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The five faces of Zoe that you'll see in Caprica
Caprica star Alessandra Torresani plays Zoe in Syfy's upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel series Caprica. Actually, she plays five different versions of the character, the daughter of industrialist Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz). (Spoilers ahead!)
In the show—which premieres Jan. 22 and airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT—Daniel Graystone is a computer engineering genius and owns a large corporation that is spearheading the development of artificial intelligence. His unwavering professional pursuits are driven to extreme measures when personal tragedy strikes him and his wife, Amanda (Paula Malcomson), as their strong-willed daughter, Zoe (Torresani), dies in a terrorist bombing fueled by an underground religious dogma. Unbeknownst to her parents, the teenager had also been dabbling in these radical teachings, which were secretly propagated by her school's headmistress, Sister Clarice Willow (Polly Walker).
"I've done a scene where I play three characters in one," Torresani said. "Season 1.5, the second half, third episode into it. Besides just that, I get to play five completely different characters, which is not like any female 16-year-old show character that I've ever seen before in my life."
So here's a rundown of the five Zoes, per Torresani:
Zoe O: "Zoe 0 is the original Zoe, who's the daughter of Amanda and Daniel Graystone," Torresani said in an interview this week in Pasadena, Calif., at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. "She's the rebellious girl that's trying to find the Soldiers of the One and is trying to find the One True God on Gemenon."
V World Zoe: "She creates the avatar, which lives in the virtual world. The avatar is the childlike version of herself, but when original Zoe's in the V club, she's this wild, crazy [girl], has tons of sex, drugs, does all this but now is trying to clean up her act and clean up the V world. Does that kind of make sense to you?"
Cylon Zoe: Daniel Graystone figures out how to put his daughter's memories into the very first Cylon. The show will portray the machine both as a robot (depicted with visual effects) and as Torresani herself (representing the character's inner personality, which only the audience sees).
Zoe 4 and 5: Torresani is keeping the remaining two Zoes a secret. "It's going to get really interesting, really interesting," she said.
Torresani shared a little bit about her process for portraying the different versions of the character. "The avatar, it's like a rebirth of a child," Torresani said. "She's a newborn. She's touching things for the first time. She's standing for the first time. She's talking for the first time. It's this innocence that is very bizarre to see come out of a 16-year-old's body and mouth. I completely erase everything and just pretend that I'm this newborn child. You have to, but it's very, very hard when you're playing the Cylon as well and playing another character."
The original Zoe is wise beyond her years. "Zoe Original is the 16-year-old girl that's a brat, that's just a spoiled, rich brat that's rebelling against her family, but she believes in the One True God," she said. "She's a strong individual. She's just fighting for what she believes in. She's trapped in the 16-year-old-girl body, but she's like a 45-year-old woman. She's just mature. I just get it. I was that girl at a point in my life, so I understand it."
Make sense to you?
Will you be tuning in?
By IronOre at 12:28 PM ON 01/15/10
I bought the DVD way back when it first became available. It was okay, but it didn't spark the same wonder as the BSG miniseries did.
By Mike at 12:43 PM ON 01/15/10
The pilot wasn't jump up spectacular, but I can see the potential. I'll be watching.
By Rick at 12:51 PM ON 01/15/10
I agree with IronOre
By asfm at 1:04 PM ON 01/15/10
I'm interested in it only because it's a BSG prequel. But that's enough to get me watching for one season.
After that, we'll see.
I hope that now that Virtuality has been Foxed, Ron Moore will come in as showrunner. Warehouse 13 is one of the worst things I have ever seen. I don't trust Jane Espenson.
By BestWishes at 1:23 PM ON 01/15/10
Yes, but in the end we know it's the Old Testament God/Jehovah who will kill billions to get humans to live the life that He wants.
So, the Great Flood of Noah's era was the second time God wiped out most of humanity.
:-(
By Mr_Rodacre at 1:36 PM ON 01/15/10
The pilot was painful to watch. The writing and acting were terrible. However, I see where Ron Moore wants to go with the series and I believe the pilot was successful in setting up these different avenues of inquiry into humanity.
I intend to give the show a chance, and I am curious as to where it is going to go.
By Johnny B. at 2:13 PM ON 01/15/10
I'm a big BSG fan and I tried to watch Caprica. I tried to give it a fair shake, but I finally had to turn it off. I understand there are people that are hoping for the best (and I do to), but if the writers can't improve the stories and adventures that can hold the interest of the majority of the viewers, this could be SYFY's first show that fails quickly.
By Rich In Seattle at 3:09 PM ON 01/15/10
I was a huge BSG fan, but Caprica was difficult to watch. I ended up not even watching the whole thing as I was so bored with the story. I am afraid that I am going to have to pass on this. Maybe if I hear that it's gotten better I'll give it a shot, but right now, not a chance.
By yokozuka at 5:30 PM ON 01/15/10
I loved the Caprica pilot movie!, it did the trick!! it managed to place us 50+ years prior to BSG, and provided us with the depth of that original situation, the birth of the 1st cylon, and cleverly placed the characters and storyline in place for what´s to come, i will definetly tune in!
By tb83 at 5:31 PM ON 01/15/10
johnny B aperantly u forgot about Painkiller Jane the worst show scifi has ever made dont even think it lasted a full season. i havent watched caprica yet but i hope its good i miss not watching new shows of BSG
By Pinky Carruthers at 5:51 PM ON 01/15/10
I really Torresani's mouth. In fact, I'm not crazy about her entire face. But definitely hate the mouth.
By TMR013 at 10:36 AM ON 01/16/10
As the World Turns, with Cylons
Stupid
By Screenwriter72 at 10:56 AM ON 01/16/10
Caprica has potential but it can NOT be like the Star Wars Prequels. Caprica needs to be like BSG or Star Trek XI,
great characters, great stories, great SFX mixed in...
Live Long and Prosper!
linuxglobe on twitter.com
By buxtehude at 3:40 PM ON 01/16/10
I'll watch it. If it is good, I'll keep watching.
By Art Vandelay at 7:52 PM ON 01/16/10
I watched the first episode of Caprica last night On Demand. It will be the last I watched. BORING! Where was scrambling the alert Vipers? Where was the Colonial Fleet? Instead it was teen angst, a "terrorist" plot that made no sense, and shots of a digitally altered downtown Vancouver. Bad idea. Badly executed. BSG is over.
By waybuzz at 12:10 AM ON 01/17/10
BSG was fantastic but Caprica has to be viewed as a different type of show. I love the mythology in Caprica and love how they linked the 'one true god' stuff in with V Clubs (Cylon Projection), the likeness to our current world and the birth of the first Cylon.
If you're looking for raiders and vipers scrambling, your going to be disappointed. My suggestion is 'move on'. This is quality sci-fi if the pilot is anything to go by. I agree that Warehouse 13 was awful.
I'll be watching. Bring it on!
By Noneofyourbusiness at 10:47 AM ON 01/18/10
Jane Espenson is no longer going to be showrunner, it's been confirmed. It will be Kevin Murphy. Jane, Ron Moore, and David Eick are executive producers.
By Noneofyourbusiness at 10:49 AM ON 01/18/10
Warehouse 13 was bad. Caprica, based on the pilot and all preview information released so far, is nothing like it.
By pscard at 1:19 PM ON 01/18/10
Caprica 90210 ?
By Bobathin at 9:28 PM ON 01/18/10
I don't know what you people are talking about. I thought the pilot was fantastic. The writing was subtle and cleaver and I loved the characters as well. I don't see the problem with teen angst, either. Starbuck had plenty of angsty drama, and she was a fan favorite character. I'm so excited for this show...
By Nid Former at 9:01 AM ON 01/19/10
Zoe is pretty cute. I'd watch if she got the same exposure as BSG's six. As for the rest of the BSG franchise, I felt the whole tale ended a long time ago.
By Roadking at 8:39 PM ON 01/29/10
If I can forget that ultimately, it's all for nothing....that the entire five years of BSG was all for nothing, then the story as a stand alone has a lot of potential. Alessandra is certainly going to catch a lot of attention, especially the way SyFy is playing on her naturally sexy look......but it has to be much more than watching a very sexy 22 year old woman playing to a 16 year old image.
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Roadking:
If I can forget that ultimately, it's all for nothing....that the entire five years of BSG was all for nothing, the...More »