Colony - Interview with Tory Kittles (Broussard)

I had the distinct pleasure of talking with Tory Kittles who plays Broussard on Colony. Like all Carlton Cuse shows, he was pretty much sworn to secrecy about what’s coming up on the show, but there are some good tidbits if read through! Most importantly, the show is going to continue to blend thriller, action and sci fi elements on what sounds like a twisty turny roller coaster! Be sure to tune in to Colony on USA, Thursdays 10/9C and check out their terrific website! In Canada, the show airs on Bravo.

Q: Colony is one of the best new shows. I’m a big Sci Fi fan…

TK: Me too!

Q: Is that what drew you to the project? What drew you to Colony?

TK: What drew me was first, you’ve got, I mean, where do I start? Start with Carlton Cuse. Obviously his track record is impressive in [science fiction]. There’s the success that he’s had in the sci fi genre along with so many other things that he’s done. And then the combination of Ryan Condal. The two of them together. I guess that’s where I have to start because I read the Pilot, and I thought this is such an interesting, incredible vast but still intimate world that they’ve created. And when I was reading my character, who I play now, Broussard, and I didn’t really know much about him on the page and so April Webster our great casting director, she had the idea to put me on the phone with those guys and then after talking to them for five minutes, you’re like, ‘oh, got to be a part of this!’ So, I guess that’s where it began. I think the show in itself is a spy thriller, which I’m a fan of that genre. It’s action, which I’m a fan of, and then it’s also sci fi which I’m a fan of, so it fuses all these different elements together in such a wonderful way. That was it for me.

Q: We don’t know that much about your character yet. We know that he’s…

TK: That’s on purpose!

Q: I know you probably can’t tell me anything, but we know he’s Katie’s contact with the Resistance and we know that he’s fixing up him Mom’s house. What can you tell us about your character? Did they give you much backstory or have you developed that on your own?

TK: The interesting thing in developing backstory when you’re shooting something with these guys is that you create this backstory and then you get a script. And you go, ‘oh. That doesn’t work!’ So let’s throw that out the window and let’s start again. So one of the beautiful things is that it just keeps you on your toes because the scripts are coming in and they sort of develop what they’re seeing. They’re writing what they’re seeing in terms of what we’re doing in terms of the characters. And it sort of grows from there. What I can tell you about Broussard is that despite his ambiguity, he’s a guy who’s complex on many levels. One is that I think he has a huge heart but he’s covering that. I think he’s a guy that keeps his cards close to his chest and he doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeves. Not to say that he doesn’t feel. I just think that he approaches things, especially in the world of warfare and resistance, he approaches them on a non-emotional level. Despite still knowing that there are consequences that you will suffer emotionally but on an intellectually level is how he breaks things down in terms of the objectives they’re trying to accomplish.

Q: We haven’t really seen people who are close to him yet. We’ve just really seen him in the context of the Resistance. Are we going to see more of people close to him?

TK: You’re asking me to tell you things that I shouldn’t tell you because it would be a spoiler for the fans. I know you are working for SpoilerTv. (laughter) I can say that I think what we’ll see is the importance of the relationship he has with Katie. I think we’ll begin to see more of that.

Q: Can Katie trust Broussard?

TK: Of course you can trust Broussard!

Q: Did you have to do any special preparation for the show as it’s very action oriented.

TK: Yes. From the Pilot, I didn’t know if it was going to be a really physical role. I didn’t know… I didn’t really know after reading the Pilot what it was going to be. Once it got picked up and I read the second script, and I thought ‘oh. This guy needs to be in shape,’ so I went on sort of a complete stop, no wine, no bread, no anything for the whole time that we were shooting. And that just felt like the character was such a disciplined guy, like he just wouldn’t be doing that. So, I started to ground him in those realities.

Q: Have you had to do a lot of work with special effects yet? Is there green screen work? I like the way it’s very much grounded in the real world, but you still have the drones and the wall and things like that.

TK: You’re trying to get me to answer questions that you could possibly connect the dots on that there would possibly be some narrative implications. (laughter)

Q: I think it’s not a stretch to think that Broussard is going to run into some drones at some point…

TK: I think coming up this week, in episode three, that you might see Broussard and some drones.

Q: Where abouts are you in the filming?

TK: We have finished ten episodes.

Q: I’m not going to ask for details, but how much do you know ahead? You said they’ve been writing to the character, but in terms of the long-term arc, do they let you know that ahead?

TK: I like how you went into that with I’m not going to ask for details and then you ask for details…. (laughter). Most times we’ll shoot an episode and while we’re working on say episode two, the script for episode three, we’ll get that a few days before we start shooting episode three. So when you’re reading it, it’s interesting because when you’re reading it, you think ok, I know what’s going to happen in episode three because I just filmed episode two, but when you get episode three, it’s completely different than what you expected it to be. That’s just really a credit to the writers. Those guys, they kept us on our toes. So when you thought something was going to play out one way, and then you get the next episode and you’re completely shocked. And you’re inside of it! Us as the cast, we’re inside the story. We believe what these characters are doing and we think we know where they’re going and then we’re in shock when we get that next episode. I think that’s what the audience is also feeling. Like wait a minute, I didn’t see that coming.

Q: That’s one of the great things about this show! The writing really does keep you on your toes and waiting for what’s coming next.

TK: It does. I’m still trying to figure out what is the factory?

Q: Yeah! And it’s just scary at this point! I like the fact that there are a lot of real world implications that you can read into this. There are certainly occupations in history that you can draw parallels to.

TK: That was one of the inspirations that Carlton and Ryan got was the French Occupation and images of people sitting out and having coffee while soldiers were walking through the streets. And how do you adapt to that when your world is different. When going down the street is not as easy as it used to be. Where the stakes are raised. And your life is in constant flux based on not your own will, but somebody else’s will or what somebody else wants to impose on you. It makes you really ask yourself the question of whether you would resist or whether you would collaborate. But then when you begin to ask yourself those questions you realize that things aren’t so black and white. There are a lot of grey areas. And I think that’s what the show taps into because it’s easy to say of course I’d resist. But would you? Like in the show, when Will and Katie’s child is on the other side of the wall in Santa Monica, so would you resist or collaborate? I think that’s a good question, and I think that’s what audiences are asking themselves. They’re putting themselves in the characters’ shoes and saying who would I be? Would I be Proxy Snyder, which is scary actually! But would I be Broussard? Or would I be Katie or would I be Will? Or would I be Bram, or would I be Beau – just hey, I’m just trying to get through the day. So, it poses all those questions and I think that there’s a character that everybody in the audience can identify with.

Q: And that’s another one of the things that’s really interesting about the show. There’s not really a clear cut bad guy…

TK: Yeah! Isn’t that great? It’s so complex, but yet, still accessible.

Q: We’ve seen you mainly with Katie, but you’re active in the Resistance, so… how many of the other cast members have you worked with?

TK: I can tell you that I’ve worked with Katie, obviously, Sarah Wayne Callies. We’ve seen that. I can tell you that this week, you may see me with Paul Guilfoyle (Quayle)… and I’ll stop there.
Q: Can you tell us what your favorite scene to film so far has been?

TK: Let me see if I can tell you this… It’s for different reasons. There was a scene and we shot it at the top of Griffith Park and it was sort of a magic hour scene and Jeffrey Jur, who is an incredible cinematographer, incredible EP, he got this great lighting on this scene, and as we were shooting it, I looked across the mountains, and there was a time in my career where I was contemplating whether I was going to continue to be an actor. I was living out of my truck, everything was packed up in it. And it was one of those moments when you say it’s either you give up or you go on. And I remember looking back over at that spot that I was actually parked in, maybe ten years ago, and I thought wow. Here we are full circle because in that moment I decided that I wasn’t going to give up, that I was going to continue. And here I am sort of full circle looking back on that moment. And everything just made sense. You’ll see the scene – I can’t tell you what it is.

Q: I love spotting where you’re shooting in LA.

TK: It’s funny because a lot of production has come back to Los Angeles. This is the first time I’ve worked in Los Angeles in, for an extended period, for about ten years. It’s great to be in LA. You find yourself in locations and you say hey, I saw that location on a commercial yesterday! It’s just fun!

Q: I wanted to ask you a little bit about your past projects because I’m a huge fan of True Detective (Detective Thomas Papania) and Sons of Anarchy (Laroy Wayne) too. What can you tell me about working with Kurt Sutter on Sons of Anarchy?

TK: The greatest thing about working on Sons of Anarchy was the camaraderie with all of the fellows. Such a close knit group and everybody came to play. You had veterans like Ron Perlman, Tommy Flannigan, guys who’ve been in movies that I just adored. So going to work with those guys over the course of about three or four years off and on, that was always a pleasure to go to that set because you knew that the writing was going to be intense that it was going to be great. But you knew that the guys were also going to be there. And they were going to bring it. That was always fun on that set.

On True Detective, one of the crazy things on True Detective was the first day of shooting, which was with Matthew, and we shot that first day twenty-seven pages of that interrogation scene. I’ve known Matthew for a while. He’s actually one of the first people that I met when I moved to LA, through another friend. We’d never worked together, and he was coming off of such a great year with Mud and Dallas Buyers Club. He was just having a remarkable year and I just remember the first time he walked into the room, and we were getting ready to do the scene, and I was like, man, this is a treat. Because even though I know him, this is a real treat because you could just feel that he was doing something great. And it was so easy to just get into that character and bat the ball back and forth with him.

Q: That was a very different role, just sitting in that chair and batting the ball back and forth.

TK: In a lot of ways, Michael Potts and I were the audience calling bullshit. With Woody and with Matthew because it was like, are these guys lying? That’s really what we were trying to do is get down to the truth. What is the truth? So everything we were thrown at to get to the truth, and it just wasn’t so easy because these guys were great spin-meisters.

Q: Do you have a preference for a more action-oriented role or more, not necessarily more dramatic…

TK: I have a preference for the story, and I don’t necessarily think that the genre matters. I think the story is what matters with me. When I read something, I think, I’m into this or I’m not. I think it was Stanislovsky who was the first impression you get of reading something is the thing that will stick with you. Your imagination can take over from there in terms of creating a character or building one, but the first time that you read something, is when you know instinctively, huh, this is for me or I’m moved by this. So it doesn’t have anything to do with genre for me. I like all different types of genres. I can appreciate Star Wars the same way that I can appreciate Straight Outta Compton or The Revenant or something like that. It’s not about the genre. It’s just about the story.

Q: When you read for Colony, did you just read for Broussard, or did you see a script? Did you come in specifically for Broussard?

TK: Yes. Just for Broussard. That was after talking to Ryan and talking to those guys and knowing what they were looking for and I went in and met with Carlton and Ryan and Juan Campanella, who directed the first three episodes. I read a scene, and I remember leaving and it was a great meeting, and it’s one of those things where you get the phone call from the Agent before you get to the car. It was like, hey, they want you. That doesn’t happen a lot.

Q: The casting is really terrific on the show. Everyone really has great chemistry. They obviously knew what they were doing.

TK: Big credit to April Webster for pulling such a great cast together.

Q: You probably can’t answer this, but is there anyone on the show that you’d like to work with that you haven’t worked with yet.

TK: There are a lot of great people that I have worked with and a lot of great people that I still want to work with… (laughter)

I don’t want to spoil it for the fans! The social media outpouring has been fantastic. They’re engaged in such a wonderful way. And I don’t want to spoil it for them. I would talk to you all day about it because it’s great and it’s exciting and I love talking about it, but I can’t.

Q: The social media aspect of it – is this the first project where you’ve really had a lot of exposure to live tweeting and that sort of thing?

TK: It’s the first time I’ve ever live tweeted.

Q: So how’s that experience?

TK: You know what? It’s been great. I was reluctant at first because I was like, ‘I don’t know about that…’ I didn’t really understand what it meant. But what I’ve learned is that it’s just great to engage with the fans who are so into it. I mean it’s the first time that I’ve really felt that connection with the audience and you can feel what they’re feeling by the tweets that they’re sending. That’s pretty great.

Q: It’s almost like doing live theater, right?

TK: You know, I’ve done live theater and it’s the closest thing probably, yes. It’s the closest thing to having that immediate reaction from the fans. Because when you’re on stage, you can feel the audience. It is in a way like that because you can feel the audience because they’re like hey, I just flew in from London and I’m live-streaming and it’s two o’clock in the morning over here, but I’m streaming Colony right now! And I’m, fantastic, thank you!

Q: It’s nice to add that extra level and to see that the actors are really excited about it and engaged. That’s always really nice to see.

TK: We had a big party at Carlton’s house on the first night. It felt like opening night, actually. We went live and we were tweeting with the audience and the response was great and people were engaged. That was very cool.

Q: I know that you wrote a song for Tigerland, so I’m just wondering if music is something you’re still really interested in and something that you do.

TK: I still write. I do write music. I write plays, screenplays, so I’m very active on that level. The Tigerland song it was very serendipitous how that happened. That whole experience was. Because we shot that movie on a base that my grandfather was stationed at during WWII. And while we were shooting, Joe Schumacher, the director just kept adding little things for me to do. I was a local hire, so he’d add things for me to do, and one day he comes up to me and he says, ‘hey, why don’t you write a song for the movie?’ And he didn’t know I wrote songs – he didn’t know that at all. But I said ok, and I went over under a tree and I wrote the song in about five minutes, and I go back to him and I sing it for him and he goes great, let’s film it! And it ended up in the movie!
Q: Maybe that’s a hidden talent for Broussard.

TK: Well, you know, maybe we can get some Broussard karaoke.

Q: The Yonk needs some live entertainment, right?

TK: That’s not up to me. You’ve got to talk to Ryan and Carlton about that.

Q: Well, we’ll drop a bug in their ear! Is there anything else you’d like to say to the fans before I let you go?

TK: Yeah! Tune in this Thursday because it’s going to speed up, so make sure you’re tuned in. And we appreciate it. We appreciate the comments and all of the live tweeting and the people being engaged. This is the first time that people from my little small town of about 700 people are actively all over facebook and twitter. They’re so engaged, so that’s a good feeling too. I’m just so appreciative that people are catching on the way that they are.

Q: It’s a great show, and I’m really loving your character, so I’m really looking forward to continuing watching for many seasons to come!

Be sure to tune in to Colony on USA, Thursdays 10/9C!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.

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