Siren interview: Rena Owen on state of Helen – Sarge relationship
Beyond just that, it also continued what is proving to be a fascinating story for Helen, as the character is getting ever closer to new merman Sarge. They’ve got a fascinating, poignant relationship, one that was exemplified beautifully with the recent scene at the tank. The two are growing closer, but questions still remain regarding how much we can take the story at face value. Will the two continue to bond, or is a devastating twist on the horizon? We can’t answer that, and nor do we even want to. We’re excited to follow this story no matter the direction it goes.
So what does Rena Owen herself have to say about this relationship? As a part of our interview with her earlier this week (read part 1 over at the link here), she describes working on this Helen – Sarge storyline and also how much work the crew put into having that now-iconic tank scene happen:
It’s been really good for Helen to have a relationship with a merman, and it does continue to develop in each episode. I think that moment in episode 5 when you see him in the tank was quite an extraordinary moment — it really was. It was made even more magical because we didn’t get to shoot it on the day it was scheduled. We couldn’t rush the scene — I was getting quite upset thinking that they were going to cut the scene, and they were like ‘no no no! We’re not cutting the scene. We want to do it and we want to do it right since you need to add the visual effects and all of those things.
We waited for it — weeks went by and months went by before we finally got to do that scene, so it was made all the more special because we had to wait to wait. Our current producing director Joe Menendez ended up directing it, and he really did a stunning job.
One thing you got to realize is that we don’t see them with their tails. I am looking at the man underwater and you have to imagine all of that. After the first take, [Melendez] told me ‘don’t forget to look this way and that way because once they put the tail on him with the visual effects, the tail will go to that corner.’
It really was a magic moment and was really interesting. Our Canadian producer Peter [Lhotka], who had made the decision not to rush shooting it on the day it was scheduled, told me ‘Rena, that’s not just a beautiful moment for Helen; that’s a season moment.’ He knew that! I didn’t fully comprehend that until I saw it and was like ‘wow.’ The response to it — he was on the money! I’m really pleased we have these bosses who see these things and make these decisions for the good of the work.
That will always be a really special moment — a few times a season, some of us characters get those magic moments. It’s been nice for Helen to have this merman who has this interest in her life — we’ll have to wait and see where it goes.
With that in mind, the best thing to say is to stay tuned — there are two more episodes left this season, and Owen’s already teased that there could be a cliffhanger of some degree at the end of the midseason finale. That should be enough to get you even more amped-up for the second half of the season … though there’s no specific timetable as of yet regarding when those episodes will air.
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Are you rooting for Sarge and Helen to be together on Siren, or at least continue down the road that they’re on? Be sure to share in the comments. (Photo: Freeform.)