Amanda Tapping, shown here in a production meeting, adds "director" to her "Sanctuary" credits with the "Veritas" episode. Syfy photos
Amanda Tapping adds yet another title to her "Sanctuary" credits with the latest episode of the Syfy thriller: Director.
Tapping, who stars as Dr. Helen Magnus and serves as executive producer with Damian Kindler and Martin Wood, took complete control of the production for "Veritas," which airs at 9 p.m. Nov. 20. And she loved the experience.
"It was great," she told me at the beginning of the season. "I am really proud of it. I'm really proud of the show. I think the performances are amazing, it's a great story by Alan McCullough."
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS: IF YOU WISH TO KNOW NOTHING BEFORE SEEING 'VERITAS," COME BACK AFTER WATCHING.)
From clips and descriptions by the actors and Syfy, "Veritas" sounds like another intense episode in a season that so far has delivered some dark, dramatic and shocking episodes. After dealing with the destruction of several sanctuaries and the loss of her daughter Ashley, Magnus now is accused of a horrible murder. And she doesn't make it easy for Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) as he battles the Sanctuary Network to prove her innocence.
Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) gets paranoid.
Tapping really did have her work cut out for her, co-star Dunne told me. Magnus isn't absent from the episode, which would have made things a lot easier for Tapping.
"It's not as though she's directing the episode and not in it at all," he said during a phone conversation. "She's prominently featured in an acting capacity as well. And it's pretty intense stuff she's doing on the acting front. Yet she is able to seamlessly turn around, sit in the director's chair and then direct the entire episode.
"It was pretty amazing."
To keep things running smoothly--and keep her sanity--Tapping concentrated a lot of effort on her prep for the episode, working with all departments from writing to set design to editing. She carefully planned out all the shots that fans will see in the episode so that, once filming began, she could have fun "sort of play with my ideas."
"Gord Verheul is our [director of photography] this year and he made every shot that I came up with better," she said. "I was like, 'Well this is my idea and we blast right through this window and what do you think?' He was like, 'Yeah.'" Then all of the sudden I would see what he had done with it and I'm like, 'Oh, my God, that's like 10 times better than I pictured it."
Tapping, who said she is pleased with the results of her first directing effort of this show (she directed an episode of "Stargate"), claims she originally panicked when it was suggested that she direct. She said she "wanted to chicken out," but her good friends Kindler and Short insisted she try it. Dunne, who he says Tapping earns every credit she gets with hard work ("Her producing credit, it's not a vanity credit at all."), has nothing but glowing reviews for his co-star's "Sanctuary" directing debut. He was surprised to hear that she felt panicked during the production.
"Are you kidding?" he responded. "If she was scared, she's got like an ultimate game face. Never play poker with that woman. It's incredible when you see somebody who steps into a role and ... it just looks like that's what they're meant to be doing. And that's what it was like Day One on her directing episode. It was like she'd been doing it for years and years."
Robin Dunne and Erica Cerra of "Eureka" in a scene from "Veritas."
"Yeah, that was fun. I got to cast her," Tapping said. "I was like, 'You want the part?' 'Yeah.' 'Great.'"
Tapping didn't want to give away too much, but said that Cerra plays one of three telepaths brought in to find out if Magnus is telling the truth.
"That's all I can tell you, otherwise I'd have to kill you," she joked to me. "You're really special and I don't want that to happen."
2 Comments
Beth Manning said:
Just a quick comment - this Sanctuary episode (Veritas) isn't Amanda Tapping's directorial debut. She also directed an episode of Stargate SG-1 (Resurrection) in Season Six.
Otherwise, it's a nice article - thanks! :)
Smiles, from Beth in New Zealand
Curt Wagner said:
I believe I wrote that this was her first time directing "Sanctuary": "... adds yet another title to her 'Sanctuary' credits." But thanks for commenting. I'll add the SG-1 detail. And thanks for reading.
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