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Dominic Keating & Kira Clavell - Devilish Duo
Evil has never looked so good or been this bad
Night has fallen on the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Its docklands,
normally quiet at this time, are a-buzz with activity. The cast and crew of
the new Action/Fantasy television series The Immortal are settling in for a
long night shoot. The sound of a car engine gets closer and a sleek, deep
purple Prowler stops in front of one of the trailers. The driver, actress
Kira Clavell, and a crew member exit the vehicle. Dominic Keating sticks his
head out of the open trailer and playfully shakes a finger at his co-star.
"Ah, ha, where have you been? We've been waiting for you," he
teases.
Clavell smiles, "I'm so sorry. They asked me if I wanted to test-drive
the
car. I couldn't say no."
He laughs and says, "She just loves playing with the props."Keating lights a cigarette and joins Clavell on the sofa inside the trailer.
Both actors are wearing suitably evil black garb in preparation for their
scenes later that night. On The Immortal they play a pair of centuries-old
demons named Mallos (Keating) and Vashista (Clavell). Their characters are
being chased through Tim by The Immortal. Raphael Cain (series leading man
Lorenzo Lamas), and his young sidekick Goodwin (Steve Braun). Long ago the
two evil doers wronged Cain and he is out for revenge.
Wear Well
"Mallos and Vashista are very old but they look pretty food for their
age,"
jokes Keating. "The two began their evil escapades in ancient Japan
during
the 1600s. They came from the Earth's core or the Devil's conveyor belt if
you will. There's this amazing scene in the pilot where the two demons and
their horses are spat forth from the ground and are covered in molten
lava."
His co-star interjects, "That particular scene was so cool. We got to
ride
these great big beautiful black horses. The costumes we wore were absolutely
fantastic, too. It's such a treat to have a detailed wardrobe like that
because it helps get you into the mood of the times."
Keating chuckles, "Yes, the costume department did do a wonderful job.
However, that day I was more concerned with the fact that it would be my
first time riding a horse. I did OK and was quite pleased with my saddle
ability. I didn't fall off, I hit my mark and I remembered my lines."
"Anyway, getting back to doing evil. Mallos and Vashista first cross
paths
with Raphael Cain when they kill his wife and kidnap his child. I assume
they still have her in some kind of demon nursery, although she'd be fairly
old by now. It's through their acts of violence that Raphael becomes The
Immortal. The show flits back and forth between modern and ancient times to
allow the viewers to witness this transformation. So his quest is to find
his daughter and, along the way, fight evil and slay demons."
"Mallos and Vashista have been at this little cat and mouse game for
400
years," continues the actor. "When you next see the two demons
it's in the
present. They're dressed in modern day clothes, all black, of course,
carrying their cell phones and cruising the streets in their Prowler. They
look like a pair of so-called 'beautiful people' from Beverly Hills or
Hollywood."
Passions
According to the actors, their characters share more than just a passion for
evil. "Apparently, the writers modeled the relationship between Mallos
and
Vashista on a real-life celebrity pair." says Keating. "So they're
lovers, I
guess, but there's something about their attraction to each other that's
just not right, so you know what I mean?"
Clavell adds, "I think they have a very volatile and unpredictable
relationship. Yes, they share a strong chemistry, but you're not sure if
this will cause them to make love of try to kill each other. Let's just say
that it certainly keeps work interesting for me and Dominic," she
laughs.
Both actors had a great deal of stage, film and tv experience prior to being
cast on The Immortal. London-born Keating made his professional debut on
stage in 1987 at Man in the Moon theater in Chealsea. This was followed by
more stage appearances in London as well as Edinburgh and Dublin. He has
guest-starred on British tv series Inspector Morse and The Bill and was a
series regular on Teenage Health Freak and Desmond's.
Since coming across the pond, Keating has worked on a number of movies
including most recently The Hollywood Sign starring Tom Berenger, Burt
Reynolds,, and Rod Steiger. On tv he has had roles on GysE, Poltergeist: The
Legacy and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The actor was slated to play the part
of Goodwin on The Immortal but things changed before his audition.
"They decided to age it [the series] down to appeal to a younger,
broader-based audience. So Steve was brought in for Goodwin and it became
clear that I could play one of the two lead demons. Malice, who then became
Mallie and now Mallos. I read once for Michael Grais [executive producer]
and, luckily, I nailed it. I was asked back to meet Lorenzo and the rest of
the production team, we talked about golf and they offered me the job."
Tough-Gal
The actor's beautiful co-star Clavell planned to major in political science
and psychology at university before the acting bug bit her. "I knew if
I
didn't try it [acting] I would regret it, so I did," she says happily.
Lately, the actress has been cast in "tough-gal" parts, which has
been ideal
training for her role of Vashista on The Immortal. "I played a
terrorist on
an episode of La Femme Nikita and got to fire an M25 and another really neat
gun. I don't know, perhaps I was an assassin in a previous life."
laughs
Clavell.
Keating nudges her playfully in the arm and smiles, "To look at her
you'd
think butter would melt in that mouth."
Clavell elbows him back, "When it came to my first audition for
Vashista, I
did it on tape. The moment I read the character breakdown I knew I'd have
fun playing her. I did two five-minute takes and sent the tape to the show's
producers. Naturally, I was thrilled when I received a call-back. I was
flown out to Vancouver to do a live audition for a roomful of people
including Michael Grais and David Straiton, who directed The Immortal
pilot."
"I wore this Vashista-like cat suit and after my audition I went into
the
ladies' room to change," recalls the actress. "When I cane out
everyone was
gone. I thought, 'Oh, I guess they didn't like me'. I went to see my agent
and, much to my surprise, was told that the producers had called and the
role was mine! So here I am!"
Anti-Demon Ally
In the two-hour pilot episode 'Demons of the Night', Cain and Goodwin gain
an ally, Dr. Sara Beckman (April Telek), when they save her from two demons.
Cain is hurt and they go to Sara's apartment where he can rest and heal
himself. The Immortal does not know that his arch-enemies, Mallos and
Vashista, are close by and are planning to deal him and his friends a deadly
blow - Keating and Clavell start laughing when they recall their first day
working together.
"Ah, yes, this is when we shot my two favorite scenes in the
pilot," grins
Keating. "I'd been late for the read-through on the previous Friday.
Not the
best way to begin but I eventually got there. Kira and I then met over the
weekend for dinner and at least got to know each other a bit. On Monday
morning we arrived downtown at the location shoot on Vancouver Street. It
was 7:15 and freezing cold. In the first scene, our two characters blow up
Sara's apartment. Mallos aims his demon finger at the apartment window and
Vashista starts getting all hot and bothered. Before you know it, the have
their arms and legs wrapped around each other," laughs the actor.
"Boy,
these two really get off doing evil stuff!"
"The next scene we filmed was in a restaurant. Mallos and Vashista are
feeding each other raw fish while discussing someone else's demise.
Suddenly, she gets all excited and climbs up on the table. Before you know
it, the sushi is on the floor along with the champagne and everything else
on the table."
Clavell looks at Keating and says, "She seems to be a very excitable
character, don't you think?"
The actor nods in agreement and continues, "The funny thing was the
director
said to us, 'That's great That was amazing! That was electric! It was
terrific! Do you think you could tone it down a bit, though? We don't know
yet what time of the day or night this show is going to air.' So we made
things more G-rated."
Originally, Mallos and Vashista were to appear in only the first couple of
episodes. However, the writers decided to bring the evil twosome back
periodically throughout the first season. This was good news for Clavell and
Keating, who are looking forward to doing as much as possible with their
characters.
"When I first started acting I'd always be cast as the best friend or
the
girl next door. With Vashista and, as I said earlier, some of my other
recent roles, I've gone from being really good to being really bad and I
love it!"
Keating is equally as pleased to be working on the series. "As an
actor,
sometimes it gets boring waiting around while the next shot is being set up.
It's at times like that when I say to myself, 'Hey, I'm getting to create a
dream world that doesn't exist and that entertains people. How lucky am I?'
Trust me, that puts things right in perspective."
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