Van Helsing season 5: Dan Cade on Roberto’s vampire hunting journey

Van Helsing‘s blast from the past has introduced new characters to the SyFy series, including the vampire hunter Roberto, played by Dan Cade. Dan spoke to Hidden Remote about joining the show for its final season, and how his action background served him well when it came to this particular role.

Meet Dan as Van Helsing season 5 continues tonight on SyFy at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. If you’ve missed any of the season so far, you can catch up on demand.

Hidden Remote: In a general sense, how would you describe Roberto? Because he’s off in his own part of Van Helsing canon.

Dan Cade: The first three episodes go back in time to the vampires’ origin. I play Roberto, and he’s one of the main heroes. He’s a vampire hunter of that story arc. He’s an intense character with physical skills and precision, sword fighting, martial arts—a tough character. He needs to be to hunt the Dark Ones. So that’s basically Roberto in a nutshell.

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HR: Logistically, what was it like for you to be cast in the show? It’s the final season, so all of these things are coming to a head, but your story arc is separate from that.

DC: I was really excited. I knew that Van Helsing was shooting, and I was like wow, this would be really cool to get into. I went after it and got it, and the role was a good role as well. And like you say, it’s kind of a separate story to the rest of the series, so it was like my own little arc that I had, and it was really exciting and interesting to get involved in that. The fact that I’m only in the first few episodes and not involved in the rest of the story wasn’t a bad thing for me, really.

HR: Van Helsing is a very physical series, but you come from a very physical background, so was it an easy transition to portraying Roberto?

DC: I’m very used to physical shows, and horse riding, and martial arts. In that regard, that was always going to be an easy option when that arose in the show. Most of [the preparation] was more the dramatic side, so it was getting involved in the character, and the other characters, and becoming part of the story.

The dramatic side was more what I concentrated on, since the physical thing has become second nature. But there were a lot of things where I have to run around with swords, and up and down hills, and do these sword fights. That’s pretty natural to myself, so that was enjoyable. The dialogue and getting involved in the story was great.

HR: There’s a great cast, but again being in your own part of the timeline, how many people did you get to work with and what was that part of the experience like?

DC: I worked with Kim Coates, who plays a new character in the show, and Nicole Munoz, who plays Jack. I worked closely with Jesse Stanley, who plays Bathory; I’m kind of her sidekick. A little relationship going on. I worked closely with Jesse and Nicole and Kim Coates. It was really cool; I loved working with [them].

HR: What were your highlights from these episodes?

DC: There are quite a few scenes in there that I really like, and I’m looking forward to seeing them. The last shoot day, I actually sprained my ankle on the set. I was supposed to do a few kicks in this fight choreography, and unfortunately, I couldn’t really move it. I was able to do it; we did it in one take, I just used a sword and stood dramatically. I’m looking forward to seeing that scene as well.

HR: Since your arc on this series is wrapping up, what other Dan Cade projects should fans of Roberto check out afterward?

DC: I haven’t quite done anything like Van Helsing. Van Helsing must be one of my most favorite roles, actually. I’ve been in a couple of action films, and some series like Carnival Row, Knightfall, and I’ve got a show coming out called Shadowplay. I’m also in a Nordic TV series called Atlantic Crossing. It’s on PBS in the States, and Kyle MacLachlan is in it. It’s a period drama.

It would be great if everyone watched Van Helsing and then just kept an eye on what I do next. I’d love people to follow my career. I’ve got some exciting stuff coming up, some things in the works; it’s all kind of bubbling around.

Van Helsing airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on SyFy.