Guest Star Goodness Q&A: Thora Birch Previews Her Role on Colony 

It’s not like Will didn’t suspect Katie before. Phyllis’ private meeting her earlier this season caused him concern and even Jennifer accused Will of being the leak. So when Quayle confirmed Will’s suspicions, we knew Will was going to do anything he could to help Quayle get out of the bloc. Of course things don’t always go as planned, so instead of allowing Proxy Synder or the Transitional Authority to get their hands on Quayle, Will kills him. Even though Synder questions Will and Beau’s version of events, Will’s secret, and by extension his family, is safe — for now.

“Zero Day” episode description, from USA Network:

Will comes up with a plan to get his family out from under the Occupation. Throwing a wrench in his best-laid plans, Katie and Broussard attempt to rekindle the fire of resistance by joining forces with a new cell.  In a bold political move, Proxy Snyder fights to protect his office. Later, Maddie corners her boss in a precarious predicament.

While I’m apprehensive yet cautiously optimistic about Will’s plan, I’ve been waiting weeks for Thora Birch to make her debut. EP Ryan Condal teased her arrival a few weeks ago during a press call. He said: “Most of our guest cast has been introduced, but in the latter third of the season we will introduce a couple of new characters that play on more of the resistance side of the equation, one of whom is Thora Birch. [She’s] an absolutely wonderful actor, a terrific person and a great get for us on Colony. We’re very excited to introduce her character, Morgan, to the show and have everybody see into a little bit of a different corner of the world.”

What do we know? Thora plays Morgan, a laid-back software engineer with a conscience.

Thora Birch talked to press earlier this week. She introduces her character, gives us a little more information about Morgan and hints at what we can expect in the last two episodes of Season 1.

How did you come to get this role?

Thora Birch: “So the script just appeared in my inbox one day. It was, ‘Hey, take a look at this part. Take a look at the show.’ I saw that Carlton [Cuse] and Ryan were involved and I was completely, immediately interested.

Getting into the script, it’s one of those things where it seems really simple, like, ‘Oh, it’s an invasion. Los Angeles is completely cordoned off.’ The further you get into it, the more elaborate it gets. But at the end of the day it’s still a family drama and I love that. I love that it’s still about an emotional, real house of people. So it has this huge, high concept but it’s still all about people.”

How did you prepare for this role?

Thora: “I don’t have a lot of experience in the whole tech world, but I responded to my character’s determination to have an impact and to make her presence known in one way or another. She’s the complete package. She’s got the know-how and she’s got the balls to pull off some amazing stuff.”

What more can you tease about your character and how’s she’s going to fit into the show?

Thora: “I’m not 100% completely clued in as my character’s trajectory either, but she is working on the resistance side of things. She is not a collaborator. She’s definitely a resister. And her journey is only just starting. These two episodes that you’re going to see this week and next week, it’s only the beginning.

It is a recurring role. She’s playing a part in a major operation that wraps up the season really nicely and leaves the audience really wanting more.”

What do you believe this cell can accomplish?

Thora: “Tt’s a trifecta of skill sets. So you’ve got me as a software engineer. You have an Avionics guy, and you have even more of a tech person. So we really are a unit. Without going into what happens too much, I’ll just say that probably our characters could not exist outside of each other. We rely on each other big time.”

Edited for space and content.

Based on this sneak peek — and where things have been heading for weeks — next week’s Season 1 finale is gonna be intense:

Colony airs Thursdays at 10/9c on USA Network.