Syfy Upfronts 2013 – Jaime Murray talks Warehouse 13 and Defiance

I’ve liked Jaime Murray’s H.G. Wells portrayal since day one. So, upon discovering that she would join the Defiance cast I both cheered and booed. With evil Artie rearing his head, I secretly hoped they’d increase her time on Warehouse 13. So, I asked her what would happen with H.G. Wells for the remainder of Warehouse 13‘s current season and her thoughts on her Defiance character.

For those of you who haven’t caught up with Warehouse 13 this season, check out Hulu. But, here’s a rundown. So far, season four proved incredibly awesome for Warehouse 13, especially episodes one through ten. Jinks continues as an amazing cast addition, particularly concerning his intense Claudia relationship. But, despite his sexual orientation and the Claudia-Jinks pseudo-brother-sister friendship, he still seems TOO protective and TOO close to Claudia (more so than Pete is with Myka and Claudia is with her brother). Plus, the show continued to amp up Claudia’s role as the “B-Team” while maintaining her close father-daughter relationship with Artie. Mrs. Frederic hasn’t lost her mysteriousness. Pete’s still hot and Myka’s still his gal Friday. Plus, season four’s first half featured amazing guest stars including Brent Spiner as Brother Adrian (Artie’s psychotic hallucination after he uses the astrolabe to reset time to save the warehouse), Lindsay Wagner as Artie’s love interest, Amy Acker as Myka’s sister, Laura Linney as Jinks’ mother, and The Game’s Pooch Hall as the case of the week. Plus, Danielle Nicolet did a great job as the eager medical researcher, Deb Staley, in “Endless Wonder”.

So, after Mrs. Frederic and Leena entrust H.G. Wells with the astrolabe to prevent Artie from re-using it (and re-catalyzing their deaths), Artie becomes evil, kills Leena and Claudia stabs him to save the world. As you might tell, I had a couple questions for any Warehouse 13 member that might cross my path.Would Danielle Nicolet return? Considering the real life brother Adrian seemed as creepy as Artie’s hallucination, could he cause more harm to the Warehouse? Did he control Artie? Will Artie remain an antagonist for the rest of season four? Will they ever bring him back to the fold? How would H.G. Wells handle Artie’s defection? Would Leena return? Admittedly, I never saw the Leena character as a good fit. But, when Artie killed her, I cried. Maybe she isn’t a fast talker like Pete, Myka and Claudia, but she’s the quiet heart that keeps the home lights burning. I hope they bring her back as a ghost.

Of course, all my questions slipped my mind when Jaime Murray crossed my path. She did an excellent job evading my spoiler-oriented questions and proved incredibly gracious when I couldn’t remember how to pronounce astrolabe. One thing surprised me is a complaint that I typically hear from most minority actors, but I’m glad to hear from her: having race and class pigeonhole her into specific roles. It’s one that Dichen Lachman (Being Human) mentioned as well as Reggie Lee (Grimm). But, little did I know, Caucasian female actresses also feel that bite. She’s excited for Defiance because playing an alien means she can go outside the roles typically ascribed to her. Additionally, she loves that her appearance isn’t a spoiler.

Check out the audio interview below and don’t forget to check out Warehouse 13 and Defiance on the SyFy Channel.