The show is shot in New Zealand on hi-def. Do you prefer shooting the show so close to home and also using digital cameras as opposed to film?

We are trying to do a film in fast turnaround TV time, you know? And we just can’t afford shooting on film I mean, we just don’t have the budget. What we want to recreate in other areas, set designs, visual effects and make-up, you know, by doing this great HD technology, we’re afforded [to be able to] keep rolling, keep going with fast turnarounds and a lot of the time we’ll keep the camera rolling for new ideas, keep it going, pick it up, just to get through it. ‘Cause if we had film we wouldn’t have time to do that. You’d need a lot more rehearsal time and we don’t have a lot of time for rehearsal to be honest actually.

I’m going to go off topic a bit here for a moment. Did you watch the sitcom Friends? Because I read that you enjoy playing soccer, volleyball, tennis, swimming, skiing, snowboarding and kayaking. Now is this actually true or are any these resume fillers like Joey had on that show?

[Laughs] That’s hilarious! Yeah, yeah, look, I’ll admit, I did the old “resume inflation.” I kind of embellished a bit but look, I’d say about 80% of that is true. I have actually been kayaking and snowboarding.

More at Thud.
March, 2009.

TTO: Sometimes when I do something in life that I really enjoy, it seems like everything that came before it was leading up to that moment. Does it feel a little like destiny getting this role, a really good fit?

CH: You couldn’t be more right. You can only only live in the moment, and allow whatever the moment’s doing to move through you. But when I do look back on it, I was just being myself by using my imagination as a kid, and running through the house with a sword. And then I got into acting, and then I got into this, and I couldn’t do what I’m doing now without my enthusiasm for acting and sword-fighting and imagination and filmmaking and creativity.

Yeah, you’re right, everything’s led to this moment. Hopefully there will be more roles as well, but it’s a snowball effect.

More at TheTorchOnline.
March, 2009

Does the fact that it comes from a set of books that people really love make it harder to play the role?
Bridget: The fans of the books feel that they know these characters and they want to protect them, so at first, I was a bit intimidated and scared. Don’t do this, do what they want, give them what they want to see and then, you know, after a while, I said, I know this woman. I know her and I’m going to stop wasting energy and not worry about whether it’s going to be right or not. It’s going to be okay, you are here today, go for it.

Do you reference the book for backstory on your character?
Bridget: I do. I have the book with me a lot of the times at work and I open it up and I’m reminded of who she is. As an actor, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

More at sfuniverse
March, 2009

When prompted to describe his co-star Bridget in three words, Horner did not hesitate. “Effervescent. Sassy. And just fun – plain fun!” he said.

When asked which three words she might use to describe him, he speculated, “Strange. Disobedient. And……I occasionally go walkabout, so what’s a word for that? Where you just kind of wander off…..?”

“There’s ‘restless’,” I suggested. “Or ‘adventurous’…….”

“I like adventurous,” he responded. “That’s better than restless!”

In speaking with Bridget a few days later, she painted a wildly different portrait of Horner than he imagined she would.

“Three words for Craig Horner?” she said. “I would have to say…..driven. Smiley. And…..gosh, I want to pick a good one……..open. Emotionally open.”

“You’re going to laugh, but when we had our first kiss, in the eighth episode or something like that, and both of the characters gave in for a moment……there was all this talk around it – this kiss has got to be epic, and……I happened to watch Brokeback Mountain the week before. And I was on set, and I found myself saying, “You know what? It’s so Brokeback Mountain!” People kept looking at me like, “Are you kidding?”

More at Fancast.
March, 2009

Is it weird filming the series in New Zealand when its not actually airing in New Zealand yet?
CH:  Totally, totally – it really is man.  It’s not even here, like no one really knows anything about it.  It comes out in like three weeks but we’ll be done and I’ll be in America.  It’s been kind of perfect, like you get to come to another country, like concentrate totally on the job.  Have no external kind of factors, no people going “can we get on the show blah blah”.  You’re just totally in your own little environment, it’s kinda cool man, it’s like you’re own little secret society.   We’re like chucking it in America for millions and yet we’re in our own little world here, it’s fun.

I once wrote that Bruce Spence’s Zeddicus is the best wizard since Ian McKellan’s Gandalf – who would win in a real fight, Bruce Spence or Ian McKellan?
CH: Yeah wicked!  I think ah, maybe Ian McKellan, because, ah, Zed might be just like “you know what, you can have this one, I’m just going to eat this bread roll instead.”

More at scifiscoop.com
March, 2008