An Interview with Reece Ritchie & Richard Fleeshman from ‘The Ark’

THE ARK -- "Pretty Big Deal" Episode 206 -- Pictured: (l-r) Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane, Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice -- (Photo by: Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY)

Reece Ritchie and Richard Fleeshman are a pair of highly accomplished actors that happen to play a pair of highly beloved characters on their current project, The Ark, on SYFY. For these two have taken the geek world by storm with their incredible portrayals of Lieutenant Spencer Lane and Lieutenant James Brice and to celebrate their work and celebrate the remaining episodes in season two, we sat down with both gentlemen to discuss all things The Ark.
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John Betancourt I would love to start off by getting to know what it means to each of you as actors be back for a second season.
 
Reece Ritchie: Oh, it's such a joy, like on a personal level, because you've already done the groundwork with meeting everyone, getting to know everybody, and you get to, you get to pick up at a very fun stage, you know, very fun point in the whole thing. And so, just for the show, it's really nice when you work really hard on something that is received in a nice way and that fans want more. I mean, that's every actor's dream. So, to go back, you know, we're very close to the crew as well. We spend an awful lot of time with the Serbian crew. So, it's just, there are no negatives, really. It's just so nice to be back around everybody and then to explore new territory with the show as well. A lot of fun.
 
Richard Fleeshman: Yeah, I mean, just adding to that, really, like it was, it was kind of a reach into the unknown, as any first season is. It's essentially an elongated pilot, you know, you hand out to the world and see if they're going to like it. So, for people to come back and say, “Yeah, we liked it enough to want to do a second season,” that means the absolute world. And again, you know, as Reece was saying, you kind of jump onto a moving train in season two, whereas season one, you're establishing who people are, what their motives are, there's a lot of explanation about backstories and things that kind of gets in the way of character building and narrative and stuff, because it's essential. But when you can arrive at season two going well, “we know you know who these people are, now we can just start to have fun.” So, we've definitely been given the opportunity in season two, some crazy, crazy stuff has happened, and some more crazy stuff is about to happen. So yeah, people are going to be very shocked, I think.
 
John Betancourt: This is, obviously, an absolutely beloved series, and I’m also wondering what the incredible fan response has meant to each of you.
 
Reece Ritchie: Well, you kind of have a recipe that you try and stick to, but you never know. You know, you can try your best and do everything. But ultimately, we're making a piece of entertainment for a fan base. Without the fans, the show wouldn't exist. So of course, it's pivotal that they, you know, when they respond positively, it's just great. It's, you know, it means it's a job well done. Also, I really like to read their guesses about what's going to happen, because they come up with these really weird and wonderful theories. And you think, oh, actually, some of them are really interesting as well. Some of them are right, some of them completely wrong. But that's a lot of fun, because you don't always know how things are coming across entirely, because we're on the inside, our view is kind of tainted with bias, but with them, they have a very kind of unencumbered view of the whole thing, and that's a lot of fun to witness and to read.
 
Richard Fleeshman: I was told ahead of time; how intense it can be in the sci fi world. I hadn't really done much sci fi before, and they weren't wrong, like the fans are, unlike anything else you can do. It's such, I don't know. It's like, a real deep feeling of togetherness with the show, and also a breadth of knowledge, like people will talk to me if they like the show, and then they'd be like, “this episode from this thing, and years ago, in 1978 and there was this thing.” I'm like, “Wow,” it's so impressive, and that's… how wonderful to have a fan base that's so passionate.
 
Reece Ritchie: It’s been a bit a scary too, right? Because you don't want to mess it up.
 
Richard Fleeshman: Oh yeah! I'm like, “’78. Wait, what was that?” (Laughter from all)
 
Reece Ritchie: That's why Jonathan Glassner and Dean (Devlin) are so good. They both know the tropes of this genre, and they know that, you know, you can really step on a problem, if you go against something that's a well-established, established trope or convention in this genre. So, yeah, I think we've always been in very safe hands with them, with those two.
 
John Betancourt:  You guys have had some really amazing moments, each of you as actors this season, obviously the clone thing for Lane, a lot of what's going on with Brice, and I'm very curious what it means to you as actors to be able to work on a series that gives you that kind of meat to work with.
 
Richard Fleeshman: Well, that's what's nice, I guess, because first and foremost, we're on a sci fi show, so we know that there's going to be fights and starships and all that kind of stuff that goes with that. What I didn't realize was how much the writers were going to also really invest in character work and the pain and the joy, and the love and the fallouts and the tears and all that stuff that they have seemingly wanted to embrace just as much, which was a really nice treat, because you never know. On the way in, I only had read episode one when we joined the show, so you don't know what the plans are. It could have just been like, fight, fight, fight. Planet, planet, planet.
 
Reece Ritche: Aliens. (Laughs)
 
Richard Fleeshman: Aliens, aliens, aliens. So, it's been, it's been really lovely and how much the writers seem receptive to --- very often, if we've met them various dinners or wrap parties and things, and they've said, “Oh, we saw that thing with you, and Reece in that scene that time. And that sparked this idea that we thought…” that's a lovely place to be in where you feel that this actual real time feedback as an actor going back to the writers’ room, and they're feeding off what our brilliant cast are doing and taking it back. And so, no, it's been, it's been a real joy. Really has.
 
Reece Ritchie: They've kept us apart ever since. Richard.
 
Richard Fleeshman: Yeah, no more of that. (Laughter from all.)
 
Reece Ritchie: Brilliant, yeah, as well, like they, they trust us, which is great, because there's one thing, some of these turns are quite hard to do, you know, because sci fi throws some real kind of turns at you dramatically, and you have to make them work, and you have to make them stand up to an audience. And there's a lot of trust on the creator side, which doesn't go unnoticed. You know, we have, we have a little bit of artistic license too, you know, because we're with these characters day in and day out. So that's very cool to feel like the leadership trusts you with certain decisions and interpretations of certain things.
 
John Betancourt: Last question that I have you gentlemen today, without any spoilers, of course, what are you most looking forward to audiences experiencing in the final three episodes of the season.
 
Reece Ritchie: Shock and awe.
 
Richard Fleeshman: Yeah, there's going to be a lot of, I mean, just watch the, watch the Twitters. In the next three weeks, Twitter's going to go nuts. You'll see it's a big one. It's a big one coming.
 
Reece Ritchie: There's a few big ones coming.
 
Richard Fleeshman: There's a… we certainly didn't see them coming. And that was, that's a big deal, because, you would assume that we would, knowing the team and knowing the scripts and but I didn't see any of it coming, which is, yeah, and I guess what makes the rest of the season different to other shock and twists and turns that usual sci fi shows would take is that the ones that are on their way… kind of change the course of the show forever. They’re not like, “oh, well, next episode. It's back to normal,” as a lot of these are. And I think, it took, even as a cast, it took us a little while to go like, “Wow. These are bold, big decisions,” but I know myself when I'm watching a shown -- you know, why was The Sopranos so good? Because people used to just get randomly killed. It didn't matter who you were. Or, you know, suddenly there would be an explosion here, or there was a big bank robbery, and you'd be like, never saw this coming. So, no, it was just, it's lovely that they're brave enough to be like, let's just pull the rug out and see what happens.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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