Sine Fine Siblings - Characters

Once in a while I’ll be doing “special posts” about different things not covered under the other categories. These posts will usually be on the Monday or Tuesday of a month that has fives weeks instead of four or on a holiday of some kind.  I guess I don’t need to explain all that, but, you know…whatever.  

Today, April 10, is National Siblings Day so I want to take a little time to celebrate the siblings in Sine Fine Films.  If I talked about all of them this post would go on forever because there are a LOT of sibling sets. Several people voted for their favorite sibling characters, so I’ll just talk about the Top 5 in reverse order.

***This post contains SPOILERS.  You have been warned.***

#5. Amelia & Dawn from Twisted Tales: Hulde

This is the only script with siblings that I did not write.  It was written by Diana Neatrour, who has two siblings herself, so she knows the gig.  It’s based on a fairytale – Mother Hulde – and fairytales are stuffed full of siblings. Brothers, sisters, stepsisters, half brothers, and all kinds of combinations exist in these stories. In the original tale of Mother Hulde it was a typical set of sisters – the good, kind, helpful sister and the evil, lazy, stupid sister.

Diana’s main twist on this fairytale was changing the moral of the story as well as the personalities of the sisters. Amelia, played by Julia Mayfair, is the older one and wasn’t evil or lazy and was in fact very smart.  She didn’t accept the rules the magical character of Hulde set up – or rather found a clever way around them.  For example she used a dishwasher to wash dishes rather then scrubbing them by hand with a toothbrush, or calling a woodchopper to cut up a huge pile of wood rather than wrestling with an ax and potentially hurting herself.

 Dawn, played by Annamarie MacLeod, is the younger sister and a rather foolish person who did exactly as she was told to do – or tried to - and would have been in the magic world a lot longer finishing up the tasks without the help of her sister.  In the end both girls are rewarded but Amelia’s reward allows her to pull anything she wants from a magical bag while Dawn’s reward allows her to pull anything someone else wants from the bag.  The moral of the story is clear – thinking for yourself is better then just following orders blindly and thinking smarter is better than working harder. The sisters are a typical pair with a relationship where the older one tolerates the younger one but has clearly had to help her out most of their lives.

#4. Caden & Courtney Caldwell from C²

I’m so glad this pair made the Top 5 because I love them so much.  Brittany Ann Whalen and Syndi Eller play the pair to perfection.  The two sisters work as bounty hunters for an organization called the Erinyes Agency that are sort of like a police force for rogue and criminal magic users.  The usually work for the Office of Retrievals in the Criminally Cute Division and are known as some of the best bounty hunters in the business.

Throughout the film they work to capture a clever and rebellious magical creature known as Kasimir.  He thinks he has the upper hand the whole time, especially after he manages to handcuff the pair together, but in the end their teamwork and experience allow them to capture him and they prove to be just as devious as he is, if not more.

They are clearly best friends as well as sisters.  Although Caden is the older one (by three years), Courtney seems to be the one in charge.  However, they know each other so well that they can switch off who plays the bad ass and who plays the ditz so they probably switch up who is in charge just as often.  Like all siblings, they squabble at times but trust and rely on each other and are as close as sisters can be.

The actors had a blast with the characters and came up with a lot more details for them then what was in the script.  For example, neither one has a love life, they still live at home, and for some reason (that I was never quite clear on) they share both a room and a bed. They also mention a brother, Cameron, who clearly has a better love/sex life then either of them considering that he apparently stole their whips.

#3. Esteban & Balthazar from the Destiny Trilogy/Mini-series

Ah, the age-old tale of siblings who hate each other and spend their lives seeking revenge. Although technically speaking they are only half-brothers.  Their father brought them to live together just so that Balthazar could beat up Esteban and he could create and nurture their hatred for each other. Yeah, their dad was a real piece of work.

Esteban and Balthazar, played by Tanino Minneci and Jacob MacLeod, are as different as day and night.  Esteban is introverted, mild-mannered, intelligent and scholarly while Balthazar is a dashing, extroverted ladies’ man who enjoys the finer things in life and loves to fight.  Esteban is shy, especially around women, and when they were younger Balthazar loved to steal away any woman that Esteban showed interest in.  Esteban, however, is the legitimate son and heir to the Dukedom while Balthazar is the bastard son of a peasant.

Balthazar despises Esteban and blames him for their father’s death.  When he murders Esteban’s best friends their brotherly feud becomes an all out war that leads to multiple battles and ultimately their own deaths. I’d go into more detail, but their relationship is covered pretty well in their character profiles if you want to learn more about Esteban and Balthazar.

#2. Asarai & Lily/Leona from The Dragon & The Unicorn

“From the beginning of time they were fated to battle each other. Woe to those whose fates were intertwined with theirs for no rest would they find until one of them was destroyed. The Dragon, Asarai the Evil, can never die. The Unicorn, Leona the Good, can die but is reborn a century later to resume the fight. Death is impossible unless one of the sisters can harness the power of both medallions.”

This movie has a very epic, mythological feel with a pair of sisters at the heart of it. Asarai and Leona, played brilliantly by AnnamarieMacLeod and Nina Samii, were born cursed because of the foolishness of their parents.  They were each given an amulet at birth that decided both their personalities and their fates.  So from the very beginning these sisters got screwed.  Seriously. They were literally fated from birth to battle each other, regardless of their personal feelings. 

Although they are fraternal twins, Asarai is technically the older one. Since she can’t die she is actually much older than her sister in the end. Asarai definitely gets the raw end of the deal because she’s fated to be evil and, although she enjoys it for the most part, being wicked gets old after a while – and we’re talking thousands of years.  She is justifiably upset that she was fated to be evil and is basically a vampire and in the end she isn't so much defeated as she just gets tired of being alive.

Leona, the younger and “good” sister, is constantly reborn and has no memory of the fight until her eternal mentor finds her, gives her the amulet, and trains her to battle Asarai. The movie focuses on Leona’s current incarnation, a teenager named Lily, who has no idea what’s going on but keeps having dreams about fighting this other woman in different time periods.

Their relationship has so many layers to it and there are times when (especially in the past) Leona’s actions are not as good and Asarai’s are not as evil – specifically when it comes to the love of both their lives, JJ.  JJ, aka Julius, becomes caught up in their eternal battle as part of a love triangle. Before the sisters both fell in love with him they fought just because they had to, but after dragging JJ into their pre-destined battle (where he gets reborn like Leona) they fight over him. 

Leona totally stole JJ from Asarai, who fell in love with him first, and even though Leona forgets about it every time she is reborn, Asarai never forgets and her hatred for her sister festers over time.  Whenever Leona is reborn, she and JJ always find each other and fall in love again while Asarai has to watch it happen over and over, for two thousand years.  It’s a complicated story and probably one of my best.

#1. The Silverstone Siblings from The Gift Bearer

It’s not surprising that the Silverstone Siblings won by a landslide because it’s a trio of sisters that are the main characters and family is at the heart of the show. Since it’s a TV show we get to see the sisters – and later their brother – grow and change and their relationships evolve over the course of 21 episodes.  It’s also interesting to note that The Gift Bearer is one of the only three productions with a set of siblings that include both sisters and brothers.  All the other productions have either sisters or brothers, but not both.

Atlanta, played by Christine Komiskey, is the oldest sister and is an athletic, take-charge kind of girl who has a lot of anger issues.  Minerva, played by MorganThomas, is the middle sister who is extremely intelligent, very eccentric, and rather goofy at times.  Persephone, played by Brittany Ann Whalen, is the youngest and although she is spoiled and ditzy, she is also kind and compassionate, and can be very feisty at times.

They have to most realistic sibling relationships in the SFF universe.  They argue and fight, work together and separately, occasionally shoot each other, support each other and will always be there for one another. Despite their differences they love each other deeply.  They also make fun of each sometimes, like when Minerva strikes a pose and says “I’m bit tough Atlanta!” or when Atlanta is confused and asks Xavier to explain his plan “in Peri terms.”

Halfway through the series they find out that a time traveler they keep meeting during their various adventures, Xavier, played by very talented Russell Martin, is actually their long lost brother.  

This is actually foreshadowed in his interactions with each of the sisters at separate times as well as when he’s with all three of them.  After confronting Atlanta about her temper, he then comforts her when she falls apart emotionally. When Peri is shocked, belittled, and embarrassed by her ex-boyfriend, Xavier comforts her as well. When Minerva is being held hostage by an evil bandit leader, Xavier rushes to her rescue (only to discover she didn’t really need his help). 

All four siblings have a deep, strong bond and go through so much together.  When the sisters discover they have a brother and when Xavier finds out he has sisters it turns their worlds upside down and they begin a new adventure to understand each other as their family expands.  The siblings often do what they think is best for the others without realizing they are making the wrong decisions. Communication is key in all relationships and the Silverstones often get in trouble with each other because of a lack of it.

During the filming the actors developed a close relationship and some of them even felt more like siblings then just friends - particularly Morgan Thomas and Russell Martin.  That made it awkward when the two of them had to do a scene where Evil Minerva hits on Xavier in a disturbing, incestuous moment that left everyone on set – especially Morgan and Russell – seriously creeped out.

The show is as much about family as it is about time travel and there are more sets of siblings in The Gift Bearer then in any other production. There’s even a reunion movie made (and set) ten years after the series ends that follows up on the Silverstone siblings where we see their children and learn even more about all of them.

Obviously my main inspiration for all the siblings in Sine Fine Films – especially for the Silverstone siblings – is my own family.  I have three siblings myself – two sisters and a brother – and they are all truly amazing and wonderful people that have strongly influenced my writing as well as my life.

Tune in next year for the special Siblings Day post where I talk about the many sets of sibling actors who have filmed with SFF over the years.  Sine Fine Films is a family company in many ways!