Revolution, the new drama series from Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, producer of everything JJ Abrams, and Iron Man director Jon Favreau, will be hitting our screens September 17 on NBC, and it intends to be a genre hit for the network. In it, power goes out, and we see the effects of what happens 15 years later.
One of the characters that is sure to stand out on the show is Nate, a bow-wielding character who… well, let’s let the actor who plays him, JD Pardo, tell the story, as we caught up with him in the Comic-Con Revolution press room:
“I play Nate, he’s an expert archer. You don’t quite know where his allegiance lies,” Pardo teases. “You meet him through Charlie on her journey. She runs into him, and there’s that thing that happens between men and women that tends to complicate things, but you don’t quite know where his allegiance lies. Is he good? Is he bad?” he posits.
Pardo confirms that he did, indeed, have to learn archery, and he feels he has become good at it. “The last session I had, at 25 yards, I hit the bullseye 6 out of 7 times. That’s pretty cool, and I’m ready to challenge Jennifer Lawrence and Jeremy Renner. We’ll do it for charity, whatever it is… but no, I absolutely love archery, and that’s what so exciting about doing this. It’s an action-adventure show, so we all get to train and learn how to fight. You find that you’re actually just re-learning this stuff. It’s just instinctual, almost,” he explains.
JD thinks the mystery of Nate’s alliances is part of what makes the show interesting, both for himself as an actor and as a viewer. “I think it’s two-fold. I think it’s to keep the mystery alive for the audience, and I think it’s to keep me on my toes. I can open up a script and be like, ‘aw, no!’ Or ‘YES!’ That’s what’s so exciting, is that you can’t compartmentalize with him. You can’t just say ‘oh, he’s good,’ or ‘oh, he’s bad.’ I think when it comes to that time, in surviving, some people will do whatever it is for the highest bidder, like Han Solo in Star Wars. You know, he was like, ‘hey, Kid. I don’t care. I’m in it for the money.’ Even with the pretty girl, Princess Leia… ‘I just want my money.’ So that’s what’s really exciting about playing Nate,” JD says.
To get into the role of Nate, JD has to get himself into the mindset of being in a world without power. “You do, absolutely,” he says. “Because it changes things, and I think if you’re constantly watching your back, you find that you’re listening to nature a little bit more. It’s like if you ever go to a new country and don’t speak the language, and all of the sudden you find that you’re getting a headache or you’re so overwhelmed with the sounds and smells… it’s because your senses are heightened. So in the show, it’s like ‘who’s around me?’ You turn into a hawk, almost, looking miles out… it’s pretty cool, man. I kind of hope the power goes out now, right?” he laughs.
What’s the one piece of technology that JD Pardo can’t live without? “Cell phones,” he admits. “Think about it: if there were no cell phones, you would have to pull over to a phone booth to make a phone call, just to find out if your husband or wife is cooking dinner. And imagine the line at the phone booth! And imagine if you don’t have quarters! So I would say, ‘cell phone’.”
Revolution premieres September 17. For more updates on the show, follow KSiteTV’s Revolution-centric Twitter feed @TVRevolution!
