Salli Richardson-Whitfield: Eureka

Salli Richardson-Whitfield said it plainly: "From the very beginning when Colin and I first did our first scene together you never know if you're going to have chemi…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

Season 4.5 of Eureka premiered Monday, July 11 at 8:00 p.m. on Syfy, kicking off the network's new Monday night lineup of scripted originals. Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who plays Director Allison Blake on the series, spoke with Premier Guide Miami's Judith Wallace ahead of the premiere. Richardson-Whitfield's credits include A Low Down Dirty Shame, Posse, Antwone Fisher, I Am Legend, CSI: Miami, and House.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: In what ways would you say that you are most like and least like your character of Allison?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: Our characters have become even more alike as the seasons have gone on. I think that I'm not quite as hard and as tough as I seem. In this last season or so, you get to see a much softer side of Allison — with her being a mom, but still having to juggle work. So I think that our characters actually have come much closer and she's very much like me now.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What's it like when you pick up a script and find little surprises like playing a character you have never played before?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: What is so fun about doing the show is that we're not stuck in a goofy comedy all the time, you're not stuck just doing straight drama or straight little get-ups. You really get to do different things all the time, and I think that's what keeps it fresh for us and why we continue to get better — because you get to stretch and you get to do different things. And I think that's why the fans like the show. You're not bored by the same thing every time.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: You and Colin have great chemistry — can you talk about what it's like working together?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: From the very beginning when Colin and I first did our first scene together, you never know if you're going to have chemistry with someone, and ours just — it's just naturally there. I feel really corny when I say this, but there's something that clicks, because obviously off camera we're very brother/sister, jokey-jokey, "Oh, God, we've got to kiss." As soon as that camera rolls and I look into Colin's eyes, there's something that clicks and I always find an instant connection that makes all of my feelings just sort of come right up to the forefront, and I feel everything I'm saying with him. It's very lucky for us and for me. I just naturally have a wonderful connection with him when we're working. I love it and we know how to work with each other on and off camera. I know what he needs to do to get what he needs, and he knows what I need, and we make allowances for each other and we try not to step on each other's toes.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Prior to joining the show, were you interested in science?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: I stumble through all my tech talk. Great to the guys — they love that joke. We know when we're doing a read-through when they're giving me this tech talk and we're just reading the script for the first time and I'm like, "Oh, you guys are killing me. I hate messing up on stuff. Stop it. Stop it. I can barely remember this as it is." So for me it's very hard, but Colin is the person who doesn't really have to do it, and he's probably the one who would be the best at it.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Are you surprised with the longevity of the show?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: I think you're always surprised when your show gets picked up the first time. Now I think the show is so good — especially the ones we're shooting now in these last few seasons — that I would be more surprised when we're not picked up, because it's such a good show now and it's just gotten so much better.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What have you done with the big cutout of Allison that you took from Café last year?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: It's so funny. It is sitting in my children's playroom — I think it's so Mommy can be there when I'm stuck in Vancouver. I did steal my cutout and it is literally sitting in the corner of their playroom.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: You have also taken on the role of director for one of the episodes. How does it feel to be in charge?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: I did one last season — I guess you guys will be seeing that coming up this season. I just finished the one that I'm shooting this season. I just love it. It's such a different thing from acting and you really have to micromanage — my micromanaging in real life works very well for directing, and it's sort of something that I would like to be the next step in my career. Luckily I have wonderful actors; you don't really have to direct that much more than say, "Can you tweak this one line?" And I just found that it's something that comes naturally to me and you don't know it until you get in there and do it. And I'm hoping to do more and more of it. Directing on Eureka has to be one of the best training grounds that any director could have — you get to do these wonderful dramatic story lines, but at the same time you get to learn about visual effects and green screen and you have stunts, you have comedy. I'm learning such great skills. And particularly, not very many women know how to do action and visual effects stuff — let alone Black women in this industry. So I feel very blessed to learn these skills.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What have been your favorite moments so far?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: In our first season we got stuck together on this fence, but I also like when I was pregnant and the baby was kicking. We were shooting this wonderful scene in my office when I was enormous at the time, and it was just a very sweet scene where he's touching my stomach. But literally, when we were shooting, every time Colin would touch my belly the baby — because I was really pregnant — the baby would kick right on his hand, like with every single take. Little Dre would go crazy in my stomach, so it was kind of funny.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Why does the show appeal to such a broad audience?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: These last few years we've been doing it, I think it's just really the mixture. We have comedy, we have love, we have drama, we have the big explosions, and I really think that there's something for everyone. And it's also kept clean enough that you can have your ten-year-old watching the show and you're not having to usher them in the other room, but it's not done in a corny way where adults can still enjoy the show. They really found a happy medium where anyone really can watch and enjoy it.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Your role on the show also appeals to a lot of women and you have become somewhat of a role model. Can you talk about that?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: My daughter, who is six, loves watching the show. And for me, I was still like, "Why a nurse?" — wasn't I upset about that? I was like, "Absolutely not." And now I'm mad because I have to do it, but at the time I felt that why wouldn't this really intelligent woman have gone all the way and gotten her medical degree. But I think it's wonderful for my daughter, who usually only sees a lot of my friends who are in the acting business, because she loves the show. We get to talk about that there are other avenues for women and other jobs to think about, and our show shows that being smart is kind of cool and kind of fun. She gets that and she likes that about the show.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: How has your life changed since you started this show?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: I feel like I have grown so much as an actress and have learned that I'm better than I knew I was. I've just learned to really trust myself. I mean, we've been there a lot of years now, and even though I didn't come in there as a 20-year-old girl, I've definitely grown up on this show. I feel like there's nothing that you could throw at me as an actress leaving here that I couldn't do, and I've learned that from being on the show.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What would you consider to be your definitive episode of Eureka?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: I think when we find the ones that really have that middle ground of the comedy — that sort of banter back-and-forth comedy that we have — and then they throw in some of the Syfy, that is a real Eureka episode for me. There are ones you just read and you just go, "Okay, that is so Eureka," with the comedy and a little bit of the danger. But I can never remember exact ones.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Is there a role that you have not played but you have interest in, or what is your dream role?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: Just recently I was able to do this performance honoring Halle Berry for the Genesee Foundation and I performed as Lena Horne. And that's something I'm working on trying to make happen and would be my ultimate dream, because I loved her as an icon and I love to sing and I always loved her musicals. So that's also why I've been pushing our show — I would love to do a musical Eureka. People are like, "When are you going to do a musical?" I would love to do that. We'll sound really good in the studio. That's all that counts.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Is there something about you that would surprise your fans?

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD: I play golf. On my time off I play golf every day. I'm a big golfer. That always seems to surprise people. They're like, "Really, you don't look like a golfer."

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