Tamara Taylor Talks Hunting Monsters for Netflix’s ‘October Faction’
Q&A
Parents don’t tell their kids everything about their lives. And in the case of October Faction, these parents are keeping quite the secret from their children.
In the new Netflix series based on the IDW comic, Tamara Taylor stars as Deloris Allen alongside J.C. MacKenzie’s Fred. Though the two appear to be insurance sales reps, they’re actually part of a covert syndicate that hunts monsters. And at the beginning of the series, they face another challenge: returning to their hometown.
Here, Taylor previews her latest role and shares how she thinks her Bones character would do in this world.
Can you start by setting up this world that we’ve diving into? What’s the reach and size of Presidio?
Tamara Taylor: It’s global. It’s existed for a really long time, unbeknownst to human being, to maintain the balance of humans and monsters. Yeti, apparently all of the lore, these myths we’ve heard since the dawn of time, Presidio’s been on top of.
How would you describe Deloris as a member of Presidio? And how does having a family affect her at work?
She’s an interesting paradox to me because she definitely is a true believer in what she’s doing. She believes in Presidio and what they stand for, and she feels like she’s protecting the human race as well as protecting her children. But she does feel like she can only protect her kids from the truth for so long. She’s walking this razor’s edge where she’s trying to figure out how to present what she and Fred do without completely upsetting the balance of the family.
The trailer reveals that Presidio’s aim isn’t just killing monsters, but also understanding them. Which part of the job is easier for Deloris and Fred?
Honestly, I think the killing part is what they think is right, which to me is an interesting perspective because what I found myself questioning is, who are the monsters exactly?
How would you describe Deloris and Fred’s relationship and the two of them as parents?
Deloris and Fred are each other’s safe space. Deloris provided a soft landing for Fred, who obviously struggled with his family and has struggled with what his family does for a really long time. Fred is the same for Deloris. She’s running away from a few secrets, and Fred is like her protector. Not only do they love each other, but they view each other as perfect partners in everything.
They’re pretty normal parents actually, oddly. They’re concerned. They’re strict. They’ve got 17-year-old twins, which presents its own challenges. But aside from killing monsters at night, by day, they’re pretty normal.
(Netflix)
Deloris and Fred return to their hometown, so how is that for them? Reconnecting with friends? Remembering things they’d rather not?
It presents more of a challenge than both she and Fred anticipate. Both of them essentially ran away. Part of the reason they joined Presidio was to get out of that small town and to get away from those secrets and their pasts, so going back is like opening up Pandora’s Box.
And how do you think Bones‘ Cam would do in the world of October Faction?
I think I brought a little bit of Cam to Deloris. Cam’s soft inside, but she’s certainly got a tough exterior, and Deloris is kind of the same, at least in that regard. She just has a little more weapons training.
Do you think Cam would be more interested in understanding the monsters than killing them?
Cam, near the end of the series, would have been more interested because we started to see that Cam wasn’t just toeing the party line, but when Cam first shows up on the scene in Bones, she’s all about the politics of the Jeffersonian and certainly she’s about seeking justice and figuring it all out, but she also is concerned about public perception. Near the end of Bones, Cam got softer and would’ve been more interested in understanding the monsters. Brennan was more interested in understanding things than Cam was.
October Faction, Thursday, January 23, Netflix
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