By Monique
The campaign to get FOX’s beloved futuristic buddy-cop series Almost Human is still underway and the fans behind it are just as fired up as they’ve been when the sad news of the show’s cancellation came in the spring. If you’re a fan and you’ve felt awful about not seeing Dorian and Kennex yuck it up in the car and solve next-level crimes, read my interview with Michael Ealy at Entertainment Weekly!
Here’s a snippet from the interview,, originally published Jul. 24:
Even though Almost Human isn’t airing new episodes, it’s worth noting that the cancellation hasn’t killed the appeal of the show. Petitions that were created even before the official cancellation was announced are still being signed by fans all over the world. “I know,” Ealy said at the mention of the still-active petitions. “You know, it’s interesting. It’s a testament to what people really want to see, what people enjoyed and how badly they want to keep it going. I marvel at those people who keep pushing the petitions. Obviously, it can’t come from me, so … it’s always interesting to see that people are still fighting for the show. [With] all the hard work that we put into it, I think that’s amazing. I’m very grateful for those people.”
Also, if you go on Tumblr, Twitter, fan-fiction sites like Fanfiction.net or Archive of Our Own, or sites that host fan art such as Deviantart.com, you can see that the show is still inspiring fans to create their own adventures with Dorian and Kennex. But has Ealy seen some of these fan-produced works? “Oh yeah,” he said. I certainly have seen my fair share of fan art and fan fiction, and sometimes, some stars get uncomfortable when discussing a few of the more interesting fan works out there. Ealy was the exact opposite.
“Some of the best drawings, paintings, short films—I mean, I’ve got to be honest—I haven’t seen much of that type of fandom, if you will, from my other projects. So it’s been a bit flattering to see a young kid or a grown adult dress up like Dorian. I think that’s the ultimate form of flattery. Or to see somebody make the time to make a painting—and I’m not talking about drawing on their computer. I’m talking about hand-paint a portrait of Dorian being contemplative or whatever,” he said. “I was blown away by that stuff, and a lot of that stuff I tried to retweet whenever I could. I really wanted the fans to know how much I genuinely appreciate that. I know it takes time to do a painting. I am not good at painting, and I know it takes time to do a painting, so it was great. A lot of the photos that people put together on their computers—I was impressed. That stuff takes time. Some of the pictures the fans came up with, I thought would rival what the network and the studio were producing. It was like, well, maybe this [fan art] should be the poster. They had some very good stuff. I’ll miss that actually. I miss that a lot.”
The surprise was on him when I informed him that people are still creating Almost Human-based fan works and are still meeting in groups on social media to tweet and post about the show. “Wow,” he said. He was more shocked when I told him about anAlmost Human Tumblr convention that happened just recently. “Really?” he said before taking a deep sigh. “That’s bittersweet, I’ve got to be honest with you. It’s so bittersweet because we worked hard from start to finish, and we really wanted to achieve something that was going to have this kind of effect on people. The fact that people are still feeling very special about show means we succeeded. That, despite the fact that we were canceled, we as the cast and crew succeeded in doing something different and interesting and fun. I’m very, very proud of that.”
Read the rest at Entertainment Weekly!
Michael Ealy as Dorian in the Almost Human episode “Perception.” Photo credit: Liane Hentscher / FOX
Julian 