Recently, Starz premiered the horror comedy, Shining Vale. The series follows a dysfunctional family that moves into a house where horrific events have taken place. Struggling author Pat, the mother of the family, is either depressed or possessed - as both have the same symptoms – and is visited by a ghost named Rosemary (Mira Sorvino). Pat’s husband, Terry, is played by Greg Kinnear.

Pat and Terry have two teenage children, Gaynor, played by Gus Birney, and Jake, played by Dylan Gage. The two talked to Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision during a recent roundtable about the parts of the characters that they had more difficulty connecting with. For Birney, it was Gaynor’s confidence. “Her tool is her sexuality,” said the actress, “She's had this long history with guys and relationships, and that's the area of her life that she feels more confident. I'm twenty-two, and I still [am] completely not like that. So, I think it was tapping into that, honestly.”

The actress added that the costumes and makeup helped with it. “[W]e worked on developing this look and this character that has a very distinct persona. So, I think that really helped me, but [it was] definitely challenging to to step into that comfort with all of that.”

For Gage, it was that Jake is often in his own world ignoring everything. “I feel like in certain scenes,” said Gage, “I'm sort of just in my own world, to the point where I feel like in real life, I would at least shoot a glance or respond in some way or react in any sort of way to the situation that is transpiring, but Jake is so in his stuff that he doesn't. Unless prompted to, he will not talk to you.”

Birney and Gage also talked to SciFi Vision about their thoughts on the existence of ghosts. “I totally believe in them,” said Birney, “and I haven't seen them, but I totally believe in it. I don't have a story, but I know that they exist.”

Gage, more thinks that there is a possibility ghosts exist, but he hasn’t had any first hand experience with them.

For more, read the full transcript below and be sure to catch Shining Vale on Starz.

QUESTION:   I'm curious about like the family dynamic of the show, and is that something that kind of translated off screen when you guys were working with Courtney and Greg?

GUS BIRNEY:  Definitely, I think the more that we got to know each other, obviously, the easier it became to to do the show and really believe that we're in these characters. But I know Dylan and I really bonded, because we were the only two younger people. So, we really leaned on each other, and I think that that helped us develop something on screen.

DYLAN GAGE:  Yeah, I mean, just working with Courtney and Greg, there definitely is that sort of like familial bond between all of us that develops naturally, whenever you’d do things like this. Yeah, that definitely did occur.

QUESTION:   I was wondering, do you have any past experiences in your own life or personal things you brought to the role, like past teen experiences or your childhood that kind of got the angst going and the general anger towards your mom and stuff like that?

GUS BIRNEY:  Yeah, I admired Gaynor so much, because at sixteen, I was not as outspoken and confident and edgy as she was. I was much more introverted. I was really close with my mom, ironically, and was not screaming at her, but I think she's like this alter ego of myself that I never got to experience. So, I learned a lot about myself through her. Yeah, I don't know, it's such a blast to play her, and she's much more complicated than I think you meet her at first glance. She has a lot of layers.

DYLAN GAGE:  …Yeah, I feel like I can definitely relate to Jake of just having a lot of experiences of just [playing] video games and stuff and kind of being a little bit nerdy and weird. But I think that there are some differences, because Jake definitely takes it to the next level of just tuning everyone out around him. I think I'm a bit better about that, hopefully. But yeah, there's definitely a lot there that I can relate to.

QUESTION:   This is a question for you, Gus. So, you get to play alongside Courtney Cox, who is also very well known for being Gale Weathers, the queen of comebacks. I would love to know if she gave you any advice on sort of how to really tap into that snappy side of that character that you were just talking about.

GUS BIRNEY:  Oh, wow. You know, it's funny, I never saw Scream…I'm much more like Monica from Friends. That's who I know when I see Courtney. But no, I mean, Courtney is the fastest person; like she truly has the best comebacks. She's hilarious, and she's actually brilliant, on screen and off. So, I think the more I got to know her and just her sense of humor, she taught me so much, just as a human but also her delivery of lines and in comedy and timing. She's a pro. So, just getting to act alongside her taught me so much, and also I grew up a lot meeting her. And I don't know, she taught me a lot of things.

QUESTION:   Dylan, my question is for you. I guess the way that you're playing Jake, do you feel that Jake is really as oblivious as we all think he is? Or is he maybe sort of, like what you said, intentionally tuning everything out to try and avoid the conflict?

DYLAN GAGE:  I mean, I feel like it's a little bit of both. I definitely feel like it's a little bit of a defense mechanism of Jake for just sort of anything and everything of just, “I don't really care or want to deal with anything that's going on in my life, and I'd much rather be playing video games.” But I think that that would be the case, even if his family was picture perfect, like, white picket fence, nuclear family, and it wasn't dysfunctional in any way. I think he would still be sort of just in his own business. So, he is very oblivious, but some of it might just be a little bit more on purpose, or at least he doesn't try to fix it.

SCIFI VISION:  So, you both talked about the parts that you sort of connected with easier, the parts [you saw in] yourself, but what were the parts that were maybe more difficult to connect with, and how did you deal with that?

GUS BIRNEY:  I think, for me, Gaynor’s confidence. Her tool is her sexuality. She's had this long history with guys and relationships, and that's the area of her life that she feels more confident. I'm twenty-two, and I still [am] completely not like that. So, I think it was tapping into that, honestly. And the costumes really helped and the makeup, and we worked on developing this look and this character that has a very distinct persona. So, I think that really helped me, but [it was] definitely challenging to to step into that comfort with all of that.

DYLAN GAGE:  Yeah, I feel like in certain scenes and stuff, I'm sort of just in my own world, to the point where it's like, I feel like in real life, I would at least shoot a glance or respond in some way or react in any sort of way to the situation that is transpiring, but Jake is so in his stuff that he doesn't. Unless prompted to, he will not talk to you.

QUESTION:   Dylan, I'm kind of curious, because you do a lot of scenes by yourself, actually, because you're doing the VR and that's kind of a big part of your character’s storyline. So, I'm kind of curious what it was like to do those scenes where you're kind of interacting with things that totally aren't there, or did you get to work with the child actress that kind of pops up? I'm just kind of curious how that experience was for you.

DYLAN GAGE:  Yeah, I feel like on the scenes that I did by myself, those are honestly the spookiest moments on set, because it was just sort of only me. And the thing with the other child actor that pops up, we recorded at different times. Like she was there, and I was there, but I was off waiting, and then she did it, and then I did it. So, we never actually are in the same shot together. So, I never interacted with her. So, I was really just by myself and with all the other crew and stuff. So, it got a little bit spooky with like the fog machine and all that stuff out there. It was definitely fun to do stuff by myself, but it is a little bit more challenging, because there's no one to play off of.

QUESTION:   …We've talked a lot about working with Courtney. I was wondering what it was like working with Greg, and sort of connecting with that person who’s supposed to be your father who’s trying to make everything work, but it's difficult for him.

GUS BIRNEY:  Yeah, I don't know if y'all have seen Little Miss Sunshine, but that's my favorite movie ever, wholeheartedly, and I have told him this. But there was a moment where we were in the car, I think shooting the pilot, and I was like, “Oh my god, Greg Kinnear is driving me in a car right now. This is the coolest thing.” So, that that was awesome, but other than that, I mean, again, [he] and Courtney both are hilarious on and off screen, and I think just he has this brilliant mind and is a one of a kind person. Really it's just was a gift to watch him act, period. I feel like he might disagree, [but] there are parallels kind of between his character in this and the character and Little Miss Sunshine, just trying to keep everything together and keep going and be this perfect dad. So, yeah, I just thought that was awesome.

DYLAN GAGE:  Yeah, I mean working with Greg, I feel like all the scenes where it's just me and Greg are - like my favorite scene is the one with me and Greg in the car with the magazine and stuff; that is probably definitely my favorite scene. It's just so funny, and it's the two characters being just so utterly themselves. And working with Greg is just such a joy, because he just brings an energy to the table that's really resonant that you can just really work with, and it's very easy to work with.

QUESTION:   Do either of you have a memory from when you were filming where something didn't quite go according to plan, but it ended up working out for the better, whether it was the weather or a line delivery...

GUS BIRNEY:  I can't think. I feel like there were so many times that Dylan would pop out and scare me and ruin a take, but, no, I don't know. Do you remember anything, Dylan?

DYLAN GAGE:  I'm trying to think. I feel like there are definitely times just like whenever you expect to say a line one way, and then your mouth does something completely different. They call cut, and they're like, “Yep, that was good. Moving on the next scene.” You're like, “Well, that's not what I wanted, but okay.” So, then it's like, “Okay, well, I guess we just [have] to roll with that,” that they liked that scene, if they liked it, man. It worked out.

GUS BIRNEY:  …I dropped a suitcase. I don't know how many episodes you guys have seen, but in the fifth episode, I'm leaving to go to my grandma's house, and the suitcase, it falls down the steps. Originally, in the script, it was just like “she takes her suitcase down,” and accidentally the suitcase fell all the way down, and it was so loud, and it was like hitting people. Jeff, the showrunner, thought it was so funny, so I kept it in. That was my only memory. Yeah.

QUESTION:   Since you mentioned the suitcase and going to Grandma's and all that, I want to tell you that we talked with Judith [Light] already, and she spoke very highly of the scenes that you two share together, Gus. I wanted to get maybe from you what it was like for you to work opposite her, especially in that emotional scene that you two share on the couch in her house.

GUS BIRNEY:  Yeah, those are some of my favorite scenes of the whole show. She's unbelievable to work with. You look into her eyes, and it's like peering into her soul, and you just get sucked in, but, especially, also the way they made both of us look. I felt like we looked so similar that it was uncanny to me, like acting with her, [like] is this my grandma? But no, I think there's this intimacy that we established that just felt so raw and real. The show's really funny, it is, but I actually think that episode takes a darker turn, and it's like the hard parts of life, and you understand your parents in a different way. I don't know, it was really special. She's unbelievable.

SCIFI VISION:  I'm curious how the two of you feel about ghosts. Do you personally believe in those kind of things? And have you ever had any weird experiences or anything off or on set?

DYLAN GAGE:  Well, I personally am kind of “eh” on ghosts. I think that they could be real. I think that there is a possibility, but I don't think anyone could really say, but I have had a couple of weird things happen to me when I was a baby that my mom told me about, but those were just like little things, and those didn't happen to me like directly. I don't have any sort of first hand experience.

GUS BIRNEY:  I totally believe in them, and I haven't seen them, but I totally believe in it. I don't have a story, but I know that they exist.