'Penny Dreadful' Season 2 Spoilers: John Logan Examines Birth Of Frankenstein's Proteus, Hints At How Brona Croft Will Return As A 'Creature' [VIDEO]
Though his run on Showtime's Penny Dreadful was short-lived, Alex Price's turn as Frankenstein's Proteus proved to be a memorable and significant role on the Victorian supernatural drama.
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Recently Showtime released a behind-the-scenes look entitled Birth Of Proteus on Monday (featured below), which examines the scene in which Frankenstein brought his creature to life during the pilot episode.
"We've all seen the birth of Frankenstein's creature a million times," noted series creator John Logan, "And so we were faced with a challenge very early on which was how do we want to bring this creature to life."
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Filmed in one take, the "birth" of Proteus was both simple and striking. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) at first did not notice that his creature was alive at all until he turned around and noticed the body missing from it's previous location.
"There are no special effects. You are seeing everything exactly as it happened," explained Logan. "You are experiencing it in real time with Dr. Frankenstein."
The birth of Proteus is significant because it is the only sequence in which the audience gets to experience a creature's birth in full. Caliban's (Rory Kinnear) was explained later in season 1 through flashbacks, most of which were cut up into pieces. As an iconic part of the Frankenstein mythology, the bringing of the dead to life was an important part of exploring who Frankenstein is as a person.
Proteus is also important because, as Frankenstein's most recent creature, he gives the most insight into what might be in store for the recently deceased and soon-to-be reborn Brona Croft (Billie Piper). Proteus' vague memory of his previous life might also create complications for Brona, who'd been romantically involved with Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) during season 1.
Penny Dreadful returns on Showtime for a second season in 2015.
