Finding Salvation: An Interview with Julia Specht

With the Season Finale of Project Nephilim: Salvation, right around the corner, Paracelsus Films is taking a moment to interview many of the cast and crew members of the epic series. In the first of several interviews we sit down with Julia Specht to discuss the charming Rhea Jordan, as well as her ongoing involvement in the series.
 

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Of all the characters in Salvation, Rhea is unique in that she is the most truly innocent. Young, vibrant and curious, she seems to stand in stark contrast to the darker events and characters throughout. What to you is the most striking thing about her?

Rhea is very interesting. In the context of the story, she exists as refuge for Chase from her work as a police officer; for the audience, she is also refuge from the dramatic pressure of the story. She's young but possesses an older soul, and in addition to her generally carefree attitude, she holds a gnawing desire to look beneath the surface of the story she is a part of. In Salvation she's 15, and of course, like most 15 year-old girls, she likes science fiction, resents the immaturity of people her own age, and plays chess with herself. At the same time, because her father was a police officer, and Chase (her adopted mother) is a detective, she is very interested in the intricacies of crime investigation. She cares very deeply about finding out what happened to her father, and is naturally curious about the role James Prescott had in his death. I think it will be very interesting to see where this curiosity may eventually lead her, not just in the season finale but in the larger storyline. Suspense!

What attracted you to the character?

I started with this character when I was 16. Maybe 15. I can't remember exactly, it's been a while. It was relaxing to play someone my own age without having to force myself into an obnoxious pseudo-teen role that I've never been particularly good at. She's quirky, but not in the cliched sense of the term--I think Vincent and Alex went to great lengths to really avoid that. The idea seems to be these days that you make "tripping" a character trait and the teenage girl immediately becomes 'unique' (I'm looking at you, Stephanie Meyer!). Rhea is legitimately charming! She says things that aren't about boys! She makes nerdy pop-culture references! Also, as far as her relationship with Chase goes, it follows the Bechdel rule; there are two female characters who talk to each other about something besides a man. Though she's mature in her own mind, she's still very naive; this naivete is wonderful for us as writers, because that means there are all sorts of terrible things we can do to her in the future. :)

Terrible things?
Well... dramatic, interesting things--not necessarily evil horrible things. It gives us a chance to really peel away and explore different layers of her personality. We get to watch her grow as a person in a very unique way.

How was working on a semi-epic mini-series?

Don't kid yourself, this series was Homer status. There was nothing semi about that epic. But it was fun, despite occasional frustration with the length of the production. But that's expected when you have a shoot that lasts over 2 years. I enjoyed trying to keep up with the story behind the series, which was actually the most difficult part. Not only does Vincent like his secrets, sometimes I'd come back to the script after a few months and find that the entire cannon had been shifted slightly and, as a result, that labyrinthine story I'd just mastered had developed entirely new layers. It was a valuable experience for me; I learned a lot about character development, and the formation of an interwoven storyline. All sorts of shit is going to go down in the season finale and in the upcoming sequels that viewers of the original series probably will not see coming; from this point forward, questions are going to start to be answered, and things are going to reveal themselves to be much darker than I think anyone really expects.

You're taking on a producer/writer role for the sequels, talk a bit about some things that you hope to contribute to the story.

I'm excited to provide a different perspective on certain aspects of the story as it is now. I've got a different voice and vision than Vincent, and, one of the great things about working with him is that he really does welcome collaboration. He has this whole massive world he's created, but he's always willing to add new perspectives and ideas to the mix. It will be fun to work with him and Alexandria (Leonard) to add more depth and texture to it. We've already spoken quite a bit about where we see things going, especially for Rhea and James and Chase, and it's all very cool and interesting. In Salvation, Rhea was really situated on the fringe of the storyline. She was an active part of it, yes, but her involvement was really tied to those brief moments when Chase's story intersected with her own. She's going to be taking on a much more active role in the sequel and I think that once all is said an done, when you look back to Salvation, you'll definitely see her in a much different light. As to the details of the story itself, you'll just have to wait and find out. I can say, however, is that one of the things we're doing together is streamlining the whole project into a tighter format than what we saw in Salvation. It's sort of great to be the one that knows what's coming, because it makes the whole process much more exciting. 

Julia Specht is originally from Lunenburg, MA, and is currently a first-year at Wellesley College (there are no men, "freshman" sounds weird). In addition to her work with Paracelsus Films, Julia is also a core-cast member with Boston Actors Theatre, and an artistic associate with Laurelin Films. She is the writer/director of Paracelsus' upcoming short film, "Christmas After the Zombocalypse", and is planning to independently shoot a documentary about Conrads Drive-In Seafood (a fish restaurant in Lunenburg) this summer.