Alexa Swinton Wields Her Powers as a Young Emerging Star in CTV’s EMERGENCE

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Ten-year-old Alexa Swinton was asked if her friends think she has the same powers as her character, Piper, in CTV’s EMERGENCE. “They think it’s really cool, but they don’t think that I could do the powers,” Swinton said during a recent visit to Bell Media headquarters in Toronto. “Because in the very first episode (when Piper removes an implant from under her ear), they asked me, ‘Did you actually cut yourself?’ And when I said no, they were like, ‘Okay … fine!’ ” Swinton’s considerable acting skills were on full display as she recalled her friends’ reaction, stretching out the word “fine” to fully indicate their annoyance. “They were kind of disappointed that I don’t have any of the Piper stuff,” Swinton said. “But I’m glad that I don’t, because I feel like it’d be way too much to control. I’m really proud of Piper because she’s trying to control it.” Whether or not Piper can keep her powers in check, to the point that she isn’t a threat to the people around her – including those who are trying to help her, such as Police Chief Jo Evans, played by Allison Tolman – has been at the heart of EMERGENCE, which airs its fall finale Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on CTV. Despite her young age, Swinton – who was born in New York, has a Canadian father, and is a distant cousin of Oscar-winning British actress Tilda Swinton – already has an extensive acting resume. So does it still seem weird when she sees herself on TV or in a movie, or is she long over that? “I kind of like it,” Swinton admitted. “I feel like it’s fun. But it’s more like watching Piper, the character I’m playing. But I love watching the show, because some of it is done with computer graphics, and I’m always like, ‘So THIS is what it looks like.’ I’m still excited for that. I actually don’t get the episodes in advance. I watch them as they air on TV.” So Swinton not only works on EMERGENCE, she’s also a fan. “I’m probably the biggest fan of the show, for sure,” she said. Swinton is also a big fan of a certain horror author who recently shared in Time Magazine that he has been watching EMERGENCE. “When I heard that Stephen King is a super fan of the show, I basically fainted,” Swinton said. “I mean, he’s honestly awesome and he’s definitely one of my favourite people as a writer – except for my mom (author and actress Inna Swinton).” Swinton said she used a scene from a movie based on a King book to help her prepare for a scene in EMERGENCE. “I studied up on a Stephen King movie called Carrie, because there was a moment when Piper turns around, with the blue all around her, and it was like it was from Carrie, because she was so embarrassed and so exposed,” Swinton recalled. “My mom forced me to watch Carrie so many times, and practise it so many times, that eventually I was like, ‘Mom, stop, I’m going to have nightmares. Watching Carrie a thousand times is way too much for a 10-year-old girl.’ But it really worked out in the end. So I’m really thankful for Stephen King and for Carrie.” Swinton certainly has a long acting career ahead, if her measured and mature performance in EMERGENCE is any indication. She may not want the responsibility of having all of Piper’s powers, but if she could choose just one, which one would it be? “I think her power to kind of know things,” Swinton said. “I would love to know what grade I got in a test before I got my test back. Or what we’re having for lunch today. And also I would get to know what happens next in the show. I mean, I read the scripts and I do the episodes, but if I knew what was coming up after that, it would be the best Christmas present ever.” EMERGENCE returns to CTV’s winter schedule Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET beginning Jan. 7. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv