411mania Interviews: Alessandra Torresani of Caprica

Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 12.19.2009

Alessandra Torresani speaks with 411mania for an exclusive interview about the new SyFy series, Caprica, debuting next month.

The saga of the sci-fi phenomenon, Battlestar Galactica, continues on with the new series, Caprica, a prequel story of sorts to the hit BSG series. SyFy picked up the show as a series after the pilot debuted last April. One of the main members of the cast is Alessandra Torresani, playing Zoe Graystone. Zoe is the daughter of brilliant scientist, Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz), and Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson). Zoe checked in with 411mania recently to talk about the series:



Jeffrey Harris: What will Zoe be doing in the series?

Alessandra Torresani: Zoe -- I actually play about 5 different people throughout the series -- Zoe is just a 15 year old girl, she's rebelling against her family, she's trying to find the one true God. She's strong. She's independent. Her family doesn't really believe in anything she does. They think she's a typical teenaged brat. In reality, she's a genius. She's trying to change the world. She gets killed by her boyfriend in a bomb explosion and she created avatar and the avatar lives on. And the avatar gets placed into a robot body. And then we go from there. And there's a few other people that I play as well.

JH: Can tell you tell us about those characters at all?

AT: No.

JH: That's a bit of a spoiler, isn't it?

AT: Yeah.

JH: What were you doing when you got cast in this role and how did that work out for you?

AT: I was doing just guest spots here and there, pilots and like 6 or 7 pilots. And I actually got offered to audition for the role and I actually turned it down once because I didn't want to be in a sci-fi show. I didn't know what Battlestar was. I wanted to focus on comedy instead, that's really what I was going for. Everyone said you got to meet with them, you got to meet with them. I said alright, fine. And so I did and I got called to meet the director and Ron Moore, and Steve and David and Ike and everyone. And after that, it gave out 5 of their audition processes to get it and I was kicking ass all the time. Once I read the script, I was just all about it.

JH: Now that you've gotten to work with this sci-fi material, what do you think of it?

AT: I love it, are you kidding me? It's the best fanbase, the best people. We have the best and studio and network and it's just awesome. They are in total support of us which is very rare.

JH: Are you intimidated by the sort of cult-like, geeky fanbases that surround these shows? And then you go to conventions and see how rabid and ferocious the fans are over these things, does that creep you out at all?

AT: No, it's exciting. It's brand new. I've never experienced something like that. So it's really great. And they're so sweet. Everyone that I've met so has been nice so I can't imagine why anyone would be scared by it?

JH: Have you ever thought about dressing up as a favorite character to a convention?

AT: I'd dress up as Sailor Moon.

JH: That's awesome. Where are you currently with the season of Caprica as far as shooting goes?

AT: We're on 15 (out of 20 episodes for the season).

JH: How do you like working with a veteran like Eric Stoltz?

AT: He's such an icon and such a genius actor. He's actually a genius director. He's directing one our episodes . . . he's such an idol of mine. He's so incredible. He's just a roundabout fantastic person, fantastic person. It's been a great learning experience. He really treats me like a daughter and always has me on toes and always wants to make sure I'm doing my best and looks out for me.

JH: When you're working on a show like this, I know there's a lot of visual FX involved. But when you're actually shooting, is there a lot that has to be filled in later and you have to imagine a lot of things that aren't there?



AT: Everything is all real or if it is green screen it's like so far in the background, but we have a real set. And we have a green screen just to make the scene look deeper or to add more people. But other than that, no, we are in real life and I work on location all the time.

JH: Will you be fighting at all in the show?

AT: Yes. There's going to be a huge, huge Charlie's Angels-esque fight sequence soon.

JH: Do you go through training for that and get to do your own stunts, or will there be a lot of stunt doubles for that?

AT: I'm a black belt in taekwondo, so I don't need a lot of training, but we definitely have a lot of stunt people there for all the crazy tricks like the backflips off of the back of the head because they don't want me to kill myself so I don't do those, but other than that, for all fight sequences I have been doing 100% of them.

JH: How do you like shooting in Canada?

AT: I love it, it's great. I don't like shooting in Los Angeles. I don't mind it, but the thing that I like about being away for a series it's great because you're stuck with these people and as bad as it sounds, it's the best thing in the world. You really eat, live, and breathe your cast and crew around you. You get to know them on a different level. You guys are all there to sleep and work. You're not there to bull****. You're not there to play around. You're not there to like party and live it out. In LA, we would all go our separate ways at the end of the day. And when we're in Canada, this is all a new environment to us. We're having dinners together. We're watching TV together on top of this. We're like stuck with each other as much as possible.

JH: So it's like you're a family onscreen and a family off as well?

AT: Absolutely, absolutely. I have my brother, Sasha. My Dad, Eric. My mom, Paula. It's great.

JH: What scene in the show so far was just extremely difficult for you as a performer?

AT: There's a scene where -- it's a huge, huge scene and it's just 3 of me. That was kind of hard.

JH: Are there any romantic interests for Zoe in the series?

AT: There's always someone around. I'll say that much.

JH: Is there anything, it doesn't have to be sci-fi, that you're really geeky over or obsessed with?

AT: Pee-wee Herman for sure.

JH: What advice do you have for working actors out there?

AT: It's a lottery. That's all I can say. It's literally a lottery. You have to get lucky. I've been in this business since I was 7 years old. I'm 22 now, and just now I got a pilot, a pilot that gets picked up. I've done 6 or 7 pilots. I've done endless amounts of television, TV and movies. It's literally a gambling game to see which one actually breaks in. If you really want to do this, go with it. If not, this is not the business for you. You got to like literally die for this business. Otherwise, it's not for you.

JH: If you met a Cylon and fell in love with a Cylon, would you marry a Cylon . . . or a robot?

AT: Why not? Love is blind. I'm a hopeless romantic. I believe in everything.

JH: Thank you for your time and answering all my questions.

AT: Cool. Thank you so much.



The Caprica series is set to debut on the SyFy network on January 29, 2010.