Making its U.S. debut on Monday, January 16th, the Canadian-produced fantasy series LOST GIRL is set to lure audiences into the supernatural world of the Fae, beings that look human but which possess unique abilities that make them decidedly non-human. Some prey on humans, some which seek to protect humans, and some that do not even want to associate with humans. LOST GIRL focuses on a girl Bo, portrayed by Anna Silk, who knows she is not exactly normal, but is not certain what she is or where she fits in. Tripping across an old feud between the Light Fae and the Dark Fae, Bo’s fate hangs in the balance in the premiere episode as she is asked to fight to the death for the privilege of choosing which clan she will join. In a recent conference call with press, stars Anna Silk, Kris Holden and Zoie Palmer shared what LOST GIRL is really about and how their characters fit into this new supernatural world.
What can we expect in the first season of LOST GIRL?
ANNA: What we can expect in first season? I mean, the first season really introduces the audience to Bo and her journey — sort of going into this whole Fae world that she’s recently discovered that she’s a part of and the different people she meets along the way in that first season, really become her sort of makeshift family in this world. Lauren, played by Zoie, and Dyson, played by Kris, are two of the very interesting characters that she meets.
KRIS: From Dyson’s perspective, what we see is the ‘lost girl,’ Anna Silk playing Bo, who appears on the scene — a Fae who’s been born into a human family and didn’t know she was Fae, in this entire other world that she didn’t know existed. And my character, Dyson, is one of the ones that finds her, just because in his job in the world that’s kind of his thing. He finds not only criminals, but people who have done things that shouldn’t have done. In other words, Fae who are exposing themselves to humans. He finds Bo — and a wild crazy 13 episodes ensue.
ZOEI: Yeah, and I play Dr. Lauren Lewis. I’m the doctor to the Light Fae. There are two types of Fae. There’s the Light and the Dark. And I’m a doctor and a scientist to the Light side. And Bo comes to me for some help on how to control some of the things that are happening for her — as she sort of realizes what she is, starts to learn what she is, which is a Fae — and she comes to me to kind of see if I can perhaps help her.
ANNA: And just to expand further on, Bo did grow up thinking she was human, as Kris said, and does discover she’s Fae, but not only is she Fae, she’s actually a succubus. So it’s a pretty rude awakening really early on in the season. And it, sort of, answers a lot of questions for her. But it opens the door to many more questions, and that’s sort of what we explore in the first season is how she fits into this world and the relationships she develops along the way.
Can you give us an idea of what shows are similar to yours in tone and style and content, just to give people an idea?
ANNA: Well, we’ve often gotten the BUFFY comparison over the last few seasons. We’re well into our second season here in Canada, and we still get that comparison, which is a huge compliment. But I have to say that I really think LOST GIRL has such a unique voice. There’s a lot of darkness. There’s a lot of humor. It’s a pretty sexy show. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before on television, and it’s so, I mean the BUFFY comparison is really nice. We get TRUE BLOOD comparisons, I guess, as well, and there’s an investigative side to things as well. So I guess it’s a lot of different things all rolled into one.
ZOEI: Yeah, but those are the ones that come up I guess a lot, right, would be BUFFY and TRUE BLOOD and, in that genre of — it’s not a werewolf show or a vampire show, I should say, but we certainly get compared to anything that has that kind of feel to it.
Can you each talk about the appeal of Bo and what you love about the triangle relationship as the season evolves?
ANNA: The appeal of Bo? I mean since I play Bo, I don’t know. I think that the appeal of Bo for me when I read the initial pilot was even though she’s a succubus and she’s not human and she’s going to be thrown into this crazy world, she’s really relatable. She’s a very relatable character. She’s intensely vulnerable and also has to sort of grow and find her way, and there’s a lot of growth for her in the series. And I think that that’s sort of what I related to in her and that’s what I found appealing was that she’s strong and sexy and all of those things, but she’s scared a lot of the times and vulnerable and has to figure out things as she goes. And then the love triangle that unfolds, that gets introduced to in season one, is pretty, pretty interesting. Anyone care to comment?
ZOEI: You led us right up to the love triangle and dropped us off? The love triangle is — I mean it’s just that, isn’t it? I think that everyone who meets Bo, including Dyson and Lauren are sort of taken with her, for reasons that I don’t know — well, I mean I think Lauren is taken with her for reasons that I don’t know that she can explain entirely. And she’s obviously beautiful. You’re beautiful, Anna.
ANNA: Thank you.
ZOEI: But there’s something about her, I think that draws people into her, and I think that that’s what Lauren finds right away. And I think it’s a surprise that she feels that way, that that happens. I think she works for the Light Fae and she does her job and she’s a scientist and then along comes this sort of creature, this person, this woman who does something to her, and I don’t know that’s she kind of sure what that something is, certainly from Lauren’s side, anyway. Kris?
KRIS: I think with Dyson it’s pretty simple. . . With the mythology behind Dyson’s character, it has a lot to do with he’s a protector. The wolf’s entire job in existence was protecting its liege or its king, whoever it was assigned, and in Bo he sees an innocent but beautiful and vulnerable woman that he finds beautiful and fascinating, but also bring those instincts out in him. And there’s also some historical stuff behind Trick and Bo and Dyson that the audience will find out about that also sort of plays into this as well, but I think it’s really kind of a deep sort of seated instinct in Dyson’s want to protect Bo, and in doing so, he gets feelings for her.
Where did you look for inspiration? How far did you go into sort of Fae myths when you were first offered this job?
ANNA: Well, when I first read about it, what I thought was the original sort of description of the show was that she was this sexual creature who needs sex to survive. So, my initial thought was: “Are you kidding me?” You know, “What is this?” But then to really read what it was about and read I knew what a succubus was and it’s a pretty intriguing role to play. I mean it’s obviously a very sexual role. She’s a sexual being, but that’s kind of what is another element that makes our show stand out — and it’s a pretty fun power to have, I have to say!
KRIS: For me, I’ve always been a fan of this kind of genre. I mean I grew up reading fantasy novels, everything from “Dragon Lands” to “Eye of the World.” And so when I got a chance to jump at a role like this, I was all for it, because I grew up running through the woods by my parents farm, pretending that I was whatever, an elf.
ANNA: Everyone heard you say that, Kris.
ZOEI: You just announced that to the world now.
KRIS: I mean, you know. [Laughter]
ZOEI: I don’t have anything that even comes close to comparing, but I had never done any kind of — I didn’t watch sort of sci-fi genre type television except, I guess, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, which isn’t really comparable to this show at all. So it was really new for me to be on a show like this and to play a character and, of course, I play human, so that I didn’t need to do a ton of research in terms of my own character. But it’s been a great experience, like way better than I could have ever imagined. It’s such a fun job to play on this kind of a show.
Can you talk a little bit about how the Light Fae and Dark Fae interacts, like what’s the balance between the two in the first season?
ANNA: Well, you’re right in saying that it is a really intricate political system, and there’s a lot of push and pull between the two sides. I think that, that’s the world that Bo finds herself in. Not only is she in the world of the Fae, she’s in a world that’s divided, and there’s a peace that has be kept between those sides, and that balance is really precarious. And anything could sort of tip that balance and lead to a lot of trouble. So it’s a really – it’s a really intricate system. That’s a really big part of the show that I think makes it very interesting. And it’s certainly interesting for us as actors to play in.
KRIS: Yeah, I mean, all of our characters interact with it in different ways. Dyson is an age-old member of the Light Fae. I mean I guess the differences between the two systems, to succinct is, Light Fae try to live in a symbiotic relationship with humanity, and the Dark Fae are more interested in dominating humanity. And that is pretty the philosophical difference between the two.
ANNA: Yeah, and as a Fae, you’ve got to align yourself with one side or the other. That’s just what you do.
ZOEI: That’s expected of you, yeah.
ANNA: Yeah. And that’s something that Bo has trouble with.
Is there like a clear line between what’s good and bad then? The Light Fae is good and the Dark Fae is bad?
ANNA: No, I would just say the Dark Fae is particularly bad. But it’s not about good and bad.
ZOEI: Yeah, I don’t know that there’s ever like — do we ever reference sort of good and bad? I feel like it’s sort of everyone has their reasons for their behavior sort of thing. . . But that idea that the Light Fae try to live in harmony with humans in a way that the Dark Fae doesn’t necessarily care about. I don’t think they’re necessarily concerned about that in a way that the Light Fae are — that would be the fundamental difference. I think that they both would commit acts that most of us would consider good and bad.
KRIS: Pretty atrocious. . . I think like from the human’s perspective perhaps darker, not as good, but within the Fae world, I don’t think there’s a real connotation of good and bad.
ZOEI: Right. People, they do what they have to do.
KRIS: I was just saying that all Fae need to survive off of some energy system and give, whether it’s flesh, whether it’s spirit, whether it’s anger…
ZOEI: Emotional, sexual.
KRIS: Exactly. I mean humans are the food source for all Fae. So, it just human mythology or the philosophies behind how we —
ZOEI: — how it’s done.
ANNA: And one of the main rules about being Fae is to keep the world secret from humans. So that’s another element to the show as well. There are certain humans that do know about us, you know, obviously Lauren.
ZOEI: Hello! I know.
ANNA: You know. But yeah, we’ve got to keep it secret.
Do you recall if there were there any specific challenges of shooting the pilot?
ANNA: Wow, as an actor, I’ve been very fortunate to play this role, obviously, but Bo is completely new to this world, and so she does act like the audience. She does get to learn. And as the actor, I’ve gotten to learn and grow along with her, which has been a real gift. Bo has a lot of questions, particularly in the first season and as a cast, we would get every episode in that first season and just be like, ‘Wow, there’s this new thing we’re going to learn about.’ There’s a new type of Fae, a new creature, a new challenge every episode. So shooting the pilot, I mean our original first episode was — I guess the challenges just came from getting a show up and running for one distance from that point of view and just really trying to lay the foundation for where the show would go and introduce the Fae world to Bo and to the audience. And the physical stuff is, it’s challenging. It’s fun. I mean I love doing it and it does make me feel a stronger connection to Bo, because she’s pretty tough. So I like it.
Did you have much fight training before taking on the role of Bo?
ANNA: Well, not really to be honest. . . . I did not have a lot of fight training. The worst thing to do is get Zoie and I laughing, because we never stop. So I did not have a lot of fight training, but I certainly, I prepared once I got the role, I prepared for the pilot. I worked with a trainer just to try to get really strong and ready to do whatever it was I was going to be doing. Plus, we kind of had to work out what Bo’s fighting style would be. We didn’t really know until we kind of established it over the first season. And so between a second and third season I worked with a martial artist, actually in the mornings in Griffith Park in LA, I would work with him and we would do all of this sort of really cool stick work, just to learn to be a little bit more grounded. So it’s an evolving thing for me, and it’s something that I do work hard at to make it — to make her powers grow and to make her become more and more capable as she sort of embraces her powers. So, yeah, I didn’t do a lot, but I continue to do stuff.
What kind of a journey would you say that your characters are on during this first season?
ZOEI: For Lauren, we kind of discovered that she’s indebted to the Light Fae, and specifically the leader of the Light Fae, the Ash, for some reason that we don’t know. And so, we’ve gone that journey and it’s a bit of guess why she — I mean, the fact that a human is working for the Fae at all is a bit unusual in this way. Working with the Fae would be a bit unusual. So it’s a bit of a discovery about who Lauren is and where she’s from and what her story is. And of course, the development of the relationship with Bo and the rest of the characters on the show, for Lauren anyway.
KRIS: I think for Dyson it’s the discovery and the journey of Bo. For him, he’s been in the Fae-world for a millennia and the only thing that’s really new for him is this young woman who’s come from nowhere and that’s pretty much the center of his journey.
ANNA: I think for Bo, I mean the journey is just so huge. I mean she’s coming from a world where she grew up thinking she was human and has urges beyond normal, sort of teenage sexual urges that resulted in a body count. So she’s been on the run for a while. And so the beginning of the series is when she learns that she’s not human, that she’s Fae. So that journey is just so big, and it continues to be every day every episode. Particularly in the first season, but even in the second season, she’s constantly learning. So her journey is always ongoing, very much so.
Which do you prefer working on, the sort of the mystery of the week type stories or the ones that go into the mythology?
ANNA: I kind of feel like in the first season the mystery of the week stuff sort of lent itself to learning about the mythology. I mean, I think that’s kind of how Bo and the audience learns about each different type of Fae and all the different sort of energies that are out there. But I don’t know. I mean, I feel like I can’t answer that question. I feel like both. I really like both.
KRIS: Yeah, kind of just like what Anna said, that they get intertwined so much. I enjoy the police procedural stuff, but I think for me is more of a fantasy genre, romantic. I enjoy looking into the different aspects of the Fae and because most of our Fae creatures we pull from actual human superstitious or religious or like backgrounds, I find it actually fascinating finding out about these strange, fairy creature that lived in like Chinese folklore or German folklore or I find those little characters support those little insights to that culture fascinating, and I really enjoyed learning about them on our show.
ZOEI: Yeah, I don’t know that I have a lot to add to that. I think pretty much it is. It’s true. The story of the week often has delved into the history of the Fae too. So that’s right.
Obviously there’s good things about the Fae and bad things about the Fae, but if you had the choice and you could have powers of one of them, would you want it or would you not?
ANNA: Well, yeah, I think I’d kind of like to have the power that I have on the show.
KRIS: Yeah, I’d like that too.
ANNA: I just think that it’s sort of become a part of who Bo is. So, for me, as the actor, it’s just become something that I really enjoy playing. So I think that it’s the closest one to me in terms of what I like. So yeah, I think I’d like to have that power.
KRIS: Yeah, I’d love to have, I mean Dyson’s power, sure, or are you asking which power we’d like to have? I don’t know, Vex’s would be pretty fun.
ZOEI: I always say Vex. . . Vex was pretty cool.
KRIS: Yeah, a little bit of Vex. I’m digging Dyson. I mean I’m pretty close to him right now, so I like being able to turn into an animal and live for a very long period of time. I like longevity.
ZOEI: Kris Holden — he’d like longevity.
ANNA: And Kris is already pretty wolfie, you are. You’ve got an animalistic way of moving, and it works for ay.
ZOEI: He is, yeah. It does work for you, Kris. . . I think I’d like a combo of Vex and Bo. If Vex and Bo could create one power, I don’t know what that would be specifically, but like some combination of the two of their powers. I wouldn’t mind that. Just for like for a day, I wouldn’t want to always have that power.
How much are you involved in the story writing process of the show? Do you like to give input regarding your cast part, or do you leave that part completely the writers?
ANNA: Yeah, I mean we definitely have input. Michelle Lovretta who created the show and the staff of writers we’ve had over the first and second season have, they’ve developed such rich characters, but what’s really great is that we’ve developed a relationship with them and they write to our strengths as actors, I think. And I think that they’re very open to our input, which is really crucial, because it creates a really nice dialog, and creates a better show ultimately. So we’re really lucky that it’s a pretty open door between actors and writers on our show.
ZOEI: Yeah, they’re really great about hearing our thoughts on it.
KRIS: Yeah. I mean, some of the bigger budget shows you have so many different cooks in the kitchen. You have so many different like network checks, that the actors don’t get a chance. But we actually can sit in the writers’ room, and like every time we bring our scripts in before the read-throughs, and they’re very attentive to our ideas about our characters, and it’s a real collaborative treat. And I think we’re all really enjoying it. 
To see what the mysterious Fae-world is all about and the love triangle hinted at, be sure to tune in on Monday, January 16th at 10PM on Syfy.
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).