Cast Talks About New Drama, 'La Brea,' On NBC

 

The La Brea Tar Pits have long been a Los Angeles tourist attraction.  This television season it has a starring role in a new NBC drama. 

A massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. Those who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. 

In the search for answers, one family torn apart by this disaster will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event to find their way back to each other. "La Brea" airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

“La Brea” Executive Producer David Applebaum, Natalie Zea, Jack Martin, Eoin Macken, Zyra Gorecki, Jon Seda, and Chiké Okonkwo recently sat down for an interview.

Q: This is a question for Jon Seda. "One Chicago," and "La Brea" are so different. Were you just ready for a change? And, also, as chaos erupts in the premiere episode, is it tough not to go back into cop mode and help everybody?

JON SEDA: Yeah, I think they are -- it is so different. And, you know, being part of something that is such an adventure and mystery and drama and exciting, I'm just glad to be a part of it. And, yeah, I think maybe not exactly cop mode, but I think Dr. Sam does tend to want to help as many people as he can.

Q: Natalie, your character seems really smart. What is her profession, or can you tell us what she does for a living? 

NATALIE ZEA: She's an office manager. I do know that. I don't know what an office manager does, but I know that she's probably really good at it. But I think her smarts are -- I think she's got a lot of street smarts because of how she grew up, which we're going to find out about that later. But she gets to use a lot of stuff that's been sort of dormant in her for a little while, and it's great to get to sort of watch that unfold throughout the season. 

Q: David, did you film any of the beginning at La Brea and Wilshire? 

DAVID APPLEBAUM: We did shoot one shot at that location, yeah, but the rest of the opening was shot in Melbourne.

Q: David, I was fascinated by the first episode, but I was also fascinated by "Manifest" and "Debris," and NBC canceled both of those before they resolved them. And commercial networks have done that a lot. Is there any feeling you can give viewers of the fact that "Don't worry. This one will explain things before it gets wrapped up"? 

DAVID APPLEBAUM: You know, for me, what we're trying to do is just make the best show possible, trying to make something entertaining, trying to make something emotional. As far as whether a show gets canceled or not, that's not something that, really, I can think about. Those are decisions that are made beyond me. So, my focus is really just on trying to make an entertaining show and trying to garner an enthusiastic fan base, which we know is out there and we're excited for them to see the show. 

Q: For the actors. What was it about your characters that attracted you to the roles?

JACK MARTIN: I think that what's so interesting about my character is he's at the most pivotal point in his development and maturation in his life, which is right as he's finishing high school and heading off to college. And what's so great about a setting like this is it forces us to see people for who they really are. And, so, we get to see him go through that process of maturation in an environment that's really real and raw and really exposes true character traits. And I think that's really exciting.

EOIN MACKEN: I mean, I think what's most interesting as a general concept all the characters in the show is just as Jack was saying, the human relationships. I mean, they've all got to go through this really difficult process where you're kind of thrown into a situation that is almost unfathomable and then have to try and either find your family or try and solve your own personal issues. Or like Jon's character, with his daughter. Myself and Zyra, we're trying to figure out if the rest of our family are alive or dead and then trying to get to them. And I think that puts a huge strain and also a -- it's a very interesting process from trying to figure out how people would cope with that situation. But I think that's what's fascinating from a character point.

ZYRA GORECKI: I really enjoyed that. Even though she's an amputee that it was less about that and more about her as a person and how she goes from being not just a regular kid with regular kid issues to having to become a hero and having to work with her dad to save her whole family and save everyone.

NATALIE ZEA: For me, I tend to play roles that are linked to whatever male counterpart I am linked to. I'm usually a wife or an ex-wife, and that story favors pretty primarily in a lot of the work I do. And what was great about this was even though I am an ex-wife and a mom, my identity isn't surrounded by that. I get to have a full story that has to do with how I'm, sort of, navigating this world as opposed to what my relationship is with my significant other. And there's something -- even in 2021, it's rather fresh especially for me. So, I was really excited to explore being able to play something that was sort of independent of my SO. 

CHIKÉ OKONKWO: I really like that the show starts in L.A. It's very much a melting pot. There are all sorts of people who are 5 driving from, you know, Wilshire Boulevard that morning. So, for the people who end up in the hole, it's just a real cross-section. There are obviously Americans. There's a Brit. There are Australians. There's a whole cross-section of society. And throwing those people together in this primeval world and seeing how they survive, how they relate to one another. Do they devolve or do they rise to the challenge and really support and help each other? That was a real core of the human journey on this show that I was really excited about and that we're really, I think, all of us enjoyed being a part of it. Because it's really heightened. It's a really stressful situation. But I think for each character on the show who is in the hole and certainly, for Eoin and Zyra who are above it, we all go on this great, incredible journey through the course of this season. So, yeah, I'm really excited for everyone to come along for the ride. 

JON SEDA: Yeah. You know, what attracted me, I mean, former Navy Seal, doctor, father, husband, I mean, action, adventure. Sign me up. There are so many colors and there are so many interesting layers that exist within this character that I'm still that kind of finding along as we go along. I just think it's -- that really is attractive. As an actor, that's like, wow, a lot of stuff to work with. 

Q: For anybody on the panel who actually lives in Los Angeles, have you ever had a particularly alarming encounter with a sinkhole? 

NATALIE ZEA: No. 

CHIKÉ OKONKWO: I actually have. I haven't told this story. But there was a load of rain about two years ago, at the beginning of the year. And I used to live in Studio City. And across the street from me, a Toyota Prius no less sunk into the ground. It was about six feet, but it was still quite alarming. So, it just went. It dropped down into the ground. And they had to, like, cordon off the street and tow, like, grab this Prius out of this hole. 

NATALIE ZEA: Did you use that moment for sense memory? 

CHIKÉ OKONKWO: I've used it often throughout the show. And I wanted to keep it to myself, but I'm really glad to share it now.

Q: David, the Brea Tar Pits, the museum there touts that everything there in the museum was discovered under the tar pits, so it's kind of ironic that you guys chose to do it in another country and everything else. Will we still see parts of the L.A. back into the episodes, in future episodes, the parts that take place in L.A.? 

DAVID APPLEBAUM: The show does shoot in Melbourne, Australia, but Los Angeles is still a character in the show. Half of the show takes place -- a large part of the show takes place down below in this primeval world where some of our characters are trying to survive. But the other part of the show takes place up above, in modern Los Angeles. So, there is a number of scenes that are set in Los Angeles, but the shooting itself is all in Melbourne, Australia. 

Q: This show has a rather cool time traveler-type feel to it. Does anyone on the panel believe that there really is time traveling or time travelers?

DAVID APPLEBAUM: That's a great question. It's certainly a fascinating idea that it could exist. I don't know if any -- if we believe that it exists currently. But it's -- the genre of time travel is one that I love and one that fascinates all the writers that I've worked with. My co-showrunners Bryan Wynbrandt and Steven Lilien, they're both time-travel fanatics. We talk about it a lot. But as far as whether it actually exists, that's not something that we believe at the moment, but it's an interesting idea to ponder.

EOIN MACKEN: I believe that time travel –

JACK MARTIN: Yeah. I think –

NATALIE ZEA: Yes. We all, the whole cast –

JACK MARTIN: -- It's totally possible.

NATALIE ZEA: -- Actors believe it.

JACK MARTIN: Yeah. I think David was sent to us from the future.

Q: David, you talked a lot about how the show concludes earlier, but I'm curious. Is there a master document with your planned ending for the show all figured out, or are you taking it very much on a week-by-week, season-by-season basis?

DAVID APPLEBAUM: You know, I think with a show like this that is serialized in the genre, it's really incumbent upon the writers and creators to think ahead and to plan because what you're doing in Episode 1 is hopefully setting up something that you're going to see in a later episode. And one of the real benefits that this show had was a really long gestation and development process.

I pitched the show to NBC over two years ago. And since that time, we started shooting a pilot and we were shut down by the pandemic. We opened up a writers’ room. And Steven and Bryan

and all these other great writers came on board. So, we've really had a lot of time to really think about where we're going, which is really exciting and, I think, helps ground everything from the beginning. Having a sense of, oh, this is where we're going to be taking it.

Q: Chiké, can you talk about how you got involved with the Calm app? Because your stories have been life-changing for me and thank you very much for those. And then I wanted to know about working with green screen and creatures and that sort of thing, and how much harder is that than just to act face-to-face with another actor?

CHIKÉ OKONKWO: Honestly, thank you. I love the work that I do with the Calm app, and I love the fact that it's helped so many people, especially since the pandemic. And it just came about because I do quite a lot of voice work as well. It's one of those things that I've just enjoyed doing more and more and more. And the more people who say exactly what you said, it genuinely warms my heart, because it's -- I've never been a great sleeper, and it's really nice to know that you're helping people with my soporific voice to fall asleep during a tough time. As far as the green screen stuff, I think all of us have had quite a lot of experience with it now.

Q: Jack, how was it for you? 

JACK MARTIN: Yeah. I mean, I would say that while we do some green screen stuff, I think you'd be blown away to see how much of what we do is real. We have these magnificent, giant sets that are practical, that we put together. And we have these setups where you look around, and I swear to God sometimes I open my eyes and I think I'm actually in a sinkhole because of what we've constructed there. And it makes the job a little easier, actually.

CHIKÉ OKONKWO: We did have a great moment at the end of the first episode, which I won't give away. But because you can't have those real animals, which are sometimes dangerous and sometimes extinct, we had a guy in a fully blue outfit creeping through the sort of brush. And, so, for Jon, myself, and Natalie to keep a straight face when there's a guy in blue Lycra pretending to be a dangerous animal was some of the best acting I've ever seen.

Q: Has anyone been to the La Brea Tar Pits. If so, what do you find interesting about it. 

JACK MARTIN: The tar pits are crazy. I'm blown away by them. After I got this show, I went to the tar pits with Veronica St. Clair, who's also on the show, and we were just looking around for everything. And it is unbelievable to see if you haven't ever been. I mean, it's like all of these prehistoric animals that are preserved in tar and their bones have been sitting there for thousands and thousands of years. It's pretty amazing.

NATALIE ZEA: In pure Natalie Zea fashion, I had the exact opposite experience of Jack. My dad and I went to the La Brea Tar Pits with my little brother a few years ago and about, I'd say, 15 minutes in, I turned to him and I'm like (whispering) "Is this all it is?" "I think so." And I was like, "Are they punking us?" I was thinking it was going to be something else. But I have been.

CHIKÉ OKONKWO: Like Jack, I went after I got cast in the role. And, genuinely, it is incredible to see the bones and the structures and everything that's down there. And then to think about that coming to life in our show was really exciting for me. Because you see the Teratornis merriami, the birds, and you 13 sort of -- and smell the tar as well when you're walking through the grounds. And, so, it was incredible to think, oh, wow. We're going to take people on a journey through a lot of this. And when we get towards the end of Season 1, you'll get to see quite a lot, I think, that is just brought to life in such an incredible way. 

EOIN MACKEN: It kind of reminded me in a way of "Jurassic Park." Remember when you first saw "Jurassic Park" and they were digging for the bones and just the whole concept of what's in the past and then being able to actually go back and find it again. It's fascinating.

La Brea stars Zyra Gorecki as “Izzy Harris,” Eoin Macken as “Gavin Harris,” Jack Martin as “Josh Harris,” Chiké Okonkwo as “Ty Coleman,” Jon Seda as “Dr. Sam Velez,” and Natalie Zea as “Eve Harris.” David Appelbaum is the creator/executive producer/co-showrunner.