FALLING SKIES - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Colin Cunningham talks about breakout turn as biker/baker baddie John Pope
July 11, 2011
by Jeff Jensen
There are many reasons to watch Falling Skies, TNT’s absorbing summertime sci-fi hit about ordinary folk-turned-warriors surviving – and rebelling against — a devastating alien invasion. Tops on the list: Noah Wylie’s strong central performance and the creepy mystery of the gooey harnesses making docile drones out of captive kids. (Spoiler Alert for anyone who hasn’t yet seen Sunday’s episode: How creepy was that alien-hosted slumber party with Ben and the other harness kids? Didn’t that hair-stroking beastie strike you as nurturing, even parental?) Alas, one of the most enjoyable elements of Falling Skies was (temporarily) MIA last night: Colin Cunningham’s charismatic John Pope, a tack-sharp, politically incorrect, dangerously amoral biker rogue skilled at killing Skitters and quoting literature. And the self-styled “culinary artist” – a bigoted foodie who blanches as paprika-seasoned chicken – can bake some seriously mean bread, too. John Pope — part heartless Road Warrior, part Gordon Ramsay gone totally psycho!
Cunningham’s riveting scenes with Wylie in the second hour of the show’s premiere outing helped distinguish Falling Skies as a drama as much about its complex characters as its explosions and ETs. The actor – whose previous credits include Stargate SG-1 – recently spoke with EW.com about landing the role that has made him a breakout star of the summer TV season and gave a little tease about the season 1 trajectory of the Second Massachusetts’ “reluctant ally...”
Colin Cunningham (right) from Falling Skies
... Q: How do you play the charisma of the character? Because he has a ton of intense, attractive attitude.
Colin Cunningham: "Well, it’s there on the page. But it was something I generated for the audition. I knew they were having some trouble casting the part, and I just knew – or at least I could imagine – that a lot of other actors would just come in and read this stuff pretty straight. I was like: No! This guy is theatrical. This guy is part Shakespeare’s Puck and part Hannibal Lecter. So I saw him being very animated, very theatrical. A lot of the choices I was making in early episodes, I was just hoping they wouldn’t come back to bite me on the ass, because I did feel I was taking some chances, and was given the latitude to do so. And under the tutelage of our director Greg Beeman and support of an actor like Noah Wylie, we just went for it..."
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