Sci-fi fans know Jamie Murray as the independent and fiercely intelligent HG Wells from ‘Warehouse 13’, and the beautiful and manipulative Stahma from ‘Defiance’. If you couldn’t see her at Starfest this year, here’s what you missed:
On taking Stahma’s role:
When asked about the role being rewritten so Murray would accept it, she said that the part of Stahma had been initially much smaller, but Kevin Murphy had already planned on expanding it. When she received the scenes, it came with a long explanation on how it would be a very Lady MacBeth-like part. She had never accepted a part with only knowing so little of what her character was actually going to do.
On Bering and Wells:
When asked if Murray made any acting choices that led to writers changing her character, she talked about how when she first played H.G. Wells, she felt the woman would be very impressed with Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly). After all, for HG, women were starving themselves for suffrage, and she had to let her brother take the credit for her work. Seeing Myka be her own woman should have intrigued H.G.. Kelly fed into that, and Murray felt that they had enough sidelong glances to really show that the two were interested in one another. Murray also noted that she was disappointed that this was ignored in favor for her arc with Nate in the final season.
On science fiction:
Murray was very admiring of science fiction, and the mythologies of it. She felt that she was a character actress, and that science fiction allowed for very big characters who can either save or destroy the world.
When asked if there were science consultants on the shows, she laughed and asked “Have I ever been on anything scientific?” She did mention that it’s imperative for shows to be as accurate as possible because sci-fi show lovers are the kind of audience that will notice when something is wrong.
On which Shakespearean character she would play:
After commenting that Lady MacBeth would be the obvious answer, she said that romantic heroines bored her. She thought she would like to play Hamlet.
On evil characters:
Apparently, her agent will often tell Murray that a role might be too light for her, and that she’s not really a girl next door. But she does like playing her baddies because they aren’t really evil. They are just trying to make it day-by-day and not making the greatest decisions on how to go about that. She also mentioned that she liked playing characters that come from a place of fear, rather than love.
On cosplay:
Murray admitted that she likes doing steampunk. In fact, you can look for her at Burning Man wearing a modified marching band outfit and a top hat.
On upcoming parts:
She doesn’t want to jinx it, but stay tuned! There might be an exciting new announcement from her very soon!