The CW’s “Star-Crossed” tells the story of an alien invasion as a metaphor for the civil rights movement.
Aliens known as the Atrians came to earth, but they have been sequestered in a ghetto for 10 years and a large contingent of humans want to keep them out. Matt Lanter plays Roman, an Atrian experiencing human high school for the first time, and falling for Emery (Aimee Teegarden), a human he met as a child during his first night on earth.
We sat down with Lanter before The CW presented the show to the Television Critics Association for an exclusive Atrian anatomy lesson and more on “Star-Crossed.” “Star-Crossed” airs Mondays on The CW.
CraveOnline: Roman gets all the best lines, doesn’t he?
Matt Lanter: Does he? Yeah, he’s got some good stuff.
Like the one about the centipede bones.
Right, yeah. Yeah, they’ve kind of built Roman to be a little sarcastic and witty. I hope we see more of that. A lot of our series takes such a serious tone so I enjoy when they give him those moments.
Aimee said she was cast first. When you auditioned for Roman, did you read with her?
Yeah, actually it was interesting because I found out “90210” was canceled and the same day we had a meeting set up. I think a day later or two days later I was in there meeting with Josh Appelbaum and Meredith [Averill] and Aimee was there. We just kind of talked about the script and then within a couple hours, they said, “Do you want to be part of the show?” It was cool.
Was it that The CW wanted to keep you in the family?
A little bit, yeah. They were cool about it. They called and said we’ve got some stuff going on. Take a look at it. Do you like any of it? I think it was a little bit of that.
How different is an Atrian from a human?
I would say they’re more similar than they are different. They feel emotion, they are able to love, they function roughly the same way. There are some physical differences. Of course, they’ve got markings on their bodies that do things for them. They’ve got two hearts, two sets of lungs so anatomy’s a little different. Customs, values are different, cultures are different but other than that, they’re eerily similar.
What do the markings do for Roman?
Well, the markings are individual to every Atrian. That’s kind of like birthmarks in a way. I don’t know if I can really give away powers because it kind of lends itself to special powers and I don’t want to give too much of that away.
Yeah, we haven’t seen it yet in the pilot.
So they do have a function, I’ll say that.
We do know Roman has some healing secrets they’re keeping from the humans.
Certainly, within the Atrian culture, there are certain groups, certain tribes. Certain Atrians can do things and one of Roman’s things is that this herb mixed with his blood has a healing effect on humans. He obviously uses that to help Emery’s friend which really is helping Emery. We actually get to see how it affects Atrians and how it can affect the secrecy of it all. It comes back into play.
Things are so tough for the Atrians already, is it going to be a problem if humans find out about this power?
It’s a problem. It’s a problem because it’s a closely guarded secret. If they know we can heal sickness, all the Atrians are going to be pushed into a lab, dissected to find the cures. I think they realize that and it’s something they need to keep close to save themselves.
What was it like the first time you saw the set of the Atrian camp?
It was great. We did it in the pilot a little bit but we of course rebuilt it for episode two and following. It’s a really, really cool set. A lot of it’s going to be special effects. They’re going to build it up and extend it with special effects, so when we’re filming there it’s not as grand as it’s going to be when the audience sees it, but it’s still pretty cool. It’s built around shipping containers. It’s got a very slummy feel to it, a lot of rust. It’s kind of meant to be whatever the Atrians can find, scraps, to build a life for themselves. It’s very dirty, very slummy, very steampunk kind of built up, very industrial feeling.
It looks like there’s a ton of background detail.
It’s cool. We’ve got some interesting lighting. It’s a really, really cool feel.
Was there an Atrian boot camp for the actors?
[Laughs] No, we didn’t really have an Atrian boot camp. We have our own language, Sondiv, which we didn’t get a boot camp, but every time we have to speak our language, they actually send us translations and pronunciations and phonetic spellings of all of it. That’s kind of cool. Of course, we’ve kind of been briefed on a bit of Atrian history, but I think they’re still developing that, and they’re also keeping some of it tight lipped, even from the actors. So we’ll see what they come up with.
Are you learning the language phonetically as you go? It’s not like a glossary?
No, it’s completely brand new. Actually, the same man who invented the Dothraki language for “Game of Thrones” invented Sondiv. He’s actually built it from the ground up. It’s completely original. It’s really harsh on the tongue. It reminds me of French mixed with a Latin. I don’t even know. It’s really odd, but I don’t know the language. It’s too much so every time we have to say something, they actually send it to us. We just drill that in our heads and say it eventually enough times, we do actually say it with meaning.
Even though they met as kids, did Roman expect to find love when he came to Earth?
No, I mean, when Roman came to Earth he was six years old. I don’t think he was thinking about love, but I think 10 years later, it’s probably crossed his mind now that he’s 16, 17 years old that he might end up seeing Emery. Being in the same town, going to possibly the same school, it’s a possibility.
I guess I mean is he open to love with a human or is that a problem?
Well, it’s a problem for sure, mixing the two races, and we see how that plays out. I don’t think he’s necessarily looking for love but I think that it’s almost a built-in destiny for him. Now that he’s a teenager and he met her 10 years ago, I think it’s a destiny he can’t get away from. I don’t think he wants to get away from it. So it’s a scary thought to be with her and to make that work but he wants to because it’s so intriguing. She’s got such a drawing power with him.
How big of a threat is Grayson?
He’s a big threat. Mostly as the episodes go on, he’s a threat to more than just their relationship. He’s a threat to Atrians. Yeah, he’s a threat. Anyone you love, anyone who’s possibly coming in there to steal them away is a threat.
Is the Atrian life cycle similar to humans’, especially in the teenage years?
Well, they haven’t explained much, but we do know that there are things about Atrians that are different. We do know they develop faster. We do know they have interesting allergies that can hurt them that humans might not necessarily have. They have two hearts, they have two sets of lungs so there are things physically that are different about them, kind of on the side that we don’t see day to day. That does play into our story as we move forward, to explore that a bit.
Do the Atrians have to become political because they’re ghettoed? If humans had been more open, would they have come to earth and gotten political?
I don’t think so. I think it all stems from the Atrians being sequestered into this slum so that the whole civil rights issue is happening with the Atrians and the humans. The Atrians want equality. They’ve been unfairly treated and thrown into a slum. Humans are just scared of the unknown.
The metaphor is clear for our civil rights movement, but how is it different from our civil rights movement?
I think that it’s more similar than it is different. Of course they are a species from a different planet, whereas our civil rights movement is our own people, it’s our own kind which really makes it even more tragic and unfathomable that we would do that to our own brothers and sisters in humanity. You see that a little bit with the Atrians. They’re very similar to humans in a lot of ways too so they’re able to think, they’re able to feel. They are intelligent so I think there’s going to be maybe some people that can see themselves doing what the humans did, sequestering them and keeping them separate, and there’s going to be people that are going to think there’s no way they should have been sequestered. I think we see that in the show. There’s different groups of different people. People support it, people don’t support it.
What was the most challenging aspect of Roman for you?
The most challenging aspect was just dealing with the weight of the world and trying to shift it between protecting Emery and being soft and gentle to her and showing this love and compassion for her, but at the same time having to be kind of cold with her in a way to protect her. It’s kind of challenging to come across as loving but also a jerk in a way, to push her away even though it’s for her own safety.
What was the most natural for you about Roman?
Gosh, I don’t know. Like I mentioned, in a lot of ways Atrians are so similar to humans. They love and they feel, they think so I think that it’s easy to see yourself in a position where you love someone but you just can’t be with them for other reasons.
Since you had experience on another CW show, were you prepared for how important music would be on “Star-Crossed?”
Yeah, I guess that’s not really my job to think about but of course, music’s always important on The CW. I think younger generations love the connection to music. Hopefully we’ll have some cool stuff. In the pilot, we had amazing music so I’m anxious to see what else they come up with.
Which songs did you like in the pilot?
Well, the ending song, “The Age of Aquarius,” the remix of that was just really, really cool and so fitting, so emotionally powerful in that moment. If they can continue to pull those emotions with music, that always makes for good storytelling. It helps.
Since this is your second CW show, how different is “Star-Crossed” from “90210?”
It’s very different. That was one of the things that really drew me to it was that it’s so different from “90210.” “90210” is a younger soap for a younger generation, very glossy, about the high life, in a way unreal, kind of very surreal life. Although this does take place in the future and it has to do with aliens, it seems more realistic that this could happen. These kind of emotions are real. I could see this happening, aliens coming to earth and being pushed into a slum because of the unknown.
Being scared of the unknown, humans push them in. I can see it happening. It’s shot in a more real way. It’s shot in a grittier, darker way. The storytelling is a bit more gritty so it’s kind of different from “90210” on every level. That excites me.
Are there any similarities?
I think there are similarities in just general stories of love, wanting to be with a person and that conflict is always similar in a lot of stories being told. There’s more differences than there are similarities, really.
What is the balance on “Star-Crossed” between the romantic story and the political story?
It’s a difficult balance because it is as much about politics and the power struggle as it is about romance. It all fits together, it all plays in a symphony of the storytelling, but the romance is one aspect to it. Roman and Emery, quite literally as you find out through the whole season, have the weight of the world on their shoulders and we see how they deal with that.
There’s a tussle with some bullies at school. Is it a very physical role for you?
Yeah, it is. Probably more so than “90210,” yeah. You’ll see there are several action sequences. I kind of brushed up on Roman having to save the world. You kind of literally see that happening, so it is a lot more physical than “90210” which is fun for me.
Did you have to do any training?
Not so much training. I’m a pretty athletic guy. I always have been so it’s always fun for me to do, the fight sequences, running and jumping, whatever else crazy they have me doing.
When we look for upcoming episodes, what’s one where you get to do some cool stunts?
I guess it’s considered a stunt but there’s something in episode seven that’s very cool. It’s a very surreal kind of a shot. It’s a very emotionally powerful shot and it’s a first. I don’t want to say too much, but it’s a cool shot. You’ll see.
