NYCC 2014: Matt Ryan, Angélica Celaya, & David S. Goyer Discuss ‘Constantine’

New York Comic Con 2014 is now behind us and the NBC premiere of Constantine is less than a week away. Fortunately for us, we were able to speak with Constantine stars Matt Ryan and Angélica Celaya and executive producer David S. Goyer during our press room interviews. Each of these stars supplied us with some very interesting information to give fans a sense of where the series is headed and what it’s been like working on the highly anticipated project.

Matt Ryan, who plays the titular role of John Constantine on the show, discussed the “journey” he’s already taken with the series, as they’d already filmed nine episodes by the time our interview took place. Additionally, he discussed how much the show is expanding, bringing in characters from DC’s Hellblazer comics like The Newcastle Crew and Jim Corrigan, who executive producer David S. Goyer went into more later on. As far as research goes, in addition to reading the Hellblazer comics, Ryan revealed that he watched The Exorcist in order to prepare himself for an upcoming episode. He ended his interview by answering whether there were any specific stories or characters he’d like to see adapted on screen. Apparently, he’s a big fan of the Hellblazer story “Dangerous Habits”, the six-issue arc written by long-time series scribe Garth Ennis.

Angélica Celaya, who portrays the character of Zed on the show, talked with us about how her character keeps “evolving” and what it’s been like jumping in on a show that’s already been in development. In regards to that, Celaya responded that the cast and crew have made her feel very welcome on set. She also elaborated on how much she loves how her character, who “just so happens to be Latina”, is being represented on the show. She also hopes to embrace Zed’s “sarcasm” on the series and ended her interview with the hint of Zed’s family making their way on screen.

Executive producer David S. Goyer dropped a lot of information regarding where he hopes to take the series. The DC Comics character Jim Corrigan, played by Emmett J Scanlan, has been already been announced as being a recurring character on Constantine. But Goyer embraces the possibility of Corrigan becoming The Spectre eventually, as he does in the comics. He also expanded on the reveal of Doctor Fate‘s helmet seen in the pilot, stating that someone will “claim that helmet later on”. Additionally, he seems interested in bringing in the character Swamp Thing, but worries they won’t be able to pull off the special effects required to do the character justice on the small screen. He also discussed the decision to write off the character Liv, played by True Blood‘s Lucy Griffiths, and what comics have specifically influenced the first season. According to Goyer, the first season of Constantine is a loose adaptation of “American Gothic”, the Swamp Thing story arc in which John Constantine was originally introduced.

Perhaps the most interesting bit of information Goyer dropped is the fact that John Constantine will indeed smoke on the show. Constantine’s chain smoking habits have been an important character attribute in the comics. In recent months it was revealed that the character wouldn’t be seen smoking on screen, but Goyer implies that they’ve found a way to work around that, stating the character will be seen “putting out stubs all the time”.

If you’re not entirely sold on Constantine, be sure to check out our full video interviews with Ryan, Celaya, and Goyer above. They might just sway you. Below are a few photos we were able to snap during the amazing experience that was New York Comic Con 2014. Check them out as well and feel free to leave any thoughts you have on Constantine in the comments.

Constantine premieres Friday, October 24, 2014 at 10/9c on NBC.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.