Britne Oldford headlines Syfy’s new alien thriller Hunters, created by Natalie Chaidez and hailing from The Walking Dead mastermind Gale Anne Hurd. Interestingly enough, the series adapted from the “Alien Hunters” book series is not the first time Britne’s had a close encounter with the alien kind. In 2012, she played Alma, a young woman abducted and impregnated by extra terrestrials in the FX anthology series American Horror Story, with its Asylum chapter.
In Hunters, however, the New York resident plays Regan, a valuable operative for the Exo-terrorism Unit (ETU), a highly-classified government organization who tracks and fights alien terrorists.
“I love her because she’s a strong character,” Oldford said in a recent conference call. “She’s intuitive but she’s still incredibly sensitive to her surroundings and the people around her. I think that’s a very complicated role. So quite beautiful in navigating in that world was pretty powerful and that [I find out that way] about myself during the process.”
Oldford’s dance background and other characteristic traits she shares with Regan definitely made it easy for the actress to channel the ETU operative. “It’s very helpful when you have a background of physical memorization for blocking purposes and that sort of thing,” she explained. “So, that becomes something that you need to think of less which should help you focus on the whole picture more.
“I can identify with Regan a lot more than I’d like to admit,” she continued. “Specifically, I really reached to my childhood for this character, mainly, you know, growing in school I was definitely an outcast. I was definitely just a big old nerd and kind of a, kind of a loner, and I kept to myself a lot and I would observe people.”
The new series “was the most physically demanding project” Oldford has ever worked on, some due to the character’s use of kickboxing, which proved to be a challenge, requiring intense training with a coach for the first two weeks prior to production.
“[Peggy] really helped us figure out how hunters move and what their ticks were, and really kind of feeling grounded in that aspect of the character. There was a [series] of trainings and so on for my character, for Regan, with regards to her kickboxing and with regards to just, you know, generally being a very strong, very agile creature or person.”
In addition to the extreme physicality, a lot of the show required both visual and special effects, which she enjoyed.
“We were so fortunate to be working with [special effects guru] Justin Dix,” she exclaimed. “So we were really working with a lot of practical things, you know. A lot with the guns, a lot of the props that has been — certain other pieces were all there for us and ready to be used in the green screen.
“As an actor that was definitely such a treat because a lot of the time [aliens] and other supernatural nature, you tend to, you know, have to work a little bit harder to kind of pretend and imagine what’s going on but we had everything like in front of us. It definitely added to the show and is a very important part of our show, and it’s kind of the heart of it, and it was a total treat.”
Britne Oldford is also hoping the show will be a treat for viewers when they tune in.
“I’m very excited for people to see it, and hopefully, makes them question things,” she said. “I mean that’s really what, as an actor, what I at least want to hopefully give people an experience and maybe them question their lives or think about maybe having a different opinion about things. And hopefully, accepting themselves more and feeling more comfortable in their own skin.”
And though production of Hunters was physically and emotionally taxing for the star, she’s excited to do it all over again.
“Just being a part of the project was spectacular. It’s a dream role for me. I love the genre. I love the characters. I love everything about it.”
Hunters Premieres Tonight, April 11, at 10pm on Syfy.