that the ratings are awesome every Thursday night.
LUCAS: It has been a series of cliffhangers, hasn’t it?
EMILY: Yes.
LUCAS: I guess this season in general, more than the others — well, is it possible that it’s even more than the others — it has been one continuous —
EMILY: Cliffhanger.
Now that you are about to start filming the second half of Season 5, have they told you what is going to happen at the end of the season?
EMILY: We don’t know. Currently Lucas knows a bit more than I do because he is getting ready to begin with his directorial debut for the 2nd half of the season, and I’m super stoked. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. I don’t know why, but I keep asking him, “What are you doing in director-land today? How was prep? What’s it like? What’s going on? Have you heard anything? Do you have your script yet?” It’s very exciting. In terms of what we’re going to get at the end of the season, the writers are always very reluctant to give us any of that information. If you want any spoilers, you have to get them out of Lucas because he knows the most.
LUCAS: (Laughs) It is only like another inch of information. I don’t have any keys to the kingdom. I don’t have a clue where we’re going to end.
EMILY: They’ve always said that they know the final frame of the season. I sort of feel like we may shoot what that is and we may shoot an alternate or something because there’s always hope that we’re going to come back for another season.
LUCAS: Right.
EMILY: So it’s not done. They know the end of it, but they haven’t told us what that is.
Have they said whether fans will like it?
EMILY: They are always sure that the fans will like it. To give them credit, they have been pretty right. Something that’s been kind of crazy this year — an interesting phenomenon — is that we have had lots of people visiting. So we have been meeting lots of fans and visitors. As something of a cool observation, the range of age groups of fans has been varied. We have fans that are 7-9 years old, then I think I met one of our oldest fans the other day that is like 83 years old. We have mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, the teenager crowd, and adults. We have a list of people as well, like from Australia, Germany, U.K., Sweden, Monaco, France, and the various U.S. states, like Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Arkansas. They come from all over. The coolest thing I’ve realized, the network and writers and everybody has a really amazing pulse on a story that seems to appeal to a wide group of people. So when you ask, “Is it something the fans will like?” I sure hope so. Our fans are pretty awesome. We really get each other.
LUCAS: That list of people, those aren’t just the places that we have fans. Those are the people who drove here or took a plane.
EMILY: Saved up their money.
LUCAS: Traveled across the world to come and see this part of Nova Scotia where we shoot, which is quite an honor.
What is it like to shoot a double-season?
EMILY: We didn’t really get a break in between them. We are shooting the 26 episodes straight through. We’re about to go on our 2nd hiatus, which is just like a weeklong. But we’re shooting them straight through. It’s easier to get the machine up here up and going and keep it going for everybody. What was weird was coming up on the 13th episode and being like, “Oh my gosh, this isn’t the end.” By adding a double episode order, we only took a day off between each episode that we were filming. We used to film an episode in 7 days, now were filming an episode in 6 days. So 12 days for the two episodes, which in TV talk that’s insane. It really made the first 13 episodes go by super quick and I remember at the end — we just finished the first 13 — and to be like, “Oh my goodness, we would have been done by now. We would’ve been home.” It doesn’t feel like we should be done yet. But it’s exciting to do this next half of the season. Something that I always feel every year at the end of the 13 episodes is, “Ok, now I’m really getting the hang of what we’re doing.” Then you have to go home. This year I feel like we have just hit our stride and that we have hit our stride even more. I’m excited about that.
LUCAS: Just like Emily said, I don’t know if it’s a chicken or the egg thing, like if the way we’ve been shooting this season has allowed for us to have more energy or if we have more energy because we’re pacing ourselves for the marathon. But like Emily said, we would normally be done right about now. Fortunately, I feel like there is a lot of gas in the tank left. Thankfully so because we still have a long haul to go.
EMILY: And you have to direct on top of that.
LUCAS: And I get to direct on top of that.
Is there a theme for Season 5?
EMILY: There is definitely. I know that the writers have a grouping of what the (a) and (b) seasons are. They definitely have different blocks and themes. The first one is a fight to try to get Audrey Parker back. But whether or not that is the theme for every single person, I don’t think so.
LUCAS: It’s my theme.
EMILY: We are just now embarking on our filming of the second half of the season. That already feels different, which is exciting. I was a huge LOST fan, and I remember when they discovered that there was this whole other group of people that existed – it just sort of shifted your entire perspective of what was going on. It is exciting when shows can do that. There’s kind of that feeling to the back half of the season. That it will take on its own voice and tone. It is only by looking back at the first season that I can get a vibe for what that is. But it doesn’t feel themey, per se.
LUCAS: For Nathan, it’s always about the same thing: it is always about getting him some more Audrey Parker. But, like Emily said, there has recently been a huge shift in our world and that’s an exciting journey we’re about to go on.
EMILY: Not to speak too much about Audrey specifically, but we haven’t seen Audrey for how long now? Since the end of Season 3? Audrey proper, that is. Last season, she was sort of a Lexi-Audrey hybrid. So that whole hunt for Audrey 1.0 is, for me personally, I was missing that original Audrey. I don’t know why, but I was. It may be just the strong pull for viewers to see that.
What has it been like working with the new relationship between Mara and Nathan?
LUCAS: First of all, Emily Rose, who is sitting next to me is incredible this season, as always, but exceptionally so in the role of Mara. It is a total treat to watch her get to play with her, except for the fact that she kicks my ass all over town. So that’s a new development.
EMILY: (Laughs) That’s a new development! I didn’t ever do that as Audrey? I think I did that as Audrey too.
LUCAS: (Laughs) In less physical ways.
EMILY: Oh, right, I kicked your butt mentally.
LUCAS: That’s right. My “mental bottom.”
EMILY: Right, your “mental bottom.”
LUCAS: For Nathan, this is a nightmare. I can’t really tell you all the things that Mara is capable of, but she is a force.
EMILY: She was a lot of fun to play. Audrey always has been in a very kind of – well, up until the recent seasons — in this kind of melancholy, dire, “life sucks” state, which it did. All the time. So to play someone that was and is on top of things, so to speak, and has sheer joy and delight in how she relates to everyone around her was a real pleasure and really fun. It is always fun when you take these normal relationships and you mix them up. It creates a really fun environment. It was a blast.
Are you hoping to play Mara as long as possible? And for Lucas, are you getting tired of being a “love sucker,” like the way Mara plays Nathan by using his feelings for Audrey against him?
EMILY: Mara is a lot of fun and something I never expected would be the case in HAVEN. But it is definitely turned out to be true — the ability to play so many different characters. Mara’s personality is a blast, even though there are moments in this season where she made me really uncomfortable. I didn’t like playing her at some points. For the most part, I do enjoy being that evil and bad. I don’t know what that says about me. It really was fun. I do hope to get to play her for a long time. We don’t know if Audrey comes back, do we? We don’t know how and when and if she does come back. We just don’t know.
LUCAS: (Laughs) No, we don’t. And am I getting sick of being the eloquently-coined “love sucker”? No, I think. I, in fact, love being the “love sucker.” I think that anyone — Mara, specifically — but anytime that Audrey is used as bait or there is hope for Nathan, he is a sucker. Sometimes it’s frustrating. His undying, bang-your-head-against-the-wall devotion to her. But I think that’s also one of his most noble traits. Hopefully, we’ll get to see that “suckerness” pay off with some light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Will there be the possibility of Nathan and Mara making “pancakes” together this season?
EMILY: (Laughs) Well, you did make those “pancakes” last season.
LUCAS: Right. Well, there is some more “steam” this season. Specifically, I’m not going to tell you who it is between, but I will tell you there is “steam” — there is “heat” — there is residual “steam” that comes from that “heat” exchange.
EMILY: (Laughs) There is a lot of “steam,” and a lot of different combinations of “steam” between different people.
But would Audrey be able to forgive Nathan if he made “pancakes” with her alter-identity, Mara?
EMILY: Well, Nathan made “pancakes” with Sarah
LUCAS: Whoa, now, that never happened.
EMILY: That did happen.
LUCAS: Not “pancakes.”
EMILY: What then? Waffles? What did they have in the 1950’s?
LUCAS: (Laughs) I’m just gonna shut up.
EMILY: (Laughs) Yeah, you do that.
LUCAS: I will say that if Nathan were to make “pancakes” with Mara there would be a really good reason.
EMILY: (Laughs) A really good “reason” — that’s what they all say!
How does Laura Mennell’s character fit in this season? Will she be making any “pancakes”?
LUCAS: She is.
EMILY: Are we allowed to say that?
LUCAS: I don’t know if we are. She’s not beholden to anyone. She affects all of us in massive ways.
EMILY: We’re just trying to see what we’re allowed to say. Charlotte and Dwight have a little work – like a work project relationship. But I don’t know if they make “pancakes” or not.
LUCAS: Well, we’ll see if it’s good for Dwight.
EMILY: Yeah, we’ll see if it’s good for Dwight.
LUCAS: There is more to this character than —
EMILY: Than meets the eye.
LUCAS: That’s right.
So Nathan will not get a dedicated guest star, like a new love interest?
LUCAS: Nathan has this “wall” that he bangs his head on – a dedicated “wall.”
EMILY: That could be the name for Mara and Audrey Parker — “the wall.”
LUCAS: “The wall.”
EMILY: “The dedicated wall.” That’s funny.
How much fun has it been playing Mara?
EMILY: A lot of fun. She’s got a lot of attitude. It is funny. I watched the first couple episodes just to kind of see how this new character rolled out. I’m a very visual person. I don’t necessarily just like to let the work go. I have to kind of watch it and gauge where I’m at and where like she should be at. While Mara is pretty cool in the first episodes, I feel like episodes 5-7, she really hits true Mara form, which is really exciting. But at the end of the day after playing Mara, I’m very exhausted because as much energy as it normally takes to solve the Troubles and keep the world from blowing up all the time, it takes even more energy to just be sort of mocking everyone and in everyone’s face and keeping a lid on her own stuff that she’s dealing with. What is fun about Mara is like sometimes as an actor when you’re working on an episode, you’ll do something that you think is really awesome and big and the director will say, “That’s a good exercise, now let’s take it down a couple notches.” And you’re like, “What? That was great! That was big. That was dramatic. That was awesome.” With Mara, I never got smaller with her. I always got told, “Bigger. Keep going, keep going.” There was permission to do that and that was a blast. And to have it work is always nice. Not to go back and be like, “Wow, I should never have done that. Not from that angle.”
As we meet Mara this season, it is hard to know whether viewers are supposed to like her or not.
EMILY: That’s honestly what the question was every day on set. I’d have crew come up to me, and say, “I love to hate her. I like her, but I don’t.” But I guarantee, if you think she pushed the envelope in the first episode – and there are some things that Mara says that I was like, “I really feel uncomfortable saying this right now.” It’s exciting that the writers go there. To go to those depths is neat.
Other TV shows are going 10 seasons. Would you want to go 10 seasons? Do you think there is enough chemistry to continue that long?
LUCAS: When we first got up here that first season and I was introduced to the Bronco, I got in it and I remember saying, “You know, after Season 8, I’m buying this thing.” Everybody sort of laughed and shook their heads like that was a completely ridiculous thought. Now, here we are. By the end of this, we will have the equivalent of 6 seasons worth of material out there. Statistically, it’s outrageous. We are very lucky and blessed to have been supported this long. I would be honored to be able to go for double-digits.
EMILY: To be honest and frank with everyone, it is really the fans that determine that for us. We’re a cable show and all of our contracts have expiration dates on them. As much as we love the characters. Ad to be honest on one facet of your question the way you phrased it you said, “Do the characters have the chemistry to continue on?” I actually think that is something our show does have: really great chemistry. The friendships and the ability to work together in long crazy conditions all the time for this long, I have no doubt that, if it relied on chemistry and relationship. Adam Copeland has been a great addition to our cast and all the guest stars, Richard, John and everybody. We know how to operate as a family up here, and if it were based on chemistry and everybody getting along, it wouldn’t be an issue. But because it is based on numbers and ratings and all that stuff, it will be interesting to see how the fans turn out for these next couple seasons and to see how the network responds to those numbers. Obviously, if we don’t continue on Syfy, for whichever reason, I don’t put it past anybody. We live in a day and age where shows get cancelled and picked up again all the time. We all are kind of holding our breaths. Is this the end? We don’t know. Is it the beginning to a different chapter? Honestly, for every show it just depends on the audience and on their dedication to showing up for it regularly. We have great fans. So no doubt that would happen. But in the days of DVRs, it is hard for those numbers to translate.
What has been your favorite moment of Season 5?
EMILY: I have a couple, as always. One was shot the other day that will come at the end of the first half of the season. It was just a cool moment in my career, just to be able to do. The other one isn’t necessarily a specific moment but it is kind of like what the 26 episodes and shooting a double-block have allowed us. It has been a love-hate relationship for me. In creating these double-blocks, we are in these locations all day to make it easier on production in terms of not having to make moves or anything. So inevitably what happens is we end up block-shooting a lot of the day, which means we are in one direction filming all the scenes for the day, then we turn around and do them all again on the other side. A lot of what they did to alleviate the pressure on production initially was to do a lot of 2-person scenes. So with Mara being a character new and in the forefront, I had a lot of scenes with just Nathan or just Duke or just Dwight or what not. These just kind of like one-on-one scenes, and having been in a show that operates exterior mainly and dealing with the end of the world, to have it all pared down, to be able to do some scene work like back in theater or school was a huge challenge. But it was really rewarding at the end of the day. It allows for the water to my actor’s soul. To actually do scene work was a pleasant surprise and I really enjoyed being able to do it with Mara.
LUCAS: Personally, like I mentioned, that Trouble before: the Freaky Friday. All aspects of that episode were a joy to shoot. You will understand why when you see it. But then also, what I really enjoyed this season is working with Emily Rose, honestly.
EMILY: (Laughs) Shut up!
LUCAS: Getting to see her play this totally outrageous character and getting to watch that character develop over the season, and then having to react to that character, who is so different from what I am used to getting from someone who looks exactly like Emily Rose, that has been a real pleasure. I’ve really gotten to watch, literally on her face, her discovery I think of the lengths that she can go to in this character. The freedom and abandon with which she’s attacked it has been really easy to react to and be with. So that has been a real pleasure.
Are we going to be going back to the Colorado Kid storyline anytime soon?
EMILY: We do not abandon it; let me put it that way. It is definitely a piece of the discussion. What do you think, Lucas?
LUCAS: I think that was a good answer.
EMILY: We don’t abandon it. It’s always a fiber in the magical rug that is HAVEN.
LUCAS: Very nice.
EMILY: Thank you.
We have seen several different time periods depicted on HAVEN. Are there any time periods you would like to visit or revisit?
EMILY: I’ve always wanted to do the 1800’s and I’ve always wanted to do like a Western, or really anything with petticoats and horses. That has been my dream. I’m just trying to weave it in.
LUCAS: Emily just wants horses.
EMILY: (Laughs) I want horses.
LUCAS: I don’t have a specific time that I would like to visit. Any of those really. Any time that we’ve done. We did the 1955 episode and that episode last year with HAVEN in an alternate reality. I think any time that we travel out of the normal — well, not that it’s normal in any sense – but from what we have come to know as HAVEN, that those episodes have been my favorites to perform and to watch. So I’m up for any time travel.
EMILY: I’m just up for the 1800’s.
Can you talk a bit about getting to direct an episode this season?
EMILY: It is going to be awesome.
LUCAS: Emily said that she feels like it’s going to be Christmas morning.
EMILY: I do.
LUCAS: For some reason.
EMILY: It’s like the last day of school and Christmas morning mixed together.
LUCAS: She doesn’t even have a clue what I have in store for her. I am going to take these years of biting my tongue, it is all going to come out. No, it is going to be like Christmas morning, actually. I do have lots of gifts planned every day. Presents. Really. How it came about was that it’s just been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I talked to these people here about maybe making that possibility a reality. Thankfully, it finally worked out this season. I have been shadowing directors as much as I could over the past couple of years here, seeing that side of production. Everyone has made it work out for me, and it is coming soon actually. We are going to get right into it when we come back from the hiatus. I don’t have a script yet. I don’t know exactly what the episode I’m doing is going to be like. But I have some ideas and, so far, it is hugely exciting. Totally inspiring. I’m jazzed.
Are you going to be dealing with all the aspects of the production for that episode?
LUCAS: Every bit of it. Now there will be some limitations. I guess when we’re doing it — I guess this isn’t a spoiler — but Nathan is in this season. I am still alive — in some way, anyway. So I will have to be working with my acting schedule during prep. But a lot of that has been scheduled around the days that I have to shoot, so everyone is going to make the allowances for me. Thankfully. Then post will be tricky because again, we will be moving onto the next episode. Every minute that I’m not getting my ass beat on screen — I mean, saving the world and simultaneously getting my bottom handed to me — I will be working on the post side of things.
How is going to be taking orders from Lucas?
EMILY: I do it every day anyway.
LUCAS: Wow.
EMILY: It’s not going to be any different.
LUCAS: When have you ever taken one order?
EMILY: Let me give an example. I have one right now. This isn’t going to be the first time I’ve worked with an actor/director. Lucas has a lot to live up to as in I have worked with Jason Priestly. He was acting across from me and directing an episode. So I know what it’s like to have the director gone for a little bit at the monitors and then jump in on the mark. Honestly it was funny because we shot an episode recently, a couple months back, and the director said to us, “Do whatever you want. Do whatever you want for this take.” And Lucas and I looked at each other and I said, “Ok, let’s have a little practice here. If you were directing me in this moment, what would you say that I need to do? Give me some direction.” Because good actors – and I feel that is Lucas like for the most part, and I try to be one — he’s always been this way for me, they mainly try to stay out of each other’s hair. You’re kind of like, “Whatever you need to do. Whatever is your instinct.” You don’t direct the other person ‘til that trust has really been established. So I said, “Well, what do you think?” And he gave me the direction and I said, “Oh, ok. I like it. We’ll see how that goes.” We did it and it was great. At least I thought so. I think it was kind of a fun moment because we both kind of stepped away and were like, “Oh, that was interesting. That was cool. I didn’t think about it from that way. That worked out really well.” Then I was like, “Ok, this might work out pretty good.” As much as I want to slam him, he’s going to do great.
LUCAS: Ahhhh.
EMILY: The thing that I’m the most jealous of is in terms of the directorial debut. Our crew here is incredible and to be able learn from the DP Eric Cayla that we work with, and to be in the graceful hands and loving arms of a great crew that loves us and everybody wants Lucas’ episode to be fantastic. I think it is just going to be a lot of fun. I think the only time it will get tense, potentially, is if we really are under the gun in any way. But Lucas’ shining and winning personality will come out to play and save us all.
LUCAS: Wow. I could not have said any of that even close to better.
EMILY: That’s right.
LUCAS: That was incredible.
EMILY: It was. It was. That’s why we make such a damn good team.
Would you want the opportunity to direct an episode as well?
EMILY: Very much so. I was different from Lucas in that with Lucas, I think the minute he started HAVEN he had it in his mind that he would want to direct. It’s been an aspiration of his for a long time. For me, I started HAVEN with no desire to direct at all. I think mainly because I didn’t quite fully understand what that was. As the show has progressed, I found out very quickly that I really want to direct because I’m bossy in nature, not that directors are bossy. But I have a very specific take when I read a script on how it should be executed and what I feel it should look like. I soon discovered that is a “director’s brain.” I’ve have always really enjoyed photography and I’ve always enjoyed storytelling through acting and stuff. So I definitely want to direct. I know it’s hard when you’re in [scenes] all the time, as Lucas knows, to shadow part of prep and all of that stuff. But I have tried to do as much as I could. I also have a few things working against me. I’m not Canadian, so I can’t just direct if I want to. We have to have Canadian directors. Also, it is not working against me, but it does make it a bit harder for me, just having my son this last year. Every spare minute that I’m not working, whereas I would like to maybe go be a part of a meeting or go shadow something, I have to be home with my baby. So I don’t know when I will get to do that in the future. I’m working on it. I wish it could be with HAVEN, but I don’t know if that will realistically happen. But I think the thing that HAVEN has given me is the opportunity to work and be around and stand next to some really great directors that they have here in Canada — and to learn a lot from them and to be around the camera crews and soak it all in. I’m really hoping that whenever that opportunity presents itself, it will be with a family as lovely as this one. I just hope it’s sooner, rather than later.
What would you like to say to the fans that have stuck with HAVEN and pushed to keep it on the air?
LUCAS: (Laughs) Other than just like vomitous love?
EMILY: (Laughs) Yeah, he’s a “love sucker” for you. Here’s the deal: when I go back and re-watch all the episodes, I start to buy into it around Season 2. So for everyone who stuck in through Season 1, I’m like, “Really?” We were just babies back then. I love it. I hope that it keeps paying off with stories are exciting and enjoyable. We’re really thankful and humbled by [the fans’] dedication to our show and the fact that we know we wouldn’t be coming back if [the fans] weren’t watching and tweeting and getting online and making things like – was it GetGlue — making our show one of the Top 10 watched shows, all on Netflix and everything. All of this stuff is a result of our fandom. We’re really thankful for it. Not only just here in North America with Canada and the States watching, but our global audience is so impressive. I was staying in a bed and breakfast and there was an Italian family there and they were like, “Oh my gosh, you’re on HAVEN? We love that show!” I was like, “In Italy, really?” It boggles my mind. It is so impressive. So thank you so much. Also know that we personally, for the characters, are always fighting for the little things that made HAVEN original in the very beginning and trying to keep it true to some of its original form. We not only do that for ourselves, we’re always like, “We think that the fans will really like it.” [The fans] are always in our minds.
LUCAS: Yep.
EMILY: (Laughs) Again, I steamrolled Lucas.
LUCAS: No, no. It’s absolutely true. Like you said earlier, especially this year, I think more than any year we have been up here, there have been people showing up from all over the world because they were inspired to come here. Not just necessarily to try and track us down, but because they wanted to see or were introduced to Nova Scotia through seeing it on their TVs. It’s not a place that is normally shown on television. There was a family here this year, which traveled from France. They decided two years ago that they were going to make the trip and started saving so they could do it. They came and they spent a week here. That sort of dedication is totally humbling. We are honored that people love this show as much as we do. Really, I know and we all know that – and this is reason Number 1 that we are still here and able to do this every day — is the fans. So thank you, for all of that.
EMILY: So tell your friends that they can catch up and binge watch on Netflix before the next two seasons. The more the merrier and the longer.
With the rumors that Season 5 might be the last, are you appreciating your time off together more?
EMILY: Lucas just runs away every day. Like, “Get me out of here!”
LUCAS: (Laughs) I run away and then I sit on your porch and wait for you to come home so I get to hang out with you guys. I don’t know if we have the benefit of perspective when we’re doing this thing. It is just sort of overwhelming doing this thing all the time. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy being with you people. It’s been like a real sort of family year.
EMILY: I think Lucas is blanking out every day I come to set and he’s like, “So how are you?” And I’m like, “We have got to stop complaining about the little things because we may not have this anymore. There’s going to be a time when you’re like, ‘Where is Emily? Why can I not be acting with her? Where is my coffee?’”
LUCAS: (Laughs) That’s true.
EMILY: And he’s like, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ll be acting together until we’re 80 [years old] ‘cause you’re in my contract.”
LUCAS: For example, every day she reminds me to be thankful for her. We are doing her close up and she’s like, “Just take this in because someday you are going to be looking across the room and this face may not be there.”
EMILY: (Laughs) I’m totally sentimental every day. Like Lucas said, we are trying to make a good show and care about it. So we get in the ring and fight for our characters and everything. But I’m constantly looking around the room at our crew and getting sad about the fact that — well, every year you are like, “Well maybe we will be back.” But this time it is kind of like, “Oh wow. They ordered 26 episodes. This really might be the end of the line.” We don’t know. So these are friends up here. Our family since we have been up here for 5 years. That’s a big section of our lives. There have been weddings, there’s been babies, and there’s been all kinds of stuff. So it is a tight family.
Can you tease any new Troubles for Season 5?
LUCAS: (Laughs) Oh, they’re running out of ideas. No, this new season we have weird, bottom of the barrel Troubles. Like this guy whose eyes cross when he gets upset. No, that’s not true. Somehow they keep coming up with totally off-the-wall stuff.
EMILY: This season has a few of my favorite ones that we have ever had. One of them affects our dear friend, Eric Balfour, who plays Duke Crocker. It’s early on and it’s funny. Then another one affects everyone in the town and I can’t really be specific about that, but it’s pretty funny. So it’s dramatic and freaky as this season is. What I do like about the Troubles is they don’t always take themselves too seriously and they provide a lot of levity for the show. There are a couple of those that I really like. But I can’t obviously say what those are.
LUCAS: I think we can say that one is probably my favorite from this year. I won’t tell you specifically what happens. But there is a kind of Freaky Friday-style Trouble. If you know anything about Freaky Friday, that’s a reference to a movie where the people got trapped in each other’s bodies.
EMILY: It’s really well done and really funny.
With all those teasers in mind, be on the look-out for all the trouble and Troubles that Mara stirs up in HAVEN when the show returns on Thursday, September 11th at 8:00 p.m. on Syfy.
To read a bit more about what kind of relationship Nathan and Mara may or may not have in Season 5, be sure to check out our prior article: HAVEN Season 5 Scoop: Lucas Bryant and Emily Rose Tease “Pancakes,” Hot Lovin’, and True Love’s Kiss for Mara