After three seasons charting its own supernatural course in America and abroad, Being Human USA finally arrives in the UK next week (Thursday 11 April, 9pm on Watch) with a wee bit of trepidation from some involved. “It is a strange that it’s now airing in the UK. It’s a little uncomfortable ,” actress Meaghan Rath laughs to SFX in an exclusive interview by Tara Bennett .
Rath plays ghostly Sally, a character initially very similar to Annie (Lenora Crichlow) from Toby Whithouse’s UK eries. Actually fans of the UK show will feel some premise déjà vu at first view with the ghost, a vampire and a werewolf as flatmates foundation exactly the same. However, Rath asks Brits to give them a try as their show veers into original territory quickly as the series rolls along.
SFX : Were you all itching to show your stuff in the UK or did you prefer the autonomy?
“I personally liked having that autonomy. I know that there are definitely lots of UK fans that are up-to-date on the show. The fact that we were able to convert a lot of the fans of the original series to our series as well, and they have been able to see it as something different from the original, has been for me the most rewarding thing because they are the hardest ones to win over.”
What do you remember most about your first season of the show now?
“It was so new and exciting. I remember when I went to LA to screen test for the show I was 23 years-old and I feel like that’s a long time ago. I feel like a lot of things have changed since then and we’ve all grown up quite a bit. When I think of season one, I think of trying to find our characters and find our relationships and dynamics. It was almost experimental in a way, in a different way than it is now because I actually find now quite experimental as well, but in a way where we are so much more comfortable with what we’ve done. There is a freedom that wasn’t there at the beginning.
Where do you feel your version of the show really became its own entity?
“It was definitely in season one towards the end in episode seven ("I See Your True Colors... And That's Why I Hate You") because that’s when Josh (Sam Huntington) goes to visit his family’s house and that was a plot point that wasn’t part of the UK series. Up to that point, we had taken a lot of things that had happened in the British version and dropped some hints and planted some seeds of change in what we wanted to do differently. Episode seven was the first time we started our own thing, and then in season two we really took our own path.”
For fans of the UK series, what’s your pitch to give your show a try?
“I think that because we made a choice very early on not to watch the British series before we completed our first season we were able to establish our characters as people that were personal and not influenced by the original characters. We laid down a unique foundation and the writers were able cater to our personalities and write for us which evolved into something totally different. I would say that has really changed the outcome of the show and where it is now in its third season. But at the core it’s about the same thing; these people who are desperate to blend into society. Our characters are desperate to blend into society and it’s what we as humans take for granted every day.”
Being Human USA begins airing in the UK on Watch, Thursday 11 April at 9pm.
