Hannah John-Kamen Talks Dutch and Killjoys Season 2 

[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]

We’re about 10 days out from the second season of Killjoys, so time for more goodies from our set visit! Hannah John-Kamen came through to chat with the press corps on her own, and the discussion ranged from action heroines to stunts to character growth, show tunes, and sexuality. Here’s what she had to say.

John-Kamen grew up on 80s action heroines like Alien‘s Ellen Ripley and The Terminator‘s Sarah Connor thanks to her older siblings. “I’m definitely ahead of my years in terms of sci-fi and films. My brother is a massive sci-fi fan,” she says. “Growing up with strong female roles is always inspiring…and was something I aspired to play. I definitely…was involved, interested, and knew about the strong action heroes of sci-fi.”

As you know from the first season of Killjoys, Dutch can give as good as she gets in a fight, and John-Kamen is happy to dive right into those scenes. “Stunts are my favorite–I love it. The feeling, the adrenaline when all the cameras are rolling and everyone is watching and crowded around. There’s always about six guys, the people I am fighting, it’s rarely one-to-one and they are all tough. I love it and I’m able to do it,” she says.

“I remember from Season 1 that the toughest stunt was in a purple dress and heels, undercover Dutch…kicking lots of arse in my dress. That was my first fight and my first moment of feeling tough. This season, there’s more fights with more people and each fight [is] all tough.”

As a self-admitted sci-fi fan, she also adores the magic of the genre. “I think everyday being on a space ship [is great]. One of my favorites was the episode when I fling myself out of the airlock into space. I was on a harness here with the green screen and I was thinking, ‘This is my job, this is so cool.’ Driving in my rambler is really cool. The G-Force is awesome.”

Dutch’s relationship with Khlyen is uber-complicated, and in season 2, that continues, especially now that it’s compounded by D’avin’s kidnapping. “She can’t just hate Khlyen and it’s not like we’re going to get him or that I hate him for what he did,” she explains. “It’s understanding that it’s bigger than [us]. It involves everyone, there’s something bigger going on and Dutch needs answers. It’s complicated and it will get more complicated and conflicted.”

Season 1’s “Kiss, Kiss, Bye Bye” was an episode that had a little bit of everything, and John-Kamen relished the challenge of switching gears so many times in just one hour. “There was sex and violence, emotion, jeopardy and conflict. I think from last season, from Episode 6 with Khlyen [forward], that emotionally unravelled a lot to have this bond with D’avin and to be able to play that with D’avin,” she points out.

“That fight, I always get asked how I feel. Physically watching it, it’s tough for the audience as it’s a huge surprise when he suddenly just beats Dutch up in that way. It wasn’t just me beating his ass, it was both of us equally fighting. But the one thing I always know is I can kill him, no questions asked, but I manage to get it under control. I enjoyed that episode to go there as an actress with those emotions. Even with Johnny at the end, that’s his brother, so that was wonderful to play and have all those emotions in one episode.”

Going forward, John-Kamen, says the relationship door between Dutch and D’avin is closed off  “for now.” “There was a moment in Episode 7 where Dutch and D’avin make love and there was a real window to see what they could have been like. They were really happy and had a lovely scene in bed before the mind block works then they had the big fight,” she shares. “So there is this window to see what could have been but it didn’t happen. We have that distance now. It’s not romantic, there are too many other things involved now. It’s affected the romantic element for now.”

John-Kamen says before she began Killjoys, she worked with showrunner Michelle Lovretta to sort out Dutch’s backstory. “We sat and built together where I came from in order to know where I’m going. I have dealt with Dutch’s past ever since she was found by Khlyen, and obviously it gets revealed more,” she says. “I know as an actress and as Dutch everything that has happened before. But as the audience, you will get to see more.”

She teased what we can expect going into season 2. “I think for my character, it’s not what it seems, nothing that I thought is at all what it seems. It’s definitely growing up, there’s something bigger going on than just between the three of us, Dutch, Johnny and D’Avin. And Khlyen even,” she says. “[Dutch is] questioning a lot of things, questioning herself, where she has come from and questioning the future.”

“There’s definitely interesting characters in [season 2]. It’s so interesting to play with new characters and characters from Season 1. I can’t say too much, but there are new wonderful interesting characters that represent a lot and tell a lot of the story. We are constantly extending ourselves and skills. Also, our different styles of fighting. Her past is something I am looking forward to getting my hands on.”

She also reiterated what we heard from the cast last year–she and co-stars Aaron Ashmore and Luke Macfarlane are stupid in love with working together. “We are very close on set. We sing all day. We have a Killjoys musical [and songs]. We would love to do a musical episode,” she laughs.

“The one thing we all have is the same sense of humor. None of us can go too far, we are always laughing. Even guest stars and crew comment saying they have never seen genuine actors getting on this much, it’s kind of scary, finishing each other’s thoughts and singing. We have a lot of fun and are close.”

John-Kamen also talked a little bit about creating a well-rounded heroine, below.

Killjoys returns to Syfy on Friday, July 1st, at 9/8c. Here’s a peek at the new opening credits. If you’ve missed an episode from season 1, they’re all online at syfy.com, or you can go old school and buy the DVD/Blu-ray.