Allison Scagliotti Breaks into Warehouse 13

Last night on Warehouse 13, Artie met his match in a teenage whiz kid named Claudia. She’s smart, tenacious, and she’s desperate to find a place where she really fits in. Me thinks she may have found it. Allison Scagliotti joins the cast of the new Syfy series and she sat down with me to talk about it.

Claudia’s quite the mixed bag, isn’t she? How would you describe her?

Allison: Claudia’s a complex chiquita. She’s smart and sassy and kind of a child prodigy with IT.  She was orphaned at a young age with her brother and twelve years ago he was lost in a freak teleportation accident that involved an artifact.

But thanks to Claudia’s determination and Artie’s know how, he’s been rescued from that “neither here nor there” world.

Allison: Shooting that episode, while it was a major challenge time wise and with all the effects, was seemingly effortless because Saul Rubinek and I clicked immediately. It was like we’d been working together for thirty years and the writing — I just connected with it. I thought it was fantastic; it was not a difficult task to settle in. And Claudia is, witty, but she’s also; she’s passionate, she’ll go after her goals with 100% commitment. As you saw, she didn’t rest for twelve years trying to get her brother back, that’s actually a bit of a crisis that goes on after the episode-so small spoiler, Claudia trying to figure out what to do with her life.

The writers had said that they tried to take from something from the actors to put into the stories. Is there anything of you in Claudia?

Allison: Oh absolutely. I mean, I’m sort of a sass in life. I’m fluent in sarcasm, so I’m definitely given the freedom to riff. The first thing I was told when I visited the writers room after I got the part was okay, we’re a bunch of guys in our late twenties and thirties writing for an eighteen year old girl, so if we got something wrong, go ahead, put your Allison flavor on it, because you know better than we. But more often than not they just gave me hilarious little Claudia-isms to establish from. If I share anything with my character I think it’s wit. Hopefully.

The Claudia episode is pretty heavy, but it looks like you lighten up some in the future.

Allison: That was the tricky part of Claudia. Balancing, the humor that was written with the emotional stakes of  the action going on and the ultimate goal which is to get Joshua back, which was, as you saw, very dangerous. So, yeah, once Claudia settles into the warehouse, she definitely finds her groove and finds her confidence; likes to have fun, sometimes at the expense of the warehouse and always at the expense of Artie’s nerves. But also brings her new-age, steam-punk skill set to the IT system.

I saw some promos you filmed with Saul and you’re like an old Vaudeville team, the two of you.

Allison: That was such a fun day. We had a blast doing that. We’re like, wow that’s exactly how it feels, we can just kind of riff non-stop. You put us in our characters and in a situation and we just go. He’s the best.

Saul’s quite the trooper, what have you learn from him and has he learned anything for you?

Allison: I have learned a ton from Saul. I think Saul has probably learned a bit about how to handle his daughter by being around me. With Saul, I mean, he’s just… you know with stories, of the good ole days and his past, fifty-some-odd year career, sage advice. He talks a lot, I spend half the day talking to Saul, but I’m never tired of it. I definitely learned a lot from Saul, he’s a guru, a friend, a mentor. Our on-screen relationship has definitely crossed over into life.

Talk to me about Joanne and Eddie. Whenever I see them together, they come off like loving, bantering brother and sister.

Allison: Yeah, If the foursome is a family then Eddie is my older, goofball brother.  Joanne’s the focused, hardworking, detail-oriented, overachieving sister, I’m the middle child, no I’m not, well yeah! I am, Eddie’s kind of a little kid. And then Saul is our providing patriarch. It did not take long for us to fall into those family roles.

It sounds like your on-screen and your off-screen roles fit rather well together.

Allison: They absolutely do. The line blurred, it is totally blurred.

The whole premise of the series is about the cursed objects, but I wonder if you had an object that could give you some really great power. What would you want it to be?

Allison: If I could have one artifact, I think I would like Marilyn Monroe’s lipstick.  I have a feeling that Marilyn Monroe’s lipstick once applied would make any man fall in love with you.

Now to my favorite random questions:

What’s something you’ve done that you’re never going to do that again?

Allison: Oh my goodness… never do again? Wow. I gotta think about this one. I don’t think I regret anything. Isn’t that weird?

It doesn’t have to be a regret. It could be something really fantastic that its not likely you’ll get a chance to do again…

Allison: Oh well! I did just get back Hawaii. And I learned how to surf in Hanalei Bay which is right around the corner from where Puff the Magic Dragon lives.  And it was just the perfect setting to learn. To try out the waves and stuff. But it’s a totally different animal trying to surf in California, the water’s freezing, it’s dirty, you have to have a wetsuit… so as much as I would love to make that a habit, realistically, I don’t think I’m getting in that freezing, dirty water.

What is something that you have kept since you were a kid?

Allison: Oh my goodness. I could be honest and give the really dorky answer…? Or… aw man, I want to have a cool public image so badly. What have I kept that is not dorky?

Dorky’s endearing. Come on…

Allison: Okay, alright, alright. I’ll be honest. When I was 3 months old, my grandmother gave me a little stuffed dog that I named Fifi and I still have her.  She’s my security blanket, in preschool, if a  kid dared me to go up on the monkey bars, I’d just consult with my little white dog… oh no, I’m sorry, Fifi doesn’t want to, she’s afraid, you understand. Fifi belongs in the warehouse I think. If you clutch her tight to bosom, she bestows a feeling of joy.

Which is kind of funny because Allison has the same effect on people. Sweet, endearing, with a “nothing can stop me now” attitude, she’s a great addition to the Warehouse 13 family.

Watch Warehouse 13, Tuesdays at 9:00 on Syfy.

SCI FI Channel Photo: Justin Stephens