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By Karl

Interview with Brittany Curran of "The Magicians" on Syfy 3/27/19

Karl: You had said that you keep a journal as Fen, and you’ve talked to your therapist in character. I was wondering, do you ever interact with the writers regarding any of this?

Brittany: Like, get their input?

Karl: Maybe just... sharing what you do, or just finding out what they think of it?

Brittany: Oh, yeah, it’s funny because whenever I start my journaling for the season, or when I had my therapy session with my therapist about my character, I didn’t do it fully in character. I didn’t pretend that I was Fen. I more so talked about where her psychology was coming from, so it wasn’t fully as her, it was a therapy session about her. But before I go into every season I will usually have a conversation or send some emails back and forth with the creators, just to get their insight on if my motivations with Fen align with what their motivations are, and they are really collaborative. So we usually start the season with that, and me clarifying why Fen is doing this, or why she is doing that. They get a kick out of the fact that I did the therapy session for Fen. I know they like it and that it’s not a standard thing, so I think they are amused by it in a positive way. I don’t talk to them specifically on what I say in the therapy session because I treat it like a real therapy session, with deep private thoughts kept private.

Karl: To expand on that, when you are talking with the writers, do you ever give them suggestions, and do they ever use them?

Brittany: Yeah, sometimes the actors will have a discussion at the end of a table read to figure out why a character is doing something, or if we really really think a character wouldn’t do or say something, we might say something. I do that very sparingly, though, because I like to respect the writers, because I bring Fen to life, but they’re the ones that gave Fen life, and they’re the ones that created her. I definitely have suggestions sometimes... sometimes I’m half joking, but I think they are a very receptive and collaborative group.

Karl: Yeah, there’s not too much known about Fen’s back story still.  You’re still finding most stuff out along the way, so it is pretty open to having suggestion with finding out new unexpected things, like how the farm girl turned out to be a good knife and sword fighter.

Brittany: Yeah, totally, and I think... I and the writers and everyone are figuring out Fen as we go along. I don’t think Fen was meant to be as big of a character as she is, and so it’s been this process of discovering Fen as she grows and becomes a more significant character on the show. It’s funny because I’m not actually 100% sure what Fen’s backstory still is. I should probably have a deeper conversation with the writers about that, and more so find out the things I need to know in order to play her, or honor her as a character. A lot did come out in season… What was it? When Fen came out to be a FU fighter. That was a really big thing for me, as an actor, to learn that she used to be a FU Fighter. Because when we first meet Fen, yeah, she’s like a peasant girl, and she’s in an arranged marriage to a man who doesn’t love her or really see her as an individual.  That’s the way that Fen feels about it, that she doesn’t really feel recognised by her husband in any way. And so, to find out about this girl that’s really quiet and goes along with the arranged marriage, and with being ignored all the time, that she actually was a fighter and that she really does care about Fillory to the point where she will physically fight for it...

Karl: Do you think her gullibility is part of that?

Brittany: Yeah, I think that part of her gullibility is due in part because most of the characters we see her with are children of Earth, and she’s a Fillorian. It’s just a thing, like going into a foreign country that you’ve never been to and is culturally really different. I was just in China a couple weeks ago, and it’s such a culture shift. I was reading an etiquette book about China because sometimes you go to another country and there are things that you think aren’t rude are actually incredibly rude or vice versa.  And so for Fen, I think the children of Earth just know things inherently, and Fen doesn’t know because she’s a Fillorian, and so I think if it was from a Fillorian's point of view, the other characters might end up looking a bit more gullible. I think, also, part of her gullibility is her belief that people are inherently good, and she just always believes the best in people. I mean, she gave Eliot a million chances as a husband, and I think she just believes that people are good, and that’s healthy. I mean, I’m like that myself in real life, but that can lead to being a little naive at times.

Karl: What about with Napster and some of the other magical creatures?

Brittany: Yeah, I think with the Napster, she was obviously conning them, and Margo knew from the start. I think that goes along with Fen’s belief about people telling her the truth, but with the Napster, specifically, I think she just wanted... she’s just been pushed aside so often in her life, that since it’s finally her quest, she just wanted to believe so deeply that she had a purpose and she had a quest, and so when she met the person she thought was going to give the quest to her, she just wanted to believe it more than anything, that it took over her common sense. Fen’s smarter than that, like dealing with the fake Napster... Wait, sorry, I just realized you’re talking about the real Napster -- you’re not talking about the lady in green who was pretending to be the Napster?

Karl: Well, a little of both, because with the real Napster, she is telling you to kill Margo.

Brittany: The thing with that was that it was a real quest, and she is a real magical creature. I guess Fillorians are just used to magical creatures, and if you are sent on a quest, and that person tells you what to do, it’s just a part of the Fillorian world. Fen ends up, obviously, not wanting to do it and wasn’t going to do it, and Margo told her to banish her. I think, for a while, Fen was really stuck because she wanted to honor the premonitions.

Karl: Yeah, when I was thinking of this question, I wanted to put myself in your point of view, and think that maybe some of the magical creatures can be vengeful if you don’t do what they say, like in the case of Penny’s hands, so I figured maybe you’d be more willing to follow her because of certain stories you might have heard in your time living in Fillory.

Brittany: Yeah, I think so... that’s just the world that I’ve lived in. Also, the whole purpose of this woman is that she can see the future, and she can see what the most correct path is. The only thing that confuses me is when she said to kill her, or “drench the crown in her blood.” I’m wondering if she said that, knowing that I wouldn’t actually murder Margo, but that I would dethrone her, because I had to do that, so she wouldn’t be a Fillorian so could go into the desert for her quest.

Karl: Yeah, if you are prepared for the worst, maybe you would do something less bad.

Brittany: Exactly. Make it so bad that the next worst thing is like, oh, that’s actually not too bad.

Karl: The show deviates from the books, and it doesn’t show as much of Fillory, and I was wondering if there was anything that the book had that you wished, as a Fillorian, that the show would incorporate or expand upon.

Brittany: Yeah, actually, there is something in particular that I’ve always really loved in the books is that Fen can do magic.  She is a magician; she just chooses not to use magic, and she is a warrior instead.  And my Fen isn’t a warrior, she’s just really good at using knives, which actually she might be, we’re just at the beginning of starting to see it now. So I would love it if they incorporated that into the show, that Fen has been able to do magic this whole time but just hasn’t told anybody and chooses not to use it until she really has to. But, yeah, I think they are starting to play up her warrior background a bit, which is what Fen in the book has, and I’m trying to remember parts of the book that are different from the show. but I can’t think of any right now.

Karl: We’ll probably get to more in Wednesday’s episode.

Brittany: Yes, for sure. Definitely actually.

Karl: So you just went to a singing audition, and the next episode is going to be a musical..

Brittany: Oh, yeah, I didn’t think of that...what a coincidence.

Karl: So I assume it’s going to incorporate some of the 80’s music on the iPod?

Brittany: Yeah, it will, partially...

Karl: Do you -- or, I guess it would be Margo’s hallucination of you -- do you get a chance to sing anything?

Brittany: I do, actually, yeah. I think I can say that. Yeah, I do sing in it, which was a lot of fun.

Karl: I was wondering, because Fen originally wasn’t a recurring character, and she was originally played by another actress. What was the story behind that?

Brittany: I don’t know, actually. All I know is that she did the last episode in season one, and when I came in to audition, I didn’t even know I was replacing somebody. I read the script, and I was really confused. I was like, it really feels like this character has already been introduced, and it took me so long to find out that she already had been introduced. I’m not sure what the story behind it was, and no one has told me, and I haven’t really asked. But, yeah, I came in, and I was supposed to only do seven episodes, then they ended up putting me in twelve episodes of season two, and then they made me a series regular. So the character unexpectedly grew from what was originally written, which is good for me because I love playing Fen.

Karl: So you’re done shooting now?

Brittany: Yes, we wrapped in November and we start up again in June for season five.

MORE INFORMATION:

In the newest season of "The Magicians," the adventure continues for everyone's favorite millennial magicians. Described as "hotly anticipated" by Variety and "terrific" by Forbes, the series is based on the New York Times best-selling trilogy of the same name by Lev Grossman, looking at magic through a dark lens and following a group of oddballs and misfits on their unpredictable adventures. Facing many hardships last season, including the discovery that the girl she thought was her daughter was a fairy spy and that her true daughter died during childbirth, Fen was seen in a dark place all the while trying to maintain peace in her kingdom. In the new season, the audience can expect to see a new side to Fen who is more determined than ever to find her own destiny and truly rule the land of Fillory.

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Page updated 3/27/19