The following contains spoilers for The Imperfects Season 1, Episode 10, "Destroy All Monsters," streaming now on Netflix.
Three young adults discover their inner monsters in Netflix's The Imperfects. The sci-fi, supernatural drama centers around Tilda (Morgan Taylor Campbell), Abbi (Rhianna Jagpal), and Juan (Iñaki Godoy), who all develop weird and uncontrollable side effects after having their DNA altered as children. Tilda gains super-hearing and a shrieking, banshee-like wail that can shatter glass or send someone flying. Grad student Abbi releases pheromones that enthrall anyone close by. Graphic artist Juan morphs into a vicious Chupacabra-like beast. These test subjects band together to find a way to return to normal.
Designated Survivor's Italia Ricci portrays Dr. Sydney Burke, a gifted scientist seeking to atone for mistakes made in the past. She aids Tilda, Abbi, and Juan in controlling their strange abilities and tracking down the doctor that did this to them. Despite her best efforts, Sydney's actions are not always her own. She, too, harbors a monstrous secret: she physically transforms into an alter-ego, Finch (Kyra Zagorsky), whose agenda may not be as altruistic. Ricci recently spoke with CBR about returning to the sci-fi genre, Sydney's intentions, her split personality, and a Season 2.
CBR: You previously portrayed the screaming Banshee on Supergirl. What was it like stepping into that world of superheroes and villains again?
Italia Ricci: This one was nice for me because for my role as Banshee, I was so nervous. I had never played any sort of fantasy/sci-fi pretend character. When that happened, and I didn't have to audition for it, I was like, "But wait. I don't know what you want. I don't know how to do this." At least if I had auditioned and got it, I would have been like, "OK, they liked what I did." I was basically on set being, like, "What do I do?" That was nerve-racking but ended up being so much fun once you just let go, and you're a kid again, playing the most magnificent game of pretend.
For this one, for me, I'm not really that sci-fi. I am more the grounded character on The Imperfects because every character was so specific and every character is so bold. I chose to keep Burke grounded and flat, so there was somebody's more reasonable point of view coming through. This wasn't as scary as Supergirl for me going into it because I could base it in some very vague version of reality.
Introduce us to Dr. Sydney Burke and where she fits into the bigger picture.
Sydney is a geneticist. She, at her core, wants to help people. With the big twist at the end, you find out that maybe she was part of these experiments, but she actually developed a friendship and feelings and a deep care for Alex. So, she's kind of torn between that. Then, you get a very clear look into her id as you are seeing Finch. There are two sides of her, and it's interesting to guess which side won because even I don't know.
What is fun about playing a nerdy scientist in these types of genres?
Are you kidding me? I got the script, and I was like, "I get to be Giles? Yes!" I love it because the pressure is not on me. It's the kids, so that's great. I love it now because I am a mom, and I don't have to work every single day and be in every single scene. Especially during that, my kid was a year or a year-and-a-half old, so it was important for me not to be gone 16 hours a day, five days a week. That was really lovely for me, but I just love the show. I read it, and I thought it was sort of dark and grungy and graphic novel-y. I thought that was so different than something I had done. I had an opportunity to be a part of it in a way that I felt confident that I could pull it off.
How much practice did the medical jargon require because it just rolls off your tongue?
Well, coming off of Designated Survivor, I was good at memorizing stuff that I didn't understand. At some point, it just sounds like you are memorizing a long number. I remember in Designated, in one scene, I had rattled off a bunch of political whatnot. When they cut and were moving on, I was like, "What the hell does any of that mean?" They were like, "Don't you think you should have asked that before we shot the scene?" I was like, "Did you believe it?" They were like, "Yeah," "Then it doesn't matter." You can tell where the music of the words goes. That's how you make people believe it, even if you have no idea what you are talking about. At least for me, anyway.
There's that first scene in the pilot episode where I am explaining it all to them... That was just me saying [it] over and over again so I could get the pronunciation right, mostly. At least with the political stuff, I knew what the words were. I just didn't know what they all meant when they were threaded together. With this one, I was like, "Am I putting the emphasis on the right part of this word?" I did a lot of googling and YouTube listening to pronunciations with an American accent. I am sure I said something wrong somewhere.
Sydney is conflicted. How would you describe her relationship with Tilda, Abbi, and Juan?
At first, Sydney feels nervous because she knows she messed up when they first come to her. She genuinely wants to help them. She is trying to help herself. Sydney didn't realize that things had gotten so severe for the test subjects. I sort of felt that she genuinely wanted to help them, and, in that, having to spend more time with them, she really started to care about them. By the end, she really truly cared about them. I feel like, with Alex, it's the same sort of thing. Maybe it's the beginning of this research, which I hope we'll find out more about if we get a Season 2. Maybe she was being offered a part at something that has never been done before. So, she was interested in it, and her conscience took over. She has a little bit of a crazy scientist in it, but I think a little bit more of the decent human being part of it.
Sydney experiences her own Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde side effect. What was your reaction to her alter-ego, Finch?
Selfishly, I was like, "Oh shit. I am going to have to pull off these crazy seizure-like transformations." I thought I was getting off easy just being a human. I was nervous that way. Then, I was so excited. "This is so cool." I also get some insight into her id, and I don't have to come up with that whole storyline as a performer.
The finale concluded on this huge bombshell --that Sydney might not be exactly on the side of angels. How much was spelled out to you from the beginning?
I had no idea until I got that script. I read it, and I was like, "Oh, sick!" Our showrunner, Dennis Heaton, who is amazing, would kind of give me hints of what might be coming up, but then by the time the script comes to you, it has gone through so many people that you never know what is actually going to happen. I tried not to get married to anything he said, but I do remember him telling me something along those lines. Then I read it and was like, "Yes. Amazing." It was fun to spice Burke up a little bit because the only spice we saw from her really was either bitching at Tilda for drinking her wine or with Finch.
If The Imperfects receives a second season, what do you feel that twist means for Sydney and the part she will play in the show?
I hope it's Sydney getting to be a little bit more bad, but then I don't because I love that she is good and genuinely wants to help people. Maybe she's pretending to be bad. I don't know. This is why I am not a writer.
Stream The Imperfects now on Netflix.