In The Orville's third season, the battle against the Kaylon, a species of artificial lifeforms, is over. The crew, however, has remained divided over android Isaac's (Mark Jackson) betrayal, like Ensign Charly Burke (Anne Winters), one of the few survivors of the USS Quimby. She witnessed her best friend sacrifice herself for Charly to escape a Kaylon attack. As a result, she's not ready to forgive Isaac or forget his treachery, and she isn't afraid to vocalize her anger and hatred toward him. Nonetheless, her navigational skills have impressed Captain Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) enough to earn her a spot on the bridge.
Then there's Lieutenant Talla Keyali (Jessica Szohr), the Orville's new Chief of Security. She replaced fellow Xelayan, Alara Kitan (Halston Sage), who left the team after reconnecting with her family. Super-strong, confidant, and outspoken, Talla will once again fit prominently into numerous storylines. Ahead of the Season 3 premiere on Hulu, Anne Winters and Jessica Szohr recently spoke with CBR about Charly's beef with Isaac, performing opposite androids, Talla's heart, and their favorite sets.
CBR: Anne, your character is the fresh face on The Orville. Introduce us to Charly and where we meet her in the series.
Anne Winters: Basically, her name is Charly Burke. She is the only survivor from the Kaylon battle of another ship. She comes to the Orville with a big chip on her shoulder about the Kaylon. She has no reserves about talking about how she feels. She stands up for what she believes. She comes in very strong and ready to fight anyone who doesn't agree with her. Her arc was really fun to play. I had a lot of interaction with Isaac and the Kaylon.
Which crew members does Charly connect with more?
Winters: I would say she has a lot of interaction with Gordon [Scott Grimes], who is now sitting next to me all the time. I love Scott. He is literally one of the funniest people I have ever met. He will just bring up a joke at random times, and you're like, "Gosh, I am trying to be serious right now, but I think you are funny." A lot of interaction with him.
I would say most of my interaction was with Isaac, with Mark [Jackson]. It was my first time ever working with a robot. I didn't realize how different it would be looking into two blue eyes staring at me and trying to find some sort of connection. As an actor, you are so used to talking to someone and vibing off of the other person. He's a robot, and seeing those eyes was different for the first time, but I got used to it. I have a lot of interaction with Ed [Seth MacFarlane] and Kelly [Adrianne Palicki]. I get to go on little adventures.
Jessica Szohr: What she was saying about the eyes, it's also funny the first time when I worked with Isaac. They are like blue lights. They are his eyes, but it's like, "OK, this isn't right." There isn't anything there, but there's this amazing actor and this amazing character, so we have to figure out a way to navigate that.
Winters: He's so good at playing a robot that it feels so crazy. I give him props to be able to do that and say everything that he does in a robotic voice but still somehow portray this emotion. He does such a phenomenal job.
Szohr: This might be a fun fact, but Mark does the lines in the scenes on set and then has to go and redo it all in ADR. I didn't know that for a while. I'm like, "Wait. You have to go and do all of this again?" Usually, you go in and pick up pieces and do ADR a little bit here and there. He had to do every line again, which is a lot.
Jessica, Talla came in late in the series. How has she grown since she's been on the ship?
Szohr: Talla goes on a bumpy ride this season with some personal relationships and her career. I do find out that Ed finds this trust in her and gives her some more responsibility. I find there is a layer of that for sure, but I do find this season, she does find her place in the crew. I am excited for everyone to go on the journey with Talla. I do feel like she has a little bit of proving to do.
Talla has a big heart. She wants to be friends with everyone and have a good relationship with the crew, but she knows what she wants and has a very specific view on things. I have had so much fun playing her and with how much she's evolved. All the things that these amazing writers have given her, it's been extraordinary as an actor.
In what ways does a show like this allow you to stretch some of your acting muscles?
Szohr: For me, this is a whole different chapter of sci-fi. The way we have shot it and the way that it looks... When I was watching 303, there was a time from being in the high school to being on the raft in the water to them being in the cave... So, where this show all goes and does things, there are so many possibilities. You can take it in any direction, and I love that. I love that for the storylines, the issues, the topics that we get to explore and play with. We can kind of leave it up to the audience to make up their own conclusion.
Winters: It was also my first time playing a navigator and having this character being this spitfire and coming in hot. That's different than anything I have played before. It was fun for me to do as a new challenging experience as an actor.
Szohr: This isn't your typical show. We are on a spaceship. There's a lot of green screen. There's a lot of post-production that comes in after to complete all these scenes. It's a different dialogue. We have a dictionary in the beginning of each of our scripts. For me, there was a lot of challenges as an actor. I had never had so many eye-lines, and different cranes and different sides of the wall, and having a specific raspy tone to my voice. That's all getting into character, obviously, but I am talking about the technical stuff with the way we have shot. It's a very different thing.
Anne, what was it like stepping on that spaceship set for the first time?
Winters: It's the biggest set I have ever seen. It was like a two-story, real-life spaceship. Every room was realistic. I thought it was cool because you would do scenes where you got to walk, go down the stairs, go down into a different room, and it all tracked. It wasn't out of frame. We had three soundstages. The new ship that Gordon gets to fly is so cool. I'm jealous he actually got to sit in it and do the motions of it. It was incredible and unlike [anything] I have seen before on set.
Jessica, besides the Orville, do you have a favorite set?
Szohr: Everyone in the cast is going to be like, "I can't believe she said this," but as much as our bridge days when we were shooting were always really long, there was something about walking onto that bridge set. It's like, "I can't believe this is my job."
The first episode of The Orville: New Horizons is streaming now on Hulu, with new episodes airing Thursdays.