Dean Devlin, Christie Burke on their sci-fi TV series 'The Ark'

"When I was about eight, my mother was a guest star on the original 'Star Trek' in the 'Wolf in the Fold' episode. She played the princess and came home from work with a rubber phaser from one of the stunt guys. That was the crack that got me addicted to science fiction. My whole life, I've always wanted to have my own spaceship show, and I got one," Dean Devlin revealed when we interviewed him virtually while he was at Comic-Con at the Bayfront Hilton in San Diego, California.

The spaceship show is "The Ark," now in its second season. It is a science fiction TV series created by Devlin and Jonathan Glassner. Both also serve as showrunners for the series.

Set a hundred years in the future, the story revolves around a spacecraft known as Ark One that suffers a catastrophic event that kills almost all of the crew, and the survivors have to reorganize themselves to maintain the ship and stay on course to reach their destination.

We were able to interview Devlin, the 61-year-old producer who was born in New York City to Filipina actress Pilar Seurat and Jewish writer-producer-actor Don Devlin, and 34-year-old Canadian actress Christie Burke ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2") virtually while they were attending Comic-Con.

Devlin, who brought us such blockbusters as "Independence Day" and "Godzilla" as well as TV franchises like "Librarian" and "Leverage," talked about what excites him about season two of "The Ark," working with Christie Burke and his wife Lisa Brenner, juggling productions all over the world, among others.

Burke also talked a lot about working with Devlin, her experience in the show, and being a leader in the show and real life.

Dean Devlin (Creator, Showrunner)

Dean Devlin. Contributed photo

I love the optimism in season two. I love that these characters have now really become the roles that they've grown into. But what I really love, and I give a lot of the credit, all the credit to Jonathan Glassner, is that we really expanded the storytelling this year. We really embraced some larger sci fi concepts that we weren't doing in season one.

In a way, season one was a disaster movie every week. What else can go wrong? But season two, we really start to explore some other things and all of them relating to who the characters are. So, for me, it's a love letter to all the sci-fi that I grew up watching. It's very old school. I feel like there's so many shows that are very dark and edgy and heavy on science, and that's great. But we're this love letter to a type of sci-fi that's not done anymore.

Which journey of which character in season two are you most excited for audiences to see?

Boy, that's a hard one, because you're going to see a lot of the characters that you thought you knew, you didn't. There's going to be some left and right turns that are so surprising. So, it's hard to say, as far as the character. I will say as far as the acting, what Christie pulled off this year - and I don't want to give any spoilers away, because there are some amazing episodes - that she was really pushed as an actor. Sometimes when you do a series, it's like you've got this one thing you do every week, and Christie had to go to some very intense places and do it under a short schedule. What she pulled off as an actor was really exciting, and I can't wait for people to see the performances, especially episode nine.

What was it about Christie that you cast her as the captain of the ship?

We have a streaming platform called Electric Now. And very often, we purchase films to be on Electric Now. And I had just finished writing "The Ark." We hadn't cast anyone yet, and I was reviewing some of the films that we had just purchased for Electric Now, and Christie was starring in one of them, and she was so brilliant. Her acting was so great. I just looked at her, and even though it was a completely different character, night and day. I just knew in my heart that it was the girl. She's my Garnet, and I was just determined to get her for this role.

What do you think Christie learned about playing her character?

There's something she has learned. And I can say this, and she can't. The audience gets to see what's on the camera, but they don't get to see what's behind the camera. Christie has always been a wonderful actor, but what she had to become on the showoff-camera was the same kind of leader that Garnet is on-camera, and the way she led, and what happens off-camera, that's truly remarkable.

Honestly, when you have to make these shows with a limited budget and limited time, it's really difficult. If you don't have someone in the number one position who can lead from a place of generosity, from a place of love, it can go south really fast. If you get some egomaniacs on shows, it's just too difficult. So, she not only took that leadership role on-camera, but she also took it off-camera. A lot of the relationships that you see on the show are informed by the relationships that they've all nurtured together off-camera.

Would you mind talking about working with your wife, Lisa Brenner, on this show? What does she bring to her role?

Lisa and I met in the movie "The Patriot," and she is an actor of enormous depth, very much like Christie. She just cares so much about the work. It's not about fame or anything else. Lisa, she's an old-school actor - like you are. And so getting Lisa to come in and do, I think it was four episodes, three or four episodes in season one, it was such a gift for me, because I knew that we could have this character who didn't really have a whole lot of screen time, but have an enormous amount of depth to the character. So it was, it was a little present she gave me.

You were shooting both "The Ark" and the "Librarian" in Serbia, "Leverage" in New Orleans and "Almost Paradise" in the Philippines. So, can you please talk about juggling productions in these vastly different regions? And can you also give us an update on season three of "Almost Paradise"? Will it still be filmed in the Philippines?

The short answer is it's a lot of jet lag (laughs). I live in a constant state of jet lag, playing around. Yeah, we've been, we've been working in Serbia now on three different shows.

We've done two seasons of "Almost Paradise" in the Philippines. We're waiting for word on season three. Hopefully, I'll have something to announce pretty soon.

So yeah, it's a lot of traveling, and our studio just got completed in New Orleans, where we do "Leverage Redemption." There's a lot going on for our little, tiny company.

What kind of leader are you?

I lead by making mistakes. People are so frightened to make a mistake that they end up making mistakes out of fear. I make mistakes all the time and just embrace it and I acknowledge it. I try not to make the same mistake twice. By doing that and being actively screwing up, it takes some of the pressure off. The people around go, "All right, well, if Dean can get through that mess up, we can get through anything." So, I probably lead through the example, and the example is failing. (laughs)

Contributed photo

I never think that storytelling has anything to do with budgets. Some things are big budgets. Some things are tiny budgets. What's important is what's right for the story. Our company is a very small company. Electric Entertainment is a completely independent company. We're not owned by any studios. There's no giant board of directors, we're not funded by a hedge fund. We're just a small little company.

It's harder and harder to be independent today. So, to get shows made, you end up getting much less money than the studios get. Our ambition has been, "Okay, we have less money, but it can't look like we have less," so how can we, with less money, put out a product that competes with people spending 10 times as much? I would say we succeed more often than we fail at that.

Season one was a cliffhanger. So, can you talk about how, as a creator, challenging it was to decide which characters survive and which ones do not?

You know what? That is, literally the most painful part of making the show, because we made a decision. Literally on the very first episode, on the pilot, we killed a character, and all of us loved that actor so much. It was like, does he really have to die?

So, for a show like ours, which is much more character-based than it is science-based, we felt really strongly that it had to be a show where almost anyone could die in any episode, so that the stakes were really high. The way the decisions were always made was in the writer's room, and we tried to forget about what actor was playing the part. But just say, where can we go with the character? Has the character run its course? Do we have really good ideas of what to do with the character moving forward?

When balancing that, it was the characters that we didn't have the best ideas for that we said, "All right, well, that's the one that's not going to survive." But it's heartbreaking, because the actors are fantastic, and we don't want to lose any of them. So, it was never because of the actor - yet. (laughs) But it was always really just being in the writers' room going, I don't know what to do with that character this season. And so, I was like, alright, well, that's the one who's not going to survive.

Can you talk about building the spaceship? How long did it take? I didn't realize it was so immersive. And are there new areas of it, or new places that we'll see in season two that you can tease?

It is impossible to walk on our set and not become 13 years old again.

It has a ceiling, which is very rare for sets, so you feel you're inside of it. But when we went and started this, and Christie can confirm this, I didn't show the actors clips from old sci-fi shows. We looked at clips from "The West Wing," because I said, I want to do a lot of walking and talking. So, we built sets that go on so that you could do a five-minute scene starting here, going through the halls and ending up at another set. Because to me, while this is a very different show than "The West Wing," it did have that sense of urgency inside a structure.

I said these people think fast, talk fast, and walk fast. (laughs) So, that all went into the design of it. It was all always a thing of saying, "Well, we have to live on this ship, and we don't want it to become claustrophobic." We had to have enough different areas that you can be on the show season after season and not feel like you're locked in a small room. Then every season, new areas show up.

In season one, we blew up a bathroom. So, what do you do with that blown-up bathroom? Well, now it's a jail cell (laughs), so you'll see parts of the ship you didn't see before, and then you'll see some other things you haven't seen.

I always watch science fiction shows or movies in order to understand or to imagine what can happen in our future. Sometimes they really show us things that then happen in reality. In this show, we are talking about 100 years in the future. How do you see our future from the technological point of view, but also in terms of power, fights and wars to prevail? How do you see that?

Are you asking me how I see the future happening, or how I imagine the future for the show?

Not for the show, actually.

I hope the future of reality is not the future of our show (laughs), but it started off with this idea that we have a handful of billionaires who now have their own private space programs. I imagined what would happen if that kept happening? What if we have less and less control over space programs from governments and more and more control by billionaires? Where does the space program go? Are there as many safety concerns? Are they built for the same reasons, or who makes the decisions, and what would that look like in the future? And in the future of" The Ark," governments have less and less influence, and billionaires have more and more influence. So, where we end up in the future of "The Ark" is what I think is the result of that.

In other words, if we get rid of all regulations … it's funny, sometimes I'll read someone online say, "Well, they will never build a spaceship to do that." And I was like, Yeah, you're right. The government wouldn't, but if a billionaire didn't care about it, would they build it that way?

So, for me, a lot of the faults of our spaceship were because it wasn't of the concern of the person who was building it. They had a different concern, a different focus. That's the way we imagine this future. What would happen if we took today, threw steroids on it, and watched it grow for 100 years?

You have a very intense career, both in cinema and on TV. What changed for you in producing a series like "The Ark" compared to "The Visitor"? Is the work more intense today in production, or is it the same thing?

It's very different. When we did "The Visitor," it was right after we had done "Independence Day," so we had a decent budget to do "The Visitor," but it was under very strange circumstances, because we had the head of the network who wanted one show, and we had the head of the studio who wanted a very different show.

We were always trying to walk this line of pleasing somebody, and we ended up pleasing no one except ourselves. So yeah, "The Visitor" always left a hole in my heart, because I had so much of that story I wanted to tell, but I didn't own the show. I couldn't move the show. I couldn't do anything with the show.

So since then, now we own all of our shows, and if a network doesn't like it, we move it somewhere else. We keep it going. I think "Librarians" has been on three different networks from the beginning till today, and I think "Almost Paradise" has been on two, so I think the biggest difference is that we control the destiny of our shows now.

In your 30-year career, you started with Roland Emmerich. And you made your first four movies with him. Are you still in contact? Do you support each other? What is your relationship now?

I always say, Roland and I had a filmmaking partnership that lasted 12 years, so literally one year longer than the Beatles held together. So, I think that was pretty good. Then when we split up our partnership, it was not under any kind of anger or any kind of rancor. We just wanted to go in different directions.

When Roland called me about doing the sequel of "Independence Day," we got back together, and we made a movie. Forgive me for it (laughs) but I'm very supportive of what he's doing. I think that he keeps evolving as a filmmaker, and I'm grateful for the career he helped me build so, there's no weirdness between Roland and I unless you interview him and then he'll say, (in German accent) "Ach Dean, He's so annoying. Guys, why is he so annoying? How do we get rid of Dean?" (laughs)

What do you think your mom would say now that you have your spaceship show? And what would you tell your mom now that you have your own space spaceship show?

I don't know what mom would have said, but my mom was such a character. She was an actress in the 60s and the 70s, and then she kind of walked away from it all. She was very supportive of my career. Honestly, I think if my mom was alive today, she wouldn't care at all about any of the work I was doing, and she'd be completely fixated on my children. She would absolutely be bugging them 24 hours a day, buying them too many things and taking them out. She was that kind of lady.

Christie Burke (Lt. Sharon Garnet)

Christie Burke in 'The Ark.' Contributed photo

Who doesn't want to work with Dean Devlin, especially when you're dealing with sci-fi? He's a sci-fi legend. From the callback and the first moment I ever spoke to Dean about this project, and even just the pilot in general, thinking Garnet was a man, and then finding out it was a woman, that was a whole thing for me (laughs).

I was like, they want me to audition for Cat. And then my agent was like, "No, Garnet." I was like, "Garnett is a woman?" So, from the moment I met Dean and Jonathan Glassner, they're just such giving individuals and so knowledgeable. I think the question is actually why not work with Dean Devlin? You know what I mean? Like, he's the best. So, I feel like the answer to that question is, "Have you met Dean?" He's literally the best. I'm very lucky.

How was it working with Lisa Brenner?

Working with her was so lovely. She's so present and in the moment. It was just so lovely. She just has this power about her. I loved working with Lisa genuinely. She's just such a sweetheart. And talented, and just commands you to be in a scene with her. She's so great.

Since Dean told his beginnings in sci-fi, what about your beginnings?

Oh my gosh, mine are, like, probably why I'm extremely afraid of aliens. My dad is from New Zealand, and his first job in Vancouver, which is where I'm from, was building sets for "The Outer Limits," which weirdly is one of Jonathan Glassner's shows. So, I grew up with a dad who is notoriously known for building spaceships, and I always thought maybe my dad was an alien, because why was he so good at this?

My parents used to let me watch "The X-Files" and "Outer Limits" because it's my dad's show, and I was like five and should not have been watching that stuff. So I think that was my introduction to sci-fi, and I've never been on a sci-fi show until now but I feel like I have this pedigree of amazing spaceships and science-fiction shows that all come from my dad, and my fears, my real, real fears of life and outer space.

What do you look forward to as an actress with your growing role in season two? Your character is entrusted with the lives of people in Ark One, and she has to lead under pressure.

Yes, the thing that I was excited about for season two was, I feel like in season one Garnet … we're just learning about her. We don't know much about her, and everything we know about her is how she handles a catastrophe. We don't get too much of her relationships outside of being a leader.

What I'm excited about for season two is she has more relationships that aren't just entrenched in leadership, that we get to see her potentially fall in love or deal with grief or have newfound friendships with the amazing new cast members that we have. So, I feel like in season two, I was just excited to get back to work and be a captain of a spaceship, which is still very crazy to me that anyone would even ask me to do that. But also, I like to dive deeper into who Garnet is as a human.

What have you learned yourself about playing this character?

Oh my gosh. I feel like two things are occurring. Like Christie, the actor. I feel like I've gone to the Juilliard of sci-fi, and honestly, acting-wise, genuinely this has been the most educational to learn from Dean and Jonathan and just doing the thing has been such an education.

So, I could get nerdy and be an actor with you and be like, "Well, I learned how to stand on a mark, and I learned how to do a chin up." (laughs) But also in terms of learning from Garnet, I've learned how to not give up on people.

That's a superpower of Garnet. She gives everyone a second chance, if not a 100th chance to her own fault at times. There's something beautiful in that, like not giving up on the person that upon first meet might be the evil character. There's something beautiful in that.

Contributed photo

Talk a little bit more about what kind of leader you are. What have you learned about leadership because you play the captain? This is your first lead role, so what were your expectations? And now that you finally have it, is this heaven?

Oh my gosh. There's so much to unpack in that question. So, season one it's interesting, because I feel like my journey while playing Garnet is very similar to Christie's journey. I love how I'm talking about myself in third person (laughs).

I found out, I booked this part while I was skiing, and literally 12 hours later, my agent was like, "You have to be on a plane," and then 72 hours later I'm shooting the lead of a show.

So, I was Garnet being thrust onto Ark One and leading a ship. That's a catastrophe. Although our show wasn't a catastrophe. It was very overwhelming.

Season one, I was learning, as a number one of the show, how to be that. I wasn't always the best version of myself. I felt immense pressure, and like creative differences.

I come from a very independent film background where it's very different than shooting a TV show. Then season two, I felt like I didn't have to prove anything to anyone. That maybe I can do this thing. And maybe there's a reason why Dean cast me.

I basically learned how to trust the powers that be in this being one of them, but it's a hard job. My biggest takeaway is grace. Just have grace because people are going to be the worst versions of themselves, me included. What can I do when that happens afterward? Can I apologize? Can I find more empathy? Can I relate to someone more on a human level?

These are all qualities that Garnet has, that maybe I wasn't leading with, myself. I don't know if heaven's the word, because I didn't have a single day off. I'm still waiting to catch up on sleep. I feel like "The Ark" is pretty crazy (laughs), but heaven in the sense that, it's very rare a Canadian is the number one of a show, and that is not wasted on me. I don't want to cry, but I'm very grateful. Yeah, it's overwhelming.

What kind of a leader is Dean?

Dean leads with a lot of heart. He's missing that out. This is a man of pure passion, and he makes you believe that you can do the thing that he's asking you to do. Dean leads with a lot of heart, which is why our show has a lot of heart, which is why a lot of Dean's shows have heart, and why I fell in love with this entire process. Dean is someone who leads with heart, and I want to be with people who lead with that.

How does your father feel about you?

Oh, I think my dad's, like, wickedly proud. I think he tells everyone," Oh, she's on this spaceship show." I just recently got to work on one of his films in Vancouver that he built a lot of the sets for. That was really cool. I got to do that on "Twilight" as well, but to feel a little bit more established and a little bit more comfortable in my skin to go back full circle and work on another one of his films was always like a dream of mine.

That was the first thing I ever wrote down when I was getting into acting to be on one of my dad's sets. So, it was beautiful. He's wickedly proud. My mom's a huge fan of "The Ark." She was like, tell me everything that happens in season two. And I was like, I can't, or Dean will kill me. (laughs)

I was going to ask about your dad. Has he been on the set? What does he think of the spaceship?

He loves it. He's honestly blown away, obviously, knowing that this is a smaller budget and stuff like that. Like my dad was building spaceships on "Elysium" and "2012" and some pretty massive budget shows where, "he needs it, he's got it" kind of thing. He's just blown away at the set design. Like that was the first thing he ever told me when he watched season one was, "What they can capture in that little frame is incredible." And he's like, "How cool," because we fully built the spaceship, so we are walking from room to room.

We don't have to go to another space. As actors, it's so immersive. Like, when we're traveling to the mess hall, some people are getting lost, and we're like, "No, no, it's this way. You just got to go this way. This is the quickest way."

It's so immersive as an actor to be able to move and talk and be on a spaceship. I Facetimed my dad when I was there, and I showed him the bridge, and he's like, "Oh my God, how cool is this." But he hasn't gotten to come, because it's in Serbia, and that's like the craziest flight ever. And my sister was supposed to come, and she didn't get to see it either. So, I'm hoping, if we get a season three - guys out there, give us a season three so my family can go see the spaceship. (laughs)

Which sci-fi or which movies in the past, or even when you were a kid, touched you, stayed with you, changed in a certain way your imagination?

I think "E.T." I remember seeing that with my mom when I was little, and just being so immensely and profoundly changed. I didn't even understand how that could be.

Then watching stuff that my dad has been a part of has been informative. Now, as an adult, I love science fiction. I love reading science fiction. I just finished this book called "Dark Matter," which they then turned into a mini-series. This idea of parallel universes, and if you could be someone else, would you? I like the questions that it asks psychologically.