Van Helsing: Rukiya Bernard Talks About Doc’s Human Journey [Exclusive Interview]

Van Helsing, which premiered on the Syfy Channel last fall, follows a group of humans located near Seattle as they struggle to survive after a Vampire Uprising. One of the only hopes that humanity has is for a savior that may hold the key to humanity’s salvation.

One of the humans is Doc, played by Rukiya Bernard. I recently spoke with Bernard about Doc’s Season 1 journey, her hopes for Season 2, and her experience attending her first San Diego Comic Con.

Van Helsing Season 1 gave Bernard the chance to play one character from several angles.

“It was such a dream actually. It’s rare that you get a character that goes on such a journey like that,” Bernard shared. “I felt quite honored that they would trust me to do it.”

Audiences first met Doc as a vampire in the series premiere, then saw Doc as a human in the second episode leading up to her transformation.

Then when Vanessa awakened from her coma and turned Doc back into a human, we got to see Doc struggle with her newly regained humanity. But what is perhaps the most interesting aspect of her character is that, unlike Vanessa, Doc doesn’t have supernatural abilities.

“I really liked the character because she’s designed as the average person. She’s not the kind of person who can pick up a weapon and immediately wield it like Vanessa, who just had an aggressive streak prior to the uprising,” Bernard noted.

“Doc is quite different,” she continued. “She’s a little bit quieter and introverted, and would prefer to just keep to herself ultimately. She doesn’t have that choice. She needs other people to survive now, and the journey that she goes on is a very human one. One that you don’t normally see in these post-apocalyptic shows.”

One key moment for Bernard’s character came when she made the decision to leave behind Axel (Jonathan Scarfe) while trying to escape an irradiated bunker. While waiting for him, Doc shut the door, locking him in with a vampire, leaving some fans wondering if Axel could forgive her, especially given how the pair bonded while being held up in the hospital.

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know. If that happened, if that sh*t happened to me, I would be pissed,” Bernard laughed.

“I don’t know if he can ever forgive her. I don’t know if Doc can even forgive herself,” she continued. “She knows she messed up, in the greatest way, and she knows it because when she tried to escape it all, by becoming a vampire again, she wasn’t even awarded that!”

Bernard’s final scene for that season came on Season 1 Episode 9 when Doc went to a vampire named Magdalen and begged to be turned back into a vampire, only to find that she couldn’t be turned again. These actions are going to affect Doc’s journey in Season 2.

“I think she’s really just trying to figure out how to be herself. Season 2 picks up right where we left off at the end of Season 1. Not much time has passed at all, and she is now fending for herself,” Bernard explained before highlighting exactly how much Doc had lost in Season 1.

“She thought that she had Axel; that didn’t happen. She thought she had Vanessa; that’s done now, right? She thought she could be, not in Eden -– she never really liked that place -– but she thought, you know, maybe she could be turned back into a vampire, and now she doesn’t even have that option. She is literally, by herself. So I feel like we’re kind of getting into Doc 2.0 now,” Bernard reflected.

“How is Doc going to be Doc in this New World Order? You don’t have the hospital anymore, and she doesn’t have anybody or anything,” she explained.

“That’s what happens in life. That’s why I love playing her — it’s so human. We all mess up in life. We all do. And sometimes we mess up in a way that’s unforgivable even to ourselves, even though other people might forgive us. And she’s going on that journey.”

The majority of the story will focus on Season 2 and humanity’s struggle to survive.

“I feel like the whole show is kind of an unraveling. The first season, Vanessa was really kind of like ‘Who am I? What am I?’ because she doesn’t know. The show kind of follows her journey in discovering who she is as she vies to find her daughter again. The whole show is really the uncovering of will humanity survive, and we continue on that journey in Season 2,” Bernard said.

Season 2 is also bringing lots of new characters, and there is one in particular that Bernard would like to see Doc interact with.

“There’s a new character, named Lucky, played by Andrea Ware, who is totally badass, and British, and she has a big gun, and she’s super tall, and she’s gorgeous, and she’ll kick your ass,” Bernard gushed in a British accent. “I would love to see Doc interact with her a little bit more.”

Bernard also spoke about working with producer and show runner, Neil LaBute, particularly about his understanding of human nature. 

“Even before I started the show, I loved reading LaBute plays, because you know, not much can actually happen in them, but so much is happening. He will just write a whole play with just two characters, and it’s so much drama. He has a knack for really understanding human nature and what people do, be it the things that we wish we had done, and how we really are, and he’s always questioning it,” Bernard explained.

Bernard also attributes LaBute’s approach to characters for the show’s silent moments, allowing for a bit of the character’s internal psychology and struggle to come out.

I feel like [he], being in the sci-fi genre, has really allowed his aesthetic and how he approaches character to really infiltrate the script and the characters that they’ve developed for Van Helsing. So those moments where Doc has a thing about blood because maybe she wants to be a vampire again, he allows for those moments of contemplation before going back into the action stuff.”

She also talked about the scripts they received and how LaBute has created a collaborative atmosphere.

“Sometimes we get the scripts, and sometimes those moments are written in there, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes I will get an idea and be like ‘Oh gosh, this would be so cool-looking, you know?’ and so I’ll talk to the writers, and the producers, and Neil, and they’ll say ‘Oh yea, that is pretty cool’ or ‘Rukiya, no, no, we got other stuff planned,'” said Bernard.

“They’ve been so wonderful, and so collaborative. We are not puppets up there. We are truly a part of the creation of the show.”

The cast of Van Helsing was invited to San Diego Comic-Con this year, and it was Bernard’s first time attending.

“It was my first, I was one hundred percent virgin. I love it! If we get invited next year, I need to like get an outfit,” Bernard raved. “It was crazy there, man. There was so much love! So much love! And people were coming up to me and asking for my autograph, and asking me ‘Why did Doc do that to Axel?’ It’s amazing.”

Bernard was only there for a day, but she recounted a few experiences with fans after she realized the magnitude of Comic-Con.

“I have a funny story, because I had no idea about the magnitude of Comic-Con, right? Like I read online, half a million people, and I’m like yea, yea, yea, because I don’t understand what that means. So we show up at the hotel, and the producers are there, Neil is there, my husband and I have flown in the night before and we’re pretty bagged. I didn’t have any makeup on or anything. I’m assuming I’m just going to go to my hotel, and I’m going to freshen up, and then I will go out and do the press tour that they had scheduled for us,” Bernard recalled.

“We’re meeting up, saying ‘Hey guys! Hey guys! How’s it going?,’ and then I notice about ten or twenty feet away someone is sitting on a bench, and they’re pulling out Van Helsing posters, and I’m like, ‘Oh cool, you guys brought people to help promote the show, that’s fantastic.’ Right? And the producer Neil [LaBute], Chad [Oakes], and Mike [Frislev], they just look at me and they shake their heads with these big grins, and I was like ‘Are you kidding me? Those are fans?'”

“No sooner, I turn around, and someone says ‘Are you Rukiya?’ and I’m like ‘Yes.’ ‘Can I get your autograph?’ Someone has my picture, like an old picture too, I have no idea where they got this one from and I’m signing it. I go get myself some tea, and the guys with the Van Helsing posters are like ‘Oh can I get your autograph?’ and I can see that other cast mates have already autographed it as well, and it just didn’t stop. That was at like, I don’t know 8 o’clock in the morning, and then it just didn’t stop,” said Bernard. “It was amazing, and I am so happy there is so much love for the show. It was wonderful to experience.”

Besides Van Helsing, Bernard recently finished a Hallmark movie called Christmas in Evergreen which will air on the Hallmark Channel this winter.

“It’s something quite different,” Bernard began. “Something that my kids can actually watch.”

“It was so much fun. I play a character named Hannah who absolutely loves Christmas, and of course, in this movie, Christmas might not actually happen. It was just a lot of fun, and a lot of laughs — just a nice heartwarming movie, and I love it.”

While on set filming, Bernard has posted lots of photos and videos from the set, some including plastic barn animals with makeshift antlers.

“It was shot in the end of September to the beginning of October. We’ve got to make Christmas in the fall, and there’s no snow, and we’re having a bit of a heat wave here in Vancouver, so they just make it work,” Bernard explained.

Bernard also has a full Netflix, Hulu, and DVR complete with several fall TV series.

“There is so much new stuff that’s coming out right now. Supernatural, I’m a big fan of them. Travelers, I actually make a guest star appearance on that show. I’m watching The Good Place right now on Netflix. I just finished catching up on Game of Thrones. OMG! OM Fricken G!” she exclaimed.

Van Helsing is part of a Thursday night line up with a new show called Ghost Wars, which Bernard is also excited for.

“I’m excited for Ghost Wars that shows right after Van Helsing, and Simon Barry, who executive produces Van Helsing is show running,” said Bernard. “It’s awesome! It’s a really, really creepy scary show. It’s like if Fargo had ghosts and was super scary.”

While there may be a lot to watch on TV, Bernard loves the number of stories that are being presented.

“We’re lucky to be living in this golden age of TV, where TV has become the new film, so we get to follow storylines that much longer,” she said.

Be sure to catch Rukiya Bernard as Doc on Van Helsing, airing Thursdays at 9/8c on Syfy.

*Featured image credit: Kristine Cofsky

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!