Siberia receives its UK premiere on PICK, starring local actor Neeko Skervin!
America’s NBC network primetime mock-reality drama series premieres this weekend (Sunday February 22 at 9pm). ESP’s Mikey Clarke catches up with one of the stars from the show…
Omar ‘Neeko’ Skervin spent his early life growing up in Peterborough, before moving to Los Angeles to chase his acting dream five years ago. He’s currnetly back in the city and during our exclusive interview, Neeko told me – “Siberia is a drama showing a group of contestants that are competing for $500,000. All they have to do is survive from winter to summer, and whoever is left gets to share the money. Let’s say for example that I’m the only one around at the end, I’d get all the money to myself. Of course, to make good TV, things start to go wrong.”
I wondered if there were any unscripted incidents whilst filming. “Actually there were many genuine mishaps,” Neeko said. “One of the biggest was someone almost losing a finger. I’m not going to say who – you’ll have to watch the show, but you’ll know the moment I’m talking about when you see it.”
Shooting Siberia mainly took place outside – something that was a little out of Neeko’s comfort zone. He told me, “We filmed at a park in Canada, which we pretty much had all to ourselves. I’m not really used to the outdoors so camping was an experience for me. Being outside also meant that production wasn’t always smooth sailing. We had bad weather, poor (at times) natural lighting and bugs to deal with.”
Syberia has already aired in other countries on the popular network NBC. Was it well received? “Considering certain circumstances, it was pretty popular,” said Neeko. “New shows usually get announced around one month before they air. We were delighted that NBC wanted to air us but it all happened so suddenly and before we knew it, we were on the TV. We didn’t really have much time to promote the show. We were also up against Steven King’s Under the Dome which was promoted massively. Considering these things, it did really well. Our following is growing really fast. I’ve recently been receiving tweets from people in countries I’ve not even heard of – telling me how much they’re enjoying the show.”
On Sunday (Feb 22), the actor will be watching the show here in Peterborough with friends and family.
“I feel like I’ve done a complete 360 degree turn. I left Peterborough for new opportunities, filmed the show, came back home – and it’s here I’ll be watching it.”
And any chance of a second season? The local star explained, “We’re currently discussing a second. With it now being shown in more and more countries, it makes sense. And as a viewer, I honestly think that by the time it reaches the end of the first season, you’ll be screaming out for a second.”
During my interview with Neeko Skervin, he told me how things almost didn’t work out in Los Angeles. We also discussed his character on the show and what the future holds for him. Check it out in March’s edition of ESP Magazine.
Watch my interview with Neeko below, and of course check out Siberia on PICK, Sunday at 9pm.
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Video editing: Mitchell Brewster Media for ESP Magazine
Photos: PICK TV and Neeko by Andy Vernum @ Studio One for ESP Magazine
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