Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet, Jelena Stupljanin as Evelyn Maddox in THE ARK – Season 2 | ©2024 Syfy/Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./Electric Entertainment

THE ARK enters its second season on Syfy Channel, Wednesday, July 17, in full crisis mode. Created by Dean Devlin, THE ARK is set one hundred years from now, when groups of humanity are fleeing the Earth in “Ark” spaceships, seeking more habitable planets. The inhabitants of Ark 1 are awakened from their cryogenic sleep over a year before they reach their intended destination.

The catastrophe that caused this unexpected development has badly damaged the ship, and killed all of the senior crew. People who thought they’d just be learning the ropes in their designated fields are abruptly tasked with keeping their fellow crew and passengers alive. At the start of Season 2, parts of the hull are separating from the body of the ship, threatening the entire vessel with imminent destruction.

Christie Burke stars as former Lieutenant, now Captain, Sharon Garnet, who is somewhat frantically learning how to be a leader as she goes. Burke has a lot of high-profile genre credits, including playing Renesmee Cullen, daughter of the two lead characters, in THE TWLIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, as well as episodes of SUPERNATURAL, EUREKA, ALMOST HUMAN, FALLING SKIES, VAN HELSING, THE IN-BETWEEN, THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, and TWO-SENTENCE HORROR STORIES. She has also appeared in BILLY THE KID, SLEEPING WITH DANGER, A BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS, and many other films and television projects.

Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garne in THE ARK – Season 2 – “Hoping for Forever” | ©2024 Syfy/Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./Electric Entertainment

Burke gets on a Syfy-sponsored Zoom call with Assignment X to talk THE ARK Season 2.

When asked about her transition from Season 1 to Season 2, Burke wants to know if the question is about Sharon Garnet or Burke herself. Assured that the query is about her character, Burke jokes, “Okay. Because I was going to go into my whole life history, and we were going to have a therapy session.”

More seriously, Burke continues, “I think Season 1, we see Garnet leading from more I would say her brain, in the sense that she doesn’t have the connection with these [other Ark] people. She’s able to make decisions without her heart, only because she doesn’t know them that well. And then we end Season 1 where she’s formed friendships, and has created this kind of chosen family that she really cares about, and she’s now faced with having to maybe potentially sacrificing one for the rest, and can she do that when she really has deep relationships with these people?”

Additionally, “Garnet was trying to prove to everyone that she could be a leader, and in Season 2, we’re really seeing her just be a leader. She really just owns that and believes that. And we get to see her have different relationships, and not always see her in a state of crisis, and instead see her in states of joy, or sadness, or other facets of what I think is so great about our show.”

THE ARK – Season 2 Key Art | ©2024 Syfy//Electric Entertainment

Burke sees something of this change in her own approach to playing Garnet. “If I’m being really honest, I think Season 1, I myself was trying to prove to everyone I could be the lead of a show and do this thing, and maybe didn’t necessarily believe I could. And in Season 2, I kind of was like…” Burke relaxes her posture and voice, “‘Hi, hey, guys, I know you. I feel like I can do this thing. Let’s go have fun.’ So, I think there was a little bit more ease in Season 2, with the other actors, because we have shorthand, we know each other more. Any time you get to work on something longer than a week, and this was our second year of being these characters, you’re going to have an ease, but also a delight in what else can we cover, and I think [executive producer/showrunner] Jonathan [Glassner] and the writers did an amazing job at that, so I think art was imitating life a little bit.”

Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garne in THE ARK – Season 2 – “Hoping for Forever” | ©2024 Syfy/Aleksandar Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./Electric Entertainment

Does Burke have input with the writers? She laughs. “It’s me always typing to Jonathan. ‘Dear Jonathan, what the heck, man?!’ No, that’s what I love about working with writers is that, especially on our show, it’s so unpredictable. I’m so excited for audiences to see it, they’re not going to [be able to predict] any of this stuff, there are so many surprises. And I think what a shame it would be if I was like, ‘I don’t think Garnet would do this.’ Because who’s to say what she would and wouldn’t do? That could be another level of her that we didn’t even see coming. The things I think that I have the most resistance to always end up being the chef’s kisses of my entire experience on the show – and the writers pretty good at their job.”

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Article: THE ARK:  – Actress Christie Burke gives the scoop on Season 2 – Exclusive Interview

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