Connect with us

Interviews

KryptonSite Interview: Stacey Farber on Leslie Larr

KryptonSite interview with Stacey Farber who plays “Leslie Larr” on The CW television series Superman & Lois

Published

on

A new episode of Superman & Lois airs tonight (August 10) on The CW. Titled “The Eradicator,” this episode promises danger for the entire cast of characters, and one of those dangers is Leslie Larr as played by Stacey Farber. Originally presented just as someone who works with Morgan Edge, we saw that there was a lot more to Larr — and with tonight’s episode, she’s going to be performing even more Super-feats.

Interestingly, when Stacey first booked the role of Leslie Larr, not a lot of her backstory was revealed — but she was given two very different types of scenes to play. We spoke with Stacey Farber in an exclusive KryptonSite interview about her experience on the show which you can read below.

“They wanted to see that an actor could play both sides,” she recalls. “That they can play a scary, evil, threatening villain person, and also play an ordinary, sweet, naive, malleable, impressionable person. Interestingly, her character in the auditions was played as a brilliant scientist and researcher who wanted to change the world, who could be corrupted by someone like Morgan Edge when he comes to town.

Finding out about Leslie Larr’s abilities and powers was something that came through a Zoom meeting with showrunner Todd Helbing. “He explained to me that she would be a meta human with a Kryptonian consciousness, and that eventually they planned for her to fly and have heat vision. I was very excited about it,” she shares.

While Stacey Farber has an impressive resume that includes Degrassi: The Next Generation, Saving Hope, Diggstown, Cult, Schitt’s Creek and Virgin River, this was her first time working with a green screen, which is something we’ll see the final effects of with tonight’s show “The Eradicator.” While it wasn’t quite “performing opposite a piece of white tape on a pole,” Stacey recalls one of the most memorable VFX sequences as being the end of a recent episode where Leslie Larr and Morgan Edge (Adam Rayner) are looking back at Tal-Rho’s Fortress. “We looked out at this incredible expanse, and that was [really] not there,” she remembers. “We were actually standing in a big sand pit, and everything in front of us was green [screens].”

In an earlier episode of Superman & Lois Season 1, it was revealed that Leslie Larr was actually once a Smallville resident named Irma Sayers. “I was shocked when they referenced that name. I was like – I’m IRMA?” Farber recalls, adding that it was fun because the art department had to get a childhood photo from her mother. “Irma’s long gone,” she explains, offering the possibility that maybe that past is something that could someday be explored. “As far as I was playing it, she is a new woman on a mission, and Irma is left behind. Although I wonder, what happened to all of the people that surrounded Irma? Where did they go? I wonder if they look at Leslie weirdly, like, ‘hey! That’s not Leslie’!”

A good point, considering Irma Sayers surely would have family in town, recognizing Leslie Larr’s familiar face…

Filming a TV series during a pandemic was a challenge, but Stacey says that the S&L cast and crew was “a great group.” Fortunately, as a Canadian, she was able to visit family more than others. She also had an unexpected surprise of an old friend also being in the cast!

“I had known Sofia Hasmik for years,” Stacey reveals about the actress who plays Chrissy Beppo. “It’s so random… she wrote me on Instagram and was like ‘I saw you’re in Vancouver! Are you still going to be there? I booked a job in Vancouver!’ and I told her I also booked a job in Vancouver,” she remembers. Ultimately, they realized they were both booked on the same show, and they were able to hang out during filming.

The experience itself seems to have been a fantastic one for Stacey, who also is greatly enjoying watching episodes on The CW app. “I was just so blown away,” she says of the rewatch. “I know these people personally now, so that adds a layer of fun to watching the show, but I can’t get over how talented everyone is. There’s totally a chance in superhero movies and shows that these things can come across as flat or archetypal, but each person brings something so good – I can’t put my finger on it, but I think maybe it’s chemistry. Bitsie and Tyler have amazing chemistry as Lois and Clark, and that’s not always the case when you pair two strangers together and say ‘pretend you’re in love.’ Also, [the show looks like a movie. I can’t get over it.”

What will she always remember about this experience?

“I’ll never forget any of it. It’s pretty special to be wearing a custom-made super suit,” she recalls, but also, she will never forget how it felt to play a character who was fighting Superman. “It felt bigger than being two actors on set. I was nervous to do it, to try and take down Superman,” she says.

As for what is coming next for Stacey Farber, she is auditioning, and she would love to be in a new series. Her dream job, however, is that of a multi-camera sitcom. In 2015, she was the lead in an NBC sitcom that didn’t get picked up, but she’d love to do that, to be able to work in front of a live studio audience.

And for longtime fans of Stacey’s career, who rightfully were fans of her character “Ellie Nash” on Degrassi, might we ever see Ellie again?

“There was reunion thing years ago, but I didn’t feel like it was right for me to go back to it,” she recalls. “I’m very defensive of her. If she were to come back, I’d want it to be great, and I’d want it to be worth it.”

“I’m really proud of that show, and it was a big part of my childhood, and it continues to be a big part of my life. I’m reminded of it pretty much every day. But I want to do other things,” she continues.

You can see a trailer for “The Eradicator” below; a gallery of promotional photos can be found here. The episode airs at 9PM ET/PT August 10 on The CW. Our thanks to Stacey Farber for taking the time to speak with us!

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Interviews

Superman & Lois: Full Interview with Inde Navarrette (Sarah)

Full interview with Inde Navarrette who plays Sarah Cortez on Superman & Lois

Published

on

Last week, we ran some preview questions for “Collision Course” with actress Inde Navarrette who plays Sarah Cortez. As a new episode airs tonight (June 6), it felt right to share our full interview with Inde. We’re starting with relationship talk since that’s where the previous piece seemed to leave off. Be aware some minor spoilers may be discussed within.

KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: Sarah’s preference for herself with Jordan would be for them to just be good friends, right? 

INDE NAVARRETTE: For me as a viewer, I would love to see that friendship. You know what I mean? It’s definitely something that was there in the beginning, and then they went straight into a relationship. I think it’s important to see them as friends and good friends and being there for each other.

Was it fun to film that scene at the party in Metropolis earlier that the season where the two of them were working together as friends? 

Absolutely. Are you kidding me? Throwing a beer and saying ‘here’s your beer, bitch,’ and then going back and forth… that was one of the best days to film. Me and Alex had the time of our lives. I’m definitely wanting to do that again.

Am I imagining things and seeing some chemistry between Jonathan and Sarah? 

You shut your mouth! You be quiet! What are you saying that for? What’s wrong with you? Sarah would never do that!

Yeah, it’s funny… me and Michael have definitely picked up on that. And we’re like, what is this? What is this? It’s definitely a question. I don’t know where it’s gonna go, but it’s definitely a question.

I love this Sarah and Jonathan combination. In Seasons 1 and 2, Jonathan and Sarah definitely had a relationship that was so chemistry-filled, I think, and it’s so specific to the characters. Michael [Bishop] did such a good job coming in, and picking up on that, and doing it in his own way. And it seems so beautiful, to where it still is there. You know what I mean? It’s something that’s been there since day one that we still carry. I think it’s definitely something, for sure. As Inde, I’m  screaming at them like “don’t do the brothers trope!” But then me as somebody who reads books, I’m like “maybe do the brother trope.”

Do you as a cast have theories on where Sophie disappears to when she’s not in an episode?

That is the biggest joke on set! We’re like “she’s in Guatemala!” We have this joke where she’s the villain and she’s secretly the mastermind behind everything, because she’s so angry at her family. We’ll joke around about the fact that it’s actually Bizarro Sophie. We don’t ever stop talking about it. And the fact that they even wrote it into the script… when we got that script [where Sophie was missing], I thought I was gonna die laughing, because it was a joke that we made on set, and the fact that it’s actually in the script…. you can only see so many comments before you go “yeah, we should definitely address that. Where is she?”

Didn’t you do an interview at one point where you just went “Who’s Sophie?” or did I imagine that? 

Yeah, that definitely happened. We talked about siblings, [and I was] like “I have a sister?”

Is there anything about Sarah that you wish the show had handled differently?

I think Season 1 a very big tell of who Sarah is. In Season 1, she’s extremely reserved, and really wanting to understand where everyone’s coming from. She’s still an angry child because of everything that she’s going through with her family and friends and everything, so there’s this understanding and connection between her and Jordan, because they have that understanding of feeling lost in a family and not knowing what to do, or having mental health issues. I think over the years, she’s kind of projected onto Jordan instead of taking care of her own things. I definitely love her arc this season, because she’s coming back to herself in the manner of who she was before, rather than solely focusing on on Jordan. I would say that we’re definitely getting there, for sure.

My personal head-canon is that Sarah is the coolest teenager in all of Smallville… so how did she not know who The Cure are?

I brought that up so many times! That is not a me question. That is a writer question. Call them, because I don’t know. Also, whenever they were talking about Alanis Morissette…. Are you kidding me? She doesn’t know who that is? Anyway…

Is there a particular storyline that you would like to see in the future for Sarah?

I would love to see her with the boys and Nat, and helping out…. maybe be the getaway driver.

She’s done a lot with her family. She’s done a lot with her parents. I would love to see her with the kids more, not being the emotional teenager or a kid.

There’s a scene, I think it’s in episode five, when they go to get Jon’s truck back… I remember watching the stunts and I remember watching it being performed and I just sat there like, “I so badly wish that Sarah was a part of this, because I think that she would be able to heighten that.” I think maybe that’s why her and Jonathan have such chemistry, because they’re the two in their families where they know that they’re capable of doing everything that they can, but the people around them kind of have a one up. Nat has her suit, and Jordan has his powers, but me and Jonathan can throw a punch. We can throw beer in people’s faces and can take care of something. I can be the getaway driver!

Do you think anybody’s going to let her be the getaway driver after last week’s episode, though?

That’s a good question. I would say her driving was phenomenal. It just was extracurricular activities that caused issues!

Earlier this season, you had a very charged scene with Emmanuelle [Chriqui] as Lana… you know which one I’m talking about. Was that hard to prepare for, working with somebody who’s your friend and getting in her face, and then her character slaps you?

That day was definitely something. Emmanuelle and I have such a good relationship. I just remember that time being so at peace with myself, and then we have to go film this scene. There’s a moment where I, as Inde, a 22 year old actress, have to really remove myself from Sarah because the things that Sarah says, as a teenager… my heart breaks. I hate those words, I hate them coming out of my mouth, and I hate saying them to Emmanuelle. That is, I would say, the most difficult part about being Sarah, saying those things. I, as an actor, have to make it to where I understand why she’s saying those things, so I could play it honestly, and during that day where I say stuff like “that’s why Dad cheated on you” I think the only way that could be is because she’s frustrated with everything that’s going on, and she’s trying to say everything that comes out. It doesn’t mean she’s saying it with anger, but sometimes you’ll say things when you genuinely don’t mean it, you’re just saying it, but it causes a reaction in the other person.

So to play it that way, and then to have Emmanuelle’s reaction, it was really tough. I let her actually slap me five or six times. Greg, the director was like, “okay, we’re not gonna do it on this one… we’re gonna do on this one…” There’s one time where Emmanuelle did it, and I was like “you’ve got to slap me harder. I love you, but you’ve got to slap me harder.” Then another time she fully clapped my ear, and as I was walking away, I was like, “I hear a symphony. There are bells ringing in my brain!” I didn’t say anything, because they would have been like “you’re done” and I was like, “no, we’ve got to get this.” Watch now me talking about it, they’re going to be like “you don’t do your own stuff anymore.”

We will see more friendship between Sarah and Nat?

I think so.

How good do you feel about the possibility of still getting a fourth season?

We’re really looking forward to it. We haven’t heard anything back. If I get to work with them again, I’m happy. We all keep in touch, and it was such a beautiful set to be on. So hopefully, hopefully, hopefully. If not, I had a phenomenal time.

How excited were you when you heard the show was going to be getting Michael Cudlitz as Lex Luthor?

It’s been a lifelong joke between me and Todd Helbing, the showrunner, about shaving my head. I’ll joke like “Sarah’s gonna shave her head in this episode!”

It’s a lifelong dream of mine to shave my head, and not only to do that, but to do it for something that I love, like my job. So I get on set, and I [met him], and I said, “what did you do today?” And he was like, “Well, you know, we did the scene where we shaved his head.” And… I couldn’t stop it from coming out of my mouth… I was like, “you m$#%$^$&#$%@$.” It was the first time I ever met him, so I think we got off to a really good start of getting to really know each other. It was amazing.

Do you think she could be his bald minion?

I hope so! Sarah needs to just be taken under his wing, and fully become his protege.

Regardless of if there’s a fourth season or not, are there certain friendships and relationships that you will take with you?

Everybody. This entire set… it’s one of those things where it’s so specific. We went through something like COVID together. We became a family. We got to know each other, snd it’s such a beautiful thing to be able to experience. I’m really close with Erik who plays my dad, and I’m close with his family. I’m really close to Emmanuelle and Wolé and Sofia and Tayler and Michael and Alex… it was such a beautiful experience, and I’ll hold it very near and dear to my heart.

Superman & Lois has a new episode titled “Complications” airing TONIGHT at 8PM ET/PT on The CW.

Continue Reading

Interviews

Superman & Lois: Inde Navarrette on Tonight’s “Collision Course”

Inde Navarrette offers some previews of the May 30 episode of Superman & Lois titled “Collision Course”

Published

on

Sarah Cortez gets herself into some trouble in tonight’s episode of Superman & Lois… and when we asked the actress who plays her, Inde Navarrette, about this when we spoke to her this afternoon, she asked us “When does Sarah not get in trouble?”

Without going into specifics as to what happens in the May 30 episode, Inde tells us that it’s an “important learning lesson” for Sarah to realize that “everything is fun, until it’s not.”

“Even if you don’t think that something is as serious as it is, it is serious. Growing up, you learn that your actions have consequences. That’s really important for people to learn, especially Sarah,” she says.

And going into tonight’s episode, we also asked how much, on a scale of 1 to 10, Jordan (Alex Garfin) has been on Sarah’s nerves.

“I would say that it’s a solid 7, maybe 8 and a half,” Inde says about the lovesick teen character. “She’s really trying to work with him, and I think that tonight you’re going to see them come at a crossroads, and either figure out how it works, or go completely the opposite direction. But we definitely see a new dynamic of their relationship,” she teases.

Superman & Lois “Collision Course” airs tonight (May 30) on The CW.

Continue Reading

Interviews

Superman & Lois Interview: Talking to Wolé Parks Before “The Dress”

Interview with actor Wolé Parks about Season 3 of The CW television series Superman & Lois

Published

on

Tonight’s (May 23) episode of Superman & Lois is called “The Dress” and it is an emotion-filled hour with great moments for many of the show’s characters. One of those characters is John Henry Irons as played by Wolé Parks. We spoke with the actor earlier today in anticipation of tonight’s big episode, especially about issues involving John Henry and the father of his daughter Nat’s new boyfriend Matteo. You can read the interview below, and you can look forward to more from Wolé on KryptonSite in the near future!

KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: Considering John Henry himself has lost his wife, does he have any sympathy at all for Bruno Mannheim, especially knowing Pia’s situation?

WOLÉ PARKS: I think he would have more sympathy if we didn’t have Bruno try to kill him at the end of episode 8. [Laughs] That’s the whole thing! That’s the interesting thing, to me, about this season and the way it’s going. I think the writers have done a brilliant job of making Bruno and Pia sympathetic in some ways, so people understand them. But with John, he’s like, “hey, guys, you remember this guy? You know what he did? He killed me in this world. And remember how he strapped a bomb to my sister? Yeah, that’s still him.” I understand he’s going through a rough time. Clark and Lois are going through rough time, but we don’t see them killing people. That’s the interesting thing about what’s going on with John, and how he perceives everything.

Did John know Bruno at all in his own world?

That’s a great question. I think not. It’s never answered, but I don’t think so, because I think he dealt with Lex Luthor, and in that world, Lex Luthor was still in power. Therefore, that means Bruno Mannheim didn’t take him out, so, I don’t think they interacted.

Speaking of that other world, how is John Henry process processing Lois’ cancer knowing that she could die, just like her counterpart had?

I think that was really hard for him. That was the whole idea of the episode with the watch and seeing John Henry dealing with it with Natalie. I think John as a person, maybe because he’s a former soldier, he’s one of those people who “acts now, feels later.” I don’t think he’s the best at processing emotions, and with Lois, it’s interesting, because this is not something you can fight. It’s interesting because you also see Clark deal with this, as well. This is not something that Superman can save her from.

So, the people in Lois’ life have to figure out how they can process, and realize they’re kind of powerless to help in this situation, and for someone like John Henry… he’s a selfless person, he always wants to be able to help, and he can’t. I think it’s taken him a while to learn and to come to accept that.

Cn you talk about having a scene partner as great as Tayler Buck?

Oh, I love me some Tayler. Tayler can do no wrong. She’s so fun. She’s cast so perfectly. I love that she brings such a strength to that character, and self-awareness that I 100% believe that [John and Nat] are related. It’s great, because she doesn’t cower to him. I love that she’s so strong in her point of view. It’s great.

Now that he knows who Matteo’s father is, is John going to be even more protective?

100%. Anything that Bruno touches is radioactive, so therefore, that includes his kids. For John, it’s like “I get you’re in love. I get you feel like you’re happy. You’re 16. You’ll grow out of it. I’m trying to keep you alive.

Can you talk about what it’s like to work with Chad Coleman as Bruno?

Chad’s the man. Chad and I play around all day long. Chad’s crazy, but in a good away. I’m crazy too, so that’s the fun of it.

I love an actor who’s willing to take risks. You know, you come up with an idea, but then you play ping pong with each other, and a scene goes in a completely different way. I only wish that people could see the multiple different versions that we have of the scenes we take together. It’s really all over the place because we get to play. I love that kind of acting. It was so much fun. And for me, that flip of seeing the version of Bruno in the restaurant, and everything’s happy, then is like “is this John Henry? I’ve gotta kill you!” He turns that quickly, and I love it.

Can you talk about working with Emmanuelle Chriqui so much recently?

It’s so cool. I just love Em. She’s so sweet, and I think that comes out through the character. Em’s just a joy; one of the most pleasant and also emotionally available people I’ve ever met. She’s just a genuinely good and kind, giving person, and it’s fun to see that, because I feel like Lana is bringing out a little bit of that lighter side of John. It just that he has to juggle that with the whole “oh, this guy’s trying to kill me” thing. It’s an interesting juggle.

Would you say that John and Clark are on very opposite sides of the Mannheim issue?

100%. I think they both personalize it, but in different ways. I think Clark has personalized it because he’s seen the cancer struggle up close. He’s seen Lois’ bond with Pia, which has clouded Clark’s judgment. But for John, he’s on the other end, where he’s like, “guys, this guy’s a killer. He strapped a bomb to my sister! He beat me up and was about to shoot me in his restaurant!” I’ll say this: I think they’re both doing the best they can; they just have different experiences with Bruno that are clouding their judgment.

Come back soon for more of our interview with Wolé Parks! Keep up with @SupermanLoisTV on Twitter for updates on when we will be posting more. “The Dress” airs May 23 on The CW.

Continue Reading

Trending