A fear that’s universal
PULSE: PEOPLE TRYING TO SURVIVE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL INSANITY
SA actress Tarryn Wyngaard speaks about her ‘epic’ character.
In the Showmax Original horror series, Pulse, that launched recently, a group of game creators discover that survival is no game when an electromagnetic pulse bomb fries every electrical circuit in their office highrise – and people’s heads.
Capetonian Tarryn Wyngaard, the Safta-winning
Noem My Skollie and Stam star, speaks about her role in the show, which was picked by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the 25 buzziest series at this year’s MIPTV, a leading global TV market in Cannes, France.
H ow would you describe Pulse?
This is a gritty psychological horror story about a group of people trying to survive external insanity and their internal insanity.
W hat a racted you to the project?
The scripts were so incredibly out of this world and like nothing I’ve ever read before. Also the team involved. They are Emmy-winning people involved in the production side, like Steve Lanning. And of course, Sallas [De Jager, the multi-award-winning director]. Pulse gives viewers what they want to see. That is always his focus.
T ell us more about your character, Jaz.
I play a game designer, a woman who is a leader in her field, and who then has to lead this group of people towards safety.
My character was just so epic.
Her game is her art, the same way I see acting. She pours everything into it; it is not just a game for her.
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During lockdown my boyfriend got a PlayStation and I started playing Days Gone with him. The storylines are so intense and you can decide what path you take through the game as well. So I did get into gaming.
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For this role I had to be interacting
re you a gamer yourself? hat research did you do for the role?
more with games and game development. I listen to a lot of podcasts and there is a YouTuber, Jason Weimann. Part of my warm-up every day on set was to listen to him talk about the difference between coding and designing games and which one is better suited to you.
I also read a book called Blood Sweat and Pixels. It was important not to just play games, but also to have some understanding of exactly what it takes to get a game out there.
W hat was your highlight in shooting Pulse?
We’d be filming something, crawling through vents, and they wouldn’t tell me but they’d put the camera on me and do a bang or explosion and I’d get an actual fright. There were a lot of pranks on set; it got quite funny behind the scenes. That was a definite highlight.
W hat was the hardest part about shooting?
Because of Covid, we missed the opportunity for our loved ones to join us. A lot of the cast booked flights for their families and then omicron hit. Being away from home for so long and doing something so intense is challenging. But we were on an island where you can go swimming with the dolphins, which made up for it.
W hy do you think there has been a rise in popularity of the horror genre?
Fearing for your life is a universal thin. There is something very primal about watching people surviving and running for their lives, so audiences have something that’s holding their attention and tying everyone together.
W hat was it like working with Showmax?
A streaming service like Showmax is crucial. You can access it all over the world, which means wherever you are you can get a taste of home-grown content. Showmax is brilliant.