In our second interview from our Alcatraz set visit from back in October, Sarah Jones talked about her character in the new FOX series, which premieres on Monday night, January 16.
In the series, Jones, who previously appeared in shows like Big Love and Lone Star, plays Rebecca Madsen, a young woman who is brought in to this new and curious adventure. What makes her tick? Let’s hear from Jones herself…
“You see in the pilot what her drive is, and that’s her grandfather,” Jones tells us, referring to a relative who had ties to Alcatraz Island himself. “The closer she gets to solving these crimes, regardless of if she believes them or not, the closer she gets to her grandfather and the closer she gets to her past, and unlocking some things in her family history, and trying to figure out who she is,” she says.
Jones describes the series as a “procedural hybrid,” where the weekly mysteries are mixed with additional layers. She promises “a bit of mythology”as well. For her character of Rebecca specifically, Jones says that she finds her world is “basically turned upside down in the pilot.”
“She’s trying to put the pieces together while she’s catching the worst of the worst, coming back and wreaking havoc on the good people of America,” she tells us.
Despite the presence of creative talents including Jorge Garcia, J.J. Abrams, and director Jack Bender, Jones says that they are “really fortunate” to have LOST veterans on the production, but that “this is a different show entirely.” She adds that Bender’s work on Episodes 2 and 3 is very exciting, and that she herself “can’t wait to see it.”
“It’s nice that there are people from Bad Robot that are so hands-on in this production, because that really brings the quality of the show to another level,” she adds.
As the show is slightly procedural, how does that make it different from, say, CSI? “We know who’s committed the crime, [but] we have to be two steps ahead of them, and get a hold of the situation before the general public finds out what’s going on, before the Feds show up or the cops get involved. We have that immediacy; the urgency… not just because we don’t want other people getting hurt, but also because we have to get it out of the way before too many people find out about it,” she says about the team’s motivations. With every installment, we should get some answers. “Each episode, you get a little bit closer to finding out why these guys are here, where they come from, who’s running it….” she promises, telling us that she, too, is trying to solve the mystery. “I’m trying to figure it out. I’ve got my own theories about it, with a bit of the clues that we get every episode, but I’m sure they’re not right. I’m sure I’ll be way off and have no idea what I was talking about,” she jokes.
Despite dealing with murderers and felons, Jones promises that there will be “a few moments” of lightness. “You definitely need a bit of a relief. I think Jorge brings a wonderful quality in that aspect, because for Doc, he’s an expert on Alcatraz, and he writes comic books and owns a comic book store. He had no idea what he was getting involved in, in the slightest bit. So the way he handles things, to me, there are times that it brings a lightness. For Rebecca, he kind of allows her to lighten up for a second, too, because she’s so focused and so on the go at all times,” she explains. And how do she and Doc get along? “I really like what the writers have done with their relationship. I like that Rebecca is not quick to trust people. There are very few people in her life that she allows herself to get close to and trust, and I like that the writers aren’t so quick to make Rebecca and Doc best friends. There’s a relationship that’s built. Sometimes, they have a moment together, and sometimes, she pushes him away, but that’s something I actually am really grateful to the writers for, because it allows Doc and Rebecca to actually get to know each other and learn how to trust each other,” she says.
Alcatraz premieres in less than a week, on January 16, 2012. Want more? Look at some photos from Alcatraz and be sure to come to our Alcatraz forum to talk about the show! More Alcatraz coverage is coming here at KSiteTV, too!
Disclaimer: Travel accommodations for this trip were provided by Warner Bros. Television.
