GateWorld was privileged enough to have the opportunity to visit the cast and crew on location during production of Season One of Primeval: New World last year. In this exclusive interview with series co-lead Niall Matter, he looks back on his years on Eureka while also giving us a taste of what’s to come from his character on Primeval: New World.
GateWorld: Niall, you jumped pretty quickly from being a series regular after so many years on Eureka to being the male lead on Primeval: New World. Have you noticed any similarities behind the scenes?
Niall Matter: Definitely the friendships. Personally, I still maintain friendships with a majority of the cast. That’s what I took away most from Eureka. It was also, really, my very first long-running show. I’ve had other series lead positions, but they’d only last one season, or I would walk away from it. But I stuck it out on Eureka because I loved the people I was working with. And we found a really good family there.
Which leads me to Primeval, because we’ve been off to the races here like we were on that show. And we are gelling here already like we were with Eureka‘s fourth and fifth season. A lot of that comes from the cast hanging out on the weekends together. We’ll go to dinners, go to fun events, go to a park and throw the football around. So we became very close very fast.
GW: The camaraderie off-screen translates to what you see on-screen.
NM: Absolutely. And specifically with Danny Rahim and myself. Because in real-life, we’ve been roommates during filming. And our characters are best friends on the show. We’ve got that connection, so that’s going to come through on-screen for sure. But beyond that, I’ve seen plenty of similarities between my feelings for the cast of Eureka and the cast of Primeval as well.
GW: Were you familiar with the original UK series prior to the casting calls for New World?
NM: I wasn’t familiar with Primeval at all. But when the script passed my desk and I read it, I was immediately interested in it. So I started watching the original Primeval on Netflix. They had Seasons One through Three available in the United States at the time. [Editor’s note: The full series run is currently available.]
So I checked it out. I checked out a few episodes in Season One. And then a few in Season Two. And then I watched almost all of Season Three. I tried to find Seasons Four and Five, but I couldn’t find them before I had to make my decision. But I found myself getting very interested in the stories, and the characters and the creatures they were dealing with. And when I talked to Martin Wood about his vision for the series and for my character specifically, I was hooked. It was a forgone conclusion. And I called my manager and said that based on the script and based on who is producing the show and the reputation and pedigree that Martin comes with … that I was keen on being a part of this show. And that is how it all moved forward.
GW: You play a character named Evan Cross. He’s an inventor … he’s described as a visionary in his field. Tell us a bit about him. I know Evan is a little bit of a departure from how you played Zane Donovan on Eureka.
NM: Evan Cross and Zane Donovan are different enough. You’ll see a huge difference between how I play the two characters. But they are still similar in the fact that they are both inventors. And they both embrace their brilliance. And they aren’t afraid to use that brilliance. They don’t undermine themselves in any given situation. So they do have a sense of self-assuredness because of that.
Evan is much more mature than Zane ever was. Zane was doing things a lot of the time that would spite people, or would be an attempt to get under their skin. Evan doesn’t do that. Evan’s whole purpose in life is to figure out what is creating these anomalies that we are dealing with, so that he can either help prevent them, or use them for mankind’s benefit.
GW: As we sit here talking now … you’ve been in production on the show for the better part of two months. Have you found Evan’s voice yet? Or is it still a bit of a work in progress?
NM: No … I think I’ve sunk into Evan pretty well now. The first couple episodes we shot, we were all still kind of finding our feet. But now, I think we are all pretty synced up with our characters. So much so that when we are reading through scripts and we question things from a creative standpoint, we are able to ask the writers and say “Is this direction true to what we have been playing? Because I feel this …” or whatever. And they will listen to us, and we’ve always found a middle ground. So we’re definitely getting a full grasp of our characters creatively, and we’re able to form our own opinions about who we are playing and then hold true to that in front of the cameras.
GW: For someone who never saw the original series…who doesn’t already know about all the anomalies and prehistoric creatures that the series comes with as part of its basic tenets, why should they watch Primeval: New World? What would you say to draw them in?
NM: I think the main reason that people are going to watch this is because it is dealing with prehistoric creatures and dinosaurs. And we have a visual effects team, led by Mark Savela from the Stargate franchise, that is award-winning. They are creating things that a lot of viewers haven’t seen before.
Not only that, but we also have very well-developed character relationships between the six lead characters that are here…also much like Stargate. There are emotional peaks and valleys that these characters go through, and that’s on top of dealing with the creatures that come through the anomalies that they have to deal with each week. There’s some pretty great stories we have, without throwing those creatures into the mix.
GW: So all those aspects … the main plot, the creatures and dinosaurs, and the team dynamic and their relationships to themselves and others … are all handled pretty evenly?
NM: It’s a very even focus, especially in the beginning. We want the audience to get to know these people, and have a vested interest in each of these characters. So, yes, it’s an extremely even focus…but most so in the first handful of episodes.
GW: You got to film the pilot episode with Andrew Lee-Potts, who played Connor Temple from the original UK series for its entire five-year run…a role he reprises on New World. How was it having a member of the “old guard” there as a bridge between the two series?
NM: It was great working with Andrew. His character was probably my favorite character on the original show. And when he came over…with situations like this, you’re always a little unsure of how a person is going to be. And Andrew was much more than I expected. We hit it off right away, and had a lot of laughs together in between takes. And the hand-off from his show to our show is, I think, a very pivotal part of this series.
There’s a scene between Andrew and I, and it just worked. It just had this flow. It was quite nice. It was a wonderful scene. Because he comes to Evan with information, and it’s stuff that Evan doesn’t take lightly.
GW: Any message you want to send your fans?
NM: For the fans, I want to say thank you, especially for the support all of the years I was on Eureka. I appreciate the continued support. As the final season aired, I was getting flooded with messages on Twitter about how much they enjoyed it. It was a good feeling to know that people followed us all the way to the end there.
And they are continuing to follow me by saying “We’re going to watch Primeval: New World” when it reaches the States. My fan base is predominantly American, so it feels good knowing the American market will get a crack at viewing it.
GW: And with genre fans, once they love you as an actor, they follow you to other projects much more readily.
NM: Yes! I know exactly how much that is true. Sci-fi fans are like no other fans, and I’m extremely appreciative of the following I have because of them.
NEXT: GateWorld sits down with New World‘s female lead — The Vampire Diaries‘ Sara Canning!
Isn’t it already dead? Is there really a chance to continue? It was almost as good as the british one, and that cliffhanger was awesome.
Hmm sounds interesting but this sounds like the same basis for Tera Nova. I liked that show, maybe this one will do better than 1 season. How is it Syfy isnt’ getting it that bringing back Stargate Universe is the best option for them on so many levels?
Oh yeah! I used to watch a show much like this. with a portal that transported a small crew. On that team were two white guys, one black guy, and a woman. I think the show started with an S… like.. Star… no.. SLIDERS!
Has this been posted by mistake, thought this was confirmed as cancelled?
@Nekomajin and @Soupladel: Based on the information we have on hand, it isn’t quite dead yet…just life support in critical condition. The first season was a co-production of SPACE and Bell Media. Based on its Canadian ratings, SPACE (themselves a small cable network) dropped it. Any continuation of the show would be based on Bell Media finding a new partner to co-produce and co-finance it. So…as stated above…Syfy is the series’ best and likely final shot…which is why ratings are so important. If it makes enough waves…MAYBE they would look into helping it continue. If the ratings are sub-par, then… Read more »
I hope it gets at least another (half)season, because that cliffhanger was one of the annoying kind. It started a little low after the unique feeling of the british series, but it developed well, and I think, now it could stand on its on feet. (Well, I don’t mind a few cameos or crossovers here and there. :D )
I don’t understand. Which UK channel was the series shown on, and when? Sometimes I miss things but I was looking forward to seeing New World as a spin off from Primeval. Were there ANY announcements on this side of the pond?!
Umm… wasn’t this show already cancelled in Canada. When SyFy airs it, is there only going to by the one 13 episode first season, or are they taking over the reigns. I already watched New World from when it aired in Canada. I gotta say, the series did have some good moments, but the original series in the UK was far superior. Of course, they had five years to flesh out their characters and story.
It was on UKTV on Sky or cable
The first episode showed a lot of promise. The CGI was well done. I hope this one can last as we need more good sci-fi (non-vampire) shows.
With Continuum & Falling Skies back, things are looking good for genre viewers.
The series has been cancelled long ago. Even though it’s worth watching, it’s been cancelled, so no ending. If no ending, I’ve got better fish to fry.
I saw the first episode… and it’s terrible. I don’t see this lasting for very long.
Per the show’s publicist who I chatted with yesterday to get clarification, the series can and will continue if another network opts to pick it up for another year, be it Syfy or someone else. The ratings for the premiere on Syfy were respectable…so time will tell if it picks up enough ground for that to be a viable option. If you like what you see, support it by watching live.
I haven’t seen this yet…Is it good? I miss some shows now cause I pretty much turned Syfy off after Eureka got the ticket. But I love most of this cast.
I to thought this was dead… I was a big fan and was very disappointed when the cancelling morons axed this good one too…. so confusing… maybe they need to make the show terrible so they will renew it? after all,, everything bad stays and everything good is cancelled..
i wathced the first series of this and it was good altough no good as sg1 (what could be:) but i dont know really how they going to keep it alive? always new monster goming to our world or what?
This is why I hate cliffhangers! It’s stupid to wait for continuation which will never come. I’m tired of watching new series coz it may get cancelled half way with a cliffhanger, AGAIN!
There should be entertainment law to forbid tv series makers from making cliffhangers unless they’re 100% sure the series will continue.
@RDA
The UK series had some major stories unfolding around time travel and altering the timeline. There were returning monsters from the past and the future, but there were some unique creatures. (The episode with the dodos was EPIC. :D ) But the story concentrates around the well known time travel problems. The monsters were just decoration.
I am trying to like this series. So far, however, it is not nearly as good as the original UK version. Hopefully it will come together as it progresses.
Its OK the UK one was great hope it will follow.
Getting better. Still hard to like Matter’ s character and pacing needs worked on.