INTERVIEW: Ryan Cartwright on season two of ‘Alphas’

Alphas, Syfy’s hit series, returns for its second season tonight, July 23 at 10 p.m. The team of government workers, all of them sporting some type of super power, is facing a bleak reality in the confines of the mysterious Binghamton facility. It’s time for them to reunite or live separate destructive lives forever.

Ryan Cartwright plays Gary Bell, a man with high-functioning autism who can also act like a human antennae, picking up signals from anything electronic in the nearby area. For the British actor, who is not autistic, it’s a challenging role that’s supported by the creative team and ensemble cast, which includes David Strathairn as Dr. Lee Rosen.

“Everyone’s lovely,” Cartwright said recently during a conference call with journalists. “We spend a lot of downtime with each other as well. Everyone’s really relaxed. There’s no ego on the set.”

The actor, who was a series regular on Bones and Mad Men, has seen his character on Alphas go through some of the most dramatic changes. From finding a girlfriend (sort of) to gaining independence from his mother, Gary Bell is evolving before the eyes of audience members. For many, Cartwright offers a uniquely layered performance of a man with autism, a character that is often not seen on television or portrayed in an untrue light.

This deep focus on characterization comes from a dedicated cast. “It’s all about the product and characters,” Cartwright said. “It’s so much fun to work with a cast who cares so deeply about the end product. … How can we play this scene? What’s an interesting angle to come at it from? What’s the way it’s never been done before? It’s just wonderful knowing that everyone cares.”

Working in the middle of an ensemble, both on screen and off, means each actor has to make some concessions. “If you go to work one day, and you’re not quite bothered. You’re like, ‘Oh, let’s just get the day done.’ Normally one of the actors … they’ve come in to have a big acting day, and you’re like, ‘All right, all right, all right, let’s get on with it. Let’s make sure it’s really, really good.’ So, yeah, all the actors get each other’s back. We like to play with the dialogue and make it fresh and stuff. So yeah, it’s just an absolute joy. It’s quite a privilege the kind of system that we’ve ended up setting up here. It’s lovely.”

The Alphas team features a lot of special powers, everything from super-human strength to human manipulation. It’s not hard to imagine the cast members sitting around an Xbox (something Cartwright said was common during downtime) and wondering what talents they would enjoy using in real life. “I guess as a kid it would have been flying, but I think I’d be petrified now,” Cartwright said. “I think I’d fly, but I think I’d just hover. If I was a brave man: flying, but I’d have to get used to it.”

Upon further thought, the actor amended his choice, almost like a kid in a candy store with a million possibilities. “Just cheering people up, that would be nice,” he said. “You could just nod toward someone and they’d just cheer up instantly. That would be nice. Cheering people up, making them laugh. That would be nice.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The second season of Alphas airs on the Syfy network tonight, July 23 at 10 p.m. Click here for more information.