PaleyFest 2018 kicked off last Friday, March 16 at the Dolby Theatre in LA with a tribute to and appearance by Barbra Streisand. The next day, the week-long festival of TV panels began with a session dedicated to Fox’s soon-to-be-sophomore space dramedy The Orville.

Before the nine core cast members, including star and creator Seth MacFarlane – plus other creatives – hit the stage to dish to the audience about the show and what makes characters and actors tick, the cast hit the red (or really blue) carpet to talk to the press. MacFarlane didn’t make it to that part, but the rest of the group was on hand, and TheCelebrityCafe was right there with them. We had the opportunity to chat with several of the stars behind the hit show.

Here’s what we learned:

Mark Jackson - Isaac

TheCelebrityCafe: What was your reaction when you saw the initial script for The Orville?

Mark Jackson: I thought one of the strongest things about this show is the scripts. They're fantastic. There’s a lot of quite pulpy sci-fi out there and this certainly isn't, which was great to see. Seth is a fantastic writer – and he also works with a wonderful team of writers that I've gotten very close to over the last year and they're creative, but they also have an immense amount of discipline when it comes to their writing, which ensures that the script’s believable. They enrich the characters and they enrich the storylines they provide.

TCC: How do you balance being robotic but also endearing?

MJ: Again, I think a lot of it comes from the script. The script is a gift in that sense. You have to work with what is in the script and what your character says and what your character does – I know it sounds obvious, but when that stuff’s good, then it's 70 percent of the work. The rest of Isaac… I think, if he was just a machine and quite straightforward as a machine, he’d be pretty boring, so luckily, he isn't and we get to play around with him a bit, which is good.

TCC: Do you have any particular hope for Isaac’s future?

MJ: Isaac, like every other character, is on a journey in this show. We're going to find out a lot about Isaac this season, which is great. I mean I don't even know everything but I know some things, so lots of fun things ahead for him. I think he is open to change and he is looking – he's a very curious creature so I think, yeah he's gonna change somewhat, I think.

TCC: How was getting used to the shooting schedule of The Orville?

MJ: I've done a bit of TV before and a few short films, but I don't think shooting The Orville is similar to any other show that’s being shot at the moment. The sheer scale of it is incredible and yes, the pace is – well it fluctuates. That's the weird thing about it, it's not consistent really for everybody, because sometimes you'll be in every scene in an episode and sometimes you'll be in a couple, so the pace varies quite a lot and I think maybe that's quite hard to get used to, but I suspect everyone has that.

 

Halston Sage – Lt. Alara Kitan

TCC: How's it feel to play someone as powerful as Alara, and does this female empowerment moment we’re in weigh on you in your role?

HS: I think what I fell in love with when I was reading the script was Alara and her strength and how I would have loved to have seen a character like her on a show growing up, just because she is so strong, and you do get to see her kind of come into her own and find her confidence and her place and role on the ship. But I think what's so cool about this show actually is that Seth had written that so long ago, he was already thinking about creating those kinds of women and characters for everyone to watch.

TCC: What did you think about taking your first foray into full-blown sci-fi?

HS: I was so excited. It's a world I've never explored before. And obviously, playing an alien is very transformative and unlike anything I've ever done before, which was a great challenge and very fun.

TCC: You worked with and became friends with Cara Delevingne – did she give you any social media tips?

HS: She's so good at it – I, not specifically, but I think something I love so much about Cara and all of her posts is she's so authentic to who she is and unafraid. I think everyone could use a dose of that confidence.

TCC: You’ve done some drama, this has some comedy – do you lean toward one genre or the other?

HS: Something I really love about what I’ve been able to do so far in my career is keeping that balance between drama and comedy because you get something so different from each genre. When you’re filming a drama you’re very focused, and you’re very in it, you’re feeling all of these different emotions all day long and it can be very fulfilling, but then on the flip side, you go do a comedy where you’re kind of just – you’re still focused, but in a different way. Your brain’s a little more loose, you’re a little more open to going off-script and a little less concerned with every little detail and it’s more of a relief.

TCC: How was it getting used to the shooting schedule?

HS: I’ve been on two TV shows before so I kind of knew what to expect, but it’s fun. For me, I go a little crazy when I’m not working, so I do well with a rigorous schedule.

TCC: Where would you like to see Alara go from here?

HS: I’d love to see her really start to enjoy her time on the ship. I think so much of the first season she’s finding her footing and finding her confidence and her voice. Now that she’s no longer green and she has really found herself and a second family in the Orville crew, I hope that she can take it all in and start to really enjoy that.

 

Peter Macon – Lt. Commander Bortus

TCC: How did you get involved with The Orville?

PM: Funny you should ask. I had another job and my reps were like, “you have to go in and you have to read for this part,” and I said “no, I have a job, I don’t want to lose it,” and they’re like “no, no, no, you have to go in and read for this part.” So, I went in and I met Seth and I really responded to the material. I’m like, “oh God, this is really good, this is really fun…” – and I read the description of my character and what he looks like, and I’m like, “I get to play in makeup. I get to do all these things, it’s too good to be true, I’m gonna lose this other job that I have trying to get this job…” And it was a balance. I went and I tested and got some feedback and notes and I’m like, “yeah, I can do this.” And it’s like one of those really weird things – the stuff that you’re really meant to do, it’s not hard. I mean it’s preparation and hard work but it’s ease. I don’t stress out when I’m in it, I don’t get nervous or whatever, it just fits. So, it’s like one of those things that – Seth said that they looked at about 100 different guys in London, New York and it’s like one of those dream come true things as an actor – (in high-pitched mock squeal) “you really want MEE? MEE?” – so it was that, and I found out that they wanted me to come on board. And it’s just been a life-changing experience altogether since then.

TCC: What do you think of the Bortus-centric episode’s plot touching on gender-bias and such?

PM: I think it’s one of those rare instances where life imitates art and art imitating life. I mean, how relevant a subject matter? When think we were filming there were court battles over who can use what bathroom. Ridiculous. So, this [in the show] is hundreds of years in the future and we’re still not only dealing with the notion of conformity with who is assigned as what. But then inside of that, you have someone, Bortus, who grows up in this society believing one thing and then watching Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and realizing that individuality and uniqueness is a gift and is special and we should celebrate that, to having an about-face and then going against everything that he’s grown up to believe. And then going to court to fight that and losing… so what I feel about that is, I applaud from the rooftops, a show that – there’s a lot in this one episode, a lot of humor but also a lot of dark, troubling mirror like what we’re doing as a society and a species today.

When the aliens finally decide to interact with us, I think we’re gonna have some questions about our allegiances but it was really… It felt great to be on a show that, we have the toys, and the bells and whistles, and the CGI and the jokes, but we also have this serious-natured core to the episode. And I’m primarily a theater background and I do a lot of Shakespeare and August Wilson and some grey, dark plays, so holding on to that angst and just being a vessel for all of that in the midst of a comedy show felt fantastic. I mean, you never get to do that.

TCC: How is it being one of the more serious characters among so much goofiness?

PM: It’s interesting because it takes an ensemble to make a clown show, and you know, I compare Bortus to Eeyore on Winnie the Pooh. You have Tigger, you have Rabbit, you have Pooh, then you have (mimics Eeyore’s tone) Eeyore. Eeyore’s funny and we love Eeyore – I mean, I don’t know how it feels to be someone else… I think there’s a little nod in an episode where they go in the simulator and they’re gonna do like a gun duel and he’s got the white wig and the whole thing, and it’s still very like “what?” But that’s funny. So, I don’t think about it in terms of me not being the zany one because if I did, I think that that would get in the way of him trying to be funny or whatever. But what’s funny is that, that’s just his lane, you know what I mean? And he stays there, and juxtaposed with other Tiggers, and, it makes it funny. So, I don’t think that he’s cognizant or conscious of the kind of… his sense of humor is… you know in the episode… they’re playing Latchcomb. They pass the ball around and if you hold it too long you get a sword through your hand. That’s funny to him because that’s the culture that he comes from where it’s funny and I warn [Ed Mercer] it’s not for human beings but in a Moclan society that would be considered a badge of honor. So, he’s not without a sense of humor. It’s just vastly different than human beings.

TCC: If you could be any role on the ship, what would it be?

PM: I think that Bortus would be – he’s third in command and I think being a captain would be quite honorable … the more responsibility… yeah, of course, he wants to be a captain, captain of a starship, yes… that would be the dream.

 

Penny Johnson Jerald – Dr. Claire Finn

TCC: What draws you to the genre of sci-fi?

PJJ: Hopefulness. I think that if you can imagine it, it can happen, and there’s so many things in Penny’s little world that I’d love to see and so I can get truly lost in science fiction and I can be hopeful for things. I’m very grateful to be playing the doctor because one thing that Penny would love is answers and healing, and all those wonderful things for people, so it’s just a blast to be doing this again.

TCC: You’ve played a lot of strong, smart women, is that something you particularly look for in a role?

PJJ: Strong women are very important to me and they are more important than ever right now, especially with the “Me Too” movement and things going on, because I think that we tend to… When God created man and woman – woman, people say, are the lesser vessel, the weaker vessel, and that’s so far from the truth. I’m a bible-thumping Christian and I know that’s not true, and so playing strong women is important to me because women, we are part of man, which means we’re more than men. We got a lot going on and I think I like playing characters to make the younger women, females, understand that the sky’s the limit for you. You can be on par with a man and embrace all of your womanhood.

TCC: The Claire-centric episode had family dynamics that were so real and grounded. How did you help make that happen?

PJJ: First of all, the two young actors are phenomenal and so they’re pros on their own, but I think just a bunch of living. I’ve been living for a while and I’m a mother and so I have those tendencies and… you take kids from a woman and you’re gonna have to contend with a lot.

TCC: How does it feel playing one of the more mature, rule-oriented characters on the ship?

PJJ: I love playing Claire because, not only is she is mature – I think the only adult in the room half the time – but it’s always nice to be the fly on the wall, because when you are the mature one, you’re watching, and when you’re watching, you are learning, but they learn something too.

Catch the cast of The Orville on FOX or on HULU.