One of the hardest working folks in genre TV, Carlton Cuse is executive producer and showrunner on no less than three TV series currently in production: Bates Motel, The Strain, and Colony, his latest work, the first episode of which will premiere at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con 2015.
Colony stars Josh Holloway (best known for his role in Cuse’s most successful series, Lost) as a former FBI agent hellbent on protecting his family during the occupation of Los Angeles by an unknown invasion force. I spoke with Cuse and Holloway at this year’s Saturn Awards Ceremony in Burbank (where Holloway presented Cuse with this year’s Dan Curtis Legacy Award) about the future of Bates Motel (Season 4 of which premieres in 2016) and what we should expect from Colony when it debuts later this year…
Nerdist: What lies ahead for Bates Motel?
Carlton Cuse: [Executive producer] Kerry Ehrin and I are just starting out. We’re just getting going and planning for seasons 4 and 5. So we’re just in that very beginning stage. It’s really exciting. We have sort of a general plan that we’ve had for a while, and now we’re starting to fill and color that in. We’ll have two more seasons of ten episodes each.
N: At the show’s end, will we be up to the point where Hitchcock’s Psycho began?
CC: I think we’ll be up to the ending as Kerry and I have thought about it. That’ll be really awesome.
N: Where are you right now with Colony?
CC: We start shooting right after the Fourth of July.
N: How would you describe the show’s mix of genres?
CC: Basically, it’s about Los Angeles under colonization, by this mysterious powerful force. Josh plays a former FBI agent who now gets involved in working with the government and is also a family man. It’s a family story, it’s a thriller, it’s an espionage show with a dollop of science fiction.
N: With its overriding mystery, does it share some of the DNA of Lost?
CC: Well, it shares this DNA [indicating Holloway], so that part’s good. [Laughs.] And the world is very closed. The audience doesn’t get to see a lot of what’s happening in the world, and it unfolds. The curtain is right in front of the audience, which is very similar to Lost. I think it’s its own creation. We’re very excited about it.
N: Do you already know how the series will end?
CC: We have a detailed, multi-year plan… I think, like everything, a creative journey is about kind of having some ideas and then revising and adding and kind of continuing to expand your creative vision as time goes on.
N: Josh, how would you describe your character?
Josh Holloway: Will Bowman, he was an FBI manhunter before the world got turned upside down. But ultimately at his soul he’s a family man. He has a family that he loves very much and would do anything for. So that’s basically what happens. He will do anything for his family and he’s faced with that question, so he has to do that. [Laughs.]
N: At this point in your life do you find this guy especially easy to relate to?
JH: Yes. Very much so. Being a parent, yes. And a big part of what drew me to this project was my understanding of this character. Have kids if you want to be a better actor. Have kids — things get deeper! [Laughs.]
Holloway and Cuse, as well as Colony‘s executive producer Ryan Condal and co-stars Sarah Wayne Callies, Amanda Righetti, and Peter Jacobson, will appear at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con for a panel and autograph signing on Friday, July 10th, and a screening of the show’s pilot episode on Saturday, July 11th.
