National Geographic ‘Mars’ star Evan Hall says he would definitely live on the red planet

For “Mars” actor Evan Hall filming  this series has been a dream come true. As one of the Lukrum colonists, his character Shep Marster, has been an important piece to this second season. Well-known for his role in “Orange Is the New Black”, he also had a spot on “Jessica Jones”, and he has just finished his part as a soldier in an upcoming film “The Drummer”. Evan now co-stars in the National Geographic Channel’s hit series “Mars” and is absolutely loving his role.

Hall was recently part of a panel at CU Boulder, CO and chatted about what it was like trying to wrap his mind around living so far away from everything. Seated right next to NASA Astronaut, Kjell N. Lindgren, it was clear that he is into this National Geographic adventure.

Mark those calendars for the season two finale airs this Mon., Dec. 17, 2018 on the National Geographic Channel. 

Colleen Bement: Season two of “Mars” has had me on the edge of my seat. What as the experience been like filming this amazing show?

Evan Hall: The experience was unbelievable. Living and working in Budapest was amazing, and having such a badass cast and crew made the time there even better. Plus, I’ve always wanted to do a sci-fi, so getting to mess around in a big space helmet and pretend that I’m running from danger, all while being on the surface of Mars, was an actual dream come true.

CB: The sets are so realistic. I actually feel like I’m on the red planet. How does it feel to be “transported” to Mars?

EH: Got to hand it to the set designers and builders on this one. They made the world so easy to inhabit because of the detail and specificity they built with. From our living quarters all the way to layering an actual sedimentary copy of the surface of Mars in the studio’s parking lot, they made it effortless for us (the actors) to do our job.

CB: Tell your fans about your upcoming project “The Drummer”. It looks an intense and a must-see film.

EH: Funny enough, I finished shooting my last scene of the film yesterday. It’s a beautiful story, and it is very personal to the writer-director because of his work with veterans dealing with PTSD. I have never really played a soldier before so it was both wonderful and difficult researching the part. The impact of this condition on these women and men’s lives is awful to say the least. So I am very proud to be a part of a story that shines a light on this problem that our veterans are facing.

CB: Are you allowed to chat about anything else that you’ve got coming up?

EH: I don’t know how much I can talk about it, but I’ve been cast in a new play called Severance that will be going up at the end of January. It’s a new play by writer Jack Gilbert and director Jake Beckhard. It’s a sci-fi, horror play (right up my alley) so you know I’m having a ball!

CB: You played CO Stratman in “Orange Is the New Black”. Do you have any stories that you can share with fans of that show?

CH: I think the funniest story I have about “Orange is the New Black” was actually caught on camera. The strip tease was by far the craziest thing I have ever done for a TV show. When I was working out the dance nobody saw me for about a week. So the first time I did it for people was when the director called “action.” All those reactions you’re seeing in the scene… those were real.

CB: Last question: If you had the chance to go to Mars, would you risk it?

EH: 100 percent yes. I am all for going to Mars and being a part of humanity’s first steps to becoming interplanetary travelers. I think it’s would be an honor to be one of the first members of my species to live off Earth.