  Robin Dunne (left) and Amanda Tapping in the Canadian sci-fi series Sanctuary, which airs Fridays on Space. |
As Dr. Will Zimmerman in Sanctuary, Robin Dunne's hair is always perfect. One of the other characters even made a crack about it in the episode that aired last week.
So, Robin, what's with that mussed-up-but-not-too-mussed-up hairstyle? Do all brilliant scientists have that, or is it some special gel that this particular brilliant scientist invented?
"It's hours and hours in the (makeup) chair every morning," Dunne said. "I haven't slept in six months."
Of course, as far as the creators of Sanctuary are concerned, Will's hair could be a means to an end, too.
"I have an unconfirmed theory that they're doing Will's hair like that because they want to bring Christopher Walken in as Will's dad," said Dunne, who then launched into a pretty good Walken impression. "You can see that in Season 4, right?"
Uh, sure, totally.
As for now, Sanctuary -- an original Canadian science-fiction/fantasy series -- is in the middle of its third season. The "fall finale" airs Friday, Dec. 17 on Space.
The show centres on Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), who runs an organization that tries to help so-called "abnormal" beings, while also containing the bad-ass ones. Will is a brainy forensic psychiatrist who basically is Magnus' right-hand man.
Sanctuary, which is shot in Vancouver and is known for its innovative use of green-screen technology, certainly is "serious sci-fi," for lack of a better term. But even as the characters deal with life-and-death situations, more moments of lightness have been included this season.
"I think you're absolutely right, and there are a few reasons for it," said Dunne, who grew up in Toronto. "Story-wise, creatively, these characters are in such perilous situations all the time, that there's nothing left for them to do but laugh about it. They have to, otherwise they'd go crazy.
"But I don't know if you've seen our blooper reels, but we are constantly laughing, playing practical jokes on each other, to the point that sometimes we say we're acting in the wrong genre, that we should be doing this as a comedy. So you can't help but have some of that bleed through into the show."
On the fantasy side of the equation, with the wide premise of Sanctuary and the fact that the characters sometimes travel around the globe in a heartbeat, the possibilities are rather endless in terms of story-telling.
"I figured at some point there might be a wall we would hit, but I am constantly amazed at what comes out of the writers' room," Dunne said. "As actors, we don't even have to think about it becoming routine.
"Just wait until you get into the second half of this season. There's one episode that was shot entirely from Will's perspective. I wore a head camera, like a bicycle helmet with a camera on it.
"And we have a huge episode coming up called Normandy, and we're all on the set thinking, 'I can't believe this is an episode of Sanctuary and this is what we're doing.' It's the biggest episode of Sanctuary in scope and budget to date. It's wild."
Ultimately, Dunne says that Sanctuary continues to challenge not only the actors, but also the viewers.
"It's not the kind of show that is going to take you by the hand and spoon-feed you through an episode," Dunne said. "Forget about thinking outside the box. There is no box."
In that regard, Christopher Walken actually would be perfect as Will's dad. Then Sanctuary really could, uh, "gel."
