We talked werewolf slaying with this year's modern-day Red Riding Hood, Felicia Day. Plus she revealed a tiny bit more about her recurring Eureka character, Dr. Holly Marten.
What can you tell us about Virginia, the Red Riding Hood werewolf hunter?
This is a modern update of the Red Riding Hood story. The connective tissue is that there's a family legacy with being werewolf hunters. I really think it's a fun idea, taking little aspects of fairy tales and putting modern twists on them. It really is kind of a small story but with a great scope. I play Virginia who is basically the legacy of Red Riding Hood. It's a struggle [dealing with] my fate as a werewolf hunter and my fiance. So bringing him back to my family and wanting to reveal my past and my real background to him is a catalyst for some very dramatic werewolf events.
What did you learn about werewolves in this movie?
I learned that there's a wide array of werewolves. I'm a huge fan of paranormal fantasy and paranormal romance. I read everything from the really great stuff to the really trashy stuff, because the trashy stuff is just as fun sometimes. So I'm a huge fan of this genre. This is kind of translation of that genre. [And in regards to the werewolves] everyone invents their own lore about the werewolves. In this movie we are dealing with a very specific werewolf clan, and their history with the clan. There's a long family history of keeping the werewolves secret from the public. And there's an overarching theme about fate, and not being able to hide from your obligations to your family. And it's not all really dramatic - there are lots of fun aspects in the movie as well with the werewolves and the transformation and the fight scenes.
What are the werewolf rules for this movie?
I don't want to give anything away. But there is a situation where someone might have been compromised: he was bitten. But I don't want to give away all of the werewolf mechanics from this movie. There are ways to prevent someone from becoming a whole werewolf, to turn someone back from a werewolf. And they fall into the lore that's in this movie. And it's important to the overall plot.
What do these werewolves look like?
They did a really good job. You have like the Twilight wolf, which is full on wolf, this is more of a human wolf hybrid. They retain a little bit of the characteristics of the person, even when they turn into the wolf.
Is there a chance for a series to be developed around this movie?
I don't know, that was certainly not something that I went thinking that would happen. I know that Syfy has done that in the past. And the paranormal is really popular right now. It's almost like going back to Buffy. It's funny because I've gotten more feedback about people watching Buffy for the first time in the last 6 months than in years. I think that people are going back to that, it's like the genesis of the renaissance of the paranormal culture right now. It's certainly an area to be mined more. But we just treated this as the standalone movie that it is. It was a lot of fun to do something completely different.
You've got some amazing guns in this movie. Was there a lot of weapon training?
I would say that of all the things that I've done in the past, my character from Dollhouse was most similar to this character. I learned first how to handle a gun on that set, for those two episodes "Epitaph One" and "Epitaph Two." So I used a lot of that experience to inform this character. In between Dollhouse and doing this movie I went home, to Texas, and my dad very excitedly took me to a gun range to show me how to shoot a gun properly. It was really fun to actually put that knowledge into play here. I was able to carry a gun, and do knife fighting, as well as shoot a harpoon, which you saw in the trailer.
Did you actually get to shoot that gun?
No that was CG, so air shooting a harpoon was definitely more challenging acting, but it was fun being on the roof at 4 AM in Toronto, shooting a harpoon at a werewolf.
But that's not your only Syfy project - you're also involved in Eureka right? What can you tell us about your character, Dr. Holly Marten?
I can't tell you a lot but I can tell you I'm in many, many episodes - almost all of the back 10. So I've been in Vancouver for months now, and that is very very awesome. All I can say is she's a very eccentric scientist who comes to Eureka to work on a secret project, and that's all I can tell you about what she does. I can tell you that she has an antagonist relationship with Fargo and Will Wheaton, who plays Dr. Isaac Parrish, so there's definitely a lot there. I've been working with those two a lot, and it's really been a fun ride. Every single episode, when I read a script, I'm just so excited to get on set and read those words because that show in particular is driven by geeks. Those guys know what they are doing and they are passionate about their show, the fans, and the subject matter. It definitely translates from the page onto the screen for me. That and everyone there is wonderful to work with.
What are you going to be for Halloween?
I've been traveling so much that I haven't had any plans, as of yet. I always wait until the last minute and then I just go to the store, and then I'm frustrated and I almost cry. The year before I was Zac Efron because I went to the kids section and I got a Zac Efron t-shirt and a Beatles wig. This year I would love to be a video game character. I was thinking of making a Plants Versus Zombies sunflower outfit. But I don't know if I'll have time because I have to go back and finish the finale of Eureka.
Red will be on the Syfy channel on the 30th.