

Jodelle Ferland as Five in Dark Matter. Photo copyright of Syfy.

If you have to go to work every day, it always helps if like your job, and Jodelle Ferland definitely has no problem with that. The Canadian-born actress could not have been happier when she was chosen to play Five in the Sci-Fi TV drama Dark Matter. “When I first started reading about Dark Matter I thought, ‘This sounds incredible. I can’t wait for this show to come out.’ Of course, later on when I found out I was actually going to be on the show, I was twice as excited about it,” enthuses Ferland, taking a break between lighting set-ups on the show’s Toronto set.

“This is pretty much my dream role and one that I’ve always wanted to play. When I first stepped onto the Dark Matter set, it was like I was working on Firefly or Doctor Who. You have no idea how happy this makes me. Sometimes when we’re filming a scene and everyone is standing at one end of a corridor, I’ll turn around, look the other way down the length of the empty end of the corridor and pretend that I’m on an actual spaceship,” she says with a smile.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by series co-creators/executive producers and writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, Dark Matter is set in deep space and onboard the spaceship Raza, whose crew of six awake from stasis in the series opener to find their memories have been erased. With help from the ship’s android, they gain access to computer files containing details of their true identities. Apparently everyone onboard, with the exception of Five, are mercenaries with a long list of criminal charges levied against them. So who exactly is Five and what is she doing travelling around with this group of wanted felons? Like those watching, Ferland is lacking a number of facts about Five and is enjoying piecing together this puzzle and fleshing out her character.



(L-R) Zoie Palmer as The Android, Melissa O'Neil as Two and Jodelle Ferland as Five. Photo copyright of Syfy.

“In the Dark Matter graphic novel, Five is a young boy, and in the TV show they decided to change the character to a teenage girl, obviously,” notes the actress. “So it’s been an interesting sort of acting challenge for me because I’m trying to maintain the original spirit of the character despite the different gender and age. Funnily enough, though, the writers have made Five’s personality quite similar to the character in the graphic novel, so it hasn’t been as tricky as I first thought it would be.

“Five is a lot of fun and I love playing her. She’s a little quirky and unique, and sometimes I feel like I am Five. Actually, when I stop to think about it, if you take away all her super colorful clothes, it’s pretty much just me,” jokes Ferland. “My character is the youngest member of the crew and sometimes she feels as if she doesn’t really fit in. So throughout the first season of Dark Matter, Five tries to find her place in the scheme of things. She’s also trying to prove herself and show everyone that she is just as capable as the rest of them.”

Five may be the youngest of the Raza crew, but she brings one or two very “grown-up” skills to the table, including an aptitude for anything technical. She is a whiz when it comes to rewiring a console or bypassing a key code and opening a locked door. It is also revealed early on in season one of Dark Matter that the memories of Five’s crewmates were somehow placed into her subconscious. She experiences flashes of these memories – some of which are quite violent and disturbing – in her dreams. In many ways carrying all this information inside her makes Five the most valuable member of the crew. It also makes her vulnerable, because someone onboard is responsible for transferring those memories into Five’s head.



Five (Jodelle Ferland) makes "child's play" out of figuring out a little technical conundrum. Photo copyright of Syfy.

“Given everything going on with Five, she sort of switches around a bit throughout the season trying to decide who to be friends with and who she can trust,” says Ferland. “I think she has the closest relationship with Six [Roger Cross]. It’s really neat because he kind of protects her and she sees him as almost like an older brother or father figure. Five also has a cool relationship with the ship’s android, played by Zoie Palmer. I’ve had so much fun working with Zoie. I absolutely love Zoie and she’s the perfect android. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role, and Five has a few wonderful scenes where it’s just a conversation between her and the android.”

As Dark Matter’s first season has continued to unfold, bits and pieces of background information have been revealed about each of the characters. In this week’s episode (airing Friday, July 17th), a few more facts about Five bubble to the surface. “Each of the cast gets to have an episode where his or her character is the focus, and episode six is Five’s,” says Ferland. “I had so much fun shooting it, and I wish I could tell you why, but I really can’t give you the details. I hope people enjoy the episode, and I can tell you that I had the chance to learn some new skills for it.”

Despite her young age, Ferland has logged more hours working as an actress in front of the camera than one might think. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t acting because I began when I was around two years old,” she says. “My brother and sister used to act as well, and then I followed them, but never stopped. I’ve taken a couple of breaks over the years, but not for very long. I’ve always come back to acting and I have a feeling I always will. I’ve thought about doing other things, but I can’t imagine having any other fulltime profession. I love art and making things, so maybe I could do something like that on the side, but I think I’d even get bored with that.



Five (Jodelle Ferland) re-discovers some things about herself in episode six of Dark Matter. Photo copyright of Bell Media/SPACE.

“This is such an exciting job and every role I’ve had so far has been completely different. You never know what your next role is going to be or where it might take you, and I don’t think I can give that up for anything.”

In addition to several made-for-TV movies, the actress’ other TV credits include Cold Squad, Dark Angel, The Lone Gunmen, Smallville, Special Unit 2, Kingdom Hospital, Supernatural and Motive as well as the Stargate SG-1 episode Flesh and Blood and the Stargate Atlantis episode Harmony. “I’ll never forget working on those Stargate episodes. I absolutely loved it,” says Ferland. “I had some amazing costumes, especially on Atlantis, where I played a princess and wore those beautiful princess dresses, and then at the end of the episode, I had on the queen dress with the tiara. I had a blast doing both Stargates, but especially Atlantis because I’m not typically cast as a bratty princess or a bratty person in-general. I’m often cast as a creepy or much darker character, but this was a nice, light, fun character to play, and, of course, the casts and crews on SG-1 and Atlantis were fantastic.”

Among the creepier projects that Ferland has worked on is the 2006 psychological horror feature film Silent Hill, in which she plays the dual roles of Sharon Da Silva and Alessa Gillespie. “I honestly love playing evil characters,” says the actress. “With Silent Hill, I guess a lot of kids my age would have been more scared than I was, but I pretty much grew up on film sets, so I’m used to weird or unusual stuff. I supposed it’s a little scarier when you watch something afterwards, but on-set, you’re always laughing and having a good time. I remember when I went to the Silent Hill premiere, my mom was sitting beside me in the theatre and she covered my eyes at certain times because she knew what was coming. Of course, I did, too, but again, it’s different watching it after all the effects have been added.”

No matter what type of character she plays, Ferland sees every new acting job as a learning experience and an opportunity to further grow in her chosen profession. “I like to try to challenge myself, and every so often I’ll book a role that I never thought I would get,” she says. “I never thought I’d be cast in a series regular role, let alone on an awesome Sci-Fi TV show like Dark Matter. So if I’m able to, again, challenge myself and then feel proud after doing what I truly believe to be my best work possible, then that’s a great feeling.”

Steve Eramo

Dark Matter airs Fridays @ 10:00 p.m. EST on Syfy (U.S.) and on Canada's SPACE Channel. The series is also airing around the globe - check the local listings in your particular country. As noted above, all photos copyright Syfy or Bell Media/SPACE Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!