Twitch's interactive scripted sci-fi series from Bernie Su is ground-breaking and quite unlike anything that has come before it. A "choose-your-own-ending" style show where the entire audience weighs in on character-building and plot advancement, fans can take the interactive aspect to the next level.
The sseries even includes an interactive music aspect with technology called LifeScore, developed by Siri's Tom Gruber. Picking up cues entered in the chat by the viewers, the score adapts to the emotions presented by the audience.
Starring in the series are Tohoru Masamune (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Jennifer Field (9-1-1) Justin Lee (Arrested Development) Dante Basco (Hook,) and countless others, all of which we have provided exclusive interviews with to help promote the show. Today, we bring you our chat with Devon Werkheiser, who is best known for his role of Ned Bigby in Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.
If you're interested in hearing the audio component of our chat with actor and musician Devon Werkheiser, you can do so via the podcast player below.
Literary Joe: So, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I'd like to start by asking how you initially became involved with Artificial?
Devon Werkheiser: You know, man, we audition, even in a quarantine. (Laughs) Yeah, this was actually my first series of Zoom auditions.
Literary Joe: So was Season 3 the beginning of this for you, then, or were you involved previoulsy?
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, I was aware of the project for the last two years. I know some people involved on the team. I knew one of the actresses on it during Season 2, I think. So I was aware of the project, and it was cool to get to do a Zoom audition for it.
Literary Joe: And I think when I spoke to Justin Lee, he had mentioned that you guys had worked together in the past.
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, him and I did a movie together when I was fifteen years old. So this is fourteen years ago, man. And I truly have not seen him since, so it was really cool. I mean, you say "on set," but again we're in quarantine, so "on set" is really like a group Zoom call, which is so funny. But yeah, same idea. Seeing Justin on there was really funny because we had a really good time when we made this movie.
Literary Joe: Was that Shredderman Rules you guys were in together?
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, Shredderman Rules, for Nickelodeon.
Literary Joe: Now, speaking of Nickelodeon, obviously one of your most popular roles was Ned Bigby. Do you still get recognized even though it's been fifteen years?
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah man, I still do. My face is still mostly the same, other than a beard. And yeah, I definitely still get recognized for that.
Literary Joe: Nice! Now, I know that most of your castmates have told me that they knew Bernie from different projects prior to working on the show. Have you ever worked with Bernie before?
Devon Werkheiser: I have not. This is my first opportunity to work with Bernie.
Literary Joe: Okay, nice. You play the character of Asher, right? Can you tell me a little bit about him?
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, so last season Sophie obviously went and killed somebody, so they had to shut her down. So this season it's a whole new project with a whole new team, with a seemingly new AI. So Elle is the lead researcher this season that Sebastian hired, and I'm Elle's boyfriend, and we are quarantining separate from each other, so we're only seeing each other over Zoom. And, actually, because of the audience, I got a chance to meet Lilith, the AI, based on an audience vote. It was gonna be me or a different who got to meet with the AI, and because I got to meet with her, for Asher, it's more of an opportunity to see his girlfriend and kind of do something interesting because he's been laid off during quarantine. So, it turns out I'm getting more and more opportunity to interact with my girlfriend Elle and the AI.
Literary Joe: So, does the audience ever surprise you with the direction they lead your character?
Devon Werkheiser: Not yet! I've only done two live-stream shows, so far they've definitely dictated certain directions my meetings with the AI will go, but nothing has been surprising or drastic. Although, I'm wondering if they'll get to vote more on what happens in Elle and Asher's relationship, and we'll see what happens then.
Literary Joe: So how much of the show do you feel like is dictated by the writing staff and Bernie versus the interactive aspect from the fans? Is that tough to say because this is your first season?
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, based on my interactions so far, maybe 70-30, to Bernie and the writing staff, to the audience. But, I mean, they've created an entire character now. So, like, that entire character was created by the audience. The Dante Basco character that's being introduced next week. So, yeah, I mean certain things are really being dictated. And the fact that my character has had so much more time with Lilith now is because of what they directed, that wasn't on the writers. So it's kind of like, even if the audience's decision is seemingly small, it usually snowballs into what the writers use.
Literary Joe: Okay, now, do you ever hop in the chat yourself to interact with the fans?
Devon Werkheiser: No, not yet, because on Twitch, I'm me. I'm Devon. So, like, I haven't figured out if I want to cross that barrier of both Asher and Devon being in the same chat. So, so far, I've sat them out. I've also been in the live-stream, so I can't really get on the chat because I'm focused on getting the episode done. So, I've thought about commenting, but I don't know, that's such a weird thing to cross! (Laughs) It's like me, Devon, being like "I love this Asher dude, he's great!"
Literary Joe: Well, here's the thing. Now, I'm not going to say who, but I can tell you that some of your co-starsdefinitely use a fake name and jump in there to interact.
Devon Werkheiser: That is so funny dude! I get it. I mean, it's fun. It's fun having a live audience that is live commenting. That's what makes this show and using this medium so unique and so special. The fact that there is an audience that you can interact with live during an episode is wild man!
Literary Joe: Definitely, it's very unique. Which of your past roles do you think best prepared you for the interactive aspect?
Devon Werkheiser: It's not really my past roles. It's more just like, I'm on Instagram a lot and I do live streams a lot, just myself. So, I'm used to interacting with an audience. And yeah, I guess like theater back in the day, this is closer to theater -- it being a live-streamed episode -- than TV. But it's like this beautiful blend of so many mediums, I'm super impressed with what's happening on the show.
Literary Joe: Cool. Now, I know that you said you were a fan of the show before coming on to it. But, other than Artificial, were you familiar with Twitch as a platform?
Devon Werkheiser: I was familiar, but, like, distant. I didn't have an account. Like, I knew of Twitch, but I had never gotten on Twitch except to watch Artificial. But I had never signed up or made an account. So, now Twitch is kind of blowing my mind, I love it. It's cool! At first I thought it was mostly for gamers, and I wasn't really gaming a lot. But, yeah, now I see it's a much bigger platform.
Literary Joe: Nice, and, I know you said you've done live streams, and obviously you have music that you've been involved in, but is this the first acting project that you've worked on remotely?
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, for sure man. This is definitely the first Zoom project where showing up to set is just showing up to my computer in my bedroom. It's a new experience, for sure man.
Literary Joe: What kind of challenges do you meet doing remote work versus being on set with the other actors and talent?
Devon Werkheiser: That alone, not being on set and being able to interact in person. Yes, we're on a Zoom call, but that's not the same as meeting each other, and getting into each other's space and energy in person. And there is a slight lag, and it's slight, but even a second's difference in waiting for the other person's line changes the experience. You're not on top of each other like you would be in person, like, talking over each other. There's this slight delay that just changes the timing. It's a very technical thing, like no audience member is going to notice it, but me as an actor, the energy is just technically a little different. And most of the challenges, honestly, are on Bernie and the production team. Because, the real challenges are the technical aspects of getting everyone's Zoom to work, and trouble-shooting people's technology issues remotely. They have a much bigger problem set than we, the actors, do.
Literary Joe: And I can imagine, that, because it's live, there's been times where you guys have run into issues at the last second.
Devon Werkheiser: We did in the last episode man! Tohoru's camera started glitching out. But what was so funny is it started glitching out in a way that looked like production. It was like this weird filter and like double-screen. I thought it was something on the production end, but I guess it was a glitch. And there's no time to deal with it, we just have to keep going.
Literary Joe: That's hilarious. And I saw part of the last episode, but I didn't catch that part. Tohoru's so good, and his delivery is so good, that I imagine he just handled it like a pro.
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, I mean, everyone figured it out. It didn't halt the episode, but like, that's the stuff that you can run into, where it's a technical issue that, when we're live, it can't be addressed. As long as the audience can hear him and see him enough, we have to keep going with the scene and continue acting like we're in the scene. We can't even pause and go "hold on, I need to fix this." It has to be as if it's happening to the character. So, that's been a really weird and interesting technical aspect of it.
Literary Joe: Yeah, and I know that some of the other actors have mentioned that part of what's roughest is that you're actually acting to a camera instead of looking at the other actors.
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, that's really hard. And it looks so much better, so I understand why. It looks so much better for us to be looking into the cameras, it, on the audience side, looks more correct. Like, it looks right if everyone's looking into the camera. But, you know, on a Zoom call you'd be watching the actual person and seeing their facial features and their responses to things. And we're all sort of finding ways to blend that.
Literary Joe: Now, I talked to Tom Gruber a little bit about the LifeScore, the interactive music. What is that like, working on a project that has that kind of, I mean, literal artificial aspect to it?
Devon Werkheiser: It's so cool. So, as far as when I'm shooting, it doesn't effect what I'm doing. But as an audience, like, when I'm off and I sit and watch the stream, I don't know what this production team and what Bernie is doing on this show, but it is so unique and ground-breaking, that I am constantly being impressed by what they've created. Yeah, having a live score that can adapt to what the audience is commenting on, and have it not be pre-planned because our timing is going to change because it's set live. You couldn't have a set score because each scene is a different length depending on what's going on live.
Literary Joe: I'm sure some of your music fans tune into Artificial. If the audience says anything or tries to get your character to bring music into the show, is that something you'd be comfortable with?
Devon Werkheiser: For sure, yeah. That's easy man. (Laughs)
Literary Joe: I feel like a lot of the people on the show kind of get geared toward other roles that they've played in the past and what their fanbases kind of see them as.
Devon Werkheiser: Yeah, well, especially with the audience being able to participate in what our characters do, that is what happens. Because if the audience wants to see that from me, Devon, they can ask for it if that poll goes up on the show. And I'd for sure be ready, music is like second nature to me man.
Literary Joe: Now is there anything else you can tease about the future of your character in Artificial?
Devon Werkheiser: You know, I wish I could Joe, but I don't know. (Laughs) Dude, I get to discover it with you guys. I don't know the plan. And in so many ways, I think the writers and Bernie, they definitely know more than me. But even they know it can change based on an audience poll. So we will all be discovering it together.
Literary Joe: Awesome, well that pretty much wraps up everything I have. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with our audience about Artificial, your music, or any of your other projects?
Devon Werkheiser: I mean, just find me on Instagram, or Patreon, or Spotify. My music is out there, I'm constantly putting out new music. I do Insta-live-streams all the time, and Patreon live-streams every week. Yeah, so if you want to engage with me more, just follow me and reach out through social media.
*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 EST.