In the Season 13 premiere of Supernatural, we meet Sheriff Christine Barker, played by Andrea Menard. I absolutely adored her character, and certainly hope to see her again in future episodes (TPTB: hint, hint, nudge, nudge …)
For those – Chuck forbid – who haven’t seen the premiere, tell us about your character.
My character is Sheriff Christine Barker, and she has a young son – late teens. It’s just a small little regular town that she’s the Sheriff in … she keeps a good hold on the place. She’s very friendly and outgoing and manages to keep her deputies in line, and people trust her. And then this little weird event comes to town … the boys come to town.
What happens is my son calls me, at the station to tell me that there is this naked kid outside of the place he works. There’s this weird naked kid and so he says come and get him, mom. I bring him down to the station and he’s not very vocal, and he’s not very coherent … he’s odd. So I figure since he doesn’t know how to answer my questions, I decide to fingerprint him. I figure well maybe he’ll be in the system somewhere.
Just then, I get a phone call from one of the boys that someone knows he’s here, and that someone is looking for him, I happen to have his fingerprints run, and they are the weirdest non-human fingerprints I’ve ever seen. I know something’s up.
Are you familiar with Supernatural at all?
Oh yeah. Maybe not in the last couple of seasons, but I do know a few things.
But you do know how they operate.
Oh yeah.
Why do you think Sam and Dean chose to tell Sheriff Barker the truth?
I think that’s a really good question … I have no idea. I think that the episode that they had just come from at the end of the season, a lot of things went down. They have the feeling that their allies are leaving, you could say. They are losing their allies … I don’t know why he chose to tell me. I think she was easygoing; there was something trustworthy about her … I think they are needing some allies.
And why do you think she reacted so well?
Well, she has a teenage son. She has a teenage boy that brings home a lot of shocking stuff … he’s into drugs and he’s out doing his own stuff … she’s a sheriff, she’s probably seen some murders, seen some violence … so why not, why not monsters too. She’s seen a lot. I don’t think she’s seen monsters, but I think she’s seen a lot.
Your character has one of the best lines – the one about there being no such thing as crazy – which is the rallying cry for fandoms everywhere. What are your thoughts on that?
I think she’s a real compassionate woman – I don’t think she likes the labels … even though I may not look it, I am an indigenous woman and so is my son. He’s a person of colour. We know that people of colour and indigenous people have been name called since people touched foot on this continent. I think that with all of the voiceless that have come into the forefront; the ones that have had prejudice, the racism, and genderism, sexism and all of those different things going on right now in the media … she knows. This character knows there’s a lot of untold stories that don’t get told. Let’s not make a judgment until we know the real story.
It’s very nice to see another strong female character on Supernatural, that doesn’t get killed in the end. Will we be seeing your character again sometime soon?
Let’s just say I’m making a bid for it. The thing is, who knows what’s coming next … that’s always a secret, including a secret from me too. She’s alive … and she’s been told the story. I think there’s a good chance, but who knows. That’s up to you, that’s up to the writers and the audience, whether or not they liked here … I think people are liking her.
Are you familiar with the spinoff for the Wayward Sisters?
Yes, I have heard of it, yeah …
I think she would be a very good addition to that.
I do too. When I was on set, I was making my pitch for it … you know, I’m alive still … you need help; I’m there!
Do you have any funny behind the scenes stories to share?
As a stranger who came on a set – these guys have been together for 13 years … there’s a lot of shorthand among the crew … here’s the part that I wanted to be able to share. Is that they’re really good people and they are very likable young men and actors and respectful … the crew really like them. That goes a long way. If you’ve been together 13 years and you’re not very nice, you won’t have the same crew from year to year. You wouldn’t want to be there.
They’re really well respected; it’s a good place to be and fun, funny … people laugh. I was really pleasantly surprised because you never know what you’re going to walk into. Whether you’re going to be the stranger … but I was welcomed in and there was lots of laughter and lots of camaraderie. I can honestly say that this is a great place to work.
Would you say that the camaraderie was your favourite part about being on Supernatural?
Yes, I think so. I mean I’m a fan of the show as well … I love it. I love the spooky, all the characters … I love it. So when I got to be on the show I was just happy to be play a strong character and to survive … I loved that part. I really liked knowing that there was a possibility of continuance and that meant part of the family.
Being a fan of the show did you have any fangirl moments?
Yeah, I had a fangirl moment. When I got to cuff Jensen. Not bad. Not bad. Look him straight in the eye. Kind of a fangirl moment.
Do you have any upcoming roles you’d like to share?
I’m in a play at the Arts Club Theatre on Granville Island in Vancouver. It’s a brand new play, so it’s a debut, for Kevin Loring – who is a fabulous writer. He’s a Governor General award-winning writer, actually for his play Where the Blood Mixes. We just opened, October 11, and close November 5. It’s a powerful play, mostly indigenous cast. It sort of throws the Thanksgiving holiday on its ass.
Have you been in very many plays in Vancouver?
I haven’t done theatre in a while, I thought maybe I was done because I’m a singer as well. I have a few different careers – four albums, a couple of tours … I’m in a series called Blackstone which is on Netflix as well … it’s like the Native Sopranos, I like to say. There’s another series called Hard Rock Medical that’s on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network … I’ve done some series work, but I wasn’t doing a lot of plays … me coming back with a fantastic play and a good role … I’m really proud of this one.
Andrea’s music is available on iTunes, and you can reach her at @andreamenard on Twitter.
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