As the third season of Twitch's interactive scripted sci-fi series Artificial has approached its finale, we have been sharing our interviews with the cast and crew. Last week we dropped our conversations with Emmy Award-winning director, Bernie Su, as well as Alejandra Reynoso, who is also known for voicing Sypha in Castlevania.
Today, we're bringing you our exclusive interview with actress Jennifer Field, who portrays the manipulative psychiatrist, Dr. Ruby Thatcher in the series. She has worked alongside Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and John Lithgow (Dexter), and we chatted about both experiences during the interview.
To hear our recent interview with Artificial's Dr. Ruby Thatcher actress and Miss Asian America 2006 Jennifer Field click the podcast player below. Otherwise, scroll down for the transcript! We have also included our chats with Emmy Award winning-director Bernie Su (Emma Approved) and Kira actress Alejandra Reynoso (Castlevania)!
Literary Joe: Let's talk about Artificial! Can you kind of summarize Dr. Ruby's journey throughout Season 3 for the audience who may not have seen the episodes yet?
Jennifer Field: Yeah! I was wondering if you were gonna ask me this. So I love it because there has been a journey and it wasn't all necessarily thought out because we weren't sure what would happen in the series. That's what's crazy cool; the [writers] don't necessarily have an outline of all 12 episodes. They don't know what decisions the audience will make and what determining poll choices will happen. So it's been interesting because a lot of times, you have some general understanding of the arc of your character overall. So, fortunately, everything sort of just made sense. I was able to stack the story at every turn, to make sense with what I had created in the first place for her, as well as what the audience and writers were determining. So this is how I look at it: Sebastian hires me and finds me. And I have my ways of securing the coolest jobs in the universe. I have my Dr. Ruby ways. And then I realized I thought I was God. And I was the puppet master, pulling strings, and I was having so much fun being God. Then the audience votes me to meet Lilith, and yes, I've been studying and watching her videos, but I never got to have a one on one conversation with her. And this was, I think, the halfway point, Episode 306, halfway through the season. After that, I realized she is God, so she is my goddess, that I must leash out into the world. So I am no longer the chaos creator, she is, or she can do whatever she wants, but yes, the chaos, of course, is the priority. So that's kind of where things shifted.
Literary Joe: Is that the way the audience guided your character?
Jennifer Field: No, that's just what I've come up with based on what the audience has been doing and saying. So it was a very different relationship. Once I knew I got to meet Lilith, I had a really fun opportunity as an actress to be like, okay, how do I treat her compared to everyone else that are my little minions, my little lemmings, right? Yes, she is the ultimate. So that was just so fun, you know? And it was like, I kind of gave some power to her, and now we're at the point now where Sebastian is starting to make decisions without me. So I'm sort of losing 10 or 20% of my power, and I'm trying to figure out what's happening, and that's where we're at now. And then we'll see what happens.
Literary Joe: I like that arc for your character. How did you feel about how that happened then, now that you are a little bit more loyal to Lilith?
Jennifer Field: When we first talked, I was so excited and just giddy about everything and getting used to the format and understanding how the Twitch audience works. And it was just so exciting, and now things have gotten like, we're just deeper in the trenches now. And so I love this because it gives me just so much more of a beginning, middle, and end. Like I just have more of an arc as opposed to just being a manipulative, power-hungry, borderline sociopathic psychiatrist. So basically, a psychiatrist with problems of my own. But I'm also very good at what I do, and I have quite the resume. So, it just adds more depth, and I think there's more possibility for me and for this world. We know there has to be some kind of catharsis or a wrap-up or a conclusion to, you know, what happens to her body? Like, does she see what happens with Sophie? So there's just so much possibility for the rest of the season as well as potentially a Season 4 now.
Literary Joe: I know we don't know if there's going to be a Season 4 or not, but what kind of hopes do you have for what will happen in the future?
Jennifer Field: Season 4, hopefully, I would assume things will be back in a more three-dimensional sort of space, so it would look more like what it used to look like. Because walking around gives more medium and wide shots and more able to express yourself, your body language, and different locations or rooms really. You know, I'm hoping for that. So it gives you life a little bit more playroom. So I'm excited to be on a traditional set, and I'm assuming that would be possible for Season 4. So that's what I would be most looking forward to, and then meeting everyone. So I guess I'm just looking at it that way. I mean, yeah, there are many ways this can go with my character. I mean, like I could get hired by Zander. I can take over Sebastian's company. I could become Lilith's confidant and secretly know where she is at all times. The only person that knows her secrets. I mean, there's so much fun stuff that could come about.
Literary Joe: Is there anything else about Artificial that I didn't touch on that you want to bring up?
Jennifer Field: I just want to say thank you to everyone watching, tuning in, subscribing, commenting, those that are in the discord, listening to this podcast, reading this interview. Thank you to the fans. And this is a show where the fans really, really are everything. And so I'm just very connected to the people that are watching it, which is amazing. Usually, you just don't know who is watching you and what they think of your work. So thank you. Thanks for being there. And we wouldn't be able to have the show without you guys. It would be no chat; it would be empty. There would be no one there. So thank you. Thanks to the fans.
*This interview has been edited for clarity.*
The groundbreaking Twitch series Artificial returns with Artificial: Remote Intelligence. This season takes a huge step forward with a bold new sci-fi vision and ground-breaking interactive methods, including an audience-controlled musical score and revolutionary new interactive Worldbuilding episodes. Viewers will be able to dictate aspects of the production including casting of new characters, story, and set design.
Artificial airs live on Twitch every Thursday at 5:00 pm PST.