Recently I spoke with Actor Cas Anvar about the recently completed Season 3 of The Expanse and the move to Amazon Prime Video For Season 4 and Beyond. Cas was kind enough to talk about the happening of the show, what fans can look forward to at San Diego Comic-Con, and more.
Cas will be at SDCC at the following times and locales as of this posting.
Booth # 3745 main floor:
Saturday, July 21 10-2 signing autos
Sails Pavilion:
Saturday, July 21 Booth AA30 02:30 PM – 07:00 PM signing autos
Sunday, July 22 Booth AA30 10:00 AM – 01:30 PM signing autos
Season three was a very intense season; do you know how the direction on season 4 will go?
The first movement of this epic space opera has come to a close and the beginning of the second movement began at the end of this season. The tone of the show will likely change slightly since now humanity has been exposed to 1300 new habitable systems that are within their grasp. A hint: exploration seems to be on the agenda.
As the show has gone on, the plot and the relationships between the characters has become more complex and at times murky. Do you ever have to look back on some past shows to get a context of where and how a person or event got to the point that you are currently filming?
I usually watch previous seasons right before I start shooting the new one. I also read the next relevant book in the series for each season. The history of the characters is indeed quite complex and evolved. It most definitely always helps to refresh and recall all that happened in the previous season before we get into the thick of it in the new one.
With the move to Amazon Prime next season, have you had any discussions on how this may change the production of the show?
No one has spoken to us about any changes that will happen because of the amazon move. However, to be honest our tenure at SYFY has allowed us to produce 3 awesome seasons of extremely high quality programing and for all intents and purposes we honored the source material and delivered a show the creators were very proud of. The only changes I can foresee is a little more freedom in terms of dialogue and story since we are not governed by the same rules as traditional cable any longer. The move to amazon also gives us a bit more flexibility on our timing since we no longer are writing for commercials. And are not bound to the 47 minute format of traditional cable.
All in all it will probably be a smidge more edgy… but who knows?
When are you set to resume filming?
Nothing has been set in stone but it’s been rumored we will begin shooting in the fall 2018
What was the timeframe like from when you heard SYFY would not renew the show until you heard Amazon would be picking it up and how tricky was this timeframe when filming?
It was a period of about when the early episodes of season 3 were airing (and getting great reviews. it was a very emotionally volatile and stressful time as we tried everything in our power to get SYFY’s interest revived and/or arouse interest from another network.
How many episodes had been shot at this time?
S3 had been completed entirely s4 had not even been written.
What are your plans for San Diego Comic-Con this year and do you get a chance to look around or enjoy any part of it before or after your panels and Roundtables?
I have not yet been made aware of any official expanse events for SDCC 2018. I know that our illustrious commander Naren Shankar will be doing a showrunners panel for amazon at the con (Friday at 3:30pm) and I will be at SDCC Friday night to present at the Eisner awards, sat and Sunday signing autographs both on the convention center floor at booth 3745 as well as in the sails pavilion.
After such an extended time onboard the ship or on stations, do you ever wish you could do scenes on Terra Firma or is Alex at home in Space?
Alex is only at home in a cockpit. That being said I welcome chances to do scenes off the ship and hopefully in s4 in new and wonderful locations. But Alex Kamal will always be most comfortable flying his ship.
The addition of the Gate must open up so many interesting options down the road, where do you hope they take it?
The Expanses to this point has been all about politics and inter-racial maneuverings, mysteries, and war. None of that will be disappearing any time soon but with the addition of the gates, the expanse can now add exploration and adventure to that list.
The show has remained faithful to the source material for the most part. How do you balance the source material yet doing a fresh and at times; unexpected direction for stories and content?
That’s more of a question for our writer’s room but let it be known the novelists James Sa Corey (Ty Frank and Daniel Abrahms) are in the writing room crafting scripts for every season. So any changes made are carefully overseen by them and our talented team to make sure the soul of the series is honored.
Going forward, what can we expect for Season 4 and I have to ask, has anyone even brought up Season 5 yet or are they waiting to see how it goes?
We have heard whispers of s5 but that’s about it.. Lol… let’s get this new partnership underway and then when we have delivered our best, most ass kicking’ season yet we can talk about seasons 5… 6… 7 …and, hey, how about those feature films!?
