Ryan Robbins is That Guy: that guy in that show, the one who was in that other show – you know, that guy.
Not every actor can be That Guy. You’ve got to be versatile, and humble, and have an almost chameleon-like ability to immerse yourself in the crevices and nuances of whatever role you’re taking on.
But the Vancouver actor is very much That Guy.
He’s been the scheming romantic rival (on Republic of Doyle). He’s been the tech-savvy werewolf (on Sanctuary). He’s played complicated characters in gritty period pieces (Hell on Wheels), space adventures (Battlestar Galactica), crime dramas (The Killing), and a time travel procedural (Continuum).
The characters are vastly different; no two portrayals are alike. The only thing linking them together is, well, That Guy.
“I’m really fortunate that I get to go and play all of these types of characters, and I have yet to be pigeonholed as one particular type,” says Robbins in a recent phone interview. “I don’t want there to be a Ryan Robbins type of role. I just want to be playing them all. I want to try everything. I’d take a crack at a rock opera if I could.”
With his latest role – Duke Vanderhaus in the sci-fi series Ascension, which next week kicks off its CBC run after a successful stint on the SyFy network south of the border – Robbins is adding yet another nuanced character to his lexicon of distinctly different roles: that of a Chief Safety Officer firmly rooted in 1960s morals and ethics.
“He’s like an old-school cop: He’ll go in and toss you around a little bit, and then ask you a few questions,” says Robbins. “Cops can’t be that way anymore, nor should they be. We’ve seen what kind of trouble that leads to these days, but in that time, it was a more pugilistic era. Everything was solved with fists.”
In the six-part series, the Ascension of the title is a space ship inhabited by 600 men, women, and children. The vessel was covertly launched by the United States military in 1963, and as the series opens, it’s more than 50 years into its 100-year journey to a livable planetoid.
Reel People is a spoiler-free zone (and Ascension’s got some pretty big twists in its arsenal), so for safety’s sake, here’s how the CBC describes the show in the press release: “As the mission approaches the point of no return, the mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship’s population to question the true nature of their mission.”
Thus, the aesthetic of the ship – not to mention the attitudes, fears, word patterns, and hair and clothing styles of its inhabitants – are still rooted in that bygone, Camelot era.
“One of the things we’ve heard often is that we’re like Mad Men in space,” says Robbins.
Unlike a lot of sci-fi fare on TV these days, Ascension is more science fact than science fiction, according to Robbins.
“[Ascension co-star Gil Bellows] and I were talking about the show, and I had said, ‘It’s not really sci-fi like we’re used to,’ and he said, ‘No, no, it is science fiction in its truest form, like that old school fiction of science,’ and I thought, ‘that’s amazing, that’s exactly what this show is,’” says Robbins.
“[Humans] attempted to do this,” he adds. “We were really, legitimately thinking of doing this at one point in our history, so it’s pretty incredible, when you really think about this, that this isn’t so far from the truth. We’re still thinking about doing this, a very real journey in the not so distant future.”
And contemplating just how true to life Ascension could be is one of the pleasures of watching the show, says Robbins.
“I think it’s really easy for the audience to relate to these characters, and identify with them,” says Robbins. “I think it’s easy for an audience to transport themselves into that world of Ascension, and you immediately think, ‘What would I do? How would I behave in that situation?’”
Ascension was shot in Montreal. The international cast includes Brian Van Holt (Cougar Town), Battlestar Galactica alum Tricia Helfer, Brandon P. Bell, and Tiffany Lonsdale.
The series is an acquisition for the CBC; a co-production of Lionsgate and Sea to Sky Studios in association with Quebec-based Lift Off Productions and Blumhouse Productions, it was originally commissioned by American network SyFy.
• Ascension airs Mondays at 9pm on CBC, beginning Feb. 9. CBC.ca/ascension
