Interviews

I was able to speak with Katie McGrath in an exclusive interview for SciFiChick.com. Katie portrays the beautiful and mysterious Morgana on NBC’s Merlin, which has fast become one of my favorite new shows this season. The Irish-born actress was extremely witty and engaging, and offered an in-depth look at her character and upcoming episodes.

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Katie, for those that haven’t seen Merlin yet, can you tell us about your character Morgana, in your own words?

One thing I’ve always thought about Morgana is that she’s sort of a modern mind in a period body. She’s not your usual warm princess, which is what drew me to her in the first place. She’s feisty… and she’s very modern. And I think that’s what makes her a great character, because women today can identify with her. And she’s a livewire. She’s the only person on the show that can stand up to the king and tell him what she really thinks.
… From where she starts as a princess to where she ends up is the most amazing journey to play. And because so much is going to happen, it gives me so much to play with.

Has the role been challenging for you in any way?

Absolutely. I mean, besides an eight-month shoot that we all came off of, that was exhausting. This was my first big role [as an actress]. There would be days, especially at the start, when I would read the script and I would look at the scene and I’d go “I have no idea how to do this.” I had no idea how to make what they want in the scene happen. And I was lucky to have the most amazing co-stars and director to help me through it. And the start of season 2, which we’re filming at the moment, is such a different feeling than starting season 1. I was so scared at the start. I didn’t know how I was going to bring it off. If you think about it, the character has already been played by Helen Mirren and Helena Bonham Carter. And then, I come along and think, “How am I going to do this mythical person justice?” So, I’m hopefully getting better. And I’m hopefully getting there. But time will tell, if I can pull it off.

Will we get to see some of Morgana’s background in upcoming episodes?

In the first season, you get to see not so much of her background, but more the relationship between her and Uther. In episode 12 that really comes to a head. And you get to see more insight into her character, and sort of enter her mind. But her background, you won’t get to see much until season 2, so you’ll just have to keep watching next year. But episode 12 is great. I found it sort of difficult to film, because I’m very fond of Tony [Head]. It was quite intense, and it was very emotional. And it was just a wonderful episode, hopefully by the end of it you understand the reasonings.

Do we get to delve into the legend of Morgana? Are we going to see a change in her? Will she become the evil antagonist that we know?

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SciFiChick.com was recently able to interview Kevin J. Anderson, co-author of the latest Dune novels along with Brian Herbert. Their latest release, The Winds of Dune, just came out this past Tuesday.

(Also, don’t forget to enter our giveaway to win a copy of the book along with a custom bag!)

Tell us a bit about yourself and your experience in writing.

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was about 5 years old, and I kept practicing, reading, plotting, typing, submitting, and finally broke into print before I graduated from high school. My first novel, Resurrection, Inc., was published before I was 25, and just this year I publish my 100th novel. In addition to the many Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune novels I’ve written, my recent books include an epic sailing-ships and sea monsters fantasy, The Edge of the World, and another DC Comics novel, Enemies and Allies, about the first meeting of Batman and Superman in the 1950s.

How did you get involved in the Dune series with Brian Herbert?

I’ve always been a huge Dune fan, and I followed Frank Herbert’s series, book after book, as they were published, but when he passed away in 1986 after the publication of Chapterhouse: Dune, the story ended on a cliffhanger. About ten years after Frank’s death, when I had established myself as a successful and critically acclaimed writer, I contacted Brian to see if he had any plans to complete this great unfinished story. We hit it off immediately and brainstormed together…and since then we have written 12 novels — ~2 million words — together.

How does the creative process work when co-writing?

Brian and I have a lot of energy when we brainstorm together. Before starting a new book, we’ll get together and talk over the plot and the characters, map out the events, work up an outline, and then we divide the chapters in half, choosing assignments based on our personal interests and skills. We each write our own drafts, then exchange computer files and rewrite each other’s material, back and forth, until we’ve polished it as much as possible.

What other projects are you currently working on?

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SciFiChick.com was able to participate in a conference call Q&A session with Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless, from USA’s Burn Notice. Here’s the transcript from that call.
And don’t miss the Burn Notice mid-season finale, tonight at 9pm.

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What sorts of methods and what type of influences do you use to in your portrayal of your characters? What do you draw upon to, in your characterization of Sam and of Madeline?

S. Gless: Bruce?

B. Campbell: Mother first.

S. Gless: Well, my husband said, when he read the script, chain smoking half the time. And he said, how lucky are you, they’re paying you to smoke. So he said, wow, you do all the things with the cigarette. I said, “Well, yeah, I already knew how to do that.” What do I draw on? I’ve never actually had children, myself, but I just connected with Jeffrey’s character and every week it’s different and as the show goes along, Madeline, my character, first she’s totally in the dark and very needy and very sort of just all sort of emotional things that are unattractive. And as time went on, Matt Nix said, “Sharon, she’s smarter than what I was writing.” And he gave me one clue, he said, “Remember, he gets his smarts from her.” I said, “Oh, okay.” So I just took that information and it gave me and my character a little more confidence. But I don’t know, how do you prepare for playing someone who’s manipulative? Is it built in? I don’t know.

B. Campbell: When you’re in show business, you know lots of manipulating people.

S. Gless: Yes, that’s true. But I try to do the manipulation with humor. Hopefully, that’s how it’s coming across.

Why doesn’t Sam Axe’s personality match the normal ex-military stereotypes? He seems really upbeat compared to how most shows depict characters that have been in serious military situations.

B. Campbell: I think my character is actually more accurate. I think I run into some of these guys. My first wife remarried a police officer, and I’ll tell you these guys like having a good time when they’re not working. They don’t sit around mopey dope, they sit around and crack gallows humor, lots of gallows humor, dark humor. Frankly, I think they’re happy that they’re alive most of these guys after going through all of this and they have a good joie de vivre that the average executive might not have. So I should think Sam is very indicative of the real guys, you know guys who are my age who have mustered out in their 50’s. Believe me, most of them are drinking beer and sitting around a pool cracking jokes about the old days.

S. Gless: In my experience in having done Cagney & Lacey many years ago, we had technical advisors on the set and we had detectives and police. Not exactly in the role that Bruce is playing, but these guys who see so much really do have a very macabre sense of humor. And I do think that’s how they stay sane.

Is there a beer or cocktail that Sam has yet to meet and enjoy and if there is, what is it and why haven’t they met yet? And Sharon, Madeline seems to go with the flow a bit more nowadays with Michael’s past. Will she eventually come around to just trusting him blindly or will curiosity get the best of her and she’ll find out on her own where her son has been for the past ten years?

B. Campbell: Go ahead, Sharon.

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