Exclusive Interview with Sachin Sahel from CW’s The 100 and The X-Files Revival

In honor of Season 2 of The 100 being released on Netflix US this Saturday, October 31st (HALLOWEEN!), I had the privilege of talking with the pretty darn amazing Sachin Sahel this week. Sachin plays the ever-faithful Dr. Jackson on The 100 and will be seen in The X-Files Revival as Jack Budd. He’s also had guest roles on such fan favorite Sci-Fi shows as Fringe, Smallville, Supernatural, and Arrow. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, this Indian-Canadian actor has made an art form of positive living and being an incredible human being. Continue reading below to get a taste of what the man behind the character is really like.

Are we going to see more of Jackson this season? 

“Jackson didn’t die at the end of season two so he should still be around.”

Well, yeah.

“(chuckles)”

He’s there and steady and…

“The thing I say about Jackson is that he’s always there when he’s needed. I’m like the sword of Gryffindor [from Harry Potter]. I’m there whenever I’m called upon. (Laughs)”

You seem like you’re one of the least effected by all of the traumatic events. 

“It’s because he – you know what? Jackson as a dude, he’s a doctor. He’s seen a lot. He’s seen, quite a bit. Oh, you mean Sachin or Jackson?”

Jackson.

“As a doctor, his aim is to be as objective as possible, and to be objective, I guess, he doesn’t try to show – he can’t show when somebody’s in pain. He can go later on one day and deal with it by himself, but when you’re there and you’re doing some surgery or you’re dealing with death, it’s your job to deal with it in a professional manner. As a doctor. That’s what I’ve learned. Abby does a great job of that as well, and I think he’s learned that from her. You know, the hippocratic oath is deeply entrenched in him. He wants to make people feel better and they’re not gonna feel better if he is himself upset.

I think the one time that Jackson was the most emotional was when Abby was getting shock-lashed. It was a brief little thing but that’s not him acting as a professional, that’s his friend being hurt, being tortured almost. So that, I think, really deeply effected him. And I think he isn’t exactly the happiest dude as it is so you don’t get to see the smile often. So while most people get their smiling moments, he is too busy, I think. ‘Cause there’s always gonna be something to do, always gonna be someone in medical, someone’s always gonna be in pain.”

So he’s always internalizing.

“He has to. I think that’s part of his job, that’s his MO. I mean, how many doctors do you see around when they give you that bad news, not being a doctor? You kinda gotta, he’s gotta put his own feelings aside so he can do his job the best he can do.”

I used to work in an emergency room so I’m trying to think of it from that perspective. But because I worked there, I got to see behind the scenes, too…

“Well, remember that behind the scenes moment when Jackson and Abby were talking after that girl died at the end of season one? He actually has a down moment with Abby, there’s emotion in that scene, but whenever [Thelonious] Jaha [played by Isaiah Washington], [Marcus] Kane [played by Henry Ian Cusick], or anybody else around, he’s gotta present himself in a certain light. They look at him in a professional manner and not as weak.”

Ok, that makes sense. 

“He’s definitely been impacted by the ramifications of season two so I definitely think that will bleed into season three a little bit.”

This question comes from a fan on Twitter. What are your thoughts on the ‘renowned’ Jackson Fandom?

“Ohh. I do talk about the Jackson Fandom here and there. The Jackson Fandom is weirdly all over the place. We have Brazilian fans, a lot of German fans are really in the Jackson Fandom. I’m really impressed by them all. They’re really loyal Jacksonites.”

Awesome!

“But if you relate to Jackson, I like you, because he’s the nicest dude.”

He is.

“Yeah, I love playing Jackson so much because his moral compass is so strong. He wants the best for people. He’s the person that should be a doctor. You know, I don’t imagine he just went to sleep, I don’t imagine he does much for himself besides making sure that everybody’s in perfect health, especially Abby [Griffin, played by Paige Turco]. Because she’s his mentor, his base of knowledge, she’s…

She’s Abby.

“She’s fricking Abby! Everybody loves her. She’s gotta be taken care of, I think, too. She’s like the main thing he thinks about because she doesn’t take care of herself, like myself. But because she’s so important and integral to everybody, she has to be taken care of.

But I do love my Jackson Fandom. They’re adorable.” 

They are. There are so many individual fandoms within the overall fandom, it’s unbelievable. 

“Yeah. The fans of the show are some of the best fans that I’ve seen. They’re just so deeply entrenched in the mythology and they care so much about everything that they won’t…personally, from us, from an actor’s standpoint, they won’t let us get away with anything fake. Which I love. Because they understand our characters almost as much as we do ourselves. (Laughs). I know the writers are really good at making sure that they don’t allow the fandom to adjust what they’re doing, because that’s what makes the show so good, that they’re doing their own vision of it. But for us as actors, they [the fandom] understand our characters very well and they want what’s best for them. Specifically. I’m very impressed with the fans of the show for sure. Worldwide.”

Yeah. I think I’ve only seen that with one other fandom. Well, one other fandom that I’ve been in. And that was Veronica Mars. And if you know anything about Veronica Mars, you know what the fandom did. 

“Absolutely. They kept that show breathing for so long, because it deserved to be, you know? It was something special for sure. There are a certain few shows that are just… there’s something special about them. You can tell when you’re on set or when you’re watching that there’s just a ‘je ne sais quoi’ or ‘I need to see this through, I need to know what’s going on’ and I believe in everybody. And that extends from the writers – Jason Rothenberg [creator of the show] – down to the writers, down to the cast.

Everybody on this show is a ‘grinder.’ That’s what I call them. They work their butts off and they want it to be the best product it can be and be a real living, breathing entity as if it’s existing somewhere on some planet, this alternate universe that we’re living in. They want it to be believable and real and they just do a great job of it, of grounding it in that reality. It’s beautiful to get to read these scripts.”

What is usually your first reaction when you get a new script?

“Holy shit. There’s never an episode that doesn’t make me go ‘Holy shit.’ I don’t think I’ve gotten one where I wasn’t like, ‘What?! No way.’ Because I think with this show, it doesn’t – it runs on ‘not.’ It’s not gonna wait for anybody. If you haven’t caught up from last episode, what you’re reeling from, you will not be able to catch up for the next episode. So you’re always at a place of, ‘What? Where? How? What could they possibly do next?’

I remember in the first season, um, spoiler alert, when the Ark came down (laughs) and you think, ‘Where are they gonna go from here? Oh wait. Season two.’  And they did something completely…yeah. I couldn’t think of it. And that’s what I think the exciting thing is. Reading something and being like, ‘I did not think this was where it was going to go.’ And not have any clue mentally. I wasn’t prepared. If we ourselves are not prepared in the characters that we’re living, then I think the audience is not going to be prepared, either. It’s not dark for the sake of dark. It’s dark because that’s the reality that we’re living in.”

That’s one of my favorite things about the show. There are so many shows where you’ve either seen it before but there’s a new little twist or you can predict almost from day one how it’s gonna end or what course it’s gonna take. And I’m lucky if I can predict a single thing with this show.

“A single character arc. It’s hard to actually – even ourselves, we have to always be prepared to do something fresh, new, exciting, and frightening because you don’t know what you’re gonna do. You have no idea.”

Yeah.

“Yeah.”

What is the body count, if you even know at this point, of characters we actually know and care about? 

“I couldn’t tell you. To be honest. Season one and two, astronomical body counts. And I just think, again, in season three it’s gonna be grounded in more realism and if somebody’s in a bad situation, then who knows what could happen. Just always never be ready. Because you never know what’s going to happen or what’s not gonna happen. You’ll be prepared, like, ‘Oh no, this person’s out,’ and then they’re not, you know? You never know. They don’t do it just for the sake of – yeah, a lot of shows nowadays are killing or the sake of the shock value. This show only does it if it’s necessary. So, just, who knows what’s gonna happen?”

Yeah. So every time you get a script, you’re afraid for Jackson.

“I’m afraid for Jackson even while I’m acting. (Laughs). I mean, I think I’m afraid for everybody at this point. This world is so random and strange that it, that there’s no real rhyme…there’s no real…you don’t know what you’re going to do when you walk down the street or what’s going to happen. It’s life. We all take those moments for granted, but in this show, I guess, the stakes are raised so much higher that walking across the street is a dangerous thing to do, you know? Yeah, I’m gonna go do some random mundane thing today and, um, who knows? But it’s definitely great because it keeps you working. It keeps you wanting to explore new moments, for Jackson for example, so that I can see what his life is like and kind of live in those moments. Those real, real heavy moments.”

What are your top three favorite things about being part of The 100?

“Number one is the cast. These are the greatest people. I mean, I’ve made the best friends, I think, since I moved from Alberta, with these guys. Their work is next level. Their friendship is next level, their loyalty, and they just care about the work and everybody else. They’re just such great individuals. I don’t know who was in that casting room that cast all these people, I know Jason Rothenberg and all the producers, but they just…besides the fact that these people can all do their job magnificently where all of us can learn, where I can learn from watching them – I mean, my first day on set I was walking Paige Turco to be floated with Isaiah Washington and Ian Cusick standing there. So that’s just – that was a day in to me, for me specifically. But, the cast as a whole, they just care about making the show the best it can be.

Two: the script. You just get to read some stuff and do some stuff that you will never ever get to do again. Thinking in terms of my acting career. What’s gonna go from now on, when am I ever gonna be in a show like this where I’m doing these things and these things are existing in reality, where it’s gonna be grounded and exciting to pick up a script? Every time. And third, I would say just being able to play Jackson. I love everything about him. I love the guy that he is and the guy that he wants to be.”

How much do you get to interact with the writers when they’re there doing the production side? 

“They’re all in LA so we don’t actually – they’re busy breaking down the scripts so usually the writer of the episode will be up in Vancouver when it’s filming. So, at least then we can go to lunch with them, we can talk to them, etc. but for most of the time, they’re there hunkered down, breaking scripts and making the show come alive from LA, so to talk to them all at once, I mean, we’ve all planned like when I’m down in LA, I’m gonna go see all of them, ’cause they’re all just so cool. You’ve seen from Twitter. They’re just a bunch of dope individuals sitting around a room. Like, I would like to sit in that room one day, but yeah, we do get to see them when they come up for their episodes, which is nice.”

Yeah. I was talking to Shawna [Benson, one of the writers] on Twitter and she’s just fantastic. 

“She was here for three weeks. I got to go have lunch and hang out with her a bunch. She is one of the – uff, oh man – that brain is just great, and she’s just smart, intelligent, and again just wants this show to be everything it can be. She just loves doing it so much. As we all do. Yeah. She’s great.”

Yeah. It’s like you said. I don’t know how Jason and whoever else was there with him, if it was Kim [Shumway, another writer] and whoever, decided who was going to be on that writing staff, but WOW.

“They crushed it. I think, universally, for this show, I just say they crushed it. From the writing to the casting to the producers to picking the CGI they were gonna do. I mean, all of it, the music of the show. I think, overall, from top to bottom, from beginning to end they just did a clean sweep. There hasn’t been anyone on the show or who’s come on the show that I haven’t been completely impressed by.”

Ok. There was one piece of CGI that I have to say was laughable. Pauna. 

“Oh god! Pauna! That’s a thing where you’re like, ‘What the hell?! Is that a gorilla???’ That’s one of those things, one of the great things about our show. There were animals running around in the zoo. The whole thing was well-made. So you have to ask, why wouldn’t there be an animal out? A crazy wild animal that you’d never see? We had zoos. This is just the reality of this world. It definitely could happen in this universe. I mean, I know a lot of people think, ‘Oh, it’s a gorilla running around, what’s the probability of that?’ Pretty high. Where would he go live in the forest? He would go there, hang out, but the zoo’s still there so why wouldn’t he go into the forest, find something to eat, and go home?”

Yeah…it was just so random. 

“Exactly. That’s the show, though. It’s the same thing with everything. It’s not gonna wait, it’s not gonna do the things you were expecting. It’s gonna hit you with things you’re not expecting and then unexpect the unexpected.”

Right. Well, that’s kind of like Finn’s death. Because they were building toward it, we were expecting his death.

“Exactly.”

And then, it actually happened.

“It actually happened. Because they will save people who you will never think to save. They will kill people who you were expecting to die, but not expecting to die because they looked so in your – just they’re so smart in how they do it. Because the reason that you can never guess, it’s kinda like sports betting. You can bet on the best team, but somebody’s gonna come out there and have a great game that you didn’t expect. Something’s gonna happen. And sometimes, the best team will win. You know, it’s just, whatever is right for the show, whatever is right for the reality of the show, whatever will give that true moment, will happen.”

I love that. 

“While they’re sitting around in that writers room talking about options. For example, with Finn, what would happen if we did kill him? What would happen if we didn’t? If they didn’t kill him, what happens? The army, the blood, everything goes to just – they had to. Even if we were expecting it, it had to happen.

I almost don’t envy their position. Because it’s like, oh man. Think about making those choices. I think it would be just a daunting task. At the end of the day, that is a tough, it’s a tough job to have and they do it really well, breaking those scripts and stuff like that. That’s why every time I get one, I say, ‘Holy shit.’ 

We’re so lucky that we’re not on some…just, there’s nothing floofy about this show. That’s all I’m gonna say. There’s no foof, there’s no floof.”

No. Well, and like you said, it’s its own world but it’s so based in reality. I think that’s why people can relate to it. 

“People can relate to it. Exactly. Because it’s grounded in a truth, that this is the world – granted, yeah, the world they’re living in is higher stakes, but who’s to say that this isn’t reality? Who’s to say that 97 years later, after the apocalypse, we won’t have to find a way back because we’re stuck in space with nothing? And then we come down here and people have survived. It’s grounded in a sense of reality that I think it’s just life. Which is why it works so well. Because they never, they never jump the shark.”

Right. And at the same time, I think, for me – and this is what drew me in with Veronica Mars along with its relatability, too – but it’s that stuff is constantly happening, constantly happening, it’s like my life, but the stakes are so much higher, so it’s like, “Finally! It’s fiction, but there’s finally something that’s worse than what’s going on in my life constantly!”

“(Laughs) Exactly! Oh man. That’s why you relate! I love that. ‘These people have a worse time than I have in this reality’.”  

Exactly. Have you done anything that’s not out of Vancouver? 

“No, actually. Everything that I’ve worked on has been here, surprisingly. Most people have to go other places, but Vancouver has been very good to me over the last couple years. I’m out here and, Magicians, X-Files was out here that I just filmed, there’s a new show coming out called You, Me, Her that I did a couple of episodes on. I did a couple of movies over the summer. And they’re all just filmed up here so it’s…I think ’cause of the Canadian dollar, I think a lot more productions are coming out here, but in any case, there are just a lot of things here that people want to film and it makes it easy that I’m out here. So Vancouver is a brimming metropolis right now.”

Awesome. Is that where you want to stay? Or are you wanting to, at some point, hit Toronto, LA, whatever? 

“I will go literally wherever. I’ve never been steered wrong if I just kind of listen to the wind. I know that sounds kind of strange. I see the world as having a definite trajectory, a definite sense to it, like how to go from A to B, and whenever the time to go to B is, I’ve always been told very strictly by the world and that’s what I do.

I know it sounds kind of strange, but I’ve never been steered wrong with just listening with…not even my gut. It’s just, the world does something to say, ‘Hey, no. It’s time to go.’ And we just go. And things have been great.”

I kinda like that. I wish I could do that more. 

“I can’t say that it’s the easiest thing to do. Because sometimes the world kicks us in the ass in the process of telling you what to do, but you definitely have to listen and go. It’s definitely hard for the first little bit sometimes but the end game is always… the world is working for you and it wants you to be everything that you’re supposed to be so you just gotta listen.”

So what was it like to do X-Files?

“Um, it’s just…mine and my dad’s dream come true. It was one of those life moments that you think will never happen. You know? Like, ‘Oh man, it would be great to be on X-Files, man. That show is awesome. I loved it.’ I used to hide in my room when my brother was watching it as a kid. My dad loved it as well.

David Duchovny [who plays Fox Mulder] is just the coolest man on the planet. And Gillian Anderson [who plays Dana Scully] is just the coolest person. David, he would just sing show tunes and do Jeff Goldblum impressions all day while on set, sooo…to be able to do that with David Duchovny as Mulder…those aren’t the scenes, but, you know…(chuckles) he’s walking in and we’re joking around and to get to play around with David Duchovny who’s just great was a great moment in my life. Definitely a mark off the bucket list for sure.

I walked into the audition room and was like, ‘I’m getting this. This is a necessity, so…’ Nobody else in the room – I was just gonna put stuff in their water, do whatever it took (laughs, but thankfully the audition worked out, so it’s nice.”

Good! I think that X-Files is one of only a few shows besides The 100 that is sooo insistent on keeping everything a secret.

“Yeah, as well they should. I mean, the problem with social media, one of the big problems with social media – there are a couple of problems with it, to be honest. There are some great things, but – one of the biggest problems is with the secrecy of television shows. You want to maintain – I’m a big spoiler alert guy. I don’t like spoilers, at all. I don’t want to hear them, I don’t want to know them, I don’t want to give them. I want you to not expect a thing.

When my friends ask how a movie was, I don’t even tell them. I just say, ‘Go watch it.’ I don’t like spoiling anything. When stuff randomly gets out, that really bugs me. Like I don’t want to know if Jon Snow [from Game of Thrones] is alive or not. I don’t want to know. Let me watch it. I don’t want to be scrolling through and somebody’s posted a picture, and now I know. I don’t want that. That’s why the show works so well. Because then you can sit and actually watch it and enjoy it every second as opposed to being like, ‘Oh my god, this is gonna happen,’ and being prepared. I never wanna be prepared for anything. Life is chaos. Don’t prepare me. Let me just jump in and see what happens.”

Definitely. So, with social media, that [spoilers] is one of the bad things. What are the other good and bad things to it? From your perspective.

“To be able to connect with fans and be able to talk to them about the show and characters and seeing their support of it and how deeply invested people are is a great, great thing. I love that we can talk to them and we can really feel their love for it and talk to them about our love for it, too. I’m not a person that hides my love for the show. I love that I can share that with people who watch the show. So that’s exciting for me.

Negatives about it is just the…I’m very much against any sort of bullying whatsoever. Kids growing up are walking potentials. And for somebody to knock that potential or to make it so that potential can’t shine because they’re worried about shining really bugs me. Twitter does that from time to time when people are…and these aren’t the people I want to interact with or have them be in direct contact with myself because negativity is not gonna be a part of my world and if you’re gonna be negative, I don’t think you should say anything. I think you should keep that to yourself.

You’re allowed to be passionate, and to care but don’t knock other people for caring about different things. Opinions are opinions for a reason. You’re allowed to have them. It’s your god-given right as a person, to have an opinion. Have an opinion, but don’t knock other people’s if they’re different from yours ’cause nobody’s wrong.”

Right. So was that kind of your inspiration for your “tweets of wisdom”?

“A hundred percent. I just want people to be the best people they can be. I want everyone’s potential to be reached. There is enough everything for everybody to go around. You know what I mean? I just think everybody has – we all try to keep ourselves down for some reason, as people. We try for some reason, our brains, to keep ourselves down. As long as you don’t keep yourself down, nobody else can keep you down. If you yourself know who you are internally, externally, and who you are to other people, nobody can take that away from you.”

That is so true.

“When I feel motivated, I want other people to be motivated as well. ‘Cause that excites me. Motivation excites me.” 

How has that mindset worked for you in auditions? 

“For sure. I mean, I’m a Canadian-Indian actor so there is going to be a preconceived notion about what I’m capable of doing and what my ceiling is. It’s just my job to go in there and break it. And be me. Just go in there and do you. So that comes from preparation, not being lazy, and going in there and showing every ounce of everything you have. I think you have to give – there is no day off. I think.

There’s like a code that I live by. It’s called the ‘Every Day is Tuesday.’ There are no Mondays where there are extremely down days. There are no Saturdays that are extremely party crazy up days. You can live your life on a Tuesday and have a great day or have a not so great day but at the end of the day it’s just Tuesday. There’s gonna be another day. So we just find a place of peace and do our work. Because Tuesday’s the day of the week that if you have a 9-5 job, you just go in there and do your job and you don’t necessarily even think about it.

I try to live every day like it’s Tuesday and just go in there and show the people, show them the best of you. Now, granted, you’re gonna have off days. It’s gonna happen. You’re gonna have amazing days. But you can’t take any of those to heart, because there’s still another day that you have to get through. And just continue truckin’. Yeah, just, like Matthew McConaughey, just keep livin’, man.

Tuesday can be any day of the week. Tuesday can be any day. Tuesday doesn’t necessarily have a feeling to it. You can have a party on Tuesday. You can have a day off Tuesday. It’s just every day is Tuesday. Don’t try to think that, ‘Hey, Saturday’s today so I have to do this,’ Monday, ‘Oh, Monday’s here…’ It’s just Tuesday, man. Do whatever. I mean, what you need to do today.”

Ok. I like it. I like it a lot.

“And Tuesday, Tuesday is so far away from Friday that you can take a day off if you need to ’cause you’ve got nothing, because you don’t have your work due to be finished until Friday and you’ve still got the rest of the week. Or, if you want to get your work done so you can have the rest of the week off, there’s that, too. It’s just Tuesday. Just live Tuesday.”

What would your dream role be? 

“That’s a good question. Probably a Jedi. I would love to be a Jedi of some sort or a Sith. Just gimme a light saber and let slap it around for a bit.”

Have you auditioned or even found where and when and how to audition? 

“I’m not gonna be in the upcoming Star Wars, but now we’ve got another bunch of re-boots so I’m sure I’m gonna get a shot one of these days. (Laughs) It has to happen. I will make it happen.”

You need to make it happen. That would be awesome.

“Yeah. I will. Yeah. A Jedi. That’s good. Or a Chewbacca’s, like, son or something.”

Would you ever want to play a villain?

“Yes. For sure. I would love to play a villain. I think that is one that I haven’t really gone out for as much yet, but I think eventually, as I get older, it’s gonna start happening. I can feel it. I can feel a shift happening in what I’m going out for lately, so I would love to play a villain one day. They’ve got some nuances to them. ‘Cause they’re not villains. They believe what they’re doing is right. And that’s the cool thing about it. I would love to just present my case. That is not necessarily part of the norm.”

So would you want to be a villain like, say, Cage [Wallace, played by Johnny Whitworth in The 100 season 2], or like…Vader?

“Well, obviously I like Vader. Young Anakin turning into a Darth Vader that comes back again to the light side. I think I would be somebody who would be like, ‘No, this is the way it is. I’m this way and this is not wrong and, uh, yeah. You can believe in it or not, but yeah. I’m going to kill you.’ I’m going to kill you for my beliefs. Yeah.”

Did you get to see Twitter today? I got a question for you from Bob [Morley, who plays Bellamy Blake].

“I just saw. Is it about ‘the core’?”

It is about ‘the core,’ yes.

“Uh, I am officially ‘in the core.’ The core is what we call… I think the best way to put it is self-growth and ‘the core’ has a lot to do with our fitness and, for instance, Bob and Ricky [Whittle, who plays Lincoln] are ‘in the core’ because, have you seen their core? They’re both such jacked individuals. And, I mean, I used to work out before but these guys now live within, I think, like a six block radius from me so we constantly are just hittin’ the weights, hittin’ the gym, hittin’ tennis, just gettin’ better and we call it ‘the core.’ ‘Cause we’re gettin’ our bodies right. So I’m definitely trying to get in their core, ’cause their core is some next level core. I’m definitely in training.

I don’t even think ‘the core’ is a place that most people want to be. It’s insane. It’s a lot of work. I mean, these guys…they don’t need sleep. They’re just, they’re both Terminators as far as I’m concerned.”

Yeah, sleep, uh…

“Sleep, what’s that, Erica? (chuckles)”

Bananagrams. 

“Oh god, bananagrams. Ok. Bob is just so good at bananagrams. I think he just sits at home and plays, to be honest. But man, he will talk so much trash while he plays bananagrams – and he’s so good. ‘Oh, your still workin’ on your words there, huh?’ [said in Australian accent] ‘Oh shut up, Bob.’ He is so good. I’ve never seen a dude who’s that – he’s so…the word I use for Bob is loquacious because he’s so good with vocabulary.

We just recently had a double date and everybody won but me. So I’m not…very good at bananagrams, but I’m still new at it and I’m getting better and I’ve got to train – again, a part of ‘the core,’ gotta get your mind right, too – so, Bob actually – there’ll be a lot of Bob gushing in this interview probably, because I’m just gonna turn into him one day, ’cause he’s my champion, but bananagrams and ‘the core.’ The dude is just, next level bananagrams. It’s weird.”

That was a wonderful imitation of an Australian accent there for a second.

“Was it? (chuckles) To do Bob, all you gotta do is shake your head a little bit. ‘Well, you don’ know how to play bananagrams, do you?’ Like that’s his trash talk. His voice goes up higher and he just kinda shakes his head at you and has this smirk and it’s like, ‘Shut up, Bob. I know you spelled republic, ok? I know you have. Great job.’ While I’ve got things like ‘cat,’ ‘dog,’ ‘hat,’ ‘moose.’ Bob comes up with all these crazy words. (Laughs). Anyway, bananagrams is a sore subject for me.”

Ah yes. Speaking of moose, have you seen any on set? 

“Many moose on set? We’ve seen plenty of animals but I don’t think we’ve seen any moose on set. That would be new. I mean, we had the two-headed deer. But yeah, mostly just birds, or random wildlife. If they’re nice, they don’t get in the shots too much. On the Ark in season one, we did have a fly that I named Jeff Goldblum and it would try to show up in shots but we couldn’t have a fly on the Ark so we were just like, ‘Jeff, we need you to go away for a second and then you can come fly over us when we’re done.’ “

Because we’re Talk Nerdy With Us, in what ways are you particularly nerdy?

“Oh, I’m so nerdy. I was kind of one of those basement kids? Where I would just sit in the basement and play video games and watch movies all the time. I can quote Back to the Future from beginning to end. I have a Back to the Future poster in my apartment along with Hook. Superman is basically my…everything. That’s been my jam since I was in, like, grade two. Superman is like the man that I want to be. For so many reasons. So I’m a humongous dork. I watch all Game of Thrones, Star Wars, I own all Star Wars, all Star Treks, X-Men, Spiderman, everything. I’m a card-carrying dork. I’m probably one of the biggest ones you’ll ever meet.”

 

There you have it! Get your binge on this weekend with Season 2 of The 100 hitting Netflix and keep holding on for that Season 3 premiere date.