Interview: Tori Anderson on her new TV show, 'No Tomorrow'.

Interview: Tori Anderson on her new TV show, 'No Tomorrow'.

Landing a starring role on a The CW television show is a pretty big deal for any actress, and for Tori Anderson it marks a huge step up in her career, having previously played minor roles on ‘Killjoys’ and ‘Rookie Blue’, with her role in ’No Tomorrow’ seeing her take the television spotlight.

In ‘No Tomorrow’, Tori plays Evie Callahan - a risk-averse quality-control assessor who meets Xavier (played by Joshua Sasse) who brings her into his world of ‘Apocalysts’, as in his mind the world is set to end in eight months and twelve days.

We caught up with Tori to chat about the first episode, her thoughts on the apocalypse, as well as her acting career…

"... don’t homogenise to be like someone else. Be exactly who you are, because you are enough, and interesting, and intriguing - and have faith in yourself..."

COUP DE MAIN: Evie is such a relatable character. Do you see a lot of yourself in her?
TORI ANDERSON: You know what, I do actually. When I first read the Pilot, I was so-- first of all, it was so refreshing of a Pilot to read. And I instantly related to her, I saw a lot of myself in her, but I think with any character that you play, it’s sort of like a dial, and I could dial into certain aspects of my personality that I have, and dial down other ones. But yeah, she always felt quite close to me.

CDM: Are there any particular character traits that are completely different between you two?
TORI: I’m not a list-person, I don’t make lists. I’m not at all as organised as she is and the anxiety is-- I’m a much more ‘go with the flow’ laid-back person, whereas she has a lot more anxious and anxiety, and she really analyses each situation.

CDM: I love the juxtaposition of Evie’s speeches at work - she says, "There's no time to waste, every moment counts,” when inspiring people to get their work done. Do you think that in modern society people tend to get more caught up in their jobs than actually experiencing life?
TORI: Yeah, I think so. I think with the rise of social media as well, we’re a society that is constantly on our phones, and realising that-- we’re constantly on our phones and I think that we’re vicariously living through other people’s experiences and how many likes we get on something, instead of actually going outside and living our lives. I think at work, there has been a bit of shift in certain workplaces in trying to give people breaks and motivate people, in creative workplaces especially - office jobs, not so much.

CDM: Social media is interesting - so many people do things just for the sheer purpose of posting about it on social media.
TORI: Absolutely. It’s strange, and then you think of when you go to a concert or something, and you’re videotaping the entire concert, or taking photos and in doing that - you’re not entirely present. I understand saving those memories because we’re so driven on that as a society, but I think perhaps putting your phone away, getting outside… It was this huge thing with Pokémon Go, when initially it was very off-putting to me, I was like, “Why, why do we have to have an app that takes us outside?” But the reality is, is that it did take people outside and people were meeting people and talking and communicating. And it was fun! I’ll give it that.

CDM: I was walking through Central Park in NYC a few months ago when it took off, and literally everyone was on their phone playing.
TORI: <laughs> It’s insane, so crazy.

CDM: Evie wants to control all of her surroundings - something which I feel is a universally relatable sentiment, but also something that isn’t really possible. Why do you think control is such an important element of the human psyche?
TORI: That’s kind of what’s interesting, when I was thinking about this apocalyptic-style show, and why people are so obsessed with the apocalypse. I think in controlling things, you create your own outcome, and it’s the only way... like when people count calories. There’s so many things that you can’t control in your day-to-day life, but there are things like creating a list, and checking things off - those are the things that you can control. The rest of it is so difficult. I think that’s why we have to hypothesise about certain things like the apocalypse, and what it’s gonna bring, and what different things will possibly end the world because if you have that outcome, you’re no longer living in fear.

CDM: Fear of the unknown is huge.
TORI: Yeah. That’s a huge thing. It means you create lists and try to create your own world, then you’re kind of safe in a cocoon in a way.

CDM: You’ve said about your character: “She has all of her ducks in a row but she still feels unsatisfied.” Do you think that we, as humans, are conditioned to feel unsatisfied through life, and are always searching for the next thing?
TORI: Yes. I think there’s a lot-- people have talked a lot about this in the way that the work ethic for the generation now and what that is... people are looking for instant gratification. There’s so much choice now, too. You go to the grocery store and there’s thirty different types of cereal you can choose from. You buy a certain cereal and then you’re like, “Oh I wish I would’ve gotten this one!” We are conditioned with so much choice, so I think a level of dissatisfaction becomes that much greater.

CDM: If you, Tori Anderson, were to have an Apocalyst - what would be the top three things on the list?
TORI: Surf in Bali, visit Japan, and take my niece and nephew on a hot-air balloon ride. They’re realistic!

CDM: Do you think that bucket-lists, and ‘apocalysts’ are a good way to make the most of living in the moment?
TORI: Absolutely. I think that’s what we’re hoping this show will inspire and I’ve had several friends and people message me saying, “We started our own list!” It’s really neat. There’s a person on the set who said, “I went to Vegas because it’s something I’d always been putting off,” that’s what’s so great about the show, is that hopefully people will come away from it realising you do have a certain amount of time, and you should utilise it as best as you can, and do the things that you’ve been putting off. There’s no time like the present.

CDM: I love your interactions with Amy Pietz’s character Deidre in the show. What’s it like working with her?
TORI: Oh my gosh, Amy is a comedic genius. First of all, she’s nothing like Deidre, she is the sweetest, kindest woman in the world, and has such a sense of play in how nice-- she’s just amazing because she totally transforms into this woman who is almost robotic and void of any sort of feeling of empathy and compassion. But she’s hilarious because you see her working through each moment - and it’s two very unlikely people that are trying to communicate, but they have different ways of communicating, and so you’re trying to watch them work something out. She’s a delight to work with, I feel like I could learn infinitely from her.

CDM: I’m assuming she doesn’t actually have demon-breath in real life?
TORI: No, she does not at all!

CDM: It’s clear that Evie is a huge fan of Whitesnake - what type of music are you a fan of?
TORI: I flip-flop - I love 60s music, I love The Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison, and Johnny Cash. That’s kind of my style, and now I’m trying to listen to more music that’s coming out now. I’m sort of getting into rap. <laughs>

CDM: Last March, you tweeted that when you grew up you wanted to be Tom Hanks. Has this happened now that you’ve gained mainstream acting success?
TORI: <laughs> No, not yet. Maybe it will happen if I ever work with him and I can try and be like him.

CDM: What’s your favourite Tom Hanks film?
TORI: Oh, ‘Forrest Gump’.

CDM: R.I.P your character Sabine - what was it like working on 'Killjoys'?
TORI: I loved that show! I’ve never worked on a Syfy show, it was amazing. First of all, that character was so complex, and really an actor's dream. The cast was incredible, and it was so fun. I was nerding out on set all the time because what’s crazy about working on a Syfy show is that there’s infinite possibilities of where you can go and what you can do. You can time-jump; it was really amazing. Which is kind of how I feel this show is, because it’s a bucket-list show - there’s so many possibilities - the writers can come up with so many fun things you can do every week. This is an amazing jump to make.

CDM: I had a look through your Twitter, and you’re super outspoken about feminism and things like #BlackLivesMatter. Do you think it’s important for people in a position of power to use their voices to raise awareness for things like this?
TORI: Absolutely. I think that we live in a time where we’re sort of programmed to think that we as individuals don’t have that much of a voice, but the reality is that everyone has a voice, and that’s one of the positive things about social media - is that you can spread the word a bit more, and make people aware, and raise awareness. So yeah, absolutely. I think it’s our duty as humans to speak our minds and stand up to injustices.

CDM: I’ve seen Joshua Sasse’s tweets about #SayIDoDownUnder - it’s rad that he’s supporting this cause so strongly!
TORI: Yeah, that’s the other thing. He’s really using his platform to speak about something that is atrocious that it’s still an issue. It’s 2016, and people should be allowed to marry whoever they want - love is love, and I think it’s really amazing to see him do that. There’s so many people who he’s talked to and they’ve been like, “I didn’t even know,” it’s that kind of thing - you just assume it’s legal everywhere. But the reality is that people are still fighting for human rights - a simple human right to marry who they want. It’s crazy.

CDM: At what age did you begin to have an interest in acting?
TORI: My Mum and Dad put me into the performing arts at a young age, so I started acting when I was around seven or eight, doing local performing arts festivals. I was doing Shakespeare and poetry and monologues, from books and prose - I really developed an interest in it when I was probably around 15 or 16, and I auditioned for a role and I got a call-back, and I didn’t get it, and I was so utterly devastated. But I still wanted to pick it up and do it - it sparked an interest in me, thinking, “If I can be this heartbroken and still want to do it, then maybe it’s something I should pursue.” And then I decided I wanted to be a musical theatre performer, I went to theatre school because acting was sort of my weakest link, and then came out of the Acting Conservatory only wanting to act. So that’s kind of my trajectory.

CDM: What’s the #1 piece of advice you’d give any aspiring actress or actor?
TORI: Embrace your idiosyncrasies, those are what’s going to get you the job - don’t homogenise to be like someone else. Be exactly who you are, because you are enough, and interesting, and intriguing - and have faith in yourself.

‘No Tomorrow’ is streaming now via NEON - click here to learn more.

Watch the ‘No Tomorrow’ trailer below…