Pandora Virtual Panel

Unboxing Pandora Season Two on The CW This Fall

Moderator Scott Mantz talks with executive producers Mark A. Altman, Thomas Vitale, and Steve Kriozere along with series stars Priscilla Quintana, Ben Radcliffe and Oliver Dench about what lies ahead for our intrepid trio in the upcoming sophomore season of Pandora. The lively discussion touched on everything from on-set pranks (and off-set food fights) to how to develop an alien accent to the hazardous learning curve involved in stunt choreography. One thing is clear, though, this is a group that works hard but has fun.

Highlights:

• Ben Radcliffe (“Ralen”), throughout season one, had to come in a couple hours early everyday for his prosthetic make-up.  At end of shoot, he turned the tables on the make-up artist and made them up in and alien character.
• EP Thomas Vitale talks about the experience of shooting in Sofia, Bulgaria, where they will also shoot season 2. He notes that there are landscapes, classic buildings never seen on American television.
• Priscilla Quintana jokes that she is totally Team Jax/Ralen (Jalen? JaxLen? Rax?) and threatens to quit if the writers have Jax fall for Xander instead.
• Priscilla talks about the challenges of working on set with cast and crew speaking multiple languages —  lots of charades to communicate!
• Oliver Dench talks about the fast pace of shooting a new series makes it necessary to trust the people around you, especially the writers and other actors.  You’re creating your character as you go along!
• Ben Radcliffe’s biggest challenge in S1 was how to create an alien persona – voice, movement, etc.  He developed Ralen’s accent by combining a bit of Alan Rickman’s “Snape” from Harry Potter and the Swedish accent of YouTuber PewDiePie.  He didn’t have time to teach the other actors playing his fellow alien, Zatarians, the accent, though.  Mark Altman jokes that their accent is “North Zatar.”
• Priscilla feels that they hit their stride in season 1 around episode 5.  Oliver feels the group hit their stride as a team early on. He explains that pacing is different for becoming comfortable with your fellow actors and becoming comfortable with your character.
• Priscilla shares a video of a bonding moment when they were relaxing in an outdoor jacuzzi and it began to hail.  Pelted with hail while in a jacuzzi!  Good times!
• There were food fights!
• Priscilla is REALLY Team Ralen (did we mention that already?).  In mid shooting season, she approached EP, Mark Altman, and pleaded the case for Jax and Ralen to be a couple.  She showed him social media talk about different ships for Jax.  It prompted a fight with Oliver, in character, for Jax to end up with Ralen.
• Priscilla talks about stunt work – apologies to Ben Radcliffe for punching him in the head more than once, apparently – but mistakes happen!  “Ben has an advantage in his stunt work because he is a dancer… for me, dancing is awkward, like a dolphin using chopsticks…” says Quintana. Hmmm, interesting imagery.  She promises that season two will be better.  “We’ll be pros.”  Ben looks skeptical.
• First season, EP Mark Altman started the rumor that there would be a musical episode, much to the horror of the cast.  He insists that he still wants to do it, but there were rumbles of mutiny starting with Priscilla.
• Altman points out that the ability of Priscilla, Ben and Oliver to pick up stunt work so quickly enabled them to add more action scenes to first season.  He promises season two will definitely ramp up the action and fight scenes.
• Oliver Dench relays the hilarious horror of making a smart aleck remark to Ben Radcliffe and having Ben Cross think it was meant for him.  A moment he won’t seen forget.
• EP Tom Vitale explains that season two will take advantage of the camaraderie we see between the three actors on the panel. 
• Mark Altman tells us that season two will begin with a time jump that is a couple months after the season one finale.  There is a new ship, “The Dauntless!”  The ship set, with a new bridge, was almost completed before the pandemic shutdown.  (Oliver is thrilled that his character has a new office.)  There will be a lot more adventures in space, but there will still be some stories back at the school.
• Soundtrack for Season 1 is available now on La-La Land Records
• The show recently premiered in the UK.  It is now available in Germany!

Pandora returns to The CW for its second season this Fall 2020.

The Comic-Con@Home blurb:

The cast and crew of The CW’s hit sci-fi series previews the show’s exciting second season debuting this fall. Join cast members Priscilla Quintana (“Jax”), Oliver Dench (“Xander”), and Ben Radcliffe (“Ralen”) along with executive producers Mark A. Altman (The Librarians, Agent X), Steve Kriozere (NCIS, Castle), and Thomas P. Vitale (Slasher) along with moderator Scott “Movie” Mantz as they look back at the first season and share a special sneak peek of the new season as Jax learns whether she’ll be the savior of our universe or its destruction. Pandora is a production of Radioactive Fishtank, Vital Signs Entertainment, and Starlings Television. Sony Pictures Television