Interview With Jordan Hinson, Star Of BEYOND THE SKY

We spoke with Jordan Hinson, best known for her portrayal of Zoe Carter on the SyFy channel’s Eureka. She stars in the new indie sci-fi film Beyond the Sky as Emily Reed, a young woman from a small town who has been a multiple time alien abductee. We spoke about her role and how she prepared for it, as well as her thoughts on alien abduction, and what’s next for her.

Darryl A. Armstrong for Film Inquiry: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us for a few minutes. What drew you to this role?

Jordan Hinson: I’ve always loved doing sci-fi. It’s one of my favorite genres. When I heard about this movie, I jumped on it. Also, Emily, the character I play, is such a strong female character. So I jumped at the opportunity for that reason as well.

You were, of course, on the Syfy channel’s Eureka, for the length of that show’s run. Was there anything new about the sci-fi genre or alien abduction that you learned from working on this movie?

Jordan Hinson: Yes! We actually went to a real alien abduction convention. We got to meet people who have experienced that—who claim to have been abducted. I’ve always believed in aliens, so I thought it was interesting to see that side of it—to see people who are such strong believers.

What was your experience at the convention?

Jordan Hinson: I feel like we’re being closed-minded if we think we’re the only planet with living organisms in the universe. I just find that to be kind of stupid. For me, it’s easier to believe that there is something out there. Some of it can be kitschy and contrived like most things are. But there are people that believe in it and take that culture seriously. We wanted to deal with it with an open mind and take it just as seriously as they did.

What was your favorite experience working on the film?

Jordan Hinson: I loved our cast. We had such good people. But a big portion of the end of the movie is fully green screened. So getting to watch it back—I had no idea it was going to look as beautiful as it did. That was cool, especially because we filmed it a while ago and it’s taken a while for the post production because it had such heavy special effects. It was interesting, one scene we filmed in a canyon and then watching it there’s this spacecraft flying at me!

And what would you say was the most challenging part of portraying Emily?

Jordan Hinson: Emily is very affected by having been abducted a few times. I think just on an emotional level, that was challenging at times. But I felt a strong connection to her.

Emily is a little different from a lot of characters in these types of films or TV shows—like The X-Files—it’s not so much about the question of whether aliens exists or not, she is very lived-in the trauma of having been through an experience. How did you prepare for that?

Jordan Hinson: I tried to be really open and listen to the people who have said they have had an experience of that nature. It’s so easy to say this person is crazy or to say they clearly had a weird dream or what they call false memory syndrome. But if you open yourself up to it, some of it doesn’t seem so insane, given what we know is in our universe. I just tried to be as open as I could. And I always try to do that going into a role, but especially one like this. I think that’s where I found most of my inspiration for her.

Do you think portraying a character in that way speaks to any larger cultural issues than just the sci-fi genre?

Jordan Hinson: I think openness in general is really important. We treat a lot of people as if they’re crazy when we don’t know their entire story. I think that applies to a broader spectrum. But I also think it’s just a really enjoyable sci-fi film.

What did you take away from the experience of making this film? Did you grow or learn anything personally from working on the film?

Jordan Hinson: I’m from Texas and we got to shoot in New Mexico and Arizona, so it brought me back closer to home. It reminded me of where I grew up. We also went to different Native American reservations and the culture we experienced was unbelievable. If anything, it just opened our minds a lot. It was probably one of my favorite filmmaking experiences.

Yes, there’s a segment in the film when you go to a Native American reservation and it gets pretty intense. Can you talk about that a little?

Jordan Hinson: I was having a really bad day on set and there was a Navajo man there and he came up to me and said, “Your energy is just so dark right now.” He asked if he could perform like a prayer or ritual on me. And he did. It was one of those weird out-of-body experiences. You never think you’re going to be in that position. He was really cool—the people were really cool. The culture was just so different. You forget living in LA there’s bigger things out there.

Did the Native Americans you filmed with have any feelings about the existence of aliens?

Jordan Hinson: The largest portion of them that I talked to did have a strong belief that there is life out there. They said the same thing I did, that they didn’t believe we could be the only people in the universe.

What do you have going on next? Anything on your plate?

Jordan Hinson: I’ve been writing, actually. I’ve been trying to write more and get more stuff made because it’s way more rewarding than waiting for something. I have my first screenplay and a distributor as of a month ago. That film is out now. You can find it on iTunes. It’s called Breaking & Exiting.

Beyond The Sky is in theaters and available on VOD and Digital HD.