Sanctuary - TLOEG: Robert Lawrenson Interview

At The League Of Extraordinary Genres:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)

An Interview With Robert Lawrenson

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Robert is a British born actor, now based in Vancouver, Canada. He has appeared in such projects as Sanctuary, Coronation Street, Doctors, Smallville & Robin Hood: Beyond Sherwood.



Robert Lawrenson from Sanctuary

A brief excerpt:

TLOEG: Would you consider making appearances at conventions?

RL: Yes, in fact myself and several of the regular cast of Sanctuary will be appearing at the first ever Sanctuary convention at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver Jul 30th – Aug 1st. I am really looking forward to being involved and meeting the fans of the show, who make it all possible. Its being run by GABIT events and is made more special as nobody is taking a fee, and all the proceeds from ticket sales are going directly to “Sanctuary for Kids” the charity set up by Amanda Tapping, Damian Kindler & Jill Bodie, which the show supports throughout the year. It’s being run by GABIT events.

... TLOEG: Regarding your character in Sanctuary, did the producers give you Declan’s back story, do you get to make it up or is it something that was a group effort? Can we expect to see more of Declan’s back story on screen?

RL: When I first met the producers at audition I was given an outline for Declan which informed my characterisation. Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to be given great freedom from the producers to develop Declan who have supported my character decisions as an actor. Back story really is a group effort, partly expressed by the producers but fleshed out in my own mind to inform my own acting decisions.

Sanctuary - SciFi TV and Talk's Blog: Robert Lawrenson Interview

At SciFi TV and Talk's Blog:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview.)

Sanctuary’s Robert Lawrenson – Soldiering On



Robert Lawrenson (Declan), Ryan Robbins (Henry Foss) and Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus)

When Dr. Gregory Magnus originally founded the Sanctuary network, he did so with the intent of surrounding himself with like-minded individuals who were just as dedicated as he was to the survival, preservation and protection of Abnormals. Magnus’ daughter and fellow scientist, Helen, did the same when she took over the reins from her father. Among her most trusted allies is Declan MacRae, who became head of the UK Sanctuary after the death of John Watson. The handsome Brit is smart, techno-savvy and knows how to handle himself in a tight spot. Sharing his character’s UK heritage was a big help to Sanctuary actor Robert Lawrenson when initially stepping into Declan’s shoes.

“I was very fortunate in some respects that Declan was a Brit,” notes Lawrenson. “I believe it was Michael Caine who said, ‘you only have to play the differences,’ and I take that to every role that I do. I start with me and compare myself to my character. I work out what the differences are in our personalities, then focus on those and think about where I need to extend my own personality in order to create the character.

“With Declan, it’s nice because there are similarities between the two of us, with him being an authority figure and me being kind of a quiet, authoritative type in my general sort of persona. So that’s an extension of myself. However, I don’t have an ex-military/SAS background, so that’s a huge difference right there, and that brings with it [acting] challenges, too, because Declan is a very tough ex-Special Forces guy. He’s totally comfortable with, for instance, handling weaponry and storming into a situation where there are enemy targets, but those types of things are totally foreign to me..."