Exclusive Interview with Aftermath’s Julia Sarah Stone

Nylon magazine has named Julia Sarah Stone as an artist “who’s about to break out in a big way” and I can see why. At a very young age, she has already started to amass quite a resume. She’s best known for her work on “The Killing,” “Falling Skies,” “Surfacing,” “Vampire Dog,” “The Pastor’s Wife,” “Everything Will Be Fine” and “Weirdos.” I had the opportunity to talk to this rising star about her new SyFy series. Keep reading to learn more about “Aftermath.”

Can you describe the show “Aftermath” for our readers?

“Aftermath is a Sci-Fi show, so there’s lots of action. It follows the story of this family of five, the Copelands. They navigate and try to survive the end of the world. Society kind of collapses into chaos. There are all these mythical creatures, and they present themselves as boundaries and barriers.

There seems to be a lot of religion and mythology woven into the first two episodes. Will we see more of this in future episodes?

For sure. Everything just escalates as the series goes on. There’s a lot of different elements that come up from a lot of different cultures; wich is really cool because that means that there’s no limit to what could happen. I think people are just going to be on the edge of their seats.

What has been your biggest challenge playing Dana?

Probably the most challenging part has been the most fun part. (laughs). Which is that suspension of disbelief and putting myself in the position where I’ve got to believe all these crazy things are happening and the impossible, mythological events are happening to my family and me. In the same way, that’s what makes the show so much fun. All this incredible and fun stuff is going on, and it’s really believable.

Dana is a brilliant young lady. How does her intelligence benefit the family during the apocalypse?

Well, it’s got upsides and downsides. (laughs). On the one hand, she’s able to describe scientifically a lot of the things the other family members might not know. On the other hand, when science can’t explain things it throws Dana off because science has always been the ground that she stands on. It’s her belief system and to be overthrown and have physics not be applied anymore really turns her off. (laughs). 

Dana seems to have a special bond with her twin sister, Brianna and can seem to sense that Brianna is okay. Does this “twin sense” play further into the plot of the show?

Yeah, as the episodes go on there are a lot more sibling interactions and bonding, and you see how their relationships with each other evolve and grow. They are that much stronger because of this extreme survival situation that they’re in. There’re some really great sibling things coming up which I’m very excited for.

Do you see any aspects of yourself in Dana?

I think what’s so great about the Copelands is that each character has elements that we can all relate to. I mean we all are protective of our loved ones. That side that we see a lot of in Brianna and then we’ve all got that intelligent, inquisitive side that we see in Dana. It’s really cool because the Copelands are a great bunch of characters. I find them all relatable. Which is kind of ironic considering that they’re in this extreme situation? (laughs). 

You, Taylor (Brianna), and Levi (Matt) are very active on social media, especially during airings of “Aftermath.” Why do you feel this is important?

Well, I was not active on social media that much before “Aftermath.” (laughs). I didn’t know how to use Twitter. So I learned for the show, but I think when it comes down to it we all do it because we all love the show so much. We believe that people who watch it are really going to fall in love with it. We’re just so excited to have it out there and for people to see it. Everybody put so much work and love into this show. I think it’s a great thing for people to watch. I think people are going to get a lot out of it.

How did you get into acting?

I took a lot of different kinds of classes and camps when I was little. It was awesome, and it helped me figure out what I liked and what I didn’t like. There was this one theater camp that I kept wanting to go back to. Then when I was about 11 or 12, I decided to take it to the next level, and I started taking professional classes. From there I started auditioning. I still take classes to this day. I think it’s so important and I love it. It took a lot of work and a lot of dedication and hours before I started to get work.

Acting is something I think you need to be in love with to do it. You need to keep auditioning no matter what happens. If you don’t love it with all of your heart, it could be discouraging.

We at TNWU all have something nerdy/geeky about us. What’s something nerdy or geeky about you?

First of all, I’m a geek about “Harry Potter.” I think I’m a bit of a nerd about acting. I take classes all the time. When I get a script, I do not put it down until I’m finished reading it. (laughs). Then I make notes on it, and I’m just constantly thinking about the script and the character, and I’m going into a lot of depth on it. That’s something I really love.

 

 

“Aftermath” airs Tuesday nights on both SyFy in the US and The Space Channel in Canada. Check your local listings for times.

 

 

You can find Julia’s at: IMDB, Twitter, Facebook.