The cast of 'Saving Hope' loved the creative freedom they had in shooting the pilot
It’s a medical drama…with a twist. And that twist is that the “ghost” of the chief of surgery wanders the halls of Hope-Zion hospital.
“It’s a hospital drama meets ‘Ghost’ with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore,” laughs actor Huse Madhavji who plays the gifted and socially awkward neuroscientist, Shahir Hamza.
“When I read it, I wondered how they’d work out this ‘spirit in the hallway,’ but it’s awesome. It has a lot of heart and it’s very intelligent and in a weird way, it’s grounded in reality.”
Madhavji is excited that the new show airing on Thursday, June 7 at 9pm ET/PT on CTV addresses the questions many of us ask – “What happens when you die? Is it over? Where do you end up? And then, what happens when you’re in a coma?”
Actor Daniel Gillies, who plays the brilliant and brash orthopedic surgeon, Joel Goran, says he and the rest of the cast had a lot of fun shooting the pilot.
“It was great. We were all finding our feet and there were pretty radical changes every day. Your character might be doing one thing in the scene, and then the scene would change and the character he was acting with would change, too.
“They’re really quick on their feet,” he says about the writers and producers. “They’re very gifted and talented. They have such vision so you can really let go and trust them.”
Michael Shanks, who plays the ghost of Charlie agrees that the process of working with the creative team was inspiring. “It was very collaborative, which you don’t usually get with television. It’s usually so defined and so specific, but we were given a fair amount of latitude.”
Shanks loves playing Charlie, this ghostly spectre who isn’t quite sure what to make of his new reality. “There’s a discovery around every corner (for Charlie) and it’s nice to play that uncertain, fish out of water character, to balance out the assured doctor-side of the show.
“When we meet him first in the pilot, everything’s going his way . . . and then this shift happens and he finds out he doesn’t know anything as he starts to meander around the halls and figure out who he is and where he’s at.”
Just as Charlie doesn’t have a model for how things are to unfold, Shanks believes the show is in a similar space – “We’re breaking new ground with this format. We don’t have a template to go from and it’s very exciting!”
“It’s a hospital drama meets ‘Ghost’ with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore,” laughs actor Huse Madhavji who plays the gifted and socially awkward neuroscientist, Shahir Hamza.
“When I read it, I wondered how they’d work out this ‘spirit in the hallway,’ but it’s awesome. It has a lot of heart and it’s very intelligent and in a weird way, it’s grounded in reality.”
Madhavji is excited that the new show airing on Thursday, June 7 at 9pm ET/PT on CTV addresses the questions many of us ask – “What happens when you die? Is it over? Where do you end up? And then, what happens when you’re in a coma?”
Actor Daniel Gillies, who plays the brilliant and brash orthopedic surgeon, Joel Goran, says he and the rest of the cast had a lot of fun shooting the pilot.
“It was great. We were all finding our feet and there were pretty radical changes every day. Your character might be doing one thing in the scene, and then the scene would change and the character he was acting with would change, too.
“They’re really quick on their feet,” he says about the writers and producers. “They’re very gifted and talented. They have such vision so you can really let go and trust them.”
Michael Shanks, who plays the ghost of Charlie agrees that the process of working with the creative team was inspiring. “It was very collaborative, which you don’t usually get with television. It’s usually so defined and so specific, but we were given a fair amount of latitude.”
Shanks loves playing Charlie, this ghostly spectre who isn’t quite sure what to make of his new reality. “There’s a discovery around every corner (for Charlie) and it’s nice to play that uncertain, fish out of water character, to balance out the assured doctor-side of the show.
“When we meet him first in the pilot, everything’s going his way . . . and then this shift happens and he finds out he doesn’t know anything as he starts to meander around the halls and figure out who he is and where he’s at.”
Just as Charlie doesn’t have a model for how things are to unfold, Shanks believes the show is in a similar space – “We’re breaking new ground with this format. We don’t have a template to go from and it’s very exciting!”
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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