Off-camera bonding helps ‘Saint X’ story resonate

Playing a family at a Caribbean resort, Betsy Brandt, Michael Park, West Duchovny and Kenlee Anaya Townsend stayed at one resort, filmed at another.

“We were living the life that we are seeing,” Park says of the Dominican Republic resorts. “We were going to all of the places, all of the local joints (and that) was kind of interesting.”

But when they came back to the all-inclusive resort where they were staying, it was a much different picture.

“They played the ‘Macarena’ all day,” says Executive Producer Leila Gerstein.

“And there were foam parties in the pool,” says Duchovny.

“There were moments when the couples staying next door were partying it up and we had a really touching scene (to film) the next morning,” Park adds.

“Everybody is on their vacation and we’re working,” Brandt says. “I can imagine some nights what we looked like walking into the hotel bar and other people’s romantic dinners. They thought it was the craziest family reunion.”

For the four, however, those resort-filled days and nights helped bond them as a TV family. In the limited series, Duchovny’s character is murdered and raped on vacation. Twenty years later, her sister, played by Alycia Debnam-Carey goes on a mission to find out what happened.

The heat was often unbearable, Debnam-Carey says. “You are, like, meling. It feels glamorous but, by no means, is it vacation. There was a weird kind of differentiation.”

To bond, the actors went into a “family workshop” on the first rehearsal day. “We didn’t really know each other all that well,” says Park. “But 45 minutes later, we left that room in tears. It was amazing what (director Dee Rees) was able to accomplish in that 45 minutes.”

When the actors shot scenes dealing with the loss of a daughter, they were able to process the feelings more deeply. “I have my own kids and my own imagining of loss,” Brandt says. “But I would just picture (Duchovny’s) face and pray to God we’d find her. That’s what makes it so scary and powerful. I hoped to God I was doing justice to the people who have gone through this.”

Park also talked to his brother, who had lost a 20-year-old son. “I was channeling my brother,” he says. “We talked about this extensively. Whenever I was working with Betsy, I felt like I was in safe hands. In a way, it helped me out. This entire shoot, in a way, was therapy for me.”

To help each other through the darker moments of “Saint X,” the actors spent off-camera time together.

“Otherwise, it would have been horribly depressing,” Brandt says. “We’re really a family. We ate dinner (together). We flew together. We did it all. I’m hoping the payoff is that the audience feels the loss because they were invited in.”

“Saint X” airs on FX and Hulu.