Recently we had the chance to talk to Steven Strait and Dominique Tipper, who shared their thoughts on their characters, what the show has meant to them, and what it was like filming the final season of The Expanse.
Horror Geek Life: Watching the final six episodes, I was amazed at how tense it was from start to finish. In fact, with all the tension, dread, and suspense, it sometimes felt like a long horror film. As actors, did you feel all of that as you filmed this season, or was the tension more to do with the fact that these were the show’s final episodes?
Dominique Tipper: That’s a good question. I think it matched the tone. I don’t know if dread was the right word for how I was feeling, but I was painfully aware that this was kind of our last hurrah together, and this kind of tension in dread that is in the series leads to such a rewarding and satisfying ending. We shot episodes one and six together, so there was always the understanding that, yes, we start in this kind of dire, exhausted, downtrodden place, but where we finish just seemed so hopeful to me and very satisfying, so it was like two sides of a coin.
Steven Strait: Going into this season, I think the aim was really to just honor the end of all of these arcs. We’ve had five years of building up to this point, and it’s the climax. It’s either going to go wrong or it’s not. I think that the fact that it was the last season, all of us went into it wanting to make sure that we honored this story the right way, to send it off the right way. We wanted to make sure every episode delivered, all of the tension, all of the drama, all of the care we could deliver. Maybe it wasn’t conscious, but I think it does permeate through, the fact that we’ve always been a passionate group on this show, but we desperately wanted to make sure we made this a great ending, that was probably there as well.
HGL: Touching on what you said about passion, I’ve talked to both of you over the years, Dominique last year, Steven, back when you were rolling this show out in 2015 at Fan Expo here in Toronto. You have both been so passionate about the show. As actors, what about The Expanse brings that passion out in both of you?
Dominique Tipper: I think there is culture in terms of the way we go about making the show. It’s so enjoyable and very rare to just come across a bunch of creators who are all on the same page and have put their egos aside to center the show. That makes the creative process very fulfilling but also, the writing is exceptional, it’s just a beautiful depiction of humanity and humans interacting, trying to do their best, messing it up, seeing the flaws; there is no real black and white version of the show we offer up, there is always these kinds of moral, belief, and ethical challenges. I just think that is good fricking TV. It’s good art, what art should be, it’s political, it’s emotional, and all of the things that for me, is why we do this.
I think that lends to the passion when we finish a season and we are so proud of what we’ve done and get the feedback that it’s affecting people, hitting them the way we hoped it would, that is the true cycle of I think what any of us want to do. So, for me, the passion comes from being quite proud of what we do, what we’ve done here, what we’ve created, and the legacy I think that it will always have. Which is this very human journey in all its glory, the light, and the dark, and I think that’s why we’re so passionate about it.
Steven Strait: I think from the very beginning, there was this overarching sense, and this has always stayed true, that the story itself has always felt important. The topics that this show touches on allegorically are deeply important issues that are told in deeply intimate ways, and the fact that we had the people on this show that we’ve had from the very beginning, from the cast to the crew to the writers, everybody has collectively felt the importance of telling the story with honor and respect and the right way. I think that, and frankly getting lucky with the people who joined us, that they were willing to put themselves aside, and secondary to the story, everybody was on board for that. No matter if they’d worked for fifty years, been nominated for Oscars, it has always felt far more like a theater company than it has a television show. That has always been there, from 2015 when we spoke, we started rehearsing those episodes on our own on the weekends, starting with the very first episode, and we never stopped, never missed one, all these six years, we just deeply care about the work. Not only do we love making it together, but the story itself has always felt important. I think for an actor or an artist of any kind, to feel like your work has meant something, is all you can ever ask for, that’s what you want as an artist. It was always inspiring to me to come to work just to see everybody becoming more and more committed over the years, it was such a beautiful and remarkable thing to be a part of.
HGL: The character arcs on this show are phenomenal. How enjoyable has it been, to live and breathe and grow with these characters for sixty-plus episodes in this series?
Dominique Tipper: I mean, it’s a rarity to do that, especially characters you feel are important and have something to say, and represent a corner of society that you want that story to be told. We, me and Naomi, as a Belter, a mother, a very active political person in the community, all of those things and how they’ve played out over the seasons, how she’s loved, the choices she’s made and had to reckon with, all of these things, it’s just been an absolute delight from start to finish. I’ve loved telling this woman’s story. I think she is a phenomenon, iconic, she’s uncompromising and vulnerable. Flawed in all the ways is seen every day in the women around me, it’s been an honor to play her.
Steven Strait: I think for Holden over the years, the one thing that has always remained true with him is that he has always acted from the heart, for better or worse (laughs). He’s always had this moral code that he acts off of on instinct. As we watch him grow over the years, what’s been amazing to portray is his growth through his failures, his stumbles, the things that hurt, and he finds his strength through his humility. It’s a lovely arc to play and an unusual one; it’s an arc that’s just not typically seen. He’s a guy whose power is his empathy, if there’s one remarkable thing about Holden, it’s that. I think that it shows a very different type of masculinity, a different kind of courage, that is just not typical for stories like these. It culminates in a really beautiful way, a dramatic way, with the decision he makes at the very end. He matures into that role and becomes the leader the system needs him to be. It’s not an easy journey for him, it’s incredibly hard, and it wears on him and he tries his best, for better or worse, he infuriates everyone at some point but it’s what he’s got, it’s all he can do.
HGL: Holden and Naomi have a very unique relationship, both are strong yet vulnerable, tough yet need help, and the chemistry between you two is great. As actors, did that chemistry come naturally or did it develop more over time?
Dominique Tipper: (Laughs) No, it came pretty naturally, we had it from the beginning. I remember my chemistry read when I was auditioning for the role with Steven and it was just there from the beginning. I don’t feel like we had to work at it at all.
Steven Strait: No, that was there the whole time, we just built off of that.
Dominique Tipper: I’m not sure I would have got the role if it wasn’t there (laughs), you do a chemistry read for that very reason and yeah, it was always there.
HGL: You look at the crew of the Rocinante and it is a real family. Ironically, you are all viewed as heroes, yet you are not trying to be heroes. You are just trying to do the right thing and watch each other’s backs. Can you talk about that feeling and theme of family, both on the Rocinante and between all the talent involved as well?
Steven Strait: Yeah, you’re right, that theme of family runs through the whole show, particularly in this season. I think it’s a really good meditation on family. So much of what transpires on the Rocinante, off the Rocinante, between people and even in the macro sense, there are family issues, with devastating personal and geopolitical consequences, and it all revolves around family and what that means. It speaks to the level of writing that we’ve had. It’s always been so amazing to me to read the scripts and see such intimate stories told that reflect broader macro issues in such an elegant way, that you are not trying to ram it down someone’s throat, you just see it experienced in such a human and empathic way. It’s done with so much sensitivity and respect. I think if anything, that is what this season is to me, it’s about family.
HGL: Looking back to your first days on set in 2015, to the final days on set in season six, how do the two of you look back on this experience?
Dominique Tipper: With great pride for sure, and with huge respect that journey takes. I just learned so much on this show about how to create without ego and to always put the story at the center, and the quality of the work at the forefront. When I look back on that, and all the highs and lows we went through as a group of creators trying to achieve that, it’s not smooth sailing and that there’s a lot of creative elements to that from everyone. I will always think about the way everyone contributed to that, how the different personalities and points of view meshed to create this beautiful piece of art. I’m so grateful to have been a part of it and to be trusted with Naomi’s arc because it’s important. I thought she was a wonderful woman to portray. It’s a mixture of what we created on the show and what happened off-camera, all of it was quite remarkable I think and I will forever have an affection for it.
Steven Strait: I think it just shows that anything is possible when a like-minded group of creative people can put the story above everything else, to tell something they feel is important, and to become greater than the sum of your parts. It did take a village to make this and what was always amazing to me was that the high level of commitment never relented, it never stopped. It only became more and more committed over the years because there’s power in that. I think as human beings, we often learn through storytelling and it’s a deeply impactful medium.
For the show, I’ve always felt a lot of pride in the fact that we were able to talk so intimately about such important subjects in such a disarming way. That always felt important, and I keep coming back to that, but it’s so rare to feel and I was just in awe of this whole group the whole time. We were all aware of it the whole time and never took any of it for granted, it was just a really beautiful journey.
I want to thank Steven and Dominique for taking the time to talk with us.
