Backstage they gave an exclusive and really interesting interview to Murtz Jaffer. They talked about the bases of the show, the comparision with Lost, their co-worker Giancalo Esposito and a lot of other things. Here is the full interview.
Jaffer: Is Revolution going to Revolutionize television?
Billy: It's not only going to revolutionize television, it's going to revolutionize the world. We hope it's a good show that people get into and come along to the ride. We're very proud of what we are doing, we hope people dig it.
Jaffer: What is the fascination with the "end of days" concept, "the end of the world", "no life". There have been so many shows, Flashforward, Lost, Terranova. Why are viewers so into what we don’t have?
Tracy: The whole 2012 thing is something that's been flirting on peoples mind. There're videogames around that concept as well. It's an idea that I don't think it ever goes away, it's different than the world we know and people like to explore that.
Billy: We live in a post-9/11 world and there´s a bunch of "what ifs" out there, and people do wonder like ""what if all this went away, today?", because it could.
Jaffer: And its root level is the thing I like the most about this show, it shows you what's bad about humanity as much as it shows goodness. I love this stuff where everybody is fighting for "that piece of food" or "that light switch" or whatever. Do you think it encapsulates what human beings really are?
Billy: In a situation like that you are going to have to go back to the basics, because that's all you got. Sure people got along thousands of years without power energy, but we now have lived with power for so long that if you took that away, it's more a way of life that most people even know about. So it's not automatically going to be "hunting and gathering", it's going to be "what the hell do I do?". Those are the questions that come up in the show, but mostly we're concentrating, at least the first part of this season, a quest of just find the people you love.
It has a framework of mystery, but in terms of being compared to LOST or any of those other shows, I haven’t even seen those other shows, but I’m not seeing it.
Jaffer: Do you think it shows any man for himself and that philosophy, or is it more about the good in humanity, everybody working together for finding your brother for example?
Tracy: I think it shows good, it shows both sides actually, it shows what people would do in extreme circumstances. It's a hopeful show and there's a lot of positivity with it. It's about family, community, love and those things more than just the survival kind of thing. This is the world that Charlie has grown up with, the only world that she knows. It's not like she wants the power to be back on, she's fine with the way it is.
Billy: She's blessed with naivety. All of us have been dealing with this for 15 years having had it before but her character never really knew it.
Jaffer: How would you describe Charlie?
Tracy: She's definitely a strong character. When you're put in extreme circumstances you'll do extreme things too, and losing her father and her mother being gone from before, the only thing that she has left is Danny, there's no time to sit around, you have to get up and go. And being that her dad puts this on her like "this is what you have to do, get up and bring your brother back", she steps up to the challenge because she has to, if she doesn't he would die.
Jaffer: Miles, I thought he was just a drunk and alcoholic, and all the sudden he just takes out like 20 people, so tell me a bit about his character.
Billy: Well, first of all, he is now killing people because he has to, he just assumed not being in the fight anymore. When Charlie comes to find him, all he wants to do is stay hidden. We have the feeling that he's been in the fight for a long time before and there were multiple reasons for him getting out. But yes, he is reluctant to say the least, but is nice that he has the skills, because he's going to need them.
The sword fighting stuff is fun which makes the hard work easier. There is not a lot of training but we have the benefit of Jeff Wolf, our stunt coordinator, who's a genius. He makes stuffs up and put it together with his stunt team and shoot it for us on his phone and email it to us and we watch it in our phones.
Jaffer: Has either of you seen Breaking Bad? Because I could not work with Giancarlo, I'd be afraid that he is going to cut my head off.
Billy: What people should know about Giancarlo is he's, without question, one of the sweetest guys I ever met in my life. Personally I haven't seen him on Breaking Bad.
Jaffer: He looks like a math teacher, I don't know how he became the embodiment of villains on TV.
Billy: Because he is a good actor, and that explains it.
Jaffer: Finally, why should people watch the show?
Tracy: Well, I think it's a very cool concept. It's a very character-driven show, there're many things happening all the time and think that everybody can relate to some character throughout the series. Also other thing that's cool about the show is that all the questions that are asked are quickly answered by keeping the audience interested asking new ones and so. There is that reward and you're not watching seasons and seasons wondering what’s going on.
Billy: If you like big bad-ass action-adventure shows that great characters and questions get answers quickly and lead to other questions, then this is your show.
