A few weeks ago, we told you that SyFy’s adaptation of the UK show Being Human would feature a recurring lesbian character played by Alison Louder. During a panel about the supernatural show at TCA this week, we find out a little bit more about what we could expect from Alison’s character of Emily.
Sam Hungtinton plays Josh, a werewolf moonlighting as a nurse at a Boston hospital. His roommates are a ghost (Meaghan Rath) and a vampire (Sam Witwer) and they are trying to move through the world without their friends and family knowing about their dark sides. But Josh isn’t so lucky, when he runs into Emily, his estranged sister, while at his day job.
“I’m ostracized from my family, being turned into a werewolf years prior from where the series started,” Sam said. “And it’s horrifying for me. She’s a surprise. She shows up at the hospital, not expecting to see me and I’m not expecting to see her. And I’m very reluctant to let her in, but I do despite my better judgement.”
He spoke highly of Alison Louder, saying she’s tremendous and talented, and that their relationship as siblings on the show is “an interesting story” that is filtered throughout the first season.
“[Josh] kind of quickly come to realize that [having her in my life] is something that’s probably not smart for Josh,” Sam said. “And then his fears are almost confirmed.”
Executive producers Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke said they created the lesbian character of Emily because they wanted Josh to have “a spunky sister.”
“We just thought it would be fun if she were [a lesbian],” Anna said.
“It was very normal for her to be a lesbian,” Jeremy echoed. “It started out on the first couple of episodes that everyone has a secret” which Anna said was later edited out, but the theme still exists between Josh and Emily.
“She was able to tell her brother [she’s gay],” Jeremy said. “[She feels like] ‘I was able to tell you this – whatever’s going on with you, why can’t you tell me?’ And you’ll see how Josh can’t tell her his biggest secret.”
The producers say we will meet Emily’s girlfriend briefly, and that her relationship with her girlfriend “factors into how she gets back together with Josh.”
“At the moment she told him [she’s gay] was the moment he turned for the first time,” Jeremy said. “So she came out to him, went to the bathroom, she came back and he was gone.” So even though Josh is totally accepting of his sister’s sexuality, he runs into some complications (turning into a werwolf and all) that he has to leave and never see her again – until Being Human picks up.
“The scene you see with him in the diner [in the first episode],” Anna said, “they were there together and he runs out on her and she never saw him again. So she’s like ‘why did you walk away?'”
“It didn’t have to do with how he felt about her,” Jeremy said. “He doesn’t feel anything negative about it.”
Being Human premieres on SyFy on January 17.
