Exclusive: Steve Lund Talks Being the New Werewolf in Town in Syfy’s Bitten
Steve Barton
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Syfy launches its new werewolf series “Bitten” tonight, and Steve Lund, who portrays flirtatious and playful werewolf Nick Sorrento, sat down with Dread Central to talk about his character, his co-stars, and what’s in store for audiences. We have the details along with a new trailer!
We asked him to briefly describe the show and Nick. “[It] is based on the Canadian novel series Women of the Otherworld, written by Kelley Armstrong, who is a Toronto-based novelist,” Lund said. “The story centers around the only non-male werewolf, Elena Michaels, and follows her through her battle between her werewolf life and her desire to have a normal human life.”
“My character is Nick Sorrentino, who is one of the resident werewolves at the werewolf headquarters, Stonehaven, and my family has been in the werewolf game for generations. My grandfather was a former pack alpha, and my father is sort of the accountant for the group. He handles the books and the logistics of everything. And I, myself, am a little bit more of a fun-loving character, providing some comedic relief when needed. But I understand my role in the pack, and when the body count starts to pile up, I certainly answer the bell.”
And how about that body count? Lund spoke on just how much “Bitten” pushes the boundaries and confirmed there would be plenty of bloody sexiness to the show, “I think that’s safe to say. We’ve used the ‘sexy’ word to describe our show, maybe even too much. Although I’m not sure you can get too sexy… But it’s got a lot of that. A lot of violence, too, but a tasteful amount.”
Lund’s fans will recognize him from other supernatural shows such as “Haven” and “Hemlock Grove,” and he talked about how “Bitten” is a new experience for him. “These are definitely more intense shows than some I may have worked on, but it’s certainly more unique in the ensemble aspect of it than shows I’ve worked on before,” Lund enthused. “It’s such a pack mentality throughout the entire cast and crew, so that was a really different thing for me, to be a major player in something bigger than one character or another.”
Laura Vandervoort (“Smallville,” “V”) portrays the main character, Elena Michaels. Lund talked about working with his gorgeous co-star: “She’s beautiful. She’s a wonderful actress. She really sets the tone for all of us. I got the chance to work with her on ‘Haven,’ and we kept in touch. When we were both down in LA for pilot season last January or February, we got together with the executive producer of ‘Haven,’ and we were talking about different things we had auditioned for, and ‘Bitten’ was one thing that came up. So that was really cool, and I found out that she got the lead and was really excited for her. Then, two weeks later, I got one of the roles, and that was awesome!”
“But in terms of her as a professional, I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s a lovely, fun girl to work with, but to watch her navigate herself on set, she’s working all day, every day, and she never complained about a single thing, and I say that very honestly. I don’t think she needs it. She gets enough attention from her minions on Twitter. She’s amazing; she really is. She’s my hero.”
Lund talked about diving into the Women of the Otherworld universe. “It’s relatively new to me. It’s quite popular here in the city,” Lund said. “I didn’t realize that fully until all the buzz came out. I’m meeting a lot of fans of the books. I’m doing some research. I read a couple of the novels as well, and they’re great. As an actor, that’s really great to have all that source material, the wonderful, rich history of all the characters and the entire bloodlines. So that was really good trying to get into it. It really helps you merge into the world of these werewolves and these characters.”
Related Story: Top 6 Things You Should Know About “Bitten” Before Watching the Premiere
The public has had a chance to meet the cast, and things have gone well so far. “We had some events at the Toronto Fan Expo that gave the fans a chance to come out and all be under one roof and meet us in person and make all the comparisons they wanted. [It] was really cool to meet these people that are so passionate about it and really excited about the show. And for me personally it was really nice to hear so many people were in accordance with the casting process and saying I really looked like the Nick they had in their minds. So that was really cool.”
And Lund hopes that what he and the team behind the “Bitten” series bring to the television show is exactly what fans of the books are wanting. “They’ve spent so much of their lives reading these books. They have so much invested, it’s almost like they take it personally,” Lund said. “Which is cool because we want that level of passion. After all, that’s what we’re giving on set every day, so we’re hoping that can be consistent throughout the entire series.”
Lund was originally a hockey player before transitioning to acting. We had to find out just how being an actor stacked up against playing ice hockey. “You get a boot in the pants or a slap on the helmet when you do something right in hockey, and that’s about as far as it’ll go [so] you take that and run with it,” Lund said. “But you’re a lot more looked after as an actor, which is nice. People consider your emotions and your personal ways a little bit more. So that was a nice change for me. I felt a little bit like a puppet as a hockey player, which was fine, as that’s sort of the whole world of it, but I don’t think they cared quite as much about my looks.”
“Bitten” kicks off on Monday, January 13th, at 10PM following the season premieres of “Lost Girl” (Season 4; 8PM) and “Being Human” (Season 4; 9PM) on Syfy. It’s also airing on Space in Canada and HBO Nordic in the Scandinavian countries.
Synopsis
A new breed of werewolves is coming to Syfy with the acquisition of the first season of the new Canadian scripted series “Bitten” from leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne). Season 1 of “Bitten” consists of 13 one-hour episodes.
Based on the New York Times best-selling Women of the Otherworld novels by Kelley Armstrong, “Bitten” is an emotionally charged supernatural thriller starring Laura Vandervoort (“Smallville,” Ted) as Elena Michaels, the lone female werewolf in existence.
Desperate to escape both a world she never wanted to be part of and the man who turned her into a werewolf, Elena (Vandervoort) has abandoned her Pack and taken refuge in a new city. There, she works as a photographer and hides her werewolf existence from her new boyfriend. When bodies start turning up in her Pack’s backyard, Elena finds herself back at Stonehaven, the werewolves’ ancestral domain. Torn between two worlds and two loves, she quickly realizes that – when push comes to shove – she’ll stop at nothing to defend her Pack.
“Bitten” also stars Greg Bryk (A History of Violence, “Rookie Blue”) as werewolf Pack “Alpha” Jeremy Danvers, Greyston Holt (“Alcatraz,” “Durham County”) as Elena’s werewolf ex-boyfriend Clayton Danvers, and Paul Greene (“The Client List,” “Wicked Wicked Games”) as Elena’s current beau, Philip McAdams.
Episode 1.01 – “Summons”
Elena, bitten and turned into a werewolf, flees to Toronto but is pulled back to upstate New York when an all-out war between rogue mutts and her Pack family begins.
For more info visit “Bitten” on Syfy.com.
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