Exclusive Interview: Continuum’s Rachel Nichols

Continuum star Rachel Nichols gives us a preview of the upcoming third season of the hit series.

Continuum star Rachel Nichols was in Toronto this past week to meet fans and show them an exclusive airing of the third season premiere at Comic Con. I met up with Nichols the following day during her publicity tour to discuss the new season, support from the network and how it feels to be starring in a female-centric sci-fi hit.

How was the screening at Toronto’s Comic Con. The fans lined up for hours.
It was really fun! It was the first time that I got to see it. We had shot it in December and I forgot what happened!

A lot happened. How was the fan reaction?
Yeah, I know! The reaction was great. It was so exciting – it made me so happy to see people on Twitter say, “We’re in line and ready!” Just to have that kind of support and that kind of fan base with people who stick around and ask questions after, it’s amazing. Our fans are fantastic and we’re so lucky to have them.

We left off the last season with Kiera being betrayed by Alec (Erik Knudsen) once again.
Fool me once, shame you. Fool me twice, shame on me!

Do you think she’ll have be able to work with him or trust him again?
Well, it’s going to be interesting in season three because, as you know, Alec goes back at the end of season two to save Emily and denies Kiera the ability to return home. Kiera’s not just going to rest in that timeline and say, “Oh well, Alec’s gone. What am I going to do now?” So, Kiera finds her way back into the timeline that Alec sent himself into and we’re running around with two Kiera’s and two Alec’s.

Well, you won’t be running around with two Kiera’s for too long…
[Laughs] Well, they’ve shown it in one of the trailers already, so yes – there’s two live Alec’s, one live Kiera…and one very very dead one, with a bullet between her eyes.

In the season premiere, Kiera is introduced to Katherine, who is played by Rachael Crawford (Alphas), who is the head freelancer and essentially telsl Kiera that “You have to decide which Alec is going to bring about the future that we want.” Well, that is a very complicated task and we’re shooting episodes 10 and 11 [at the moment] and Kiera still hasn’t made the right decision yet.

Let’s discuss Kiera’s relationship with Carlos (Victor Webster). Usually when a show’s got these two attractive leads, they pair them together, but Kiera and Carlos have kept things platonic. Could anything happen between them?
No, it never will. I remember with Alias, everyone desperately wanted Agent Vaughn (Michael Vartan) and Agent Bristow (Jennifer Garner) to kiss and then the first time that they finally kiss, it’s like “Yay! Finally.” We won’t have that moment on the show. I think Carlos will have his love interest come and go. There may be room in there for Kiera to do the same. But it’s not the show. I like them as friends. Scully and Mulder – I like doing something that’s not obvious.

Kiera also has a husband back in the future, but then there was that tryst with Kellog (Stephen Lobo). We’re not exactly sure what happened between. Will that be explored? What really happened?
They’ve done a good job of painting him [the husband] to kind of be a dick but she does miss her son.

The thing with Kellog is never answered. Did they or didn’t they? I always thought that they did. Most people that they didn’t. Simon Barry (the show’s creator, executive producer and writer) says that they didn’t. So, I don’t know. But, I will say that the Kellog relationship is still present in the “He still likes to think that he’s charming me” kind of way. But I won’t be visiting his boat, so to speak.

How does it feel to be a part of one of the many Canadian sci-fi shows with strong female leads? In addition to Continuum, there’s Orphan Black and Lost Girl.
I love it. I think it’s amazing. In a time where there were very few female-driven TV programs, I am very proud to play Kiera Cameron. I’m also very proud of Orphan Black and Lost Girl. I think it’s what we needed. For a long time, people thought women can’t do all these shows and that there isn’t a big enough fan base. I think we’re proving that wrong. We have a fantastic fan base and hopefully they stick around for a long time to come.

We also have such a great ensemble cast on the show. Whether it’s Brian Markinson, Hugh Dillon or Victor Webster, there’s just so much there for everybody that although yes, I’m the female lead, there’s a huge ensemble as well.

Do you feel that shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alias helped to pave the way for these shows? We’ve even got Bitten now.
Absolutely! Those shows were extremely successful with female leads, they absolutely paved the way. Having worked on Alias myself, which was one of my favourite experiences, I learned a lot about being a lead on a show from watching Jennifer Garner. Every time that I get tired, I think to myself, “Well, when I shot Alias, we were in season five and they shot 24 to 26 episodes a year! And oh yeah, Jennifer Garner was eight months pregnant!” So any time that I’m tired I just imagine being Jennifer. She was always friendly and so nice. The crew just adored her.

I took a lot of pages out of her book when I went to do the first season of Continuum because it is a lot of work when you’re shooting a one-hour drama, you’re literally shooting half of a full length feature in seven days. So yes, your Jennifer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar’s, or any of those shows that are centered around women, did pave the way for the current ones. You have to thank them for doing that because I’m not sure if we would have been given the chance otherwise.

There’s also a lot of support from the network. Showcase is putting you guys up on Sunday night, which is the busiest night on television. Syfy in the U.S. will also air it on Sunday. Are you nervous about that? Is there a lot of pressure?
I’m thrilled about it, actually. I’m thankful and so impressed that they chose to put us on Sundays. I think it speaks volumes about how strongly they feel about the show and their support. I mean, it’s obviously nice to have the support of your network, but the faith that we can perform in that so-desired timeslot, it’s a vote of confidence that is nice to have.

Canadians get the premiere a few weeks before it does in the United States, how do you feel about the delay? Technology has made non-simulcast a bit hard for those who miss out.
I would love it if it could air at the same time! There are people on Twitter that are from the States who say “Well, we can’t follow you until it premieres here because we don’t want any spoilers!” It would be wonderful if it could premiere everywhere at the same time. I was speaking with someone in the Netherlands last week and they are only premiering season one, so I had to remember everything that happened in season one and that was a bit difficult. [Laughs]

Is there anything else the fans can look forward to this season?
I haven’t actually read episodes 12 and 13 yet, but I know that there are going to be a couple of people kicking the bucket. I don’t know who they are…

Well – will you be losing a cast member? Because, like we see in the season premiere, a character can still die but come back from another timeline.
Well, we do see one version of Kiera with a bullet hole in the first episode. The good thing is that no one is ever dead because you get to do flashbacks or someone goes to a different timeline and they’re alive! Yeah, they’re going to mix it up.

Would you have wanted to play two Kiera’s?
Yes. I would have liked to have at least one scene where it was Kiera vs. Kiera because I watched Erik Knudsen do it with Alec vs. Alec and I was jealous. I really wanted the opportunity to play Kiera vs. Kiera. Sadly, Kiera vs. dead Kiera is nowhere near as much fun!

Well, there’s always hope…
For another timeline!

The third season of Continuum premieres Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase. Fans can catch up with the first two seasons at showcase.ca.