In July, Sci Fi Channel, which by then will be called by its new moniker, Syfy, debuts a new series, Warehouse 13. Starring Joanne Kelly (Vanished, Jeremiah), Eddie McClintock (Bones, Desperate Housewives), and Saul Rubinek (Frasier, Leverage), the paranormal themed show is set in South Dakota, where the U.S. government maintains a warehouse that houses “strange artifacts, mysterious relics, fantastical objects and supernatural souvenirs”.

Kelly and McClintock are two Secret Service agents who, after saving the life of a president, are transferred to the South Dakota facility, where they meet the caretaker, Artie Nielsen, played by Rubinek.

McClintock’s Pete Lattimer sees the assignment as a reward, but Kelly’s Myka Bering can’t help but feel like she’s being punished. Regardless, their new responsibility is to chase down new objects that belong in the warehouse.

Warehouse 13 is lensed largely on location in and around Toronto. The 11-episode season premieres with a two-hour pilot on Tuesday, July 7. CinemaSpy recently chatted with Kelly and McClintock, as well as executive producer and writer David Simkins and executive producer and showrunner Jack Kenny, about the new series.


Question: What were some of the initial writing and/or production challenges getting Warehouse 13 off the ground?

Jack Kenny: Any new series involves similar challenges. Where are we going to go? Are we going to arc out the first season or is each episode going to be individual? We’re learning about these characters and these people.

One of the things we did was we brought Saul and Jo and Eddie into the writers’ room and we all sat together and we had a session. And we talked about the characters and let them talk about the characters, we talked about them personally, what do they like, what do they do, what are their hobbies, do any of them speak languages or play instruments. You know, what are their relationships with family members and things so that we could sort of mine who they were as individuals.

Because, you know, my approach has always been that — every show I’ve ever done is a family show whether it’s a workplace comedy or an actual family show. And so in building this family of this brother and sister and father team that we’ve got going we wanted to sort of bring who they were to the roles.

Because once you cast an actor in a part, once an actor takes on a role, they bring who they are to it, so you want to mold that role to them. And we were all very fortunate in that these guys were so much like these characters to start with. David, in crafting the pilot, I think really made it a nice fit for Jo and Eddie to slip into these parts and Saul as well.

So our challenges were finding the directions to take these characters in where they could grow and learn about each other and the relationships could deepen. I’m starting to call this show so many things. Now I think I’m calling it an action adventure proceduromedy.

Because it’s got all these elements. We didn’t want to do a strictly procedural show because there’s plenty of that on TV. And these actors are so much more interesting than just, you know, standing around with a notepad asking questions. So we our challenge was to rather than have them investigate and just follow a trail, our challenge is to make them experience the adventure at the same time as we are.

In other words, we don’t really want the audience to learn much about what’s going on ahead of when our characters do. We want our audience and our characters to be on the same ride. So that’s been something we wanted to do and we’ve done it kind of differently in every episode.

You know, sometimes we know what an artifact is going into it, sometimes we don’t know what it is and we’ve got to find it, but our — we’ve always wanted to sort of go on the ride with them. And that’s just been a goal of ours to do.

Cinema Spy: You’ve talked about how you have made some changes to what you planned with the show based on casting Eddie and Joanne. Was there an idea of how the partnership was conceived of originally that maybe changed after Joanne and Eddie came in?

David Simkins: You know, I don’t think it’s changed, I think it’s just become enhanced. The idea or the basis of these characters is something that Sci Fi had been sort of living with for a few years.

They’ve had this project in development for a long time and they were pretty clear about the kind of relationship they were looking for. And when I came in to work on the pilot it was just a matter of looking to them and then digging back into my own toolbox and pulling out as much of that stuff as I could.

When Eddie and Joanne walked into the audition stage and sort of took over these characters, it was a real eye-opening experience because I think Sci Fi and I, we all thought we were on the right track, that where we were going with these two characters could definitely be done.

And then when Eddie and Joanne took over the roles, Jack and I and the writers, we really just write into them. We write into their characters, into their speaking styles, into their attitudes. And I have to say writing for them has been one of the easiest things to do. It’s writing for the artifacts which is pretty difficult.

Jack Kenny: It’s interesting too because to me the success of any pilot, 90% of the success is the casting, is finding the right people for the roles that are created. And then the success of a series, 90% of it is being able to write to those people you’ve cast because it’s one thing, you know, it becomes just a different challenge.

We want to write to their strengths. We can hear their voices in our heads as we’re writing. That’s the challenge of every writing staff in town is to key into those people. It always takes a couple of episodes to get a hold of it but we’ve really gotten into Saul and Eddie and Jo’s rhythms, their cadences, their strengths, their weaknesses, and everything we can find about them.

Writing towards their strengths is what makes the series strong I think.

Question: I was wondering if Eddie and Joanne could tell us a little bit about the audition process for their roles and what first attracted them to the project.

Eddie McClintock: Well, you know, the audition process for me, I was coming off my sixth or seventh test refusal and basically I was in tears in the waiting room and Joanne kind of talked me down off the ledge and this is right before she and I went in together.

So when we went in together, you know, I just — it was — to me it was like I’ve known Joanne for years and we just kind of hit it off and this was before we had even, you know, started to read together. So I think that there was just a natural chemistry that came across in the room, at least that’s how I felt.

Joanne Kelly: Yeah, I screwed up a line and he started making fun of me in the audition and I stopped them and told - tried to restart the audition again and those were the two characters. I mean, it was kind of right on the money.

Eddie McClintock: Yeah, Joanne/Myka taking control and Pete/Eddie McClintock acting a fool basically. And as far as what attracted me to the role, it was definitely the money. They said, you know, you’ll make a bunch of money and I was like I’m in.

For me the character, the Pete character, kind of encompassed all the things that in one character that I’d always wanted to play. I’ve been able to play pieces of this character at different times but, you know, Pete to me, he kind of gets to do everything. He gets to be smart and funny and he gets to be heroic and, you know, to me that’s the dream job. So I love the character.

Joanne Kelly: Yeah, me as well. You know, there’s not a lot of women characters that are written as dynamically as Myka is. And I was so excited that she was so smart and has a history and a past and is vulnerable at times, and strong at others, and funny and dramatic and sad. I mean, it really is such a round role and I was so drawn to it when I read the script right off the bat so I’m quite pleased — quite pleased with myself at this point.

Cinema Spy: There is a great history of different takes on the buddy vibe in film and TV. Did either of you come in to this project with a particular example that inspired you or informed what you did?

Eddie McClintock: I just come in with no expectations and hopefully I like the person that I’m working with.

Joanne Kelly: Uh-oh.

Eddie McClintock: And it so happened that Joanne and I — if Joanne and I ever have differences on the set we’re big enough people and we’ve created a strong enough bond that we’re able to speak about it.

David Simkins: Or deliver some noogies.

Eddie McClintock: Basically, we give each other metaphorical noogies on the set all the time. If Joanne has a problem, she lets me know and I let her know too sometimes. I didn’t have any preconceived notions. It just so happened that we click. You know, it’s just one of those things that I guess it’s like TV or film, you know, just there’s a chemistry, it’s there, it clicks and it works and other times it doesn’t. In this case I just think that it does.

Joanne Kelly: In the process of filming it has gone through such a change and it’s grown as we’ve grown as characters and as we’ve worked together more. I mean, this relationship is blooming. I think it was something that came — we’re both different, our processes are very different, and the kind of energy that comes from that when two opposing forces collide is what you see on screen. And Eddie makes me laugh every day and I always have a great time on set because he’s there and it’s just been a pleasure to work with him. I’m really thankful to be part of this.

Eddie McClintock: You know, it’s kind of like when you have a friend and then you say to your friend, “Hey, you know what? Let’s move in together.” And then the next thing you know you’re living together and it either works or it doesn’t. You either decide that you care enough about this person to make it work despite your differences or it’s a nightmare and you get out and you pay the fine. But in this case we just worked out.

Question: Peter and Myka have already been compared to Mulder and Scully so how would you describe your characters’ relationship and how do they approach situations differently?

Eddie McClintock: You know, I’ve kind of been describing our relationship as I’m kind of the younger brother who’s constantly pulling at her pigtails and she’s in turn always punching me in the arm. You know, it’s actually kind of how it goes, minus the pigtails. If they did a gag reel of how many times Myka/Joanne punches Pete/Eddie in the stomach or in the arm or, you know.

It’s still in its infancy so where it will go from here is hard to say but I think we are a brother/sister/great friends who have a tremendous amount of respect for one another even though we constantly pick at one another. Which makes it just a great, fun thing to play for me.

Joanne Kelly: Yeah, yeah, I think Eddie’s right on the nose. That is definitely our relationship. And the thing that I like about the way that it progresses is that there’s so much that these characters learn from one another. They’re so different and you see the gelling of two processes and the success that comes from that. And you see my character is very isolated at the beginning and his is too in a way and you see these two people gradually open up to one another and I think that’s really special.

And whether it be in a brother/sister way or a romantic way you see these two people constantly learning more about the other and, you know, making fun of the other for it and helping the other. So it makes it very human and very real I think.

Jack Kenny: In the show and just in terms of my observation of noticing the difference between Pete and Myka from Mulder and Scully. You know, the thing that I love about like the character of Indiana Jones is he always feels like he’s kind of not lost, but vulnerable. He never feels like he knows much more about the situation than you know as you’re watching him but he manages to get through and find his way.

And that’s the sense I get with Pete and Myka. They’re sort of thrown into these situations, a different one every time. They don’t know what’s going to happen, they don’t know how an artifact works, they don’t know all the ramifications or possibilities what could happen but they’re getting through it anyway using their wits and their observation powers and all those things. And that to me feels more like an adventure than Mulder and Scully went on. That was a darker kind of a feel. This is more of an adventure.