Defiance is takes place in the not so distant future where aliens and humans coexist on a war ravaged Earth. The city that was once known as St. Louis is now known as Defiance. There we meet a slew of people including the snarky alien town doctor, Doc Yewll played by Canadian actor Trenna Keating. Doc Yewll is considered one of the breakout characters of this show, and I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Trenna Keating about her. The interview took place over Skype and after talking about our addiction to coffee for about five minutes we proceeded to the interview which, by the way, was a lot of fun.

In this interview she talks about her character on Defiance, the challenges of playing an alien, the appeal of snarky characters, and her love for TV and especially Arrested Development.

First of all, congratulations on Defiance getting renewed for a second season.

Thank you! Yeah, that was really exciting for us. I’ve been on shows before and you always hope and things sound good, but you don’t want to get your hopes up because things can happen, so I was thrilled to find that out.

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Steven Shaw, Helen McElwain, Curtis Fortier, Christopher Gehrman, Stephanie Sheh, Alison Reeves

Stephanie Sheh is most well known and well-loved for her voice acting work in anime, video games and animation. This time, she is calling to all of her own fans to support a new project she is producing, Hollow Ship, and you can find out how to contribute on the Kickstarter page. The show is a comedy that will take place in a science fiction setting — with a ship (hollow deck included) and a crew (who may or may not be getting along too well with each other). Stephanie is very passionate about this project and I agree with her that this show is something all of you geeks should be interested in too.

Read our interview with her below to find out more and how you can contribute and support!

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If you would like to just listen to the audio of this interview, CLICK HERE to download!

Photo by Shaun Benson

The character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter has sliced his way into pop culture and with the new series on NBC entitled Hannibal, he is not leaving any time soon. This new series, developed by Bryan Fuller, also introduces us to new interpretations of other characters from the books and movies. One of those characters is Freddie Lounds, previously played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Stephen Lang. This time Freddie is played by Canadian actor Lara Jean Chorostecki. Ms. Chorostecki took the time to chat with us about her character Freddie, what it’s like to play a role that has been gender switched, her poetry, her love for the outdoors, and then we kind of go off topic on cyclops cats and Hugh Jackman. You know, the important things.

It was an absolute pleasure chatting with Ms. Chorostecki and just like the character of Hannibal Lecter, I expect that we’ll be seeing lots of Ms. Chorostecki for years to come.

What inspired you to become an actor?

I saw a production of Les Mis when I was eight years old and I was so engrossed the entire time! My parents took my brother and I and I went to church the next day and I ended up drawing a storyboard during the service of the Les Mis story. I also performed the entire soundtrack, lip synced, for my great grandfather, who I believe was 96 at the time, very shortly after I saw it. So, I would say that musical theater inspired me to be an actor and that show in particular, seeing it at such a touching young age was incredibly inspiring.

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It’s no secret I’m addicted, possibly in love, with watching TV shows on my fancy DVR at home in between procrastinating on my wedding planning. More recently I’ve become infatuated with spotting places filmed in my current home town of Long Beach, CA on Showtime’s Dexter and HBO’s True Blood.  I grew up in Los Angeles and watched film crews invade my old neighborhood from time to time, and I revel in it every single time! I use to work in Downtown Los Angeles during college and I would sneak out of the office to watch film crews and their trailers take over the vacant business district on the weekends, and try to spot a celebrity in between takes. This is why it’s so thrilling to recognize all those places I walk or drive by daily in a city I consider my second home, Long Beach. I annoy my fiancé and roommate all the time with my pointy finger wagging at the television saying where the scene was filmed in Los Angeles or Long Beach at least once a week.

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I’ve learned a lot of things within the last nine months about the ups and downs of planning a wedding, and trying to make it unique to you. Nowadays it’s a lot easier, and more common place to hear about newlyweds creating their own geeky wedding. Which is great! However, there are also a lot of unforeseen complications with friends and family reacting to your…personal style. These are just a few tips, and personal observations, from a geeky lady who never thought she would have to plan a wedding.

PREFACE

For the record, my fiance and I love both of our families. Second, we are poor as sh*%, and don’t really have funds to help pay for a wedding. Third, our families have been amazingly supportive and offered to help create the wedding our dreams. They just didn’t know it would involve no real flowers, DIY decorations, dyed hair, tattoos, and non-uniformed wedding decorations. No pastels?! Gasp! When the parents heard our wedding colors were red and black they looked like someone stole their favorite toy. His mother is still trying to convince me that real flowers for the bride are just appropriate. Did I mention we’re making paper roses out of several different types of paper products?  Including my bouquet? Amazing, right? Not to the Mom’s. In the beginning my fiance and I came up with a few creative ideas for our wedding like a Steam Punk theme or a cute video game themed wedding cake. Who doesn’t want a Super Mario wedding cake?! Not to the Mom’s. Which brings me to my number one rule…

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Because I can. LOL!

Believe it or not, there wasn’t any inspiration for me to become an actress until I actually enrolled in the film school. Only after I entered the Beijing Film Academy did I learn such great actors’ names as Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro. Then I was inspired to become an actress.

One of my favorite things about going to a convention is meeting new people. Last year while I was having a drink at the Wired Cafe during San Diego Comic Con I met a woman named Luciana Faulhaber. Luciana is an educated actor, writer, and producer who’s journey from Brazil to Los Angeles is like a movie itself. At the time we discussed the importance of female empowerment in the world and in the media, and how to this day it is still an issue that needs to be discussed. Needless to say, we hit it off. We’ve kept in touch since then, and now Luciana is working on a project that not only highlights this important issue, but to put it simply, sounds really cool!

In this interview Luciana talks about her journey from Brazil, to New York, to Los Angeles, her motivations for becoming an actor, female empowerment in front of and behind the camera, breaking gender stereotypes, and an upcoming post-apocalyptic project, Willow Creek. Not only is Luciana a thoughtful and intelligent artist, but definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Defective Geeks: What inspired you to become an actor and storyteller? 

Luciana Faulhaber: I’ve always done it for fun while growing up but I have to say I remember the exact moment I decided this is what I wanted to do with my life. I was watching Spring Awakening on Broadway with all original cast. I sat through it in that dark theatre and wept through most of it. But it felt ok because it was dark and it was really all about the show. But in reality my chest was tight and in my heart I just knew I had never felt that way and that’s what I wanted. So I started changing my own life.

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