I recently got the chance to speak with Eddie McClintock again about this week’s 2-hour season finale of Warehouse 13, as well as a good variety of other things. I just have to say that he is one of my favorite people in the world. He’s such a funny guy, but he’s so very nice to everyone who calls in to these conference calls. They are always fun, because there is absolutely no guarantee that he or the questioners will stay on track—in fact, it’s almost a guarantee that no one will! That’s part of what makes it so much fun to talk to him.
Now, read on to find out what he had to say!
On the finale: Jinks, a cliffhanger, etc
[Note from Jenny: The following is a response to a question about about Jinks possibly being a mole going undercover with the bad guys.]
Eddie McClintock: [Jinks is] not gone. As it stands right now it looks as though the Warehouse people have shut down all his credit cards and everything, they basically are trying to erase him. And so it looks as though he may be joining Walter Sykes and the gang.
You know, I can say, “However it plays out, I mean I just was doing an ADR session yesterday and I was talking to the guy – the mixers and I was like, “So how were the last two episodes,” and they were just like, “They’re the best episodes of the series.”
They’ve really raised the stakes this year here for the last two episodes. And so I’m looking forward to – I haven’t seen any of it so I can’t wait to see it.
Jump with us to read more.
[Note from Jenny: The following is a response about it being a cliffhanger this season.]
Eddie: I hope so. Like last year’s cliffhanger to me wasn’t really necessarily a cliffhanger. To me a cliffhanger is like the fair – the damsel is tied to the railroad tracks, the train’s coming, the guy’s racing to get there, “What’s going to happen next,” not, “Oh no, one of the characters left.”
And I kind of thought it kind of ticked a lot of people off. I remember like getting a lot of twitters about, ” I’m not going to watch the show if Myka’s not going to be on there. No way, that’s uncool. You guys are,” (ma ma ma) and so…
And I get it. It’s like, “What? That’s the cliffhanger? One of the most loved characters is just walking away?” So I would say that this year they definitely have again, upped the stakes in that regard. And I think people may be shedding a few tears on this one.
[Note from Jenny: In response to the question that someone might not make it back…]
Eddie: Maybe.
On playing opposite Kate Mulgrew, Pete’s relationship with his mother, & whether or not we’ll see her more
Eddie: I sure hope so. I mean again, as I said earlier, I really don’t know what’s going to happen next. And that’s in life and in – even when I’m at work, they come to my trailer and I’m like, “Oh, my – do I say things in this scene?”
And Joanne always wants to beat me. But I don’t know that I’ve talked to Kate about coming back. And I don’t think that they would have approached someone like Kate Mulgrew to have her be on the show if they didn’t plan on keeping her around a while.
So I think that definitely we’re going to see more of Kate, yes.
Right now she’s got the (Calati) bracelet on so she is in charge. Everything rests on her at this time, so she’s been very active in the finale.
And yes, Kate and I have so much fun together. It really is effortless to work with her. So I look forward to the time that I get to do that.
If you went to Dragon*Con or if you ended up at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention you would see that Kate and I get along better than I could have ever even dreamed of.
She’s the kind of person that after I had known her for five minutes I had basically told her my life story. And it’s not a long story but she stood there and listened to everything I had to say.
I was kind of going through some stuff and some family stuff and I was just like, “Hi I’m Eddie, and oh and by the way this is my life,” and she told me some stuff about herself to let me know that she was in the conversation and was willing to listen. And we just have struck up a great friendship.
So to have her play my mom seems completely natural. Although she’d of had to been like four when she had me, which you know, we’re going to have to overlook.
On the Christmas episode & about it being Pete-centric
Eddie: Yes, I’ll just give you some – no details, but I can tell you this, where last year’s Christmas episode was pretty fluffy, I thought, this Christmas episode is to me, more of a Warehouse 13 episode.
It’s edgier than last year’s. It’s not a Charlie Brown Christmas, it’s an actual Warehouse 13 episode. And even though it’s still like a standalone episode, it doesn’t – it’s not impacted by previous episodes. It’s very much, there’s a lot of drama and there’s a lot of heart and there’s a lot of action — just like every good Warehouse 13 episode.
Jack directed that episode. And he came to me the week before and just said, “Hey man, this” – I don’t know if he wrote that episode too.
But he’s like, “Look, I’m directing. I need you to bring it. Because there’s a lot of stuff in it for you and there’s a lot of dramatic stuff in it for you and I want it to be great.”
And so I don’t think I disappointed him. I mean I worked really hard and I think that, as I said earlier, “It’s not a fluff piece”. It’s not a fluffy Christmas story. I mean there’s still some Warehouse 13 fluff don’t get me wrong. But it’s a little more dramatic this year; it’s kind of Warehouse 13’s version of It’s a Wonderful Life.
On what sort of changes he would like to see happen to Pete—temporarily or long-term
Eddie: I want Pete to change just as we humans just in real life as we change, we grow, but any drastic changes, I love what they’ve done with the character.
I love the fact that Pete can be insanely childish and silly sometimes. And he loves that about himself. And then he also is incredibly brave and strong and loyal and loving.
And I mean he gets to – for me I get to play all of things. I get to play comedy, I get to play drama, I get to play action, I get to play romance. And to me that’s the perfect combination.
I know some fans, I’ve read that some fans think Pete is stupid and – or a goof and that always kind of has hit me the wrong way, because I just think Pete is putting on. He’s just having fun.
He likes to pull Myka’s strings. He likes to pull Artie’s strings. He likes to get everybody going and everybody kind of riled up. And apparently it’s worked with the fans too.
I mean I think people love Pete or hate Pete because people who want to see, “Hey he’s supposed to be a Secret Service Agent so he should be more serious.” And that will never be my character — I hope.
But I would never go to the writers and ask them to do anything differently in regards to the character. I would just say, “Please continue to make me all the things that you’ve made him so far.”
On what other Syfy show he would like to do a crossover with
Eddie: I mean I would like to go do any of those shows just because I think they’re all so much fun. I would like to go do Sanctuary because I’ve gotten to know Robin Dunne pretty well.
And I think the way they shoot their show, I guess it’s a lot of green screen stuff so it must be pretty challenging. I know when we do a lot of green screen it’s hard because not only do you have to act, but you have to imagine your surroundings as well.
So that would be cool. And I guess I’d like to do an episode of the WWE. You know, I’d put on some tights and a cod piece and put some clothespins on my nipples and a latex mask.
On ad-libbing Pete’s lines
Eddie: Well yes I guess I do throw stuff in there.
For instance, in Season 1 during the episode “Duped,” I was walking down the hall talking on the Farnsworth, and when I got to the end of the hallway I said, “Kirk out,” and then closed the Farnsworth. And Ben and Deric, the writers are kind of looking at each other like, “Hey I don’t know, can we – are we allowed to say that? Get on the phone; can we say that? Can we say, Kirk out? Are we allowed to say Kirk out?”
And so I mean I like to do stuff like that. I mean I just saw a thing on there today when this episode that’s coming up, and I’m the guy – I’m getting beat on and I was like, “Hey you, that’s my tennis elbow,” because he’s like hitting me right in the elbow. And I’m like, “Hey that’s my tennis elbow,” and then I was like, “I remember I kind of threw that in there and they kept it.”
So sometimes, but I’d say the most improvisational stuff that ends up staying is if I have an idea I’ll go to Jack and say, “What do you think about this there? Can I button this scene with this line or can I finesse it with this or that,” and it’s very collaborative.
He tends to beat my idea, which means he’ll take something that I have that is moderately funny and then he’ll go, “What about this,” and I’m like, “Oh now that’s really funny.” And so usually he’ll take my kernel, my seed of funny and turn it into a giant oak of hilarity.
On what it is about the show that continues to attract viewers
Eddie: Well you know what my wife likes about the show is that it has a lot of heart, you know? It’s really a family show. And what a great time in our history to have a nice family show. I mean if you look around, name a family show that’s on the air right now, like one that everybody can sit down and watch. I don’t know too many. I…
Matter of fact, I don’t know any except for, you know, maybe Spartacus and – I was kidding. And so the fact that the young guys and gals can sit and watch it, and the parents can watch it, and it doesn’t talk down to the kids, and it’s not too juvenile for the parents.
Although some people think Pete is overly juvenile. But there are people like that in life. And I think Pete is just awesome. I love playing Pete. It’s the funnest thing – he’s the funnest character I’ve ever had the privilege of playing.
So I think the reason people stick around is because they can relate to the characters. It’s really, the Warehouse team is a family, they have become a family. And hopefully we can get (Snookie) on there and pump the ratings, and do some fist pumping as well.
Thanks again to Eddie for taking time out to talk to us! Check him out on Twitter [@EddieMcClintock]. He’s fun to follow! Don’t miss the two-hour season finale Monday, October 3, on Syfy at 9/8c!
