WEBVTT - A Moment Behind the Scenes with Eli (Colin Ford) 0:00:06.050 --> 0:00:08.299 Eli is one of those characters you love to hate, 0:00:08.450 --> 0:00:10.220 but he's got a lot more going on beneath the 0:00:10.220 --> 0:00:13.580 surface than meets the eye. This is director Jenni Curtis. 0:00:13.610 --> 0:00:16.820 Here's an excerpt of when creator Chris Porter, executive producer 0:00:16.820 --> 0:00:19.700 Bill Curtis and I sat down with actor Colin Ford 0:00:19.970 --> 0:00:22.610 to talk about the twists and turns of Semtech mission 0:00:22.610 --> 0:00:24.020 specialist Eli Wright. 0:00:27.580 --> 0:00:29.770 Everybody goes through ups and downs. And I wrote this 0:00:29.770 --> 0:00:33.190 particular part of the show during a down period because 0:00:33.190 --> 0:00:36.220 of the pandemic and everything. And my family lives 3000 0:00:36.220 --> 0:00:40.270 miles away in Maryland. I don't remember exactly what circumstance 0:00:40.270 --> 0:00:42.130 it was like probably around my birthday or something where 0:00:42.130 --> 0:00:44.229 like we were zooming in, like I couldn't go out 0:00:44.229 --> 0:00:46.180 and I live alone with just a cat that was down. 0:00:46.190 --> 0:00:48.100 So like a lot of the stuff that Eli does 0:00:48.100 --> 0:00:50.559 say about like I missed at a time plays with 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:53.199 their stupid bread. A lot of that was coming from 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.060 me in that particular moment. 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.480 I was clouds. I miss grass, I miss cocktails and 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:04.060 friends and even that Italian place with their stupid bread 0:01:04.060 --> 0:01:07.539 and stupid butter. And I miss you. And I think 0:01:07.540 --> 0:01:09.160 a lot of the time we take things for granted, 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:10.960 like the little moments, the little things that we do 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.149 all the time, whether it's going to the grocery store 0:01:13.150 --> 0:01:15.759 with your loved one or your family member, and picking 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:17.740 out your food for the week and then getting to 0:01:17.740 --> 0:01:19.750 go eat at a restaurant and then ordering food at 0:01:19.750 --> 0:01:22.120 that restaurant and being like, Oh crap, this isn't what 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.819 I want and this isn't any good until you literally 0:01:24.970 --> 0:01:27.310 don't have those options anymore. You can't do that. And 0:01:27.610 --> 0:01:29.950 it's been a long period of time since you did 0:01:29.950 --> 0:01:32.860 anything remotely that you enjoyed. In that moment. You start 0:01:32.860 --> 0:01:35.860 to realize, Wow, I was overlooking all of the things 0:01:35.860 --> 0:01:38.320 that are really special, the little moments in life that 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:42.340 kind of make life what it is, beautiful and kind 0:01:42.340 --> 0:01:45.660 of just remembering those things and recollecting that while, okay, 0:01:45.670 --> 0:01:47.890 I was I was being selfish in that moment or 0:01:48.130 --> 0:01:50.470 I should have taken the time to enjoy this more. 0:01:50.710 --> 0:01:52.450 I don't even know for me if it's like I 0:01:52.450 --> 0:01:54.370 should have taken the time to enjoy it more, but 0:01:54.370 --> 0:01:57.670 it's what it means to actually be cared about is small. 0:01:57.940 --> 0:02:00.550 It doesn't have to be big gestures. But I think 0:02:00.550 --> 0:02:03.279 what stands out to me most in the monologue is 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:04.480 the dark liquor cocktail. 0:02:05.260 --> 0:02:08.500 You knew I always wanted to drink the dark liquor cocktails, 0:02:08.500 --> 0:02:10.660 but it would make me feel worse the next morning. 0:02:10.660 --> 0:02:13.570 So you'd let me order what I thought I wanted, 0:02:13.570 --> 0:02:16.950 and then you'd order what I actually wanted. And then 0:02:16.950 --> 0:02:19.660 you just let me switch into. I'd made a bad choice. 0:02:19.810 --> 0:02:24.070 And like that. Is someone truly paying attention and truly 0:02:24.070 --> 0:02:28.270 caring and so small and so beautiful that that always 0:02:28.270 --> 0:02:30.310 makes me feel all mushy inside. 0:02:31.180 --> 0:02:34.480 You So pulled off the idea that Eli is young, 0:02:34.690 --> 0:02:38.680 has a lack of respect for authority. Certainly. And then 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.200 all of a sudden this monologue comes and, you know, 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.140 you find out that he's got depth. The reason why 0:02:44.139 --> 0:02:47.049 I mentioned this part is because all of a sudden, 0:02:47.050 --> 0:02:51.940 about a third of the way through the monologue, you're like, Oh, actually, 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.960 Eli is whole. There is a lot to him. And 0:02:55.960 --> 0:03:00.070 the way Colin pulled that off was really amazing. I 0:03:00.070 --> 0:03:02.290 think it's one of those times during this show where 0:03:02.290 --> 0:03:06.160 it made me stop and change my mind about a character. 0:03:07.150 --> 0:03:07.960 Snaps for Colin. 0:03:08.770 --> 0:03:09.610 Stop it. 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.340 I could debate with you about when you see people's 0:03:12.340 --> 0:03:15.250 humanity because we hear his conversation with Wren before this 0:03:15.250 --> 0:03:19.269 where he's just destroyed. And I see so much humanity 0:03:19.270 --> 0:03:22.330 in that when someone's just shut down and angry and 0:03:22.330 --> 0:03:25.870 you can see how broken he is because everybody in 0:03:25.870 --> 0:03:29.410 his life has disappointed him, except for Wil, whose message 0:03:29.410 --> 0:03:32.890 he deletes. So after he deletes the message, he makes 0:03:32.889 --> 0:03:35.230 a new message to Alison. And we get the big 0:03:35.230 --> 0:03:39.670 reveal that Alison, who is the CEO of Semtech, is 0:03:39.670 --> 0:03:41.020 in fact, Eli's mom. 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.000 Parent of the year over here. Yeah. 0:03:44.110 --> 0:03:46.720 I mean, it's it's definitely something that had been planted 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:48.430 in episode six when you're reading up Ali. 0:03:48.490 --> 0:03:50.620 She's just like my mother crying to 11. 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:51.850 Oh, it's your mother. 0:03:52.750 --> 0:03:53.890 It's not in your files. 0:03:54.430 --> 0:03:54.750 Oh. 0:03:55.990 --> 0:03:58.900 Awesome. So like, that had been wiped from the system 0:03:58.900 --> 0:04:01.660 for some reason. And obviously it happened because she was 0:04:01.660 --> 0:04:02.740 the CEO of some tech. 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.050 You would never program to know who my mother is. 0:04:06.550 --> 0:04:07.180 So correct. 0:04:07.780 --> 0:04:10.090 That information was not provided to me. 0:04:12.220 --> 0:04:14.170 Expunged from her record from the get go. 0:04:15.940 --> 0:04:19.030 Nice. And it just raises all sorts of questions. How 0:04:19.029 --> 0:04:22.210 much of this mission did she know was going to happen? Right. 0:04:22.210 --> 0:04:25.030 And how willing was she to sacrifice her son? 0:04:25.029 --> 0:04:26.469 Yeah, I think those are kind of the things that 0:04:26.470 --> 0:04:30.010 Eli starts to unpack in episode nine. He starts to realize, like, Mom, 0:04:30.010 --> 0:04:32.290 you've left me up here with no support. I thought, 0:04:32.529 --> 0:04:35.409 I think Eli probably in the back of his mind, thought, Oh, well, 0:04:35.410 --> 0:04:38.110 you know, despite me not having all the answers upfront, 0:04:38.110 --> 0:04:40.180 I have a resource at home that I can depend on. 0:04:40.180 --> 0:04:42.550 And kind of the same thing with not wanting to 0:04:42.550 --> 0:04:45.400 contact will, not wanting to lean on anything back home. 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:47.200 I think it took a while, took a lot for 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:48.909 Eli to get to that breaking point to go, Mom, 0:04:48.910 --> 0:04:53.230 I need your help. And when there's no answer, it's 0:04:53.230 --> 0:04:54.490 very lonely and depressing. 0:04:54.550 --> 0:04:56.799 Oh, God. It breaks my heart all over again. No, 0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:00.279 it wasn't Eli. So I had Mom. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:08.820 Please respond. Mask. Please provide some instructions and answers. 0:05:09.900 --> 0:05:13.170 So we had we had one rehearsal, I think. Right. 0:05:13.170 --> 0:05:15.029 So it was like a zoom call that we hopped 0:05:15.029 --> 0:05:16.589 on and we kind of talked through the script. It 0:05:16.589 --> 0:05:19.500 wasn't even officially a rehearsal rehearsal, but we kind of 0:05:19.500 --> 0:05:23.100 talked through like where Eli is mentally in each of 0:05:23.100 --> 0:05:26.460 these scenes, and he is all over the map and he, 0:05:26.460 --> 0:05:29.130 you know, he's panicking because he doesn't want to die, 0:05:29.130 --> 0:05:31.500 but also he's on a whole bunch of happy pills 0:05:31.500 --> 0:05:34.410 from Jessa. And there's a lot for you to be 0:05:34.410 --> 0:05:38.669 juggling as a performer. And I would love to hear 0:05:38.670 --> 0:05:41.700 about how you juggle that or what your process was. 0:05:41.970 --> 0:05:44.580 Well, I have to say that you both were a 0:05:44.580 --> 0:05:47.820 major help and guidance, and especially being in the room 0:05:47.820 --> 0:05:49.589 and kind of going through all these things with me. 0:05:49.589 --> 0:05:52.140 But I think it was just taking these things step 0:05:52.140 --> 0:05:54.630 by step. Is he like normal Eli now? Is he 0:05:54.630 --> 0:05:56.429 hopped up on these happy pills now? So kind of 0:05:56.430 --> 0:05:59.670 just taking those little things and injecting them a little 0:05:59.670 --> 0:06:01.950 by little into Eli was helpful and me kind of 0:06:01.950 --> 0:06:05.190 creating the overall character from beginning to end. We see 0:06:05.190 --> 0:06:07.860 Eli changing kind of different ways, but still, deep down, 0:06:07.860 --> 0:06:10.289 he's the same person. I almost feel like as things 0:06:10.290 --> 0:06:13.680 get worse and things progress on the ship. Eli starts 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:15.780 to kind of unpack his bags from home and unpack 0:06:15.779 --> 0:06:18.150 the things he left behind and everything starts to pour out. 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.540 Eli panics a lot, like the moment things go wrong, 0:06:21.540 --> 0:06:24.420 he panics you as an actor, I felt bad for 0:06:24.420 --> 0:06:27.300 you watching you do those moments because I was like, Oh, no. 0:06:27.300 --> 0:06:30.390 He is putting himself in emotional distress for this moment. 0:06:30.810 --> 0:06:33.120 Can you talk about how you got into those mindsets? 0:06:33.779 --> 0:06:36.119 Yeah, I think I just tried to place myself in 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.070 that environment. I tried to be like if I was 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.430 literally at the edge of the earth or in space 0:06:41.430 --> 0:06:44.580 and I had no resources, nothing left to do, how 0:06:44.580 --> 0:06:47.190 would I act? And a lot of people either handle 0:06:47.190 --> 0:06:49.440 pressure really well and can kind of stay with a 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.460 clear mind. And personally, I do not even call and 0:06:52.529 --> 0:06:55.350 I do not I tend to panic and I kind 0:06:55.350 --> 0:06:57.479 of just put myself in his shoes and go, Oh 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:01.500 my gosh, if I literally had nothing left, no resources whatsoever, 0:07:01.770 --> 0:07:04.349 how would I act? And I probably would embarrass myself 0:07:04.350 --> 0:07:08.310 because I would be panicking like a baby. And that's 0:07:08.310 --> 0:07:09.900 how I saw Eli do it as well. 0:07:10.380 --> 0:07:12.900 Can you count down in four languages? 0:07:13.650 --> 0:07:19.140 No, I can't. Eli can, you know, you know, was 0:07:19.140 --> 0:07:22.820 a wren who only learned Russian in science terms. Yeah. 0:07:22.980 --> 0:07:26.180 So I think Eli, I learned all the Russian. So. Yeah, 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:28.590 just to show off. Just to show off as hell. 0:07:28.590 --> 0:07:30.840 And that's the thing. He's too smart for his own good, 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.930 like I said earlier. But when push comes to shove 0:07:33.930 --> 0:07:36.300 and he gets put in these trying situations, his age 0:07:36.300 --> 0:07:39.660 really shines through. You see the lack of maturity and 0:07:39.660 --> 0:07:41.940 the innocence in being young. 0:07:42.300 --> 0:07:47.430 And there's a lot more to hear about our dear Eli. 0:07:47.670 --> 0:07:49.619 Be sure to check out the full conversation on the 0:07:49.620 --> 0:07:53.070 solar panel available only on our Apple Podcasts Premium Channel.