V's teen star sees a serious message among the rogue ETs. By Sarah Rodrigues.
Logan Huffman, one of the youngest faces on sci-fi series V, dreams of saving the world with his newfound star-power.
The 20-year-old actor plays Tyler Evans, the impetuous teenage son of FBI Counter Terrorist Agent Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost) who falls in love with Lisa, an alluring Visitor.
Their relationship follows a tortured Romeo and Juliet path.
V, which returned to TV this month, is a remake of the successful 1984 series about alien ships appearing in major cities around the world promoting a message of peace. The handsome Visitors claim they want to share their knowledge of technology and unite with humans but, when Huffman's on-screen mother discovers their hidden nature, the fight for survival begins.
"When I read the synopsis, the first thing I thought about was Rod Serling's version of To Serve Man in The Twilight Zone," says Huffman. In that story, mankind fatefully mistranslates the title of an alien book.
A native of Indiana, Huffman admits he's had a long fascination with UFOs. "I listen to a great radio show called Coast to Coast AM, and all the guy talks about is Big Foot and UFOs and ghosts and things. I'm just a kid who likes campfire stories.
"There's more stars in our galaxy than there are grains of sand on our planet," adds Huffman. "There must be one in the Goldilocks realm that has smart people like us.
"Sci-fi has a beautiful way of showing our deepest fears in a really easy way for us to cope with and lets us talk about things that are very similar to what we're dealing with right now."
The world, according to Huffman - who is more serious than his tender years would indicate - is over-populated and abused.
"I think my generation is pissed off because we've been handed a shit world. I think that's what my character is mad at, too.
"We want to fix it. My major goal in life is to open two [acting] studios in Indiana, so people can have work because there is no work and everybody is screwed up. And now my generation has to clean it up."
But as annoyed as this earnest young man is at the many problems facing the world, Huffman is determined that folks stop talking and start doing.
"I think our generation is going to quit arguing and picking sides and find a middle ground, which isn't so hard to do," he says. "I think we love our fellow man."
In the meantime, Huffman hopes V will make people, especially teens, think hard about life, religion and humanity. "I think the best way you can talk to kids is when you add a little bit of magic. It [V] allows imagination in a time where stuff's hard, stuff's tough."
Huffman isn't all doom and gloom, though. He has a lighter side that can laugh at YouTube videos made from V clips that mock him.
He loves that 14-year-olds write saying they only play his character on the V video game.
And although he's currently single, he is modest about his popularity with the ladies. His beautiful co-star Laura Vandervoort, who plays Lisa, is drop-dead gorgeous but on the set he doesn't flirt.
In fact, he seems oblivious to either her or his own good looks.
V plays on TV2, Wednesdays at 8.30pm.