The Haven cast let their hair down at NYCC

Basically, everything you’d expect from a young, interactive cast and writing staff happened in the New York Comic Con Haven panel. Everyone just relaxed and let their hair down. Eric Balfour (Duke) and Lucas Bryant (Nathan) fist-bumped each other. Cast and crew all pretended they didn’t want Stephen King (whose novel started it all) on the show. Of course they do! Charles Ardai is still working his magic. The producers joked that Nathan is better looking than Lucas while Lucas casually lounged against Emily’s chair.

I always like panels and in-person interviews because you get a chance to see how actors tick. No matter how press-prepared they are, their feelings towards certain events always leak through. Emily literally glowed while describing her love of the Sarah character. Eric Balfour might be pretty, but, he isn’t a pretty boy. Mentally, he fires on all cylinders. He complimented Adam (aka the Edge) as proving a better actor than wrestler. And he meant it. Basically, if you think Edge is a kickass wrester, wait until you see him act. Speaking of Eric Balfour, why is our favorite long-haired hippie growing his hair out? To play the original long-haired hippie, Jesus, in a zombie flick.

The cast further showed their enjoyment with the audience by answering which Haven character they’d become. One of the producers identified with Nathan, the strong silent type. Charles Ardai (who I interviewed two years ago) aspires to reach Haven’s red-shirted victim infamy by dying on-screen in a gruesome manner. Two of the producers aligned themselves with the dialogue-oriented brothers, Vince and Dave Teagues. Adam Copeland (Dwight) feels Dwight is slowly morphing into Vince while declaring his unabashed love for the two Teagues brothers. Emily Rose (who I also interviewed last year) detailed her love of season one’s Eleanor Carr. And, I wholeheartedly agree. I loved seeing a strong woman who played to her personality and not her looks. And, as an avid TV-watching female, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of that. While Emily loved Dr. Carr’s ability to be strange, she also respects Mary-Colin Chisholm’s longstanding career – a performance longevity she hopes she’ll share.

I enjoyed the incredible comfort the male cast members exhibited with each other. Eric thinks he could play Audrey so he would finally get to kiss Lucas. Adam joked that it’s tough controlling his character’s facial expressions opposite Lucas’s hotness. Mocking his transition from performative wrestling to scripted TV, he claimed he always wants to beat his chest and bug his eyes out whenever Lucas turned him on. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to see Eric, Lucas, and Adam in a three-way make out? I’m currently penning the 579^th fan-fiction on that. Fun fact, did you know that Eric and Lucas starred in a 2005 UPN TV show, Sex, Love & Secrets, with Denise Richards, Tamara Taylor (Camille in Bones), and Omar Miller (teddy bear Walter in CSI: Miami)? I didn’t until right now. Eric was also in Veritas: The Quest with How I Met Your Mother’s Cobie Smulders. Thank you IMDb. Is Eric Balfour the new Kevin Bacon? Maybe google will do a six-degree of Balfour separation some day (not that anyone would ever want to separate from Balfour’s abs).

Despite the light-hearted panel environment, the cast’s favorite episodes varied from the quirky to the sad. Lucas loved the creepiness of episode three, “The Farmer,” and the utter fun of episode four, “Over My Head.” One of the producers admitted that the original final scene in “The Farmer” (3.03) included more dialogue, but they kept removing lines until settling upon Duke’s wordless eyes. Most described episode seven, “Magic Hour,” as their favorite. Although Emily loved episode nine, she and Adam described episode thirteen, the season finale, as incorporating multiple emotions. All I can say to Haven fans is we’re in for a world of hurt, so get out your handkerchiefs and cross your fingers.

The panel returned to its playful vibe when the group described their ideal super powers. Emily wants teleportation (to escape TSA lines). Eric wants instant Panda Express invocation capabilities (um, Eric, it’s called a phone!). Edge wouldn’t mind rocking Colossus of the X-Men’s rock hard steel (yes, Lucas joked about the “rock hard” line). And, Charles wants mind control (to extend Haven to 11/12 seasons).

During the panel, I realized why Balfour’s fans love him. He’s giving. Eric complimented his fans for remembering roles he didn’t and for asking intricate questions that would’ve had William Shatner crying “get a life.” To the guy who asked, Duke receives super strength when troubled blood touches him. Enough said. At the end of the day, rather than getting angry at fans for following his career or for spending time learning about his characters, he’s grateful they care that much. That’s why people follow him and love him. He gives back what he receives. And, clearly, I’m a fan myself. At the end of the day I noticed I wrote Duke, Nathan, Audrey, or Dwight in my notebook, as opposed to the actors’ real names. And, I’m not-so subconsciously a fan of Lucas Bryant’s married DILF-prettiness. A lot of my notes detailed his beautiful blue eyes, well-worn leather coat, and knit hood. It goes without saying Eric is just as pretty, but let’s not pen either as the pretty boys next door. Sure, Eric was in a lot of short-lived TV shows, that I wasn’t a fan of, but he was also in 24, Six Feet Under, and Life on Mars.