NBC’s new fall show Revolution introduces a whole new world where there’s no electricity and society is back to nature. It also introduces a relatively new star, Tracy Spiridakos. Spiridakos has had recurring and guest starring roles on shows like Being Human, Hellcats, Psych and Supernatural. Revolution puts Spiridakos front and center as Charlie, a girl who was a child when the power went out. Now she’s lived most her life in nature.
As Revolution begins, she has to find her uncle Miles (Billy Burke) to help her settlement combat the militia forces or Capt. Neville (Giancarlo Esposito.) We got to meet Spiridakos this summer at NBC’s party for the Television Critics Association. Poolside at the Beverly Hilton, we got to meet the star of NBC’s big new fall show.
Revolution’s Tracy Spiridakos and Billy Burke
Fanhattan: Did the reshoots on the pilot involve your work at all?
Tracy Spiridakos: No, no.
Fanhattan: Have things changed a lot since the pilot?
Tracy Spiridakos: I don’t think anything’s changed. As the episodes go forward, we’re all growing and there’s different adventures that they’re throwing our way and lots of cool stuff happening that I can’t wait for the audience to see.
Fanhattan: It’s a fascinating premise. Does it just make you think?
Tracy Spiridakos: Absolutely. I mean, I’m sure it makes your think as well, right?
Fanhattan: I’m always fascinated by the end of the world, and what supplies are left over. What cool things does Charlie get to find as she explores?
Tracy Spiridakos: A couple of the actors and I have done survival type of stuff. I was talking with Tim Guinee who’s done some of that. We were talking about you’d need bark, and pine needles are good. You can boil them and drink them. There’s different survival things that you have your eye out, you’re constantly on alert for resources to use, to start a fire, to eat, to have something to drink. There’s constantly that element.
Fanhattan: In the pilot you go from the camp to Chicago. Even if you shot it all in one place, did you feel like you were on a big adventure?
Tracy Spiridakos: I still feel like I’m on a big adventure. This whole thing is a big adventure for me. Yeah, as far as the actual locations go, they’re really wonderful and it really puts you into the headspace of the show. I’m sure it’s been happy accidents where we’ve run into the railroad tracks that are just there and overgrown. Wilmington has a lot of locations like that that bring it to life.
Fanhattan: Will you learn to fight?
Tracy Spiridakos: More so than I already know, yeah.
Fanhattan: Are you looking forward to the action part of Revolution?
Tracy Spiridakos: Love action. I love action. I’ve grown up with boys my whole life so for me, all the martial arts and all that stuff we get to do is candy. I love it.
Fanhattan: What TV do you enjoy?
Tracy Spiridakos: I’m huge into comedies. I grew up with Cheers and Seinfeld, Friends, Three’s Company and all that. I was also obsessed with Alias. I’ve recently started watching Lost which is great. Battlestar Galactica is great.
Fanhattan: You just started Lost and BSG?
Tracy Spiridakos: I started. Lost and Battlestar are new to me but I love them. I love them.
Fanhattan: Have you been spoiled? Do you know what happens?
Tracy Spiridakos: Oh no, I know nothing. I know nothing which is great. I know nothing on either show and they’re both just really cool, really great concepts. It’s fun. I like it. Indiana Jones were my favorite. I love Harrison Ford and all those movies were really great. Star Wars. Like I said, my brothers, this is the kind of stuff they sunk their teeth into so that’s what I was into as well.
Fanhattan: Does Revolution have sort of an Indiana Jones feel with a cliffhanger every episode?
Tracy Spiridakos: There’s always questions but I think the cool thing is there’s always answers as well. They do resolve a lot of questions. I think it has some Indy and it has some Star Wars, some Lord of the Rings. It has elements of all that type of epic journey adventure quest sort of feel to it. I love the show and I love that cool concept about it, being in it, reading it and filming it.
Fanhattan: Is Revolution faster paced than any show you’ve worked on before?
Tracy Spiridakos: It’s pretty fast paced but television in general is pretty fast paced. It’s cool what we can accomplish in a certain amount of time. I think it’s really great. Our directors and everybody involved has a clear understanding of what they want and they’re executing it very well.
Fanhattan: What do you think of the sort of ratty but still sort of modern wardrobe?
Tracy Spiridakos: I think the wardrobe and the costume design is lovely. I think it’s great. There’s some adjustments that kind of go forward in the series. There’s wardrobe changes that we all have but I think it’s great. I like the way they went with it.
Fanhattan: If these are maybe the last clothes they have left, will you be stuck with certain outfits for the whole series?
Tracy Spiridakos: I don’t know. You can still make stuff. There’s also still left over from what was so I don’t know how limited that part is going to be.
Fanhattan: What do you love most about Charlie?
Tracy Spiridakos: [Creator] Eric [Kripke] put it best by saying she’s Dorothy with a sword. What I love about that is that Charlie is vulnerable. She sees the good in people. She’s hopeful. She’s courageous but she’s also tough and she will fight and she’ll get in there. She’s a warrior through and through, so I think usually in a lot of shows, you’re either kind of one or the other and vulnerability can be looked at as kind of a negative aspect whereas with Charlie it’s not negative at all. It’s part of who she is and she might learn through it but she doesn’t change who she is. She doesn’t want to not be vulnerable and open minded about the people that she does know and meet and all that. I think that’s an admirable quality to have in anybody, not only in a character on a show.
Fanhattan: How does it feel to be launching a new show at this point in your career?
Tracy Spiridakos: Oh, are you kidding me? We have the dream team behind it. It’s great. It’s my own personal adventure, aside from what’s going on in the show. It’s great.
Fanhattan: How do you look back on your career so far?
Tracy Spiridakos: I think it’s all been a learning process. I’m very lucky. I have been doing it for a shorter amount of time than many others have been doing it for, but it’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of goods and bads have happened along the journey to get me to where I am now. I couldn’t be happier about it.
Fanhattan: You a sci-fi fan already before you got Revolution?
Tracy Spiridakos: Like I said, my brothers and I were watching Star Wars and all that stuff growing up. Yeah, I love that. Anything that can ignite my imagination and take me to a different place, I’ll go with you. You want to take me, let’s go.
Fanhattan: How does it feel to be the one taking people on that journey?
Tracy Spiridakos: I feel very honored to be able to do that. A thing that got me into acting in general was I was always kind of a goofball in my family and within my friends that I love being able to make people laugh and alleviate stress from them. But I also like being able to get people excited and when someone’s going through a hard time, to be able to share a story with them and be able to know that they can relate to somebody. Acting for me was on a broader scale, [it] had the ability to do that to people all over the world hopefully. The fact that this show is able to do that and it’s able to ignite people’s imaginations the way that I had mine by so many shows along the way is a great honor. I feel like I’ve got a good head on my shoulders and I hope that I can be a good role model for those around that are younger than me that are following the show.
Fanhattan: Will you have a love interest on Revolution?
Tracy Spiridakos: Too early to tell. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. Your guess is as good as mine so we’ll see.
