Enter If You Dare!

One of 2019’s most exciting new shows is The Passage, a thrilling drama guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat. We caught up with the shows leading man, Mark-Paul Gosselaar to find out more……

 

Q: Can you describe the show for anyone yet to tune in?

 

Justin Cronin, who wrote the novels the show is based on, sent me a text that I think sums it up. I’ll read it for you: “It’s an apocalyptic vampire horror western road-novel bio-thriller love story, based on King Lear and The Odyssey with a smattering of Dickens, Dante, Virginia Woolf and Dawn of The Dead. Also its scary as ****” I tend to agree with that! 

 

Q: So anyone expecting a regular vampire drama will be in for a surprise?!

 

I hope so. I like when audiences think it’s going to be one thing, then realise it’s not going to be so cut and dried. That’s a running theme throughout our show; you may think it’s black and white, but it’s actually about the shades of grey.

 

Q: At the heart of the show is the relationship between your character, Brad, and 10-year- old Amy (Saniyya Sidney). How did you form a bond with an actress so much younger?

 

 

We had the luxury of creating our relationship parallel to the story. The very first scene we shot together was when Brad and Amy first meet, so the distance and discomfort between us was normal. By the time we shot scenes where we had more of a connection Saniya and I had built one in real life – it was all very natural. 

 

Q: The show isn’t short of scares; did you ever have a freaky moment on set?

 

Oh yeah. There was a scene where I came face-to-face with a viral and was pretty terrifying. The effects aren’t CGI – what you see is physically applied to the actors so its very tangible and tactile, and its right in your face. I wouldn’t say that I had nightmares…. It was more that I didn’t sleep very well, with the energy of it all. 

 

 

 Watch The Passage every Tuesday at 9pm on Fox, Virgin Tv 126.