COLLIDER: Mark Sheppard Talks Directing and Starring in Syfy Adaptation of Jules Verne’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
by Christina Radish
February 11th, 2012
The Syfy original movie Mysterious Island (premiering on February 11th) is adapted from Jules Verne’s 1874 novel. When five northern POWs from the American Civil War make the decision to escape by hijacking a hot air balloon, they wake to find themselves marooned on a desert island, inhabited by a cast of survivors who have been lost in space and time. Faced with defending themselves against vicious pirates, terrifying creatures and an active volcano that’s ready to blow, they must find a way to survive and escape the island before it claims them forever.
During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, actor Mark Sheppard, who is making his full-length feature directorial debut with the film, talked about how this project came about, the challenges of shooting in the weather and climate of the summer in Louisiana, getting creative to get what you want on a TV budget, and how he hopes that directing is something Syfy will let him do again. He also talked about having become something of a genre icon – with his work on Supernatural, Doctor Who, Warehouse 13, Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, among others – and explained the fun he has in leaving his name out of the credits so that his return appearances are a surprise for the fans...
... Q: What was it like to film this in Baton Rouge, Louisiana?
Mark Sheppard: "The flora and fauna were conspiring to kill me, all the way along, but it’s a great place to shoot. It’s got great people and great food. It was a lot of fun. I got to play with my dad (William Morgan Sheppard), Gina [Holden], Lochlyn [Munro], and just really good people. There are some fun performances in there. I think J.D. Evermore is lovely, and Pruitt [Taylor Vince] is always fun. There’s a lot of great stuff in it. It’s hard to do and, under the circumstances, it has to be a labor of love. It’s just impossible to do, otherwise. There is never enough time and there is never enough money to do it. Essentially, we shot this in a very, very brief period. I don’t think I’ve ever spent such little time on a film. And, I think it came out very well..."
Mysterious Island airs Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 9/8C on Syfy.
