Interview with Sophia Myles

Sophia: Oh hi! Moonlight Detective, that sounds interesting! What’s that?
Moonlight-Detective.com: It’s a fansite that’s just for the show. It’s pretty big; we have a lot of fans that submitted some questions for you.
S: Great! That’s so cool!


And so we begin with the first reporter..



Q: This is more of sort of a long view, since you started the show. Because you did start quickly, I know that there was some rejiggering of the pilot after the pilot was shot. How do you feel that you’ve come along with the character? I know there was some touch-and –go in the beginning and you kind of had to improvise some of what you believed the character to be, and now it certainly has developed and you’ve gotten into a groove. I just wondered how that process has felt for you.
Sophia: For me, just being part of the show has been incredible. I never knew what I was getting myself involved in and, like, it’s evolved into something so incredible. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. And Beth, yeah, in the beginning, I had to make - they offered me the job and I had 24 hours to make decision. I got on a plane on a plane, left my life in London, came here and started shooting about 3 days later. It was all very last minute, so it was kind of like I just was kind of winging it in the beginning. But it just started to evolve because Alex and I have such a great working rapport together. And we really just fire off each other, it’s kind of wonderful. The McBeth thing, as the fans like to call it, started to develop and it’s kind of like this power greater than…I can’t explain it. It’s just developed as we’ve gone along, really.

Q: Do you feel much more at home with the character at this point?
Sophia: Yeah. I know it know. I feel like I really get her now. I love it when they give me – when they write humor into it, for the two of us, because both Alex and I love doing comedy, so that’s always exciting when there’s a bit of that. I don’t like it when they give me a gun. I don’t want to do that again, it makes me feel very uncomfortable.

Q: [In a previous interview], you asked if we really, really, really liked the pilot. And I said we really, really, really like the pilot because you were a bit nervous, you weren’t sure how it was going to go over. It’s obviously gone over huge. Are you enjoying the newfound huge celebrity status?
Sophia: (laughs) I wouldn’t put it that way! I love living in L.A. I love being part of the show. It’s been such an adventure. If somebody had told me last year what was gonna happen, I’d never have believed them. It’s been great. I’m just sad and really frustrated, I want this writers strike to finish! I know they’ve got to thrash out the battle and all that, but all of us – so many Brits came over this year to work, and now were kind of all just sitting around in the sunshine, but you can’t complain. (laughs)

Q: What can you tell us about this Friday’s episode. The preview looks amazing.
Sophia: Oh, well, I mean, the last two, I think the last two, 11 and 12, are so powerful. I mean 12…talk about leaving you hanging! You’ll see what I mean when you see it. I don’t want to ruin anything. It was frustrating for that to be the last one that we shot, because I said, guys we can’t finish here. There’s definitely a story let to tell. I want to do more! I think we need to, I don’t think the story is over. It’s not over. But you’ll see.

Q: Is this Friday 12 or 11?
Sophia: Number 12. Until the writers strike is over, that’s all we have. That’s all we could shoot, we don’t have any more scripts until the strike is resolved.

Moonlight-Detective.com: Probably the most asked question when we had fans submit questions for you was do you think we’ll ever your English accent on the show?
Sophia: You mean coming out of Beth’s mouth?

Moonlight-Detective.com: Right.
Sophia: I don’t know. I mean, unless they made me like into an evil version of myself. That might be quite cool.

Moonlight-Detective.com: Oh, that would be awesome!
Sophia: That would be fun, I like doing different accents. I’m ready for it. Maybe they could turn me and I could become all English. (laughs)

Moonlight-Detective.com: It’s Beth’s evil twin.
Sophia: Oh, yeah, I think that’s a great idea. I like playing the bad guy. I loved playing the bad vampire when I did Underworld.

Q: Did you have a prior interest in the occult or these kinds of stories before you did the show?
Sophia: Not personally, no, but I’ve found through my work – I’ve worked in this genre a couple of times now – so no. For me, really, with Moonlight, the whole vampire thing is lovely, but I’m more interested in the immortality theme. You know, playing a love story where one person’s never going to die. That’s what kind of drives me with it, that’s the biggest turn-on for me about this story.

Q: Back to the strike, because it’s sort of an extraordinary circumstance. How many episodes did you shoot without the writers there?
Sophia: Um…oh goodness, I can’t remember. It’s all blended into one now. I think we were pretty much done. I remember one incident right at the end where they were outside and we were just finishing up. But we didn’t have any problems, we were pretty lucky.

Q: I know some people felt a little bit at sea…
Sophia: The thing for us, I’m an out of towner, I’m from England, so I came into this and suddenly this is going on and I didn’t know what everyone was fighting about in the first place, so I’ve kind of to catch up. But it’s still on, but I do think they have to figure it out.

Q: Was there ever a time when you wanted to ask a question about your character?
Sophia: The thing about Moonlight is that there’s never been some master plan. This is what’s fascinating about this show is that it’s really been a very organic process. It’s literally evolved day-in and day-out. It’s interesting. It’s quite scary doing it that way, but it’s also very, very exciting at the same time. Week to week no one knows what the hell’s going on other than we seem to get better and better. We won the Peoples Choice Award the other week, for Best New Drama, and Joel Silver told me that Alex and I have been voted or on the top of the list for TV Guide’s Sexiest Couple on American television. We’re honored, because we’re both from out of town, well out of the country. (laughs) It’s really thrilling!

Q: The writers strike has thrown a terrible wrench in your career at the moment.
Sophia: Nooooo! No, no, no. They’ve got to do… they’ve got to fight! I’m fine; I’m just sitting in the California sunshine. (laughs)

Q: So my question is what are you loving about L.A.? What are doing in this interim period?
Sophia: I spent Christmas here because I bought, well, a little puppy was given to me by one of the crew on Moonlight. There’s a 6-month [waiting period] before he can travel back to the UK, so I stayed here with him over Christmas, and it was so beautiful. Southern California in the winter is absolutely stunning. And L.A. is great because no one actually lives here, everyone goes out of town at Christmas, so it’s just wonderful. So I just stayed here with – he’s called Jackson, he’s a little black Boston terrier, about 8 months old. So that’s what I did; I went to the beach on Christmas Day, it was really cool.

Q: You’re a dog mamma now!
Sophia: I know, it’s a huge deal. It’s a big responsibility but I welcome it. I just need Moonlight to continue now, to pay for his food. (laughs)

Q: I think many of the fans of the show are shocked that you have a British accent; you do the American one so well. Do you work with a vocal coach?
Sophia: When I first landed here to do the show, I did a couple of weeks with someone I worked with before, whom I love. I’d played American twice before so I had a bit of practice at it. But also, because I’ve been living here, now, I’m hearing it all the time. It’s kind of like when you’re doing an accent, you kind of have to tune your own voice into harmony with whatever country you’re in if that makes sense. And Beth’s supposed be kind of an L.A. girl, so it’s got easier. And I’ve noticed as well, I mean, I was very jetlagged that first episode so you can hear it, I can hear it. I’m fussy, I can hear the odd English twang coming in. But I think as the series has progressed, it has got better. Forgive me if I do f*ck up the odd syllable here and there, but, you know, what can a girl do. (laughs)

Q: The last time your character saw Coraline, it did not go well.
Sophia: Noooo, it didn’t.

Q: So, I’m curious, are we going to get some resolution?
Sophia: Well, you know. It’s the triangle, isn’t it. It’s complicated, but it’s great that it’s so complicated. You’ll see, I mean, hmmm….mmm…I love Shannyn Sossamon dearly, like she’s become one of my closest girlfriends in L.A. now, so I want her around. Just selfishly, I don’t want Shannyn going, I want to see her at work. So that’s all I’m going to say.



Moonlight-Detective.com: Speaking of the triangle, that was more like a rectangle until last week…
Sophia: Because of the whole Josh thing? Well, I know but if you go back it didn’t really…

Moonlight-Detective.com: It didn’t spark?
Sophia: No, and that happens, I think, when you’re trying to break up with somebody. And I asked the writers, C’mon, we really need to deal with this Josh situation. It’s bad, she’s being really… But, there we go. He really did go out with a bang, didn’t he?

Moonlight-Detective.com: He did. Beth’s reaction to Mick afterwards, I know she was grieving, do you think that’s most of what informed her anger toward Mick, or did she honestly want him to turn Josh?
Sophia: I think what it was…the way that I kind of had to do it to make sense in my head to play it with any kind of truth, because when I read the script it was, Oh my goodness! I thought you were just going to end the relationship! He didn’t have to get shot! But I think she was just so desperate because there was so much unfinished business. She’d never quite been entirely honest with Josh, because she’s been having an emotional affair with Mick for the last God knows how many episodes really, hasn’t she? So I think what it was that she just didn’t want him to die in that moment.

But then I said to the writers, well hang on, even if you turn him it’ll be a nightmare. I think if she’d thought about it seriously, turning him would have been a mistake. She just didn’t want him to go in that instant. So I think the kind of emotional breakdown that she had is that it’s all too much. I mean, think about it, it’s complicated enough just as a human getting involved with another human, but getting involved with a vampire! I mean, you’re taking on a lot! (laughs) Having an affair is a big head-spinner, a mind mess, and then your boyfriend dies, it’s a lot!

Q: Looking at your credits, you kind of split time between television and movies. Is there one that you prefer?
Sophia: I’ve never really kind of picked worked or the jobs because of whether they’ve been on television in the movie theater, it’s been about the scripts and the stories. I have to say that episodic television in America is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I mean, you guys work haaaard. I have utter respect for the crews here! It’s so fast, it’s a machine. When we’re working on the Warner Bros. lot six days a week, I mean it’s just…it’s a huge privilege.

Q: Do you have any favorite American TV serial dramas that you like to watch?
Sophia: I have to say, I’ve been so busy working on the show, I haven’t actually watched that much television myself, and now that I have the time to, there’s nothing on because the writers are on strike! (laughs) But I’ve got to catch up. I’m going to catch up on some stuff on DVD. But I do need to get in the loop; I’m kind of still a bit alien to all of it.

Q: Obviously Moonlight is gaining a huge fanbase, you’ve got the websites about it and everything. A show that you were on that also has a rabid fanbase, at least in the UK, is Doctor Who. That’s more than a fanbase, that’s a cultural…
Sophia: That’s huge, yeah.

Q: Did that experience prepare you for the reception [of Moonlight]?
Sophia: Yes! One thing I’ve learned – I’ve done quite a few science fiction pieces, I guess a couple of films, Thunderbirds, and then Doctor Who – I know that there’s such a huge kind of world out there. I mean, the fanbase for that genre is so huge and very powerful. It’s lovely! The sci-fi fans are the best ones in the world.

Q: Any talk about doing another guest spot on Doctor Who?
Sophia: You know, I feel so happy that that episode was the episode that I did, because I feel like it was so magical and special, and I don’t know if it could ever be recreated be as fabulous as that. I think I’d be greedy to want to go back for more.

Q: Do you think – Doctor Who has been on forever – do you think that Moonlight would go over well with British audiences?
Sophia: Well, you know, we’re going there. It’s going on, um, February 18 it’s starting in the UK. I’m excited for England that they’re gonna see us! Alex and I. (laughs) I think it’s great. There’s something about Moonlight that really…I don’t know, people just love it. It’s great escapism, it’s so romantic, too. I think it’s just really special. I think they’ll like it in Britain. They’d better!

Q: Where would you like the series to go?
Sophia: Oh wow, you know, I have no expectations…I feel like I’m on this roller coaster that I didn’t really look at before I got on the ride. I didn’t see how tall it was or…I kind of got in the thing, it’s moving, I’m drawing a lot of adrenaline out of it…I don’t want it to stop just yet, is all I can say. Who knows, it could go on for years, I’ve thought about that, too. Who knows, it could go any which way.

Moonlight-Detective.com: What are your plans for the hiatus aside from going to the beach? Do you have any other projects that you’re getting ready to work on?
Sophia: Well I’m looking around for stuff, but I’m also kind of equally happy to just relax and spend time kind of getting myself ready for when we do come back for more. So I’m kind of just leaving it in the hands of the gods, really, at moment. California and L.A. is a great place to do that.

Q: You’re here, you’re in Los Angeles, you really like it, what have you discovered cuisine-wise that you don’t have in London.
Sophia: You know what, you can’t get good Mexican food in London, so that’s what I love about L.A. Really good Mexican food. What else, oh…Skor bars, you can’t get them in London, those chocolate bars. And mmm…I have to think about it…there’s a lot of good food here.

Q: What British food do miss that you can’t find here?
Sophia: A particular pizza restaurants – it’s a chain – called Pizza Express in London, and I miss that. I’ve been quite homesick the last…you just get waves of it. But London in winter is quite miserable and gray, so there’s no point going back.

Moonlight-Detective.com: When you got into acting was there any actor or actress who really inspired you?

Sophia: Um, I never really was that into acting when I got into it, if you know what I mean. I was sponsored in a play at school when I was 16, but I was only doing the play because I had a crush on the drama teacher. (laughs) It was a kind of weird thing! But as I’ve been in the profession, oh god, there’s so many that I love. I thing Cate Blanchett is phenomenal, Johnny Depp… I’ve worked with some wonderful people as well, like John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, John Hurt…there’s so many. And Jamie Bell is brilliant! He’s one of my favorites. Alex O’Loughlin and Jamie Bell are, like, right up there.

Q: How much of the mythology and the rules of what the vampires are and what they can do plays into your performance?
Sophia: I’ve been learning as I’ve been going along. If I’m honest, I’m not the world’s biggest vampire fan, I can kind of take or leave them. I have much respect for that fact that people do like get really turned on by them and all into that thing. I’ve learned about the mythology as I’ve been doing the show. I need to learn more. I kind of play Beth as a very…somebody who doesn’t really know anything about it. So I’m using her as a vehicle for anyone who doesn’t know about vampires to learn about them, because she doesn’t really know much when she first meets Mick. But now she does. But it’s serious business.

Q: Are you ever going to the director or the writer and saying, clear this up for me, how does this work…
Sophia: Sometimes, like, can they have sex? I think I ask all the kind of normal questions somebody would ask if they didn’t know about it. But we’ll see. I’m quite happy for the relationship to continue to go kind of slowly.

Q: You and Alex obviously have this tremendous chemistry on screen. Is that luck or did you guys have to work at that?
Sophia: It’s absolutely luck. It’s the most wonderful thing. It’s like a gift that you wish for. If you could produce that, if there was a formula, then every show would be a hit show. You can’t. We’re so lucky. And I know that, because I’ve worked for almost … hang on now…12 or 15 years now, so I’ve had lots of co-stars or leading men, and sometimes it doesn’t work. Like normal, some people you click with, some people you don’t. And we just happened to [click]. It’s a fantastic duo. We both make the other one better. It’s like playing a really game of tennis every day. We’re competitive, but it’s good, we kind of raise each other’s game. And just like, out of character, as Alex and Sophia, our relationship is based on humor. We laugh our arses off. I actually think that if you would just film us off-set, it would be a better show than Moonlight!

Q: I hope somebody’s doing that!
Sophia: They’re not! But I told them, I’m gonna take my camera when we go back.

Q: Make sure they put it on the DVD!
Sophia: Yeah, that would be great! It would be hilarious.

And with that, it was time to go. Many thanks again to CBS, Warner Bros. and the delightful Sophia for the opportunity to chat today.

Source: Moonlight-detective.