Exclusive: Supernatural's Sera Gamble On Sam, Dean, John and more!
Welcome to the third and final part of our interview with Supernatural writer Sera Gamble. This time, we get her to talk about the best parts of writing for the boys (and no, she can't choose between the brothers), what she really thinks about John Winchester as a father, which of the episodes she really loved, and just how "Christo" made it into the script. Read on, and check out parts one and two of this interview if you haven't already!
CW Source: Who's your favorite character to write?
Sera Gamble: I don't really have one favorite character to write…
CWS: Please don't say they're all your children.
SG: They're Eric's children; I just get to babysit every four episodes or so. I try to be a good nanny to them.
Dean always has a great comeback line, so it's always fun to write him. Dean's introduction to us in the pilot was him hitting on his brother's girlfriend, specifically pointing out her boobs. It set a tone for him that's really fun for me. I think that somewhere inside, I'm a chick, and I've got my inner goth girl and my inner gay guy and then I have this beer-swilling, cowboy-boot-wearing guy all the way underneath that, and he gets to come out to write Dean.
CWS: What about Sam?
SG: It’s like talking about two sides of a coin at this point. The bad part of writing a show that's 55 episodes in is you have to keep coming up with ideas for the show. We think, "Surely there's a new book about demons on Amazon that I haven't read yet." The good part about it is the characters are alive and you know exactly what they sound like in your head
The thing that I really like about writing Sam is he's sort of the straight man sometimes to Dean's jokes, but he has this very dry observational wit about him sometimes. Also Jared is this massively tall guy who's really adept at physical comedy. Something I've been doing a lot of this year is finding places for him to be really physical. A good example of that: Ben Edlund wrote Bad Day at Black Rock …
CWS: That was a perfect way to show off his skills.
SG: That's the thing I love writing about Sam, and what I think everyone loves writing about Sam. You put Jared Padalecki in a chair and just be like "Your nose itches and you can't scratch it." You can watch that for two or three minutes and it gets funnier and funnier the longer it goes on.
Let it be known that I can't pick between them. Don't say I love Dean more. I like my two boyfriends; I can't pick between them.
CWS: Do you have a favorite episode?
SG: I have many favorite episodes – you mean in general, for the whole series? Gosh, I hate that question.
I think Bad Day at Black Rock is one of the funniest episodes we've ever done. I think the genie episode last season was really great. My favorite episode that I wrote -- I put it in a separate category because you sound like a douche otherwise saying it -- I was really excited to write Crossroad Blues. It was my favorite from the point of view working on it. That day I came to work, my outline had been approved, I sat down to write, I popped open this collected works of Robert Johnson and stuck it in the CD player, and I stared at his picture and I stared writing. I got to describe this musician that really lived while I was listening to his music. And then I got to kill him.
This is a really cool job to have – it's like being a writer and a historian and also a sadist, all at once!
CWS: Do you have staff folklorists or something?
We have a writer's assistant who compiles packets of info, and then all of us have small libraries of various kinds o books. We have people that we call up. We have a guy who does the Latin for us, who we call the Latin Guy, and we will always call a priest if we do something supposedly Catholic. We kind of do it on a case-by-case basis.
CWS: Did the Latin Guy let you get away with Christo?
SG: Is that wrong?
CWS: Well, it's not God, it's Christ.
SG: I don't know what happened there. I didn't know it was wrong. Did we mess up?
CWS: It's something that people talk about.
SG: Well, we just put it in there to keep everybody's blood pressure up. (Laughs) We never really got back to Christo, so maybe … I don't know, I wasn't really involved in that episode. It was the first year, one of the very first episodes, and I was a story editor, so I was just scrambling not to get fired. I don't know what was happening.
CWS: One of the arguments that we get into a lot on the blog and in general is about John Winchester: Was he a good father or the worst human being to be a father on the face of the planet? As you can tell, I have my opinion…
SG: I think he was a really difficult father to have, but I don't think it can be argued that he didn't love his children. I think he loved Sam and Dean so much. You've got to ask yourself "What would I do if that happened to my wife and I got plunged into this world that I couldn't ignore?"
But I think he was kind of an obsessed bastard, I don't think there's any argument about that. I think we say that about a lot, and I think Sam and Dean are able to say that about their dad now to various degrees. He's a little bit like real dads, who tend to be complicated and charismatic and very much larger than life to their children, and then as you grow up and you get more distance from your childhood, you realize this was a human being who was wrestling with demons, literal or figurative. He made some really bad parenting choices, I think, especially when it came to Dean.
CWS: Have you seen the "Girls of Thursday Night" promo?
SG: I caught it once during Gossip Girl, yeah.
CWS: What did you think?
SG: I thought it was funny. It was like, wow, look at that, it's Supernatural but it's all chicks! You know, I am so disconnected from the promo department, and the CW in general. The only contact I have with them is when their fine executives give me notes on my scripts. And their marketing strategy, their ads, their choice of that particular shade of green – nobody calls me up and goes "Sera! Do you like this shade of green? Do you think it really encompasses all that the CW is?" I think [the promo] might actually be really effective. Our numbers are up, so maybe it's really working.
CWS: As a fellow Sarah, I have to ask: Was your first name always spelled that way?
SG: My legal last name is Polish -- my parents are Polish immigrants -- and it's got W's and C's and Z's and you don't pronounce the H's, and it's just impossible. Ten years ago, I was an actress, and I took my mother's maiden name to put on my head shot. Then At that point I was putting together the best-looking version of the name that I could, and that's what stuck. I'm sure my family has occasionally been happy that I have a professional name.
CWS: Do you ever think about getting back into acting, or getting on the show?
SG: I don't really think of getting on the show – it's cold up there. You never know – I guess it could happen. I'm really, really happy in what I do now, and acting is really fun, and I'm thankful every day that I have that experience because I think it helps me a lot when I'm writing scripts. I imagine that I'll end up doing something like that again, but I'm certainly in no hurry to do anything but what I'm doing now, because I have my dream job.
That's it for our Sera Gamble interview. What did you think? Tell all in the comments!
Also, are there other behind-the-scenes folks you'd want us to talk to? We're tracking down more writers, production folks and others to talk to (and yes, we're working on Kripke, too). What questions would you want us to ask? Is there anything you're dying to know? We'd love to hear your suggestions!
Comments
I always like hearing what the brains behind Show have to say about working on it. Personally, I'd like to hear more from the guys who do the special effects - specifically, I want to know why nearly every spirit that is vanquished seems to disappear in a burst of flame (not that it's not cool, just that it's starting to get a little repetitive).
On the whole chica-issue: Though I try not to get too involved in the whole Bela/Ruby debacle, I have to say that I think those characters could have received a better welcome in the fandom had their addition to SPN not been hyped to death ahead of time. If the network wants more girls on the show, why can't we have Ellen come back more often? Or they could have developed some of the female hunters we saw frequenting the Roadhouse. Or, given that the names are on the official website's 'hunter's blog', we could have been given more of Kat (from Asylum) and/or Emily (from Scarecrow).
Part of the problem with Bela is that she keeps getting one over on the boys, something I don't think would happen after the first time - the boys would have learned not to trust her. Another big part of my irritation with the character has to do with the fact that, early in the season, Show couldn't seem to decide whether or not we as the audience should feel sorry for her; Red Sky at Morning being my case in point.
Insofar as Ruby is concerned... Well, I'll be the first to admit that though I initially loathed her, she gained a modicum of respect when she helped Bobby fix the gun in Sin City, but that flew out the window during her little scene with Dean at the end of Malleus Maleficarum. I think that her whole 'I wish I wasn't different' admission ended up detracting from her character, not to mention the whole 'I lied to Sam about knowing how to save you' bit.
One last thing before I end this rather lengthy post - I, for one, would like to see a character show up from time to time who was a Hunter without the seemingly required 'Tragic Past'. Jo came close, but something about that girl just grated on my nerves, and there was the whole 'supernatural evil killed my daddy' thing. Basically, I wouldn't mind meeting a character who maybe had a minor run-in with something supernatural, something which wouldn't qualify as 'Tragic Past' material, who found/met a Hunter, and who decided that Hunting was a good and noble thing to do. Maybe with a dash of Dean's fun-loving attitude, a smattering of Sam's morals from season one, a bit of Bobby's practicality, and maybe just a hint of good ol' fashioned dry snark. However, I don't think this will ever happen. Oh well, that's what fanfiction's for.
Posted by: Aurilia | March 20, 2008 4:41 AM
hey sera....... it`s very very nice story. ummmmm........ i luv dean so much.... huaaaa...
Posted by: rusdiani | December 3, 2007 4:27 AM
Great interview. I don't know why people don't like Bela, I love her (especially her accent, the writers nail the britspeak) and I like having more characters on the show. Though the best thing about it will always be Jensen and Jared and the relationship between the two brothers. Thanks for a great show!
Posted by: Honor | November 27, 2007 8:12 AM
Could Sera please stop making Dean into an idiot? I love the show and I love the two Js but this season isn't as good as last season by a long way. Lose Bela real soon and ITA stop having her trump Dean all the time, she's really not bright enough for that.
I think Supernatural has a hard core of about 3 million dedicated fans. They will watch the show whatever but it doesn't mean that they prefer this shlockier, brighter, more slapstick version of the show.
More of the brothers like in Fresh Blood is good though.
Posted by: Inferi-tremen | November 26, 2007 4:55 PM
Thanks so muich! I loved Sera's interview!
I want Kripke to talk to us.
Posted by: Bambi | November 26, 2007 8:10 AM
I WONDER IF SERA GAMBLE IS AWARE OF HOW SUPERNATURAL FANS ARENT TO HAPPY ABOUT THE THURSDAY NIGHT GIRLS AT SPN. I GUESS NOT IF SHE ISNT IN TUNE WITH EVERYTHING THAT GOES ON AT THE CW.
Posted by: OZZIE CHICO | November 25, 2007 5:36 PM
schedule locations in Vancouver that can pass for spots in small town America
Well could be that Canada isn't all that different form Amaerica ya know!
Posted by: Anneabell | November 25, 2007 4:02 PM
No offense Sera, but the girls aren't bringing the numbers up, and Red Sky may have in fact, brought them down quite a bit. So, the girls aren't working as much as the PTBs would like to think they have and have actually been a liability in some cases.
Other than this, I enjoyed the interview. A lot of good questions and answers
Posted by: hermitme | November 25, 2007 11:54 AM
I love that Sera, Jensen and others always have of letting you know that they hate the CW. Supernatural deserves to be on a network that supports the show by gee I don't know- PROMOTING it, or letting them have more creative freedom.
I love crew, so much so that I won't question aas to why she was watching Gossip Girl
PS: Serge my man! Bring back the lighting from the first season!
Posted by: MegMasters | November 24, 2007 9:15 PM
Thank you for interviewing an amazingly talented writer!
I'd love it if you could get an interview with Kim Manners next! He sounds like a fantastic person to work with on the show. We hear a lot from Kripke and Gamble, but not enough from Manners.
Thanks!
Posted by: Lindsay | November 24, 2007 11:04 AM
Wow. That's... I'm speechless at that description of Dean and Sam. Those are totally not the characters I see.
I really miss Raelle. Can we have her back?
Posted by: Maggie | November 24, 2007 9:02 AM
I think Sera sounds cool and intelligent. I love the way she thinks about Sam & Dean (and Jensen & Jared).
That said, I wish she'd kill off Bela and I HATE the "Girls of Thursday" promo. Supernatural is not supposed to have chicks! There's only enough room for one One Tree Hill on the CW, people!
Posted by: Angie | November 23, 2007 11:46 PM
Thanks so much for the interview with Sera & all the great coverage you give Supernatural.
I would love to hear from Cyrus (he looks so sweet in the DVD Features), Kim Manners (genius) and I have a bit of a crush on Robert Singer (Producer) and pretty please, if possible, and interview with Jim Beaver.
Posted by: Elaine Swan | November 23, 2007 5:17 PM
Firstly, thank you to Sera and Sarah for the interview.
Secondly, I'd love to hear from one of the new writers like Jeremy Carver and knowing how he feels coming into a show in its 3rd season; I'd also love to hear from Kim Manners if he's avaliable and his experience working with J2.
Lastly:
Dean always has a great comeback line, so it's always fun to write him.
Sera, if you feel this way, PLEASE, the next time we see Bela (who is hopefully going to be the same self-centred, greedy, woman that we know she is - no redemption, please), make sure that if Dean sees her he's got something to say when she mocks him (if she dares), unlike what happened in Red Sky at Morning.
Posted by: immie_8 | November 23, 2007 5:17 PM
I love all the interviews of Sera Gamble you put up here. She seems like such a nice person that I really wanna meet her. "I love my two boyfriends", and she can actually say that and get away with it. *lol* Thanks for this. :D
Posted by: Anna | November 23, 2007 2:45 PM
Thanks for Sera - she's always a blast!
In terms of other production folk, I'd be delighted if you really covered the territory! I'd love to hear from Cyrus Yavneh about the challenges of producing a show that spends so much time outside the studio, including trying to find and schedule locations in Vancouver that can pass for spots in small town America, while somehow managing to achieve film quality work on a small network TV budget. I'd be fascinated to hear from DP Serge Ladouceur about lighting the show to achieve its unique look, and how and why that sgnature look seemed to change with this third season - did the network order it to be brighter?
And whoever is responsible for all those incredibly tacky, absolutely delightful motel rooms: I want them to know that their work is appreciated, and to hear where they get their off-the-wall inspirations!
Posted by: Bardicvoice | November 23, 2007 2:32 PM