‘Van Helsing’ Star Aleks Paunovic Details Balancing Emotion With Intense Action Scenes

Van Helsing has delivered audiences exciting action throughout its three seasons on SYFY, though there’s a lot more to all of the characters on the series, including Aleks Paunovic‘s Julius. While the actor is no stranger to participating in complicated fight sequences, Paunovic detailed that finding the right emotion for a given scene can oftentimes be just as challenging as choreography.

“Some of the stuff we do on set with Kimani [Ray Smith], our stunt coordinator and fight coordinator on the show, it’s not only intense fight scenes that we go through, but you have to do it at the right time, at the right speed, where the camera is, and then we’ve got to do it again in another angle,” Paunovic detailed to ComicBook.com. “It’s all physically demanding, but I love that stuff. But you can’t just love it, you have to be on point, you’ve got to be in a collaborative state, and on top of that, you’ve also got to know how to do these fight sequences without hurting the other actor but making it look like you’re hurting the other actor.”

He added, “Then the emotional aspects of it is quite tough, but when you have a great crew around you and the directors around you … But we are also going quite fast when we’re shooting. We need to get the day in. And it’s one of those things, ‘Oh, the camera’s down. Okay, we’re getting the camera up. We should be good to go in 20 minutes.’ So then you go, ‘Okay, now I’ve got to go get into my emotional state for 20 minutes.’ And then all of a sudden, two minutes later, it’s like, ‘Oh, camera’s ready. Let’s do it.’ And you’re like, ‘Damn it.’ But you just find the time, and you find these moments and trusting the process with the creatives that are around you that allow you the time.”

While both bringing physical coordination and intense emotions to a scene present their own unique challenges, the dramatic interactions present slightly more complications.

“They’re each pretty equal in totally different ends of the spectrum. The emotionality is tough to get into, for sure. And I would say that has a couple percentage points higher of difficulty,” the actor noted. “When we do the fight stuff, it’s awesome. And the emotional stuff is awesome. I just love that I get to do both ends of the spectrum.”

Paunovic ultimately credits his collaborators on the series for nurturing an energetic vibe on set, which makes the entire experience easier.

“I know I’ve had a few moments, because I was working on another show a bunch of hours and I came right to the Van Helsing set, and I was exhausted. I was spent. But when you get the energy around you, and everyone’s talking, and we’re all kind of communicating, being collaborative, you just rise,” Paunovic confessed. “The natural thing to do is just to be on everyone else’s level that’s excited to get it done. So I never feel like that on set, in either spectrum. I usually feel it when I’m done and like, ‘Oh my God, I’m exhausted and tired and bruised.’ That’s when I kind of feel like I can come down a bit.”

The actor continued, “There’s that responsibility aspect of it where you don’t want to let anybody down, so you’ve just got to rise to the occasion, regardless of what state you were in, coming into that scene, either emotionally or physically. I’m thinking back, and I remember those moments and going, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s get it done. Let’s do this.’ I think you just rise to the occasion.”

Fans can check out the third season of Van Helsing, currently airing on Friday nights on SYFY. Paunovic will also be seen in the upcoming Liam Neeson thriller Cold Pursuit, which lands in theaters on February 8, 2019.