#SLCC17: Victoria Atkin talks about 'Assassin's Creed' and BYUtv's 'Extinct'

Several days before Salt Lake Comic Con 2017, the official Salt Lake Comic Con Twitter account retweeted something I posted about the upcoming convention. That retweet was seen and liked by a voice actor named Victoria Atkin, who would be appearing as a celebrity guest at the event. Little did I know, Victoria provides the voice for Evie Frye, the first playable female character in a main entry in the "Assassin's Creed" video game franchise. I had played the game "Assassin's Creed: Syndicate," so I thought it was cool that she acknowledged my tweet.

I sent her a quick message, saying that it would be fun to meet her at the convention. To my surprise, she responded, and we messaged back and forth a little a few times.

Over the next couple days, I helped Victoria promote her booth on the vendor floor on social media and finally had the chance to meet her at Comic Con, where we talked about her role in "Assassin's Creed" and her upcoming BYUtv show, "Extinct." Behold:

Signs of the Times: All right, Victoria. First of all, welcome to Salt Lake City.

Victoria Atkin: “Hello! I’m happy to be here.”

SotT: Have you ever been here before?

VA: “I have. I’ve been here for most of last year.”

SotT: Oh yeah, for filming, huh? Well, we’ll talk about that in a second. Do you like it here?

VA: “I do. I really like it. The people are amazing and the landscape is incredible. Beautiful place.”

SotT: All right. Can you tell me a little bit about your career – stuff you’ve done in the past?

VA: “My career? So I graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama, where Judy Dench and Vanessa Redgrave went to, so I started off in a great school. Then I was on a show called Hollyoaks for a couple of years, as my first job, which was a fun, fun thing to do. And then, from there, I decided to come to America and seek my fame and fortune… and found ‘Assassin’s Creed’ and ‘Extinct,’ found some other shows, and the rest is history, I guess.”

SotT: Awesome. Ok. Well, tell me a little bit about “Assassin’s Creed.” How did you get involved in that? Were you a fan of the games before that, or was that just something that came up?

VA: “Well, I grew up playing video games on my PC, but I actually wasn’t very aware of the franchise, and I didn’t know what I was auditioning for. A lot of the video games are very secretive, and they give you a code name, so I was auditioning, but I didn’t have script from ‘Assassin’s Creed’ or anything like that. They knew that they wanted to have a female Assassin and they wanted to make sure that it was the right person. I did about four or five rounds and ended up in Quebec, and on my last round, they said, ‘This is for Assassin’s Creed,’ so I said, ‘Great! How great!’ I was launched into that and I went to Toronto and filmed for six months on the motion-capture stage.”

SotT: Tell me a little bit about “Extinct.” That comes out in like a week and a half, right?

VA: “I know! Not too long at all, now.  Yeah, it comes out October 1 and it’s going to be free for everybody to watch on the byutv.org website – you can stream it or you can download it on the app, which is free. It’s set 400 years in the future. Human race has been extinct, but they’re bringing them back, and I’m one of the first females to be reborn. Then we discover how to navigate earth without anybody here.”

#SLCC17: A chat with BB-8 puppeteer Brian Herring

When Salt Lake Comic Con 2017 kicked off this past weekend, I had the opportunity to do a couple mini interviews during the press conference on Thursday morning. The first guest I spoke with was Brian Herring, who is one of the most talented puppeteers in the entire world. Instead of starting this post by running through his filmography, I'll let the man speak for himself:

Signs of the Times: Hello, my name is Aaron.

Brian Herring: “Hello, Aaron.”

SotT: Nice to meet you. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. First of all, have you ever been to Utah before?

BH: “No.”

SotT: No? First time. Ok. Any impressions so far?

BH: “I have seen the outside for about an hour, so, at this point, not huge amounts of impressions. The mountains are lovely – lovely view. I’m sure it’s going to be great.”

SotT: Great. Well, we’re happy to have you hear.

BH: “Thank you very much.”

SotT: I was just wondering if you could talk to me about your career a little bit. Was there anything you’ve worked on – anything, like a project or anything, that was memorable or made a big impression on you?

BH: “I’ve been a puppeteer for about 25 years. I became a puppeteer completely by accident. I was a little economic with the truth in an audition for a TV show in the UK in the early ‘90s and, since then, I’ve worked for the Jim Henson Company and I’ve done a lot of stuff on UK TV, I have worked in movies and in film and … I’ve been all over the place, really. I did a little film a couple of years ago called ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’”

SotT: I… think I’ve heard of it.

BH: “Yeah… It found an audience. So, I mean, to do that – because I was seven in ’77 – I was that kid. So, to be involved with that, even slightly, was a big deal, but to end up… I was the puppeteer consultant for the whole movie, and then I wound up as BB-8 – the lead form for BB-8 – so that was just an amazing experience. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

SotT: All right. And you’re currently working on the future Star Wars movies, as well?

BH: “Yes. Yeah.”

SotT: Awesome.

BH: “We’re right in the middle of that, so that’s a lot of fun.”

SotT: All right. Did you have a favorite Star Wars character growing up?

BH: “Chewie. Chewie. Yeah, Chewbacca. So to get to work alongside him was quite a thrill.”

SotT: That’s really cool. Ok. Perfect. Is there anything that you would recommend – like a TV show or a movie that you’re currently watching – that you’d recommend?

BH: “I’m currently really enjoying the third series of ‘Gotham.’ I’m really enjoying that.”