As Mutant X reaches the end of its second year on air, Canada has honored the first season with four nominations for the 2002 Gemini Awards, including Best Actor shortlist for John Shea's portrayal of Adam, charismatic founder of the Mutant X team. "I'm working hard to make it good as it can be and if somebody else thinks so, that's great," the actor modestly smiles. "Lauren [Lee Smith] was nominated too, as was the show in the Sound and Music categories, and it's a good thing that Mutant X got these nominations in the first season. This is a sign that at least people know that we're doing the best we can within the genre's rules, and it brings us extra artistic credibility because these genre shows-particularly action shows-aren't usually taken so seriously at first. "This show isn't the king that's ever going to get great reviews from the critics," he continues, "because it's a genre they can put down very easily, but I don't care. All I know is that we have a loyal audience out there and that out mission is to entertain, to tell good stories and create a fantastic universe where people can come in for one hour a week and have a good time. We are proud of what we've accomplished so far and the effort is to keep going and make it as strong as it can be given the time, money and genre limitations that we have."
In an attempt to take the series to new levels, new blood has been infused into its creative heart, something Shea welcomes enthusiastically. "We have a new producer and production team," he explains, "and this brings new energy, ideas and dimensions to the show. We're trying to explore more of the characters' emotional dimensions, because we spent more time last year dealing with the villas and guest stars than we did with our own characters. The focus has changed, and this will make the show richer and also much more interesting for us as actors. Sometimes our characters will be in conflict with each other; and that'll create problems we'll have to deal with as any family does. Feelings will get hurt because they have feelings to be hurt. These people may have been genetically altered to have these cool powers, but it doesn't make them any less human and as such, they'll have good and bad days, as well as secrets and problems. Exploring this further makes the characters much more emotionally accessible to the audience and people begin to relate to them. It's less 'comic book' and more drama, and while there's still plenty of action and adventure going on, there's this added dimension the show needed."
That's the good news for critics who complained that the first season of Mutant X was a little formulaic. "It's a similar problem to the one Lois and Clark ran into with Lex Luthor. Throughout the first season, Superman couldn't vanquish Lex who was smarter than him; therefore how 'super' was he? I wanted to leave in the second season and the producers said, 'Oh good, because we can bring in more villains.' I call these 'Kleenex villains'; they pop up once a week and can be disposed of. I loved working with Tom McCamus [regular villain Mason Eckhart] and the battle of wits was fun," he fondly adds, "but I know that they'll bring in other people for me to spar with like this.
"Having vanquished Genomex and got rid of Eckhart," he continues, "the entire world of Mutant X's been redesigned. There's a kind of breathing space and things which were under the surface of last years can begin to manifest in the designs; Oriental influences that were underneath Mutant X philosophically are starting to be expressed symbolically through sculptures and art that you now see hanging on the walls. The antiseptic world were all living in last year was appropriate for the battles we were fighting then, because we were constantly embattled. We lived in a sort of military state of mind which was reflected in the sets, costumes and writing, but now real-life has began to creep in. We use props we didn't have last year; there are papers on out desks, we'll drink a cup of coffee while walking down the hall, there's a living area where we can hang out and talk. We have bedrooms, sometimes there's music playing…It's less military, more real and human, which is the point."
Still, relaxation can only go so far, as the team's genetic powers are in a constant state of flux. "When Emma first got her [blasting] power last year, in the season finale A Breed Apart, it was like a bull in a china shop," Shea chuckles. "She couldn't control it and was blasting at us, so seeing us running for cover was very funny! But she's learned to control it over a period of time and it's now a powerful weapon." Other members of the team are also developing extra powers, some of which have hidden dangers. "For instance," Shea comments, "Jesse now has the power to phase out, but if he loses his ability to phase back or gets a virus in his system, he could dissipate without ever coming back to physical reality, literally disintegrating into thin air. There's an added sense of danger because any of them could die at any time." New powers aren't an issue for Adam, but we'll still be discovering his hidden depths. "He begins to be less than perfect, you know. He's not always right all the time and he also has his own secret little world, "Shea reveals. "he communicates with people Mutant X doesn't even know about; and turns out to have contacts through the military -industrial complex, with politicians, industrialist and agencies like the CIA and Interpol. People running those agencies turn to Adam for information and favors, as they know our computer and satellite technology is pretty advanced and sophisticated. Adam also turns to them for information, but of course, he doesn't know if they're always telling the truth."
This should prove a source of trouble within the team, if unreliable information puts the group at risk. "There could be some tension and I hope the team doesn't turn on me," Shea laughs before justifying the secrecy. "This is lying so much as it is trying to protect them. It's about the need to know; does Mutant X always need to know where I get some of my information from? No." Nor does the world at large need to know about the existence of the team protecting them, as reflected by the series' new opening narration. "I say in each episode opening, 'we fight to protect a world that doesn't even know we exist,' so it's like Mutant X is this secret positive force out there watching and monitoring what's going on. We've become much more of a global police force," Shea comments. "Our reach is much broader than it was last year when we were preoccupied with pure survival, and out potential annihilation by Genomex."
When Mutant X's out and about, Adam will often stay behind to keep an eye on Sanctuary, which means the actor has to use on his imagination as he woks alone save for a camera crew. "I have long conversations with people who aren't there," he laughs. "Although I do get out, I find myself acting alone a lot on set because the four of them are out kicking ass somewhere on location and I'm in the Sanctuary, communicating with them through computer video links, So I have the assistant director or script supervisor reading their lines and I have to imagine how the actors would do it. It's a challenge, but it's worked out pretty well and it's also better for the audience to see people interacting that way." Shea finds solace in his on-on-one dialogues with fellow co-stars, especially those conducted in layman's terms. "Last season I had to talk a lot of scientific techno babble, which is important because Adam's a scientist and knows about this world, but there should be a balance between this and having normal person-to-person conversation as well." Finding that balance is an essential part of the series' evolution, the 'stairway of surprise' from one of Shea's favorite quotes. "Things constantly change and that's exciting to me," he enthuses, "because if things don't change, they stagnate and die."
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