The cast of Reign has been featured in a large number of magazine spreads. This is a list of them all, including dates of publications of actors names.
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Rachel Skarsten[]
Filler Magazine[]
Rachel Skarsten is not the type of actress that demands champagne served with bendy straws (so as not to smudge her lipstick), or worse, bottled alkaline water. The Toronto-raised actress is more the type to bring her own coffee to set, along with a smoothie for later, which she ultimately forgets in the fridge because the bagels from the morning breakfast platter, are too tempting not to tuck into again come lunch.
Not quite what one expects judging from appearances alone. The picture of a Hitchcock blonde, Skarsten gracefully eases into roles that have her playing the desirably untouchable; coolly controlled characters like the glacial beauty, Andrea, from this year’s blockbuster hit, Fifty Shades of Grey. After no more than five minutes of conversation with the actress though, it’s obvious that while she would be cast perfectly in a remake of the The Birds, as a person herself, there’s more Pollyanna in her than the aloof sophistication preferred by the Master of Suspense.
Skarsten is not just down-to-earth for an actress, she is down-to-earth full stop. Like the best friend you met in kindergarten and continue to travel across the continent to visit annually, chatting to Skarsten has the effect of transporting one to a sleepover, where playing Girl Talk is next on the evening’s agenda. She’s the type of person that when asked about celebrity culture and her rising star, makes statements like: “Social media is so funny…I wish I was as a cool as the Rachel Skarsten on Instagram.” Or, casually segues the conversation into a gush about her younger brother’s philanthropic endeavors.
She’s disarming, and it’s genuine. “I really truly just want to be known for kindness,” she shares over a glass of ice tea at a café in Toronto’s Roncesvalles neighbourhood. Grounding the 30-year-old actress is her past experience in the business. “I think at the end of the day, this job—as great as it is…and I know from experience because I have had this happen to me—it can be taken away in an instant. And while it is so wonderful, and I feel so incredibly humbled and blessed to be a part of it, it’s not real life. At the end of the day, you have yourself and the people you have come in contact with.”
Skarsten has been immersed in the arts since she was a child, training with Canada’s Royal Academy of Dance before she began acting. Her onscreen career started at the young age of twelve, eventually leading Skarsten to move from Toronto to Los Angeles when 16-years-old. As she shares, it was these early years in the business that taught her the lessons she holds onto firmly today.
Still a teenager when her Hollywood break came knocking, Skarsten landed a series lead on Birds of Prey—a Batman spinoff for the now defunct WB Television Network—in 2002. Starring Ashley Scott (UnREAL), Mia Sara of Ferris Bueller fame and Criminal Minds cast member, Shemar Moore (not to mention notable guest stars, including a young Aaron Paul and Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, as the voice of the Joker), the show’s premiere hit record numbers for the network, but ultimately was not renewed due to a drop in viewership.
After Birds of Prey’s cancellation, the actress’s career slowed, and she would eventually put acting on the back burner to enroll at Canada’s prestigious Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. (And, notably not in a I’m-a-celebrity-going-back-to-school sort of way, but in an Ontario-scholar-am-fluent-in-Norwegian-and-play-AA-hockey sort of way.) Flash forward past the actress receiving a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Classical History, and shortly thereafter embarking on a backpacking journey across Europe, and we come to in and around the time of Skarsten’s return to Hollywood…by way of the North.
Following guest appearances on Canadian shows, including Flashpoint and Republic of Doyle, Skarsten joined the cast of Showcase’s acclaimed Lost Girl (aired on Syfy in the U.S.) in its third season back in 2013. And, as those fickle acting Gods would have it, it would be this role, as the bounty hunter Tamsin, on a homegrown series—one produced with the participation of the Canadian Media Fund created by the Government of Canada and winner of the Fan Choice Award for Favourite Canadian Show at the 2014 Canadian Screen Award—that would ultimately result in Skarsten getting stopped in the streets of Los Angeles, where she lives when not filming in Toronto. As for her celebrity status at home, that’s there too, it’s just more…well, Canadian.
“I get recognized all the time in the States for Lost Girl. Rarely ever do I get recognized in Canada,” starts the actress. “Now, does that mean people don’t recognize me? Absolutely not; it just means they are way too polite to say anything to me. And I love it so much…although, I would rather they just come up to me because often times people will kind of be looking at me, and I’m like, “shit, do I have something on my face?”
The love to hate fixture on Lost Girl up until its highly anticipated series finale, aired just last month, Skarsten is moving on to a new project that takes her out of the realm of science fiction and into period drama, while keeping her as audiences’s steady going love to hate character.
Come October, audiences of the hit CW Network series Reign, will meet its new Queen and rival to show lead Adelaide Kane’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the role of Queen Elizabeth, Skarsten jumps into a narrative that has been unfurling since day one of the series: Elizabeth’s battle against Mary to claim the English throne. Cue the fan freak out.
“This is the second time now that I have joined a show in its third season, so I’m no secret to the third season entrance,” laughs Skarsten, who empathizes with feeling invested in a series and its characters. “I’m crazy too when someone joins a show that I really love. I’m like: ‘Who are you? Get off my screen!’” Skarsten anticipates that some audience members may not feel warm and fuzzy towards her character at the beginning, but the mischievous smile on her face as she explains this, suggests that there is an amusing challenge in that for her as an actress. “I think that they have written Elizabeth as a character that obviously is a nemesis to Mary Stuart, who is like a heroine. So, one of the things that Elizabeth does is she has to be unlikable. Those are always interesting characters to play…I hope some people don’t like me.”
Having already made a teaser appearance on the show at the end of the second season, anticipation surrounding Skarsten’s and her part in the upcoming season—premiering October 9th—is high. With induction into The CW being a golden ticket to the front of the line for the train headed towards young Hollywood, an increase in fan attention is an inevitable development in Skarsten’s foreseeable future. Come October, even polite Canadians may not be able to suppress their urge to ask for a selfie with the actress.
Currently in production for Reign, Skarsten takes a break from her hectic filming schedule to talk about the show, celebrity culture and what it means to be a Canadian actress straddling the 49th Parallel.
So, let’s start by talking about “Reign.” The introduction of Elizabeth has been a long time coming, fans are excited! You must be too, no?
I am! Obviously playing Elizabeth on any show or film in any capacity is a big responsibility because she was just this incredibly vivacious, powerful, strong leader, and you want to do that justice. I think it was even more special to be that in the time that she was, because she was up against so many odds to have that position and be a woman.
It’s true, she was fighting against a lot of prejudices. Were you already familiar with “Reign,” or have you had to do a bit of binge watching to get all caught up with the storyline?
I watched all forty-four episodes before I started filming because I wanted to know what was going on! Literally, I would be watching the show, and my friends would call me because they hadn’t seen me in two weeks, and I would be like, “I can’t talk to you, I’m watching Reign, bye.” I looked like a feral child coming out of my bed!
Since you’ve watched every episode, you’ve probably noticed how much your character has been mentioned in the show already? No pressure there, right?
I started to get really nervous because they talked about Elizabeth a lot! It was like “Elizabeth this, Elizabeth that and what about Elizabeth.” And I thought, oh my goodness, this is going to be really nerve-racking.
AT LEAST YOU HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE WITH COMING ON LATER IN A SERIES. YOU JOINED “LOST GIRL” IN SEASON 3, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, ALSO AS A CHARACTER THAT FANS LOVED TO HATE. I’M GUESSING IT WILL BE A BIT LIKE THAT THIS TIME AROUND WITH ELIZABETH TOO, DO YOU THINK?
Oh yeah! Tamsin was crazy. I loved her. Growing up, I would say, “crazy is just part of my charm.” And I think that crazy is part of Tamsin’s charm as well. But yeah, people love to hate her. I seem to play these redeemable villainous characters…the redeemable bitch. Do you know what I mean? I don’t know what that says about me. Everyone is like “Oh Rachel…but she’s redeemable.” (Laughing.) I like those characters; I think they’re more true to real life.
ON THAT NOTE, WILL “REIGN” STAY FAIRLY CLOSE TO ELIZABETH’S TRUE LIFE HISTORY? THERE’S DEFINITELY POTENTIAL FOR SOME INTERESTING DRAMA THERE; SHE LED QUITE THE LIFE.
It’s so funny because people are always like, “can you tell me anything about the show?” And I’m like, “you can just Wikipedia it.” I caught off her head, that’s what happens; so I win. (Laughing.) Adelaide and I joke about it, like “it’s just a matter of time before I…”
BREAK OUT THE GUILLOTINE? IT’S GREAT FOR TENSION, YOU KNOW WHAT’S COMING.
At least with this show I know that I’m sort of the last man standing, unless I completely screw it up. If I die on the show, it’s pretty much because I was terrible.
WELL WE DON’T PREDICT THAT HAPPENING! BESIDES, ELIZABETH IS TOO INTERESTING A CHARACTER TO WRITE OUT OF HISTORY. SHE WAS A VERY CUNNING AND DYNAMIC WOMEN AND RULER, WHILE ALSO SO YOUNG.
She’s caught in a place that I think all women find themselves in their early teens on through their mid-twenties, where you’re growing into your adult self, but you still carry with you so much of that child that you’ve just sort of grown out of being. We see Elizabeth, who’s in this position of extreme power, but also very vulnerable; her position sort of mirrors her life.
THAT’S A DELICATE STAGE. IT’S ALMOST LIKE BEING TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
Yeah. Some of the decisions she makes, some of the things that she says and the way she handles herself is incredibly mature, and then in other ways—like how she is with her love interest, Robert Dudley—she’s just a girl. She’s madly in love with him, yet they will never be able to be together. So there is sort of this dichotomy, which I can really relate to…having been twenty-four, and having been completely insane. (Laughing.)
YOU BROUGHT UP DUDLEY, ELIZABETH’S MAIN LOVE INTEREST, ROMANCE IS A BIG PART OF “REIGN,” WHICH MAKES YOUR CHARACTER ESPECIALLY INTERESTING AS THE VIRGIN QUEEN WHO NEVER MARRIED. CAN WE EXPECT SOME SECRET TRYSTS TO GET THROWN YOUR CHARACTER’S WAY THIS SEASON?
Yes, I have a lovely co-star, Charlie Carrick. He’s just the absolute best. He was a Rising Star at TIFF last year. It will be interesting to see how people react to his character, because obviously historically he’s married, and he is married in the show. At the end of the day, he’s cheating on his wife.
AND THAT MAKES ELIZABETH HARDER TO LIKE AS WELL.
The challenge is to make her likeable despite that, and to make people root for their love story.
IT’S DIFFICULT WHEN YOU’RE SOMEONE LIKE A ROYAL, IN A POSITION THAT OFTEN HAS PEOPLE FORGETTING THAT YOU HAVE EMOTIONS LIKE A REGULAR PERSON. DID YOU SENSE THAT STRUGGLE AS YOU WERE GETTING TO KNOW ELIZABETH AS A CHARACTER?
It’s so funny because I’ve become so intimate with Elizabeth now. She very much has her public and private persona, and I can relate to that because as an actor, you have to have your public and private persona.
IT’LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THE SHOW PLAYS OUT THE PRIVATE SIDE OF ELIZABETH’S HISTORY. WHAT ASPECT OF HER LIFE ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO EXPLORING?
Everyone talks about Elizabeth, and talks about what kind of character she was. She was this leader, but…what people don’t think about is what she was like when she was on her own—behind closed doors. She was afraid, she was confused, she was in love, and all of those things…I think that is what I’m most excited to play.
IT’S A VERY COMPLEX ROLE BECAUSE HER PERSONALITY DOES HAVE SO MANY LAYERS AND SHE IS SUCH A STRONG FEMALE FIGURE.
One hundred percent. I would like to think of myself as a feminist…I like the idea of being a trailblazer in a role that is typically meant for a man, or, vice versa, men in female jobs. Elizabeth is definitely one of the earlier feminists, but I think that we see more of the intimate side of that.
HOW DO YOU MEAN?
I think that some women do wake up and think, I’m going to be the face of this cause or I’m going to be the leader of feminism, and other women just find themselves in that position. I think that was sort of like Elizabeth. I don’t think she set out to be who she was, she did what she needed to…to follow her heart and to survive in that time, and out of it came this amazing story and character.
IT’S TRUE. MARY IS ALSO A VERY STRONG WOMAN AND LEADER, AND HISTORY HAS THE TWO PITTED AGAINST EACH OTHER. HOW HAVE YOU COME TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELIZABETH AND MARY? Elizabeth goes back and forward between hating Mary and respecting her, loving her because they are family and they are both a similar age, thrust into a similar position by different circumstances. I think even nowadays, when I read an article about an actress struggling with some sort of gender equality issue, or being put in a position to have nudity where their male counterparts don’t, and being taken advantage of for that, even if they are my competition as an actor, there is this incredible empathy that I feel for them. You root for them. And, so I think Elizabeth is very conflicted in terms or her relationship with Mary. Hopefully we will have some seasons to figure that out.
HERE’S HOPING! AFTER YOU AND ADELAIDE ARE FINISHED PRETEND HATING EACH OTHER ON SET, DO YOU TWO HANGOUT MUCH? Adelaide was so wonderful when it was announced that I got the part. It was not five minutes before I got a DM on Twitter welcoming me to the show. It’s a little bit frustrating now because the show basically films for eight days, and she films for four and I film for the other four; it’s like English court, French court. And so, she is like, “hey, I’m off want to hang out,” but I’m working. So yeah, we never really get to see each other. (Laughing.) Although, on the weekends we do! Yesterday we went to Pet Value together to get stuff for our pets. We’re just wild and crazy like that. (Laughing.)
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE CAST? DO YOU HANGOUT MUCH? Yeah, actually, this is one of the most family-like casts I have ever been with.
WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE CAST, I HAVE TO ASK ABOUT MEGAN FOLLOWS. SHE’S SUCH AN INCREDIBLE ACTRESS, ON STAGE AND IN FILM AND TELEVISION. AND THEN THERE’S OF COURSE, “ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.” WERE YOU ALREADY A FAN OF HERS? I mean, Megan’s reputation precedes itself, everyone knows who she is. I actually became a huge Megan fan when I watched the show, and she is hands down my favourite character. I’m obsessed with her on the show! I find it hard actually not to just want to copy her on the show. (Laughing.) She’s so good…she’s so good at playing bad, you know? You literally root for her. She’s brilliant in real life as well.
I LIKE HER LOOK ON THE SHOW TOO, IT’S AUSTERE, BUT STILL FEMININE. ALL THE FASHION ON “REIGN” IS AMAZING. IT STRADDLES THE LINE BETWEEN BEING PERIOD APPROPRIATE AND MODERN, WELL. I MEAN, SOME OF THE OUTFITS YOU COULD ALMOST WEAR OUT TO A RED CARPET EVENT TODAY…MINUS THE CROWN. DON’T YOU THINK? That’s what Meredith, the head costume designer, wanted. She wanted Reign to feel like if you caught these people on a Tuesday afternoon. So not when they were in their full formal garb, more when they were just around the castles with each other, and I love that. Today actually, I tried on a coat inspired by the current Versace runway, mixed with inspiration from a Spanish princess that was a fashionista. She had this portrait of her, and she melded the two together. The jacket that she made for me was this perfect combination of the two.
IT MUST BE SO FUN PLAYING DRESS UP LIKE THAT. I love to see all the pieces! It is so intentional, each character has a color palette and Meredith sort of stays in that theme, so that you recognize the character, even just by the colour that they’re wearing.
THAT’S INTERESTING, I’M GOING TO WATCH OUT FOR THAT. Yes! Adelaide wears a lot of Snow White colors, like red, white, black. I wear gold, Catherine wears a lot of black.
SO GOLD, HUH? HOW VERY ROYAL! As a blonde, when she was like, “you’re going to wear a lot of gold,” I was like “great, I’m going to look like shit.” But I forgot that I’m actually a redhead in the show, so it looks amazing! (Laughing.) I’m going to wear one of those dresses for my wedding someday.
IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE, WHAT’S YOUR PERSONAL STYLE LIKE? WOULD YOU SAY YOUR FASHION SENSE IS GIRLY, LAID-BACK, MORE EDGY? Pretty much like this. [The actress is wearing a white t-shirt maxi dress.] My favorite outfit, on a girl or guy is I think what you’re most comfy when wearing: a t-shirt and beat up jeans. I love that look. I think it’s timeless. It was great in the ‘80s, ‘90s and now. That is very much my style. One of my girlfriends actually, who has great style, she describes mine as classic with a twist. Very classic all-American clothing, but then with something very funky.
A TWIST HERE AND THERE IS GOOD. I also like to change my style depending on where I am. Right now I’m living in Parkdale, so I find myself pretty hipster. It’s great; I bring out all my plaid! (Laughing.) Whereas, when I was in New York, I was much more sort of J.Crew, Ralph Lauren. To me, I think personal style doesn’t have to mean that you have one look that defines you. I think personal style can be sprinkled over different types of clothing, different looks and different designers.
WHAT ABOUT THE RED CARPET? ARE YOU ALREADY A PRO? The red carpet is my worst nightmare. I always say, a film camera, no problem, but a still camera, I just freeze up. It’s the oddest thing because when you think about my job, I literally stand in front of eighty to a hundred people, depending on how big the crew and cast is that day. I play act with a grown male or female, and I can be hysterically bawling or having a love scene, and I do it all in front of these people. Yet when it comes to standing still and smiling on a red carpet…no.
IT’S TOUGH. I THINK THE WHOLE RED CARPET THING COMES NATURALLY TO A RARE FEW PEOPLE. DOES IT EVER FEEL DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE BODY IMAGE WITH ALL THE PRESSURE TO LOOK LIKE THE “PERFECT” STAR? Absolutely. And I’m also tall, so you know I can have a similar body type to someone else, but because I’m 5”10, only if I stopped eating would I be a size 0. Truthfully playing hockey saved me, because I was more concerned with being strong, than I was being skinny.
I FEEL LIKE ALL THAT SORT OF STUFF IS A BIT BETTER IN CANADA THOUGH, WOULD YOU AGREE? LITTLE LESS PAPARAZZI OVER HERE THAN IN PLACES LIKE THE U.S. AND BRITAIN? Oh, one hundred percent.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WAY THE CANADIAN MEDIA COVER ITS OWN? IN GENERAL, THERE REALLY ISN’T TOO MUCH THAT’S COMPARABLE TO THE WAY SAY THE U.S. COVERS THEIR CELEBRITIES. To me it is sort of a double edged sword. I think as an actor…that is all part of the machine that makes the industry. While I think that there is a line that should not be crossed, to get into this business and be upset about the fact that that is a part of it, I mean…you can’t be. It would be like the royal family saying they don’t want anyone visiting Buckingham Palace. People get a little curious. I think it just takes proper management. Having said that, I’m not a Kardashian, so I don’t know. (Laughing) And, while it’s so great being in Canada—having no one really bother you, no cameras following you around—we also don’t feed into our own industry, in that sense.
SO A LITTLE MORE ATTENTION ON OUR OWN STARS WOULDN’T HURT, YOU MEAN? I think we can kind of take a page from Australia or the UK or the States, where they are interested in their own celebrities, and what they are doing.
WHAT ABOUT CELEBRITY CULTURE AND FANDOM IN GENERAL, WOULD YOU SAY IT HAS GOTTEN BETTER OR WORSE WITH THE ADVENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA? IN SOME WAYS, I GUESS YOU CAN CONTROL THE CONVERSATION MORE NOW THROUGH YOUR OWN CHANNELS. I think it is much easier to control your image, but not for the better necessarily. Twitter I tolerate, Instagram I actually really love because I love taking pictures; it’s kind of an artistic creative outlet. Twitter is sort of the annoying younger brother that has to hangout with Instagram. (Laughing.) A lot of people feel celebrities are too accessible, and that you know too much about them as people. I would agree with that to a certain extent. But, we knew a lot about Grace Kelly and her life, and that—in so many ways—overshadowed her as a film actress. But, it didn’t change my love for her.
I THINK THE THING IS TOO, SOCIAL MEDIA DOESN’T REALLY GIVE A REALISTIC PICTURE OF A PERSON’S LIFE, AND PEOPLE FORGET THAT. I think people put forth this image, and I’m guilty of it to. You don’t know about the shitty days or when an actor has been rejected for a part.
YOU ONLY SEE THE GOOD STUFF. THE ENVIABLE STUFF. I actually took a video and put it up because I had a huge pimple. Oh! You know that try to make yourself look skinny app? I tried it. I think I did it wrong. It looked really weird.
YEAH, I THINK THAT APP IS WEIRD. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON THE RECEIVING END OF ANY MEMORABLE MEAN TWEETS, OR HAVE YOU MANAGED TO DODGE THOSE? I mean my fans are actually really lovely. I rarely have anyone make rude comments. I actually once had a YouTube video made, someone had digitally put poop on my eye. Yup! That is totally true. (Laughing.) And that actually really hurt my feelings. And now it’s funny, I kind of admire how much work that must have taken for someone to digitally put poop on my eye.
I CAN’T BELIEVE SOMEONE DIGITALLY PUT POOP ON YOUR EYE! JUST BACK TO THE INDUSTRY, IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU TO WORK ON CANADIAN SHOWS AND FILMS, IN ADDITION TO NURTURING YOUR CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD? IS THAT CHOICE SOMETHING YOUR ESPECIALLY CONSCIOUS OF? I wish I could say it was all on purpose. I mean, I love filming here, I love the crews and I love the people, but, I also love adventure and love travelling. That’s one of the reasons I signed up for this crazy life. I’m in love with that part of it, filming in different locations, you know?
I KNOW YOU SAY IT HASN’T QUITE ALL BEEN ON PURPOSE, BUT DO YOU THINK DOWN THE ROAD, YOU WILL STILL SEEK OUT CANADIAN PROJECTS? Oh, yeah! Sometimes I fantasize about if you brought all the amazing Canadian actors who have left back to Canada, and they all just made movies here, how great the Canadian industry would be. I think it is beaming with talent here, and we need to embrace that a little bit more and celebrate it, which is why things like TIFF are so great. That’s one of the reason I really admire an actress like Sarah Gadon, who has worked really hard to maintain her career in Canada. I do think it is becoming possible, in a way that it would have never been before.
Adelaide Kane[]
Unknown Photoshoot[]
Adelaide Kane in an Unknown Photoshoot in 2014.
"I learned by watching my favorite TV shows. I would just rewind and say the words back, until they sounded right to me. I never studied the American accent, in terms of getting a teacher or taking phonetics classes. I’ve always been a good mimic. It really wasn’t that hard for me
TV Guide[]
Adelaide Kane in TV Guide for their September 2014 issue.
Entertainment Weekly Magazine[]
Adelaide Kane in Entertainment Weekly Magazine for their September 2014 issue. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When we next see you on the show, you’re the Queen of France. What does this mean for you as the character—will we be seeing a new side of Mary? How has your character evolved? And will you take after Marie de Guise, as played by Amy Brenneman, or will we see you more as a Queen Catherine-type? There’s no feast – all famine right, as the season begins? You seem to be implying that there might not be too much of a ‘happily ever after’ with your marriage to Francis. What can you tell us about where’s that’s going? But before you can really get into the politics, there will be a party. There will be a coronation, right? Can you tell me about what you’ll wear? I swear you have the best job on TV just because of the clothes. If you were to compare the coronation dress to the wedding dress, how would you describe it or put it forth? It seems like a statement about how your character has changed from one season to the next. Are you discounting at all the fact that you may or may not have a baby this season? It didn’t happen in history but this isn’t a documentary series so … Yeah. Could you have a miscarriage? What do you think they’ll do? Like a phantom pregnancy. You totally should. You never know. Many successful actress in Hollywood have a side hustle— maybe yours can be screenwriting. Like a lot of fans, I’m really going to miss King Henry. Do you think he might come back? Whether as a ghost or in flashbacks—something? Right. If you can’t do ghosts, please convince Laurie to bring Henry back in flashbacks because he was amazing. And I have to add, that we were promised a lot of sex this season. But if Henry is not around, who will be doing it? So is Mary having the most sex? I can’t wait. That’s one way to think about it. Speaking of mush, I loved Amy Brenneman as your mom. Do you think there’s any possibility she’ll come back as your mom at all this season? Will there be any other guest stars this season? I wrote that. Way to give me my own spoilers. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. |
TV Week Australia[]
Adelaide Kane in TV Week Australia for their August 2014 issue.
West Australian[]
Adelaide Kane in West Australian for their July 2014 issue.
Tyler Shields[]
Adelaide Kane appeared in Tyler Shields for their April 2014 issue.
Justin Cambell JustJared Exclusive[]
Adelaide Kane in justjared.com for their April 2014 issue. Just Jared: Congratulations on the renewal for a second season of Reign! Did you celebrate? JJ: How far into shooting are you? JJ: What are you going to do during your hiatus? JJ: What’s your favorite thing to do in Toronto? JJ: Do you have a favorite restaurant? JJ: Do you have a favorite prop from set? JJ: Did you know calligraphy beforehand? Did you just learn it on the spot? JJ: What’s the most fun thing that you’ve done to prepare for a scene? JJ: Do you have a most memorable scene that you’ve shot so far? JJ: Has anyone played any pranks on set? JJ: Do you have a favorite off-screen memory? JJ: Describe your cast members in one word. Toby Regbo. JJ: Torrance Coombs. JJ: Megan Follows. JJ: Anna Popplewell. JJ: Caitlin Stasey. JJ: Celina Sinden. JJ: Alan van Sprang. JJ: What’s your favorite music right now? JJ: Do you follow any other TV shows yourself? What’s your favorite?< JJ: Any favorite movies? JJ: Favorite food? JJ: Do you have a favorite person to follow on Twitter? JJ: Favorite person to follow on Instagram? |
Teen Vouge[]
Adelaide Kane in Teen Vouge for their November 2013 issue.
Bello Magazine[]
Adelaide Kane appears in Bello Magazine. in April 2014 On fashion: “When you wear a corset and ball gown and heels all day, every day, you get sick of dressing up. I get excited to dress up for modern events, like the People's Choice Award, for example. Doing events like that is super fun, because I don’t really dress up to go out anymore. I don’t really even go out anymore because I work so much.” “And when I do go out, I’m in boots or really comfy platforms and jeans and a t-shirt or a sweater, and that’s it. I do not dress up, because of course I’m in stilettos all week. But it is fun to once in a blue moon dress up for an event. That, to me, is cool.” On life necessities: “My cell phone…I couldn’t live without it, definitely. And jeans! All I wear is jeans. Also Mexican food. I know it sounds goofy. And just books. I can’t live without books.” On her favorite shows: “I started watching The Originals, because I know a lot of the kids in The Originals, and there are a lot of Australians, like Phoebe Tonkin, and Claire Holt. And Luke Mitchell’s in The Tomorrow People, and I’m just really excited about young Australians doing well this season in television, which is awesome. When we’re successful enough, we can take the work back to Australia.” |
CBS Watch Magazine[]
Adelaide Kane, Torrance Coombs and Toby Regbo glamed up in Dolce & Gabbana, and high-end designers in the current issue of CBS Watch in March 2014. Torrance on clicking with the cast: “We were out every night at the pub, sharing stories, sharing laughter, and somehow magically in Ireland, you wake up and you’re not hung over. I don’t know how that works.” Adelaide on almost missing out: “I had a moment a few years ago where I wasn’t sure if I was acting for myself or because people expected it of me. A bit of a crisis of faith, I suppose. I did some soul-searching, took a break and decided I was going to live my life only for me.” POP! A celebratory toast begins the fashion shoot with the cast of The CW’s new drama Reign, and the actors are feeling the excitement. “This is weird in the most wonderful way,” says Adelaide Kane, dancing in a suite at The New York Palace hotel. The starlet steps into a Dolce & Gabbana outfit and puts on a set of outrageously heavy earrings. The series is only four days away from its network debut and its royal trinity of stars—Kane, Toby Regbo and Torrance Coombs—is in New York for Comic Con, the sci-fi and comics convention, where the cast got its first taste of audience affection in the long road from casting a pilot to airing the premiere. Months of hard work and the hopes of several careers are bound up in the weekly drama about teenage Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, in the court of France on the eve of her wedding. But the Comic Con fans were ecstatic, so the troika is celebrating. “It’s the closest thing I’ve experienced to being onstage, getting to feel an audience’s immediate reaction,” says Regbo, who made his stage debut at London’s Royal Court Theatre when he was 17 and now stars as Prince Francis on The CW's drama. Reign is part fantasy, part history and all imperial drama. To amp up the heat, producers turned a historical romance into a love triangle, giving Francis an illegitimate half-brother, Sebastian, played by Coombs, who competes for Mary’s admiration and the attention of his father, the king of France. While there is a palpable three-way spark onscreen, there is nothing but playfulness as the actors loosen their corsets and lay down their swords at The New York Palace. The room practically bubbles with the affection among Kane, Regbo and Coombs. The mutual lovefest has been going on since they first met while shooting the pilot on location in Ireland. “We were out every night at the pub, sharing stories, sharing laughter,” says Coombs, who is back in tights after his turn on Showtime’s hit series The Tudors. “And somehow magically in Ireland, you wake up and you’re not hung over. I don’t know how that works.” Once Reign got the green light from The CW, filming moved to Toronto and the pub crawls were less frequent. “In Canada, it doesn’t work,” Coombs says, laughing. “We sort of tried the first week, like, ‘Hey! We’re going drinking!’ And then everyone was, like, ‘Oomph. …’ We were feeling it the next day. So there’s still that summer camp feel, but we’ve settled into a rhythm now. We’re just living our lives—we’re citizens of a city now, not visitors.” A reporter can’t help but ask: Did any of the onscreen romances erupt into their personal lives? “Actors are notorious for sleeping with co-stars and it causes a lot of trouble,” says Kane. “But everyone in this cast is attached, in serious committed relationships, and it makes everyone relaxed.” Having sweethearts back home inoculates the cast against steamy gossip fodder (and heartbreaks), but the awkwardness of love, rejection and adolescent peer pressure is front and center in the script. “Do I fit in? What should I do with my life? The characters in Reign are having those same anxieties on the screen,” says Coombs. “At some point (in my teens), I became afraid to be ridiculous in public; I felt like I had to cast it away and have everyone think I was cool.” Adelaide_stairs Filming Reign has been liberating in other ways as well: “I just did the first nude scene of my career,” says Regbo. “They give you a little drawstring bag, called a modesty sack. It was anything but.” In addition to losing their inhibitions—and sometimes their clothing—filming a period piece required the actors to learn a whole new set of skills. Instead of fistfights there are sword fights, and when one is learning new tricks—albeit 500-year-old ones—it is impossible to be overly self-conscious. Coombs practiced what he thought was an elegant dismount from his horse, take after take, but his cloak got caught on the saddle. At last, riding into the frame, he stuck the landing perfectly. Next? “My horse then backs into a tree and starts scratching his ass,” he says. “Bloody horse, acting just like a horse would,” laughs Regbo. Kane sees parallels between the dramas of teenagers in courtly France and her own. Queen Mary is torn between her obligations to her country and her duty to herself. “I had a moment a few years ago where I wasn’t sure if I was acting for myself or because people expected it of me. A bit of a crisis of faith, I suppose,” she says. “I did some soul-searching, took a break and decided I was going to live my life only for me.” Within the year she was cast on Teen Wolf and soon after as Mary Stuart in Reign. Of course, the options available to her are wildly different from the life-or-death choices of a 16th-century queen, she admits. “I’m not responsible for other people’s lives, so that’s great.” The high-stakes plot of Reign centers on the superstitions of a medieval castle, with doomsday prophecies from Nostradamus and dire warnings from ghosts. To Kane, the specters present a chance to explore a different side of herself. “I have ‘dream clicks.’ It sounds silly, but I’ll dream a few frames or seconds of something months or years or weeks or days away, and I’ll be going about my life and I’ll turn and look up and hear a click in my head and will know exactly what’s going to play out in the next three to five seconds. And I take it to mean that I’m in the right place, and I’m doing the right thing.” The setting sun begins to light up Gotham’s skyscrapers. It is a magical and golden hour, so has Kane experienced a prophecy about Reign? “Actually, I’ve had quite a few of those clicks since we started,” she says, with a smile. |
Vanity Fair[]
Adelaide Kane appears in Vanity Fair. in January 2013 issue.
Torrance Coombs[]
TheWrap's “Drinking With the Stars[]
Torrance Coombs is a master of intrigue.
The actor, who plays Sebastian on The CW's “Reign,” revealed a few tantalizing details from the show's highly-anticipated season finale on this episode of TheWrap's Drinking With the Stars.
While Coombs promised a few shockers, he was mum on specifics.
“I'll tell you there's a confrontation coming up,” Coombs said. “We will see everything with the darkness come to a head. The confrontation is maybe not what people expect. It's fun. I like where we went with it.”
“As always, when one problem is solved, it opens up another,” Coombs continued. “So, I think our finale will satisfy people in terms of tying up most of the loose ends, but it certainly doesn't leave everything … in a happy place necessarily or in a resolved place before next season.”
The season finale of Reign airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on M3, and Thursday May 15 at 9/8 central on The CW
Glamoholic Magazine[]
Torrance Coombs in the January 2015 issue.
On Reign: “It’s been an interesting experience. On the one hand, we’ve all become a family working on it together and it’s been the time of my life. On the other hand, the newness has worn off a bit and we shoot so many episodes it can beat you down. I still wouldn’t trade it though.”
On the business: “I’m lucky in that I’ve never really had a lot of naysayers. Everyone close to me has always told me (to my face) that they believed in me. I’ve also worked fairly steady so I’ve had the sense I’m on the right path. I was also lucky to have some people take big chances on me when I was starting out.”
On the blessing of Canada: “My career started in Canada. It’s a much smaller casting pool so you don’t feel as much like you’re struggling to be noticed. It frees you up to be yourself instead of who you think they want you to be. I tired to bring that mentality south with me when I jumped into the big pond.”
Bello Magazine[]
Torrance Coombs in the October 2014 issue
“When it hasn’t aired yet, that’s what it’s like. You just don’t know if people are going to care. I’ve done that. You work really hard on something and once you present it to the world there’s a collective “meh”, explains the Canadian actor. “To have the show come out and get the following that it did, and then an early renewal for a second season was a huge vote of confidence. Now we’re making something we know people dig. There’s confidence in that. Also going into the gig the first time I was just like, ‘Please don’t recast me.’”24-episodes later and there’s no other actor fans of the series could see play Bash, the outsider with a heart of gold and a protection streak. Instead fans are rooting for Bash in the battle for Mary’s heart.
The series has been praised for its portrayal of female relationships, particularly Adelaide Kane’s Mary and her close-knit group of Ladies-in-Waiting. Mary and her friends lift each other up and respect each other without judgment of what any of them has been up to around the corners and halls of the royal court. In an interview earlier this year Kane sat down with BELLO and spoke of welcoming the responsibility of playing Mary and her newfound duty as a role model for girls. Coombs on the other hand has no such thoughts, as his character, from his name to his hair, is purely fictional. “I thought to myself, “What does it mean to be a bastard?” And, in this context, heavily involved in the royal family, but without that responsibility. I really just try and make it as personal as I can. I’m not beholden to any kind of historical standard; I just get to make him me.” If there’s anything Coomb’s character became known for besides his brooding selflessness, it was his eyes – those enchanting emerald green eyes – both of which will be back next season.
With the forth-coming second season, Coombs offered his own predictions for sason two and among those was the topic of The Plague, a disease that claimed many lives during its run. And not to be forgotten. Kenna and Bash have been left with a child. “Bash has also killed both his father and his mentor, so I wonder what he thinks of all that,” he jokes. “And of course, Francis is now the new King, so I’m guessing my character will be there to help him out. I think we’ve restored the brotherly love between them in the show so my hope is that he’ll be protecting him now that he’s in this new position.” One thing fans of the series can be sure of is that Coomb’s accent will be back, even better than before. Having watched ample episodes of his show, I congratulated him for having fooled me into thinking he was actually English. To which he replied, “I was kind of an accent geek in theater school.”
Cast[]
M'Lady Magazine[]
Glamour magazine[]
Adelaide Kane, Caitlin Stasey, Anna Popplewell, Jenessa Grant and Celina Sinden appear for October 2013.
Adelaide Kane on the costumes: “Spanx are a piece of cake compared to a corset! I actually had to spread out my lunch into three small meals because if I ate too much at once, my stomach would hurt. On the plus side, you almost don’t need to act. The corset helps you carry yourself and walk in a different way all on its own.”
Anna Popplewell on filming on location: “Celina and I are from England, Adelaide and Caitlin are from Australia, and Jenessa is from Canada. So we were all far from home and went on amazing touristy adventures in Dublin, including a visit to the Guinness factory. I like Guinness, but it’s too filling!”
Jenessa Grant on royal dreams: “I wasn’t really the princess type—I actually wanted to be Aladdin, not Jasmine. I always used to look up to the male characters in movies because they were the ones in on all the action. But these days, I think there are stronger female heroes on-screen.”
Caitlin Stasey on her favorite royal: “Cleopatra. She was such a powerful woman.”
Related Pages[]
Pages relating to Interviews are the following:
• Video Interviews
• Magazine Issues • Social Media Interviews • M'Lady Magazine
• Paparazzi Photos • Behind the Scenes • Cast Photos
Awards: Canadian Screen Award | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | People's Choice Award | Teen Choice Awards |