1 00:00:06,050 --> 00:00:08,299 S1: Eli is one of those characters you love to hate, 2 00:00:08,450 --> 00:00:10,220 S1: but he's got a lot more going on beneath the 3 00:00:10,220 --> 00:00:13,580 S1: surface than meets the eye. This is director Jenni Curtis. 4 00:00:13,610 --> 00:00:16,820 S1: Here's an excerpt of when creator Chris Porter, executive producer 5 00:00:16,820 --> 00:00:19,700 S1: Bill Curtis and I sat down with actor Colin Ford 6 00:00:19,970 --> 00:00:22,610 S1: to talk about the twists and turns of Semtech mission 7 00:00:22,610 --> 00:00:24,020 S1: specialist Eli Wright. 8 00:00:27,580 --> 00:00:29,770 S2: Everybody goes through ups and downs. And I wrote this 9 00:00:29,770 --> 00:00:33,190 S2: particular part of the show during a down period because 10 00:00:33,190 --> 00:00:36,220 S2: of the pandemic and everything. And my family lives 3000 11 00:00:36,220 --> 00:00:40,270 S2: miles away in Maryland. I don't remember exactly what circumstance 12 00:00:40,270 --> 00:00:42,130 S2: it was like probably around my birthday or something where 13 00:00:42,130 --> 00:00:44,229 S2: like we were zooming in, like I couldn't go out 14 00:00:44,229 --> 00:00:46,180 S2: and I live alone with just a cat that was down. 15 00:00:46,190 --> 00:00:48,100 S2: So like a lot of the stuff that Eli does 16 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:50,559 S2: say about like I missed at a time plays with 17 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,199 S2: their stupid bread. A lot of that was coming from 18 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,060 S2: me in that particular moment. 19 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,480 S3: I was clouds. I miss grass, I miss cocktails and 20 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,060 S3: friends and even that Italian place with their stupid bread 21 00:01:04,060 --> 00:01:07,539 S3: and stupid butter. And I miss you. And I think 22 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:09,160 S3: a lot of the time we take things for granted, 23 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:10,960 S3: like the little moments, the little things that we do 24 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,149 S3: all the time, whether it's going to the grocery store 25 00:01:13,150 --> 00:01:15,759 S3: with your loved one or your family member, and picking 26 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,740 S3: out your food for the week and then getting to 27 00:01:17,740 --> 00:01:19,750 S3: go eat at a restaurant and then ordering food at 28 00:01:19,750 --> 00:01:22,120 S3: that restaurant and being like, Oh crap, this isn't what 29 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,819 S3: I want and this isn't any good until you literally 30 00:01:24,970 --> 00:01:27,310 S3: don't have those options anymore. You can't do that. And 31 00:01:27,610 --> 00:01:29,950 S3: it's been a long period of time since you did 32 00:01:29,950 --> 00:01:32,860 S3: anything remotely that you enjoyed. In that moment. You start 33 00:01:32,860 --> 00:01:35,860 S3: to realize, Wow, I was overlooking all of the things 34 00:01:35,860 --> 00:01:38,320 S3: that are really special, the little moments in life that 35 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,340 S3: kind of make life what it is, beautiful and kind 36 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:45,660 S3: of just remembering those things and recollecting that while, okay, 37 00:01:45,670 --> 00:01:47,890 S3: I was I was being selfish in that moment or 38 00:01:48,130 --> 00:01:50,470 S3: I should have taken the time to enjoy this more. 39 00:01:50,710 --> 00:01:52,450 S1: I don't even know for me if it's like I 40 00:01:52,450 --> 00:01:54,370 S1: should have taken the time to enjoy it more, but 41 00:01:54,370 --> 00:01:57,670 S1: it's what it means to actually be cared about is small. 42 00:01:57,940 --> 00:02:00,550 S1: It doesn't have to be big gestures. But I think 43 00:02:00,550 --> 00:02:03,279 S1: what stands out to me most in the monologue is 44 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:04,480 S1: the dark liquor cocktail. 45 00:02:05,260 --> 00:02:08,500 S3: You knew I always wanted to drink the dark liquor cocktails, 46 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:10,660 S3: but it would make me feel worse the next morning. 47 00:02:10,660 --> 00:02:13,570 S3: So you'd let me order what I thought I wanted, 48 00:02:13,570 --> 00:02:16,950 S3: and then you'd order what I actually wanted. And then 49 00:02:16,950 --> 00:02:19,660 S3: you just let me switch into. I'd made a bad choice. 50 00:02:19,810 --> 00:02:24,070 S1: And like that. Is someone truly paying attention and truly 51 00:02:24,070 --> 00:02:28,270 S1: caring and so small and so beautiful that that always 52 00:02:28,270 --> 00:02:30,310 S1: makes me feel all mushy inside. 53 00:02:31,180 --> 00:02:34,480 S4: You So pulled off the idea that Eli is young, 54 00:02:34,690 --> 00:02:38,680 S4: has a lack of respect for authority. Certainly. And then 55 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,200 S4: all of a sudden this monologue comes and, you know, 56 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,140 S4: you find out that he's got depth. The reason why 57 00:02:44,139 --> 00:02:47,049 S4: I mentioned this part is because all of a sudden, 58 00:02:47,050 --> 00:02:51,940 S4: about a third of the way through the monologue, you're like, Oh, actually, 59 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,960 S4: Eli is whole. There is a lot to him. And 60 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,070 S4: the way Colin pulled that off was really amazing. I 61 00:03:00,070 --> 00:03:02,290 S4: think it's one of those times during this show where 62 00:03:02,290 --> 00:03:06,160 S4: it made me stop and change my mind about a character. 63 00:03:07,150 --> 00:03:07,960 S1: Snaps for Colin. 64 00:03:08,770 --> 00:03:09,610 S3: Stop it. 65 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,340 S1: I could debate with you about when you see people's 66 00:03:12,340 --> 00:03:15,250 S1: humanity because we hear his conversation with Wren before this 67 00:03:15,250 --> 00:03:19,269 S1: where he's just destroyed. And I see so much humanity 68 00:03:19,270 --> 00:03:22,330 S1: in that when someone's just shut down and angry and 69 00:03:22,330 --> 00:03:25,870 S1: you can see how broken he is because everybody in 70 00:03:25,870 --> 00:03:29,410 S1: his life has disappointed him, except for Wil, whose message 71 00:03:29,410 --> 00:03:32,890 S1: he deletes. So after he deletes the message, he makes 72 00:03:32,889 --> 00:03:35,230 S1: a new message to Alison. And we get the big 73 00:03:35,230 --> 00:03:39,670 S1: reveal that Alison, who is the CEO of Semtech, is 74 00:03:39,670 --> 00:03:41,020 S1: in fact, Eli's mom. 75 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,000 S3: Parent of the year over here. Yeah. 76 00:03:44,110 --> 00:03:46,720 S2: I mean, it's it's definitely something that had been planted 77 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,430 S2: in episode six when you're reading up Ali. 78 00:03:48,490 --> 00:03:50,620 S3: She's just like my mother crying to 11. 79 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:51,850 S1: Oh, it's your mother. 80 00:03:52,750 --> 00:03:53,890 S3: It's not in your files. 81 00:03:54,430 --> 00:03:54,750 S1: Oh. 82 00:03:55,990 --> 00:03:58,900 S2: Awesome. So like, that had been wiped from the system 83 00:03:58,900 --> 00:04:01,660 S2: for some reason. And obviously it happened because she was 84 00:04:01,660 --> 00:04:02,740 S2: the CEO of some tech. 85 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:05,050 S3: You would never program to know who my mother is. 86 00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:07,180 S3: So correct. 87 00:04:07,780 --> 00:04:10,090 S1: That information was not provided to me. 88 00:04:12,220 --> 00:04:14,170 S3: Expunged from her record from the get go. 89 00:04:15,940 --> 00:04:19,030 S2: Nice. And it just raises all sorts of questions. How 90 00:04:19,029 --> 00:04:22,210 S2: much of this mission did she know was going to happen? Right. 91 00:04:22,210 --> 00:04:25,030 S2: And how willing was she to sacrifice her son? 92 00:04:25,029 --> 00:04:26,469 S3: Yeah, I think those are kind of the things that 93 00:04:26,470 --> 00:04:30,010 S3: Eli starts to unpack in episode nine. He starts to realize, like, Mom, 94 00:04:30,010 --> 00:04:32,290 S3: you've left me up here with no support. I thought, 95 00:04:32,529 --> 00:04:35,409 S3: I think Eli probably in the back of his mind, thought, Oh, well, 96 00:04:35,410 --> 00:04:38,110 S3: you know, despite me not having all the answers upfront, 97 00:04:38,110 --> 00:04:40,180 S3: I have a resource at home that I can depend on. 98 00:04:40,180 --> 00:04:42,550 S3: And kind of the same thing with not wanting to 99 00:04:42,550 --> 00:04:45,400 S3: contact will, not wanting to lean on anything back home. 100 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,200 S3: I think it took a while, took a lot for 101 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:48,909 S3: Eli to get to that breaking point to go, Mom, 102 00:04:48,910 --> 00:04:53,230 S3: I need your help. And when there's no answer, it's 103 00:04:53,230 --> 00:04:54,490 S3: very lonely and depressing. 104 00:04:54,550 --> 00:04:56,799 S1: Oh, God. It breaks my heart all over again. No, 105 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,279 S1: it wasn't Eli. So I had Mom. 106 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:08,820 S3: Please respond. Mask. Please provide some instructions and answers. 107 00:05:09,900 --> 00:05:13,170 S1: So we had we had one rehearsal, I think. Right. 108 00:05:13,170 --> 00:05:15,029 S1: So it was like a zoom call that we hopped 109 00:05:15,029 --> 00:05:16,589 S1: on and we kind of talked through the script. It 110 00:05:16,589 --> 00:05:19,500 S1: wasn't even officially a rehearsal rehearsal, but we kind of 111 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:23,100 S1: talked through like where Eli is mentally in each of 112 00:05:23,100 --> 00:05:26,460 S1: these scenes, and he is all over the map and he, 113 00:05:26,460 --> 00:05:29,130 S1: you know, he's panicking because he doesn't want to die, 114 00:05:29,130 --> 00:05:31,500 S1: but also he's on a whole bunch of happy pills 115 00:05:31,500 --> 00:05:34,410 S1: from Jessa. And there's a lot for you to be 116 00:05:34,410 --> 00:05:38,669 S1: juggling as a performer. And I would love to hear 117 00:05:38,670 --> 00:05:41,700 S1: about how you juggle that or what your process was. 118 00:05:41,970 --> 00:05:44,580 S3: Well, I have to say that you both were a 119 00:05:44,580 --> 00:05:47,820 S3: major help and guidance, and especially being in the room 120 00:05:47,820 --> 00:05:49,589 S3: and kind of going through all these things with me. 121 00:05:49,589 --> 00:05:52,140 S3: But I think it was just taking these things step 122 00:05:52,140 --> 00:05:54,630 S3: by step. Is he like normal Eli now? Is he 123 00:05:54,630 --> 00:05:56,429 S3: hopped up on these happy pills now? So kind of 124 00:05:56,430 --> 00:05:59,670 S3: just taking those little things and injecting them a little 125 00:05:59,670 --> 00:06:01,950 S3: by little into Eli was helpful and me kind of 126 00:06:01,950 --> 00:06:05,190 S3: creating the overall character from beginning to end. We see 127 00:06:05,190 --> 00:06:07,860 S3: Eli changing kind of different ways, but still, deep down, 128 00:06:07,860 --> 00:06:10,289 S3: he's the same person. I almost feel like as things 129 00:06:10,290 --> 00:06:13,680 S3: get worse and things progress on the ship. Eli starts 130 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:15,780 S3: to kind of unpack his bags from home and unpack 131 00:06:15,779 --> 00:06:18,150 S3: the things he left behind and everything starts to pour out. 132 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,540 S2: Eli panics a lot, like the moment things go wrong, 133 00:06:21,540 --> 00:06:24,420 S2: he panics you as an actor, I felt bad for 134 00:06:24,420 --> 00:06:27,300 S2: you watching you do those moments because I was like, Oh, no. 135 00:06:27,300 --> 00:06:30,390 S2: He is putting himself in emotional distress for this moment. 136 00:06:30,810 --> 00:06:33,120 S2: Can you talk about how you got into those mindsets? 137 00:06:33,779 --> 00:06:36,119 S3: Yeah, I think I just tried to place myself in 138 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,070 S3: that environment. I tried to be like if I was 139 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,430 S3: literally at the edge of the earth or in space 140 00:06:41,430 --> 00:06:44,580 S3: and I had no resources, nothing left to do, how 141 00:06:44,580 --> 00:06:47,190 S3: would I act? And a lot of people either handle 142 00:06:47,190 --> 00:06:49,440 S3: pressure really well and can kind of stay with a 143 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,460 S3: clear mind. And personally, I do not even call and 144 00:06:52,529 --> 00:06:55,350 S3: I do not I tend to panic and I kind 145 00:06:55,350 --> 00:06:57,479 S3: of just put myself in his shoes and go, Oh 146 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,500 S3: my gosh, if I literally had nothing left, no resources whatsoever, 147 00:07:01,770 --> 00:07:04,349 S3: how would I act? And I probably would embarrass myself 148 00:07:04,350 --> 00:07:08,310 S3: because I would be panicking like a baby. And that's 149 00:07:08,310 --> 00:07:09,900 S3: how I saw Eli do it as well. 150 00:07:10,380 --> 00:07:12,900 S4: Can you count down in four languages? 151 00:07:13,650 --> 00:07:19,140 S3: No, I can't. Eli can, you know, you know, was 152 00:07:19,140 --> 00:07:22,820 S3: a wren who only learned Russian in science terms. Yeah. 153 00:07:22,980 --> 00:07:26,180 S3: So I think Eli, I learned all the Russian. So. Yeah, 154 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,590 S3: just to show off. Just to show off as hell. 155 00:07:28,590 --> 00:07:30,840 S3: And that's the thing. He's too smart for his own good, 156 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,930 S3: like I said earlier. But when push comes to shove 157 00:07:33,930 --> 00:07:36,300 S3: and he gets put in these trying situations, his age 158 00:07:36,300 --> 00:07:39,660 S3: really shines through. You see the lack of maturity and 159 00:07:39,660 --> 00:07:41,940 S3: the innocence in being young. 160 00:07:42,300 --> 00:07:47,430 S1: And there's a lot more to hear about our dear Eli. 161 00:07:47,670 --> 00:07:49,619 S1: Be sure to check out the full conversation on the 162 00:07:49,620 --> 00:07:53,070 S1: solar panel available only on our Apple Podcasts Premium Channel.