Will Zimmerman
Encyclopedia
Doctor William "Will" Zimmerman is a main character and male lead of the Canadian fantasy
-science fiction television series Sanctuary. He is portrayed by Robin Dunne
. Will is introduced in the series as a forensic psychiatrist
who was recruited by Helen Magnus
(Amanda Tapping
), head of the Sanctuary Network, to become her recent protégé.
Dunne was approached to appear on the series by director Martin Wood
, whom he worked with before, but was initially reluctant to appear in the original web series. Dunne's portrayal of Will vastly differed in the first season, while the second would introduce more darkness to the character. The third season shows Will in a more leadership position in the Sanctuary, and becomes instrumental in the Hollow Earth
story-arc.
The character attracted generally positive reviews, with some television critics compared the character to Stargate SG-1
character Daniel Jackson. Dunne's portrayal of Will earned him a Leo Award for "Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" in 2010. He was nominated a further two Leo Awards in the same categories and a Constellation Award, in which he narrowly lost to Doctor Who
actor David Tennant
.
and was killed in action in Normandy
during D-Day
in 1944. When Will was a child, he was terrorized by a violent creature who killed his mother. However, Will was saved by Helen Magnus
(Amanda Tapping
), who captured it. In the web series, he was a victim of Bigfoot (Christopher Heyerdahl
) before he worked as a butler in the Sanctuary; Bigfoot liked to scare little children. In his adult life, he worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), until he was fired for his outlandish theories. He since worked with the Old City Police Department as a forensic psychiatrist
, though his co-workers do not take him seriously there either. Before the series began he had a girlfriend, Meg (Kandyse McClure
), who broke up with him.
begins with Will investigating the deaths of two police officers; though the police believe they found the killer, Will believes there was a child in the apartment, but his theory was rebuked. He is later recruited by Helen Magnus to join her Sanctuary team, an organization who track down several abnormals around the world and give them refuge at one of their bases, and become her new protégé. She too believes there was a child, Alexei (Cainan Weibe), who killed his victims with an appendage when he feels scared. At the end of the pilot, Will eventually accepts his new position, having been promised "the adventure of many, many lifetimes." In "Warriors", his old friend Danny went missing, and he searches for him. He finds him but is captured and injected with the same drug as Danny to turn him into an Abnormal in a Fight Club-like organisation run by the Cabal, an underground organization who seek to control all abnormals, though he is eventually rescued and reverts to Human again. In the first season finale, Will has a new love interest; Clara Griffin (Christine Chatelain
), granddaughter of the late Nigel Griffin, Magnus' colleague; Clara shares his invisibility
skills.
premiere "End of Nights
", Clara is killed by Cabal superabnormals before their defeat, which greatly affected Will. In an alternate future in the season two episode "Pavor Nocturnus
", which takes place ten years into the episode's future where the world is overrun by zombie
-like creatures after Magnus unknowingly unleashed a virus will curing her longevity
, Will is depicted as the only living survivor of the Sanctuary Network. He did at some point, have a relationship with colleague Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi
), and had a son, Magnus Zimmerman following the death of the alternate Magnus. He starts his own survivalist group and sacrifices himself in aiding the present Magnus to correct her mistake. While on assignment in Mumbai
, in "Kali", Will becomes host to a Macri, a creature with a connection to Big Bertha, the most powerful abnormal on Earth. He has the Macri forcibly removed from Edward Forsythe, which leaves him fatally ill. Despite this, Will still maintains a telepathic connection to Bertha, who appears to him as the goddess Kali, and he manages to reach out to her and get her to stop her attacks after Magnus severs Forsythe's connection to her. However, Terrance Wexford (Paul McGillion
) takes command of the Sanctuary Network, and attacks Bertha, causing her to turn on Will and create three tsunami
s.
to convince them to stop the tsunamis. Kali uses her powers to stop one of the waves, but Wexford badly injures Bertha before she can finish. Will, figuring that the other two beings must be powerful, begs them to save her and his world, which they oblige, after which they resurrect him. Though he at first does not recall the meeting, but later two abnormals are able to access his mind, and he determines that Magnus' father, Gregory (Jim Byrnes
), left him clues leading to Hollow Earth
, an underground area below the surface that is though to be the origin of the abnormal population. In the mid-season finale "The Hollow Men", he and the team enter Hollow Earth, but are captured by its security force, who execute the team for trespassing. In the next episode, he and the team are resurrected in exchange for helping the underground city Praxis from destruction from its own geothermal energy.
Throughout the second half of the third season, Wil enters a romantic relationship with FBI agent Abby Corrigan. In "Metamorphosis", it is revealed that on his travels to Hollow Earth, he became infected from a reptillian creature called a Cillobar, and is slowly transforming into one. He gradually loses his inhibitions, and escapes the Sanctuary until he is captured again when Magnus finds a cure to his condition, where he would transform back to human. In the season finale "Into the Black", Will overlooks the exodus of several abnormals from Hollow Earth, where it is revealed Praxis is destroyed, having been caused by Magnus' nemesis Adam Worth (Ian Tracey
), who attempts to travel back in time to save his dead daughter. Later, Will discovers that Worth made agreements with several abnormal tribe leaders to invade the planet surface.
In describing Will and Magnus' working relationship, Dunne stated; "there's a nice synchronicity that has formed between the two characters. And really, they're two people that depend on each other for survival. And therefore, that's where the respect comes out of." Tapping believed the reason why Magnus chose Will was that "she doesn't want a yes man," and wanted someone "intelligent enough and ballsy enough to call her on what she's doing wrong." Dunne classed Will as a man who puts Magnus in her place, and being able to disagree with Magnus, even if it is something she does not want to hear.
In a Blastr interview, Dunne explained Will's journey throughout the first season, and what has become of him for the second; "[In the first season] he spent time getting used to the sanctuary and having his foot in both worlds, but not sure which way he was going to go. By the end of season one, he jumped right into the sanctuary and resigned himself to that life. Now there's a lot going on for Will. Already he's had to deal with some pretty major things. These things that happen in the first few episodes [on the second season] dredge up some old memories of his past. There's definitely more of a darkness to Will, and he's kind of wrestling with some demons." As time goes by, however, Will begins to take more of a leadership role in the Sanctuary.
conceived the series in 2001, and several of his original ideas ended in the finale product, one of them was Magnus "co-op[ing] a young psychiatrist to help her track down monsters and help people." Dunne was approached by director Martin Wood
, who he worked with a few years before. He was given the script and enjoyed "everything" about it, including his character. However, Dunne had some initial reluctance to appear on the show as it would start as a web series, and web series were not given enough media coverage at the time he was approached. However, he agreed to appear and went to Vancouver
to film it. After the series was adapted for television, the producers found that Dunne's portrayal of Will differed vastly. The television pilot also introduces "Will vision," a cinematic technique that shows Will's persepctive on crime scenes (in frames, certain objects stand out). The effect went through several permutations so the producers can see what they could use to make it his vision without making it a superpower, because Will is not an abnormal.
The episode "Requiem" featured a scenario where Will has to make a difficult decision to kill Magnus when she becomes a threat, even thought Will already came to be an established protégé. By the first season finale, the producers wanted to introduce a potential love interest for Will. Dunne contributed in the casting of the love interest, Clara Griffin; he recommended the producers cast Christine Chatelain, as both actors worked together before. In the first few episodes in the second season, Dunne has said that playing Will was challenging, yet exciting for the character's journey. "Pavor Nocturnus", which takes place in an alternate future, shows a much darker side to Will. To give the character a more post-apocalytic look, Dunne wore a mullet
and white eye contact lens
. The producers noted that Dunne stayed in character, even continuing to wear the mullet at the end of the days throughout the shoot of the episode. Co star Amanda Tapping commented on Will's appearance; "When Robin came on set that day he freaked me out, he was completely messed up."
For season three, Kindler made Will instrumental in changing the audience's perspective on the series, since in the season's second episode "Firewall", the unsolved mysteries that were locked in Will's mind from his death would be unlocked and become the focal points of what the team would be doing. Kindler also decided to allow Will another love interest that would not be killed unlike Clara Griffin. The episode "Metamorphosis" was largely filmed from Will's point of view. To complete this effect, Dunne wore a helmet camera
. In the season's finale, Will fights with the abnormal Thelo (played by former WWE wrestler Edge). Dunne recalled spending a day filming the fight scene; "I had an entire day of just having the crap beaten out of me by him. And after every take, and you've got this big imposing guy on camera ... he's like throwing me around and punching me and clotheslining me and all kinds of stuff. And then [creator] Damien [Kindler], who was directing that episode, would call 'Cut!,' and then he'd come over and be like, 'Oh, man. I'm sorry.'"
Will's hairstyle went through several variations throughout the series, from "slightly nerdy to coated in hair gel." The reasoning of the changes was of Dunne's fondness for getting his hair done on set. In the upcoming fourth season, Tapping said that "everything that happens to Will [...] just gets worse and worse and worse, and he's still hanging in." Dunne would also direct the season's sixth episode.
s equivalent of Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1. Mark Wilson of About.com stated that Zimmerman is the one character who "really pulls the viewer into Sanctuary's world. Instantly likable, able to seem intellectually gifted without being off-putting [...] Dunne's performance as Will is one of the more effortless realizations of the viewer-identification character in recent sci-fi/fantasy that I've seen." Tory Ireland-Mell of IGN
believed that Will "does a great job not forcing himself into every situation like some sort of seasoned pro. Instead he is coming at it from a fresh point of view," also commenting that when Will was given a gun the reviewer "was about to be very disappointed that he can just shoot a gun, but with some clever writing, my disappointment was turned into relief when he couldn't shoot the gun, and Ashley told him he had the safety on."
Over the course of the series, Dunne's portrayal of Will have resulted in four award nominations, one of which was won. In 2009, he was nominated for a Gemini Award
for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role," for his role in "Requiem", but lost out to Flashpoint
actor Enrico Colantoni
. In 2010, Dunne won a Leo Award for "Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" for the season two episode "Pavor Nocturnus
". In the same year, he was nominated for a Constellaton Award for "Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode", but lost out to Doctor Who
actor David Tennant
, for his role in the episode "The Waters of Mars
", by only one percent of the votes. In 2011, Dunne was again nominated for a Leo Award for the episode "Vigilante", but lost out to Shattered actor Callum Keith Rennie
.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
-science fiction television series Sanctuary. He is portrayed by Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne is a Canadian actor who is mainly known for having had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, and lately for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the cult Science fiction Television series, Sanctuary....
. Will is introduced in the series as a forensic psychiatrist
Forensic psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...
who was recruited by Helen Magnus
Helen Magnus
Doctor Helen Magnus is the series protagonist and central character of the Canadian fantasy-science fiction television series Sanctuary. She is portrayed by Amanda Tapping...
(Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis...
), head of the Sanctuary Network, to become her recent protégé.
Dunne was approached to appear on the series by director Martin Wood
Martin Wood
Martin Wood is a Canadian television director who has been directing since the mid 1990s. Specializing in science fiction, where he is best known for his work as a director and producer on Stargate SG-1 , as well as its spin-off series Stargate Atlantis .-Career:Martin Wood began his television...
, whom he worked with before, but was initially reluctant to appear in the original web series. Dunne's portrayal of Will vastly differed in the first season, while the second would introduce more darkness to the character. The third season shows Will in a more leadership position in the Sanctuary, and becomes instrumental in the Hollow Earth
Hollow Earth
The Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has...
story-arc.
The character attracted generally positive reviews, with some television critics compared the character to Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
character Daniel Jackson. Dunne's portrayal of Will earned him a Leo Award for "Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" in 2010. He was nominated a further two Leo Awards in the same categories and a Constellation Award, in which he narrowly lost to Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
actor David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
.
Background
Will Zimmerman's maternal relatives are said to have come from Dublin, Ireland. One of his known ancestors was Jack Zimmerman (Dunne), who served in the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and was killed in action in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
during D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
in 1944. When Will was a child, he was terrorized by a violent creature who killed his mother. However, Will was saved by Helen Magnus
Helen Magnus
Doctor Helen Magnus is the series protagonist and central character of the Canadian fantasy-science fiction television series Sanctuary. She is portrayed by Amanda Tapping...
(Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping
Amanda Tapping is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis...
), who captured it. In the web series, he was a victim of Bigfoot (Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl is a Canadian actor who has had roles in many prominent television shows and movies. He is tall.-Biography:Heyerdahl was born in the mountains of British Columbia and is of Norwegian and Scottish descent...
) before he worked as a butler in the Sanctuary; Bigfoot liked to scare little children. In his adult life, he worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI), until he was fired for his outlandish theories. He since worked with the Old City Police Department as a forensic psychiatrist
Forensic psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry is a sub-speciality of psychiatry and an auxiliar science of criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry...
, though his co-workers do not take him seriously there either. Before the series began he had a girlfriend, Meg (Kandyse McClure
Kandyse McClure
Kandyse McClure is an actress, best known for playing Anastasia Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.- Biography :...
), who broke up with him.
Season one
The first seasonSanctuary (season 1)
The first season of the Canadian science fiction–fantasy television series Sanctuary premiered on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States on October 3, 2008, and concluded on ITV4 in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2009, after 13 episodes...
begins with Will investigating the deaths of two police officers; though the police believe they found the killer, Will believes there was a child in the apartment, but his theory was rebuked. He is later recruited by Helen Magnus to join her Sanctuary team, an organization who track down several abnormals around the world and give them refuge at one of their bases, and become her new protégé. She too believes there was a child, Alexei (Cainan Weibe), who killed his victims with an appendage when he feels scared. At the end of the pilot, Will eventually accepts his new position, having been promised "the adventure of many, many lifetimes." In "Warriors", his old friend Danny went missing, and he searches for him. He finds him but is captured and injected with the same drug as Danny to turn him into an Abnormal in a Fight Club-like organisation run by the Cabal, an underground organization who seek to control all abnormals, though he is eventually rescued and reverts to Human again. In the first season finale, Will has a new love interest; Clara Griffin (Christine Chatelain
Christine Chatelain
Christine Chatelain is a Vancouver, British Columbia-born Canadian film and television actress. She had a recurring role on The Collector as Taylor. Originally an art student in Vancouver, she tried acting as a hobby and quickly gained roles in 40 Days and 40 Nights and 3000 Miles to Graceland as a...
), granddaughter of the late Nigel Griffin, Magnus' colleague; Clara shares his invisibility
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
skills.
Season two
In the season twoSanctuary (season 2)
The second season of the Canadian science fiction–fantasy television series Sanctuary premiered on Space in Canada and on Syfy in the United States on October 9, 2009, and concluded on the same channel on January 15, 2010 after 13 episodes...
premiere "End of Nights
End of Nights
"End of Nights" is the two-part season two premiere of the science fiction television series Sanctuary. The first part originally aired on Syfy and Space in the United States and Canada respectively on October 9, 2009, while the second part aired on October 16, 2009, both occasions following...
", Clara is killed by Cabal superabnormals before their defeat, which greatly affected Will. In an alternate future in the season two episode "Pavor Nocturnus
Pavor Nocturnus (Sanctuary)
"Pavor Nocturnus" is the fifth episode of the second season of Canadian television series Sanctuary, and is the 18th episode overall. The episode first aired on Syfy in the United States on November 6, 2009. It was written by Damian Kindler and James Thorpe, and was directed by Brenton Spencer...
", which takes place ten years into the episode's future where the world is overrun by zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-like creatures after Magnus unknowingly unleashed a virus will curing her longevity
Longevity
The word "longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography or known as "long life", especially when it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected ....
, Will is depicted as the only living survivor of the Sanctuary Network. He did at some point, have a relationship with colleague Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi
Agam Darshi
Agam Darshi is an English-born actress, now based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-Early life:Agam Darshi was born Agamdeep Darshi in Birmingham, UK. At a very young age she and her family moved to Canada. At the age of 14 she left home and moved to Calgary, to pursue a career of acting -...
), and had a son, Magnus Zimmerman following the death of the alternate Magnus. He starts his own survivalist group and sacrifices himself in aiding the present Magnus to correct her mistake. While on assignment in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, in "Kali", Will becomes host to a Macri, a creature with a connection to Big Bertha, the most powerful abnormal on Earth. He has the Macri forcibly removed from Edward Forsythe, which leaves him fatally ill. Despite this, Will still maintains a telepathic connection to Bertha, who appears to him as the goddess Kali, and he manages to reach out to her and get her to stop her attacks after Magnus severs Forsythe's connection to her. However, Terrance Wexford (Paul McGillion
Paul McGillion
Paul McGillion is a Vancouver-based actor who has worked in television, film and theatre since 1990. He is best known for his role on the television series Stargate Atlantis as Dr. Carson Beckett.-Early life:...
) takes command of the Sanctuary Network, and attacks Bertha, causing her to turn on Will and create three tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
s.
Season three
In one final effort to convince her to stop, Will is to die so he can encounter Kali, along with two other beings, in an afterlifeAfterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
to convince them to stop the tsunamis. Kali uses her powers to stop one of the waves, but Wexford badly injures Bertha before she can finish. Will, figuring that the other two beings must be powerful, begs them to save her and his world, which they oblige, after which they resurrect him. Though he at first does not recall the meeting, but later two abnormals are able to access his mind, and he determines that Magnus' father, Gregory (Jim Byrnes
Jim Byrnes (actor)
James Thomas Kevin "Jim" Byrnes is a blues musician, guitarist, and actor.-Life and career:Byrnes was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a homemaker mother and a municipal accountant father. He has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, since the mid-1970s...
), left him clues leading to Hollow Earth
Hollow Earth
The Hollow Earth hypothesis proposes that the planet Earth is either entirely hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space. The hypothesis has been shown to be wrong by observational evidence, as well as by the modern understanding of planet formation; the scientific community has...
, an underground area below the surface that is though to be the origin of the abnormal population. In the mid-season finale "The Hollow Men", he and the team enter Hollow Earth, but are captured by its security force, who execute the team for trespassing. In the next episode, he and the team are resurrected in exchange for helping the underground city Praxis from destruction from its own geothermal energy.
Throughout the second half of the third season, Wil enters a romantic relationship with FBI agent Abby Corrigan. In "Metamorphosis", it is revealed that on his travels to Hollow Earth, he became infected from a reptillian creature called a Cillobar, and is slowly transforming into one. He gradually loses his inhibitions, and escapes the Sanctuary until he is captured again when Magnus finds a cure to his condition, where he would transform back to human. In the season finale "Into the Black", Will overlooks the exodus of several abnormals from Hollow Earth, where it is revealed Praxis is destroyed, having been caused by Magnus' nemesis Adam Worth (Ian Tracey
Ian Tracey
Ian Tracey is a Canadian Leo- and Gemini Award-winning actor. Over the years, Tracey has participated in over seventy films and television series. Tracey has starred in series like Da Vinci's Inquest and Intelligence, both CBC television series produced by long-time colleague Chris Haddock...
), who attempts to travel back in time to save his dead daughter. Later, Will discovers that Worth made agreements with several abnormal tribe leaders to invade the planet surface.
Characterization
Will Zimmerman is described by Syfy as "a brilliant forensic psychiatrist" and a "master of behavioral science" who "can translate the most veiled human signals into case-breaking deductions." However, his fascination with otherworldy explanations for horrific crimes cost him the respect of his peers and position. His qualities have attracted the attention of Magnus, who offers him a position in the Sanctuary. He would become her newest protégé throughout the series. Magnus has stated to Will in one episode that he was her first protégé in decades to show promise.In describing Will and Magnus' working relationship, Dunne stated; "there's a nice synchronicity that has formed between the two characters. And really, they're two people that depend on each other for survival. And therefore, that's where the respect comes out of." Tapping believed the reason why Magnus chose Will was that "she doesn't want a yes man," and wanted someone "intelligent enough and ballsy enough to call her on what she's doing wrong." Dunne classed Will as a man who puts Magnus in her place, and being able to disagree with Magnus, even if it is something she does not want to hear.
In a Blastr interview, Dunne explained Will's journey throughout the first season, and what has become of him for the second; "[In the first season] he spent time getting used to the sanctuary and having his foot in both worlds, but not sure which way he was going to go. By the end of season one, he jumped right into the sanctuary and resigned himself to that life. Now there's a lot going on for Will. Already he's had to deal with some pretty major things. These things that happen in the first few episodes [on the second season] dredge up some old memories of his past. There's definitely more of a darkness to Will, and he's kind of wrestling with some demons." As time goes by, however, Will begins to take more of a leadership role in the Sanctuary.
Conceptual history
Damian KindlerDamian Kindler
Damian Kindler is an Australian-born Canadian writer and producer. He emigrated to Toronto, Canada, when he was young. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lives with his wife and his two children Hannah and Phoebe Kindler.He is most noted for his contributions to the Stargate...
conceived the series in 2001, and several of his original ideas ended in the finale product, one of them was Magnus "co-op[ing] a young psychiatrist to help her track down monsters and help people." Dunne was approached by director Martin Wood
Martin Wood
Martin Wood is a Canadian television director who has been directing since the mid 1990s. Specializing in science fiction, where he is best known for his work as a director and producer on Stargate SG-1 , as well as its spin-off series Stargate Atlantis .-Career:Martin Wood began his television...
, who he worked with a few years before. He was given the script and enjoyed "everything" about it, including his character. However, Dunne had some initial reluctance to appear on the show as it would start as a web series, and web series were not given enough media coverage at the time he was approached. However, he agreed to appear and went to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
to film it. After the series was adapted for television, the producers found that Dunne's portrayal of Will differed vastly. The television pilot also introduces "Will vision," a cinematic technique that shows Will's persepctive on crime scenes (in frames, certain objects stand out). The effect went through several permutations so the producers can see what they could use to make it his vision without making it a superpower, because Will is not an abnormal.
The episode "Requiem" featured a scenario where Will has to make a difficult decision to kill Magnus when she becomes a threat, even thought Will already came to be an established protégé. By the first season finale, the producers wanted to introduce a potential love interest for Will. Dunne contributed in the casting of the love interest, Clara Griffin; he recommended the producers cast Christine Chatelain, as both actors worked together before. In the first few episodes in the second season, Dunne has said that playing Will was challenging, yet exciting for the character's journey. "Pavor Nocturnus", which takes place in an alternate future, shows a much darker side to Will. To give the character a more post-apocalytic look, Dunne wore a mullet
Mullet (haircut)
The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...
and white eye contact lens
Contact lens
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
. The producers noted that Dunne stayed in character, even continuing to wear the mullet at the end of the days throughout the shoot of the episode. Co star Amanda Tapping commented on Will's appearance; "When Robin came on set that day he freaked me out, he was completely messed up."
For season three, Kindler made Will instrumental in changing the audience's perspective on the series, since in the season's second episode "Firewall", the unsolved mysteries that were locked in Will's mind from his death would be unlocked and become the focal points of what the team would be doing. Kindler also decided to allow Will another love interest that would not be killed unlike Clara Griffin. The episode "Metamorphosis" was largely filmed from Will's point of view. To complete this effect, Dunne wore a helmet camera
Helmet camera
A helmet camera, otherwise known as a micro video camera, bullet camera, or lipstick camera, is a camera attached to a helmet allowing someone to make a visual record from their point of view , while keeping their hands and vision free....
. In the season's finale, Will fights with the abnormal Thelo (played by former WWE wrestler Edge). Dunne recalled spending a day filming the fight scene; "I had an entire day of just having the crap beaten out of me by him. And after every take, and you've got this big imposing guy on camera ... he's like throwing me around and punching me and clotheslining me and all kinds of stuff. And then [creator] Damien [Kindler], who was directing that episode, would call 'Cut!,' and then he'd come over and be like, 'Oh, man. I'm sorry.'"
Will's hairstyle went through several variations throughout the series, from "slightly nerdy to coated in hair gel." The reasoning of the changes was of Dunne's fondness for getting his hair done on set. In the upcoming fourth season, Tapping said that "everything that happens to Will [...] just gets worse and worse and worse, and he's still hanging in." Dunne would also direct the season's sixth episode.
Reception
The character and Dunne's portrayal was met with generally positive reviews. Some reviewers commented that Zimmerman is somewhat of Sanctuary'IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
believed that Will "does a great job not forcing himself into every situation like some sort of seasoned pro. Instead he is coming at it from a fresh point of view," also commenting that when Will was given a gun the reviewer "was about to be very disappointed that he can just shoot a gun, but with some clever writing, my disappointment was turned into relief when he couldn't shoot the gun, and Ashley told him he had the safety on."
Over the course of the series, Dunne's portrayal of Will have resulted in four award nominations, one of which was won. In 2009, he was nominated for a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role," for his role in "Requiem", but lost out to Flashpoint
Flashpoint (TV series)
Flashpoint is a Canadian police drama television series that debuted on July 11, 2008, on CTV in Canada and ran on CBS in the United States for its first three and a half seasons. In 2011, Ion Television began airing new episodes of the series in the United States...
actor Enrico Colantoni
Enrico Colantoni
Enrico Colantoni is a Canadian actor, probably best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom Just Shoot Me!, Keith Mars on the television series Veronica Mars, and Sergeant Greg Parker on the television series Flashpoint. He has also had supporting roles in such films as The Wrong Guy, ...
. In 2010, Dunne won a Leo Award for "Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series" for the season two episode "Pavor Nocturnus
Pavor Nocturnus (Sanctuary)
"Pavor Nocturnus" is the fifth episode of the second season of Canadian television series Sanctuary, and is the 18th episode overall. The episode first aired on Syfy in the United States on November 6, 2009. It was written by Damian Kindler and James Thorpe, and was directed by Brenton Spencer...
". In the same year, he was nominated for a Constellaton Award for "Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode", but lost out to Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
actor David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, for his role in the episode "The Waters of Mars
The Waters of Mars
"The Waters of Mars" is the second 2009 special of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on BBC One on 15 November 2009. It aired on BBC America on 19 December 2009 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 11 January 2010 and in the US on 2 February 2010...
", by only one percent of the votes. In 2011, Dunne was again nominated for a Leo Award for the episode "Vigilante", but lost out to Shattered actor Callum Keith Rennie
Callum Keith Rennie
Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...
.
External links
- Will Zimmerman at Syfy.comSyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
- Will Zimmerman at The Sanctuary Network