Blood Drives most femme fatale Christina Ochoa gives us a long close look at whats under the hood.
There are no pace cars in Syfy and Universal Cable Productions upcoming Grindhouse racing seriesBlood Drive.
Every set of wheels run at full throttle, because any lag time can get you killed.
The pressure is enough to make your head explode.
Shes also known as a science communicator who studied oceanographic engineering before hitting the stage.
Ad content continues below
Christina Ochoa: Once.
Do you remember your first car?
Yes, it was a Ford K, which kind of looked like an egg.
It was very popular in Spain when I first got my license and it was just everywhere.
It was either that or a smart car.
I dont know how popular they were in the states, but they were prevalent in Europe.
Do you remember your fastest car?
It was pretty fast.
That was heavy machinery and it was a lot of fun.
Did you go exploring with it?
I just drove up and down the PCH a few times.
Nothing half as exciting as the stunt work we did in South Africa forBlood Drive.
Have you ever drag raced?
But safely, safely, in confined empty roads and spaces blocked off, but I hadnt until then.
How much of the stunt driving are you actually doing?
I actually got to do quite a bit of stunt driving.
We had training on courses.
We had rigged cars, specifically for the stunt driving.
All of that, that is me.
But I tried to wing it and do as much as I possibly could.
Do you think stunt work is easier now because of CGI and newer technologies?
The blood and all of that stuff, the stunts being one of them.
Fights, driving, all of the above.
I noticed you do some very intricate fight sequences.
We had fun, yeah.
How much rehearsal goes into that and whats the most fun part of that?
I call it method stunting.
Its how many times can I whack Alan before he loses it.
Thats pretty much how we worked it out.
What kind of high do you imagine for Red Rapture?
Oh thats a great question.
I want to say, because of the addicting elements of it, maybe its something like Oxy.
I dont know, Im not very familiar with the actual feelings of these things.
I think its a little heroiny, maybe a little softer than that, but along those lines.
Club Mayhem, did you recognize it from any club days or anything like that?
Ive never been at a party like that.
I loved the sets.
Of all the different sets you shot on for the show, which were you most comfortable in?
Oh, I feel like taking one of the sets as far as how comfortable I am.
OnBlood Driveit almost has a very comedic component to it.
So that was a lot of fun.
The good thing aboutBlood Driveis none of us take ourselves too seriously.
There was an element of laughing.
When I was talking with Colin Cunningham, how putting on a hat can change a character.
What about the opposite, not putting on the hat, but cutting off the pants?
Grace walks differently than I do, sounds different than I do.
Her voice is different than mine is.
She has a different way to move.
All that makes it immediate.
Colin did an incredible job, by the way.
I dont know if he told you about this, so I am going to tell you for him.
Its a totally different take from what you would have seen initially on the page that most actors did.
Did you base Grace on anyone?
Animal work for me is very important, and music is very important, in crafting a character.
There were a couple of songs that I took to to feel her.
Shes also very much a wolf, and a lone wolf at that.
She is a hunter, or huntress.
In this case, when shes luring men to come to her engine so she can throw them in.
She is manipulative when she has to be.
She just thinks that the end justifies the means, at least at the beginning of the show.
I think that was something you could find within yourself.
What music did you listen to, to get into the role?
There were a couple different ones.
It depends on how I wanted the character to move, because thats how it taps in.
Its a little bit more rock and roll.
Its a little bit grittier.
I have a whole playlist of different songs for her.
Mona Lisa was on there.
And then onValor, Its a Soldier, and its Seven Nation Army the theme song for my character.
I listen to that on set before I go on to shoot, because its so immediate.
You know how it is, music just gets you in the zone so fast.
I just learned to start playing drums forValor, shes a drummer.
I find it fascinating and incredible hard to really master in any way, shape or form.
Im always impressed by people who have those abilities.
So, the rhythms of the characters are important.
Yes, to me, its just like that tone.
Others are a little more jagged and a little stronger.
Others carry their weight when they walk, or when they move, in different body parts.
I think music does that for me, on an instinctual level.
There are some songs where you have your weight, youre stomping and your feet and your legs.
Sometimes its in your hands.
For Grace, I think a lot of it was in her hands.
Hence, why the music for her was a little edgier, a little more rock and roll.
Shes a little more on edge.
Its like, look, heres an impression.
Heres the broad stroke impression of what this scene entails, or what this episode entails, this moment.
I like that analogy.
Its like the gesture drawing of acting and directing and all of the above.
Its like boot camp.
It doesnt slow down.
I think thats kind of how I would describe shooting in South Africa forBlood Drivefor six months.
They shared some romantic moments.
Are they not the best?
I loved them, Craig [Jackson] and Jenny [Stead], who play Domi and Cliff.
They have this amazing chemistry as these characters.
Well get to see a lot of them having fun on the rave.
Im curious to see what you think.
How does Art go from being a Barbie Doll back to a Ken Doll for Grace?
Oh, but does he?
Does he ever go to Ken?
Because I like Barbie, so well have to see if he ever transitions to a Ken.
Do you have any favorite Grindhouse films?
I am a big fan of all Rodriguez and Tarantino films.
But I dont know that I have a good, smart, fun answer for that.
I likeHouse of Terror, obviouslyFrom Dusk Til Dawn, all of them are good.
They just fun movies.
Given the choice, would you interview for Heart Enterprises?
Could I be the interviewer instead?
Did you get production notes?
We didnt get a lot of production notes.
Things arent so rigid as they are in LA.
We got to play around with our scenes and try some things out to see if they would work.
The directors, producers and creators there were all on board.
So, we got to have a blast shooting this with were zero production notes from LA.
Your friends at the Los Angeles Committee for Science for Society, will they be giving you notes?
Episodes 1, 4, 6 and 8 are off the table.
How would Professor Blastoff describe the unpopular mechanics that make these cars go?
Oh god, Professor Blastoff would probably talk about ATP in the prep cycles?
I have absolutely no idea how this could potentially work and how a combustion engine could run on blood.
But, you know, hemoglobin seems to carry a lot of energy.
Im just throwing around words that could fit for this principle.
Is there a science to sex appeal?
So well get to see some really fun stuff.
For me, part of the fun in that is how political we got to go with the show.
All covered up in this little wrapper of blood and insanity that is Blood Drive.
Youll see there are a lot of political statements being made throughout the show.
The police collect their quotas in teeth.
Did they get this on the streets from LAPD?
Yes, again, that is another establishment that James Roland wanted to throw a little shade at.
Your great uncle Severo Ochoa was a biochemist who won a Nobel Prize.
What would his thoughts be on how you increase adrenaline on the show?
I think that my great uncle, I want to say hed be proud of the work Ive done.
And theres so much more to come on the show that I cant talk about.
You also have to be okay with 1999 being the future.
I think its fair.
It takes a lot.
Were ready for both of those simultaneously.
So we know its slightly skewed, but its been very positive.
But then you also have the people who come out and say what the fuck did I just watch?
This is not okay.
You cant air this.
I think were ready for both.
We find it humorous, because, again, this show does not take itself very seriously.
So, I think were ready for both.
What do you think?
I hope it continues to move forward and these boundaries continue to be knocked down.
With cable, it seems that thats the way it should be.
You work onAnimal Planet, this is the law of the fittest.
It is about survival of the fittest.
It is about the animal kingdom in a very social way.
Who reigns in the kingdom, who is in charge and whos the king.
I think that kind of applies on both.
But I think shes on a mission.
Theres no stopping this woman.
She has it in between her eyes that shes going to go save her sister and win this race.
She doesnt care if theres an animal around her, or if theres a kingdom around her.
She doesnt care if its in flames or burning down.
She is set for her goal.
The show is going to be breaking quite a few boundaries.
When youre making it, do you know youre doing things that arent normally done on TV?
We were very aware we were taking a big risk.
I think at some point we wondered if the studio was even going to air it.
We got to learn a lot from him.
Fifteen in episode 3?
Sure, maybe I dont know.
Weve all seen procedurals and TV shows that play it safe.
We wanted to do something out of the box.
Now, hopefully, people dont walk out of the theaters when they see it.
Or they dont get up set and change the channel and start boycotting Syfy for it.
I have no idea.
A lot of asterisks?
Blood Drivepremieres on Syfy on June 14th.
