Imogen Poots (‘Outer Range’): ‘It’s fun subverting’ the expectation that her character be ‘the femme fatale’ or ‘the mesmerizing blonde’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Rob Licuria
“There's something really magic that happens when you think you're embarking on a risk, because it's so unknown,” declares Imogen Poots ("The Father") about portraying a character that subverts expectations on genre-bending drama like Amazon's “Outer Range.” “I thought it was ambitious, the fusing of the Western genre with, you know people say sci-fi, but we're sort of just the idea of the unknown,” she proclaims, adding for our recent webchat, “it was very unique, and it felt like something I hadn't come across before and haven't done yet.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Created by Brian Watkins, the neo-Western sci-fi drama stars Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (“Milk”) as Royal Abbott, a tough-as-nails Wyoming rancher who discovers a mysterious otherworldly black void on his ranch that appears to be some kind of time-travelling portal. The impressive ensemble cast features Tom Pelphrey, Tamara Podemski, Lewis Pullman, Noah Reid, Shaun Sipos with Will Patton portraying the patriarch of the rival Tillerson family who own the ranch next door and who are after Abbott’s ranch and that mysterious all-powerful black void.
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“Outer Range” is a dazzling combination of modern-day Western and a heart-pounding thriller full of family drama, bloody rivalries and the supernatural. It boasts all the bells and whistles that audiences have come to expect from the Wild West — sweeping vistas, unforgiving landscapes, wildlife and no-nonsense cowboys and ranchers — within an often confounding sci-fi mystery, in the vein of other TV hits like “Lost” and “Dark” crossed with “Yellowstone” and “Justified.” While Amazon Prime Video is yet to announce a second season, there are so many unanswered questions from the freshman outing that fans remain hopeful that the Abbotts and Tillersons will be back before too long.
Poots portrays the mysterious Autumn, who arrives on the ranch and initially comes across as a free-thinking traveler. She played her so that she would be intentionally ambiguous to begin with, only giving fleeting glimpses into her rapacious obsession with the void and with Royal. "People kept saying she is unhinged and using words like that, but it feels just that she's very, very present," Poots says, adding that "it's difficult because obviously someone's hero is another person's villain," she explains. "It's funny, especially when the show came out, the expectations that people put on a certain type of character. They're like, well she's got to be the femme fatale, where she's going to be the mesmerizing blonde. It's fun subverting those, but it's interesting to have such a tired expectation that people foresee with certain characters."
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