

Erik Knudsen as Alec Sadler in Continuum. Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.

At the age of 10, Erik Knudsen played on a children’s hockey team that was chosen to appear in a Visa TV commercial. Little did the actor realize the impact that this event would later have on his life. “I loved it and I always wanted to act after that,” he says. “My parents, of course, were always telling me to have a back-up plan just in case things didn’t work out.

“When I was younger I wanted to be a policeman. I thought that that would be an awesome job and still do, but unfortunately I don’t think I have quite what it takes. I’m 5’ 8” and 125 pounds, so it would probably be kind of difficult. I always wanted to be an actor, though, and felt that if I had a back-up, it would allow me to give up too easily on my dream. So I don’t have a back-up right now. I’m just concentrating on my acting and would love to do that for the rest of my life, and maybe direct down the road.”

In Knudsen’s case, hard work and perseverance have certainly paid off in the form of several feature film and TV credits. Currently, the affable and talented actor is playing Alec Sadler in the hit Canadian TV Sci-Fi/Police Drama Continuum. When Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols), a Vancouver CPS (City Protective Services) officer in the year 2077, is unexpectedly sent back in time to Vancouver 2012 along with a group of convicted terrorists, the technology in the future suit she is wearing manages to connect with a frequency used by Alec.



Cast of Continuum. Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.

A 17-year-old computer genius, he has, unbeknownst to him, created the foundation for all the technology that runs the world in 2077. While at first only a voice in her head, Alec becomes one of Kiera’s most important allies in her efforts to stop the terrorists from wrecking havoc in the present and changing the future.

“When my character first heard Kiera’s voice over the radio he thought it was a prank,” explains Knudsen. “Alec couldn’t believe that anyone could get onto this encrypted frequency that he created, so when he first starts speaking to Kiera, he doesn’t believe her. For a while, she’s telling him that she’s from 2077 and Alec thinks, ‘OK, that could be true,’ but he doesn’t understand how that’s possible.

“Throughout the first few episodes, my character is trying to help Kiera, but there’s a great deal of doubt. Now, however, we’re filming our 10th episode [and first season finale], and there’s a lot of trust has built up between them. He’s helping her out every day to find these bad guys and fight crime, and Kiera is becoming reliant on him. Alec is basically all the backup she has right now because no one really knows the truth about her. So Kiera really trusts him and I think their relationship has developed quite nicely over this first season. They’ve become close friends and, of course, Alec is a teenage boy, so he thinks that Kiera is really hot,” says the actor with a chuckle.



Alec (Erik Knudsen) and Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols). Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.

In Continuum’s first season opener A Stitch in Time, the first glimpse that audiences have of Alec is of him sitting in a dark room surrounded by computer screens and various other technical paraphernalia. Because he is supposed to be playing a computer genius, Knudsen was almost immediately rattling off the “dreaded” technobabble.

“They pack all my dialogue into one day because we film most of my scenes in a barn, which is Alec’s workshop,” he notes. “So my first impression on my first day of work on Continuum was, ‘Holy cow, what did I get myself into,’ because it was a lot of work. Alec is very smart, which meant I had to learn all this technical jargon and lingo. All I can say is that the Internet is amazing; it gives you links to all these websites that basically tell you how to pronounce these words, so that was a big help for me.

“It takes a week for me to memorize all the dialogue that I have for my one day of shooting usually on Fridays,” continues Knudsen. “As far as prep, it consists of a couple of hours every day of me writing everything down, trying to memorize the words and just get the rhythm of it all. So in the beginning it was a little bit startling for me to play a character that knows so much about stuff that I don’t know anything about. Again it was a lot of memorization as well as preparation, but so far so good. I’ve learned a ton and because we’re coming to the end of filming, my mind is a little tired now, but it got a pretty good workout this season.



Behind-the-scenes on Continuum. Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.

“Another challenge with this role is that I didn’t know too much about my character of Alec. I knew that he’s a farm boy who keeps to himself and does all this technical stuff in his family’s barn. As far as what comes down the road for him, well, he’s trying to deal with a woman from 2077 and what she’s telling Alec about himself as well as the future. How do you act like this is news to you? I can’t give away too much, but as the season goes on, he changes just like anyone else who is being told the kind of information that Alec is. When it comes to specifics, though, you’ll just have to watch,” teases the actor.

As his on-screen relationship is taking time to develop with the show’s leading lady Rachel Nichols, the actor’s off-screen rapport has solidified much quicker. “Rachel Nichols is incredible,” says Knudsen. “It’s always scary settling into a new show with a new cast because you don’t know what everyone is going to be like, but the whole Continuum cast is fantastic. Rachel is the coolest person to be working with on this show. She’s like one of the guys; Rachel is drama-free, she loves football, and coming into this show she’s learned to really love hockey, which is terrific.

“So Rachel is perfect and a pleasure to work with. I mean, she comes in on her day off just to help me out by doing her character’s off-screen dialogue. It’s difficult because we’re never face-to-face; I’m always in the barn and talking to her through a blue tooth. So we don’t get the usual actor interaction that you’d normally get, but we help out one another by reading off-camera for each other in order to develop the flow of the scenes and that care in the lines instead of just talking to one of the crew who’s reading the [off-camera] dialogue. At first we were concerned about how things would all play out if that was the case, but I’m happy to say it’s been fine.”



Erik Knudsen in CBS's Jericho. Photo copyright of CBS.

Having worked on a number of made-for-TV movies as well as played the lead role in YTV’s Mental Block and guest-starred on such TV series as Doc, Blue Murder and The Guardian, the Toronto-born Knudsen made his first major feature film appearance as Daniel Matthews in the 2005 horror flick Saw II.

“I was around 16 when I booked that job, and I was so excited,” recalls the actor. “I studied so hard for that role and wanted it so badly. I sat in the car before for audition and was really nervous, but at the same time I pumped myself up. Like most actors, when you finish an audition, you hate it and think you did horrible. However, I got a phone call telling me I got the role and I almost died. I couldn’t believe that I was going to be in the sequel to one of my favorite horror movies.

“So this was a dream come true, and any nervousness was soon overtaken by my excitement. We only had 21 days to shoot the movie and not a big budget at all. We filmed in this abandoned warehouse in Toronto and were working 16-hour days. At the time I had this really bad flu and was so sick. Also I was still young enough to need an on-set tutor. So I had to have two hours minimum of tutoring every day on top of working 16 hours and being sick. It was hard, but a good challenge for me. Funnily enough, my character is sick in the film, so I guess it actually worked out that I was sick in real life,” he jokes.



Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen) in Scream 4. Photo copyright of Dimension Films.

Not long after Saw II, the actor booked a series regular role in the CBS action/drama Jericho followed by four big screen projects including Scream 4. “I grew up watching the Scream movies, so it was awesome to work on Scream 4,” he enthuses. “As a kid I was terrified of the Scream mask, and here I was years later face-to-face with the real thing. It was an honor to work on such a classic movie with such an amazing and legendary director like Wes Craven, who I looked up to while growing up. It’s one of the best experiences of my life so far.”

In addition to Continuum, Knudsen can also be seen in episodes of the Canadian-made TV medical drama Saving Hope (premiering in June on NBC in the States) and writer/producer/ director Darren Lynn Bousman’s (Saw II) upcoming movie The Barrens. For the actor, having his name appear in the credits is not quite as important as the type of project he is working on.

“It’s really difficult because being an actor you don’t know when your next paycheck is going to come in, so you can’t always make the most artistic choices,” says Knudsen. “A lot of times you have to accept a role you’re not too thrilled about and might not really care for. Thankfully I have been really lucky and been working enough that I can choose projects that truly stand out to me, are well-written and a real challenge. I’m very grateful for that because right now I know a lot of people don’t have that luxury. A year from now that might all change, but right now I’m able to do that and I’m very happy with what I’ve chosen so far, including Continuum. I just saw some clips of the season finale and it’s going to be a great ride.”

Steve Eramo

Continuum premiered Sunday, May 27th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on Canada's Showcase network; the series will continue to air on this same day and time. As noted above, all photos have respective copyrights, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!