'Saving Hope' stars walk the CTV Upfront red carpet and reflect on 'hope'
Michael Shanks, Erica Durance and Daniel Gillies on the red carpet at the CTV Upfront.
Hope – it’s an elusive idea, hard to pin down and hard to define, but for the cast of CTV’s new medical drama, “Saving Hope,” that’s what it’s all about.
“Hanging on to hope is an exhausting struggle,” Erica Durance says on the red carpet at the CTV Upfront. She plays Dr. Alex Reid whose fiancé, the charismatic Chief of Surgery Charlie Harris, lies in a coma at Hope-Zion Hospital. “In death there’s at least an end to things, but with Alex and Charlie, there’s a constant see-saw.”
The initial inspiration for the series happened when writer and executive producer Morwyn Brebner took her four month old daughter to the emergency room. “I found myself praying, which is not something I do,” reflects Brebner. “That’s when I realized that it’s real, this spiritual element, that you need it (in times of crisis).”
This layer of spirituality comes through with Michael Shanks’ character, Charlie, who wanders through the halls of Hope-Zee, only able to communicate with those who have recently died, or are also in comas. Though Charlie is isolated and disconnected from the love of his life and his colleagues, Shanks says there’s still a lot to play with in this state.
“I can’t wait to explore Charlie’s gallows sense of humour while he’s in this in between state,” he says on the red carpet (decidedly not in a tux, his costume for every single episode of the show). “When we get it right, it really works!”
And this element of humour is only one side of this strange world Charlie inhabits. “The show doesn’t present the spiritual realm as an airy fairy kind of separate realm,” cautions Brebner. “There’s always a chance of recovery and there’s always a chance of death. That’s part of the love story – that there are two doctors on either side of the life and death divide. It’s an integral part of the show.”
Daniel Gillies, who plays the cocky, self-assured Dr. Joel Goran, says this very tension is the crux of the show. “The show’s quite magical in its look and vision. It pendulously swings between that gritty reality and this mystical place.
“We’ve made some beautiful TV here. It’s enchanting as well as compelling.”
“Hanging on to hope is an exhausting struggle,” Erica Durance says on the red carpet at the CTV Upfront. She plays Dr. Alex Reid whose fiancé, the charismatic Chief of Surgery Charlie Harris, lies in a coma at Hope-Zion Hospital. “In death there’s at least an end to things, but with Alex and Charlie, there’s a constant see-saw.”
The initial inspiration for the series happened when writer and executive producer Morwyn Brebner took her four month old daughter to the emergency room. “I found myself praying, which is not something I do,” reflects Brebner. “That’s when I realized that it’s real, this spiritual element, that you need it (in times of crisis).”
This layer of spirituality comes through with Michael Shanks’ character, Charlie, who wanders through the halls of Hope-Zee, only able to communicate with those who have recently died, or are also in comas. Though Charlie is isolated and disconnected from the love of his life and his colleagues, Shanks says there’s still a lot to play with in this state.
“I can’t wait to explore Charlie’s gallows sense of humour while he’s in this in between state,” he says on the red carpet (decidedly not in a tux, his costume for every single episode of the show). “When we get it right, it really works!”
And this element of humour is only one side of this strange world Charlie inhabits. “The show doesn’t present the spiritual realm as an airy fairy kind of separate realm,” cautions Brebner. “There’s always a chance of recovery and there’s always a chance of death. That’s part of the love story – that there are two doctors on either side of the life and death divide. It’s an integral part of the show.”
Daniel Gillies, who plays the cocky, self-assured Dr. Joel Goran, says this very tension is the crux of the show. “The show’s quite magical in its look and vision. It pendulously swings between that gritty reality and this mystical place.
“We’ve made some beautiful TV here. It’s enchanting as well as compelling.”
About Lindsay Zier-Vogel
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Lindsay Zier-Vogel
Lindsay Zier-Vogel has been working for CTV.ca and covering So You Think You Can Dance Canada since 2008. In addition to interviewing the famed American choreographer Bill T. Jones and Canadian prima ballerina Karen Kain, Lindsay’s highlights include criss-crossing Canada on four SYTYCDC audition tours and covering the Juno Awards.
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