Mrs. Coulter actor “ready to leave” His Dark Materials
By Daniel Roman
As actors often joke, it’s good to be bad…but what about when being bad means you strike terror into the hearts of children across the world and even your own family starts to second guess your true nature? Actor Ruth Wilson, who plays Mrs. Coulter on His Dark Materials, opened up recently in an interview with Empire about her time playing the show’s most complex villain. The show has wrapped filming on its third and final season, and while the annals of film history are littered with stories of actors being loath to move on from large projects, Wilson at least was “ready to leave” His Dark Materials by the time it was finished.
Slight SPOILERS below for the third season of the show.
Ruth Wilson ready to say goodbye to Mrs. Coulter
“I was ready to leave,” Wilson told Empire. “I love creating things. I’m not so good at sustaining stuff. Mrs. Coulter is iconic, she’s brilliant, and the challenges of this season were really good because she becomes a goodie, so, how do I manage that? It’s a fine line to go from a fun baddie into that.”
Mrs. Coulter’s character arc in season 3 sees her pulled between her own ambition and the need to do right by her daughter Lyra (Daphne Keene). Mrs. Coulter does a lot of awful stuff…but there are also moments where she supporting Lyra in her quest. As anyone who’s read the third book, The Amber Spyglass, could tell you, that theme continues right up until the end. We won’t go too deep into spoilers here, but suffice it to say that Mrs. Coulter has a very compelling arc with some serious redemptive moments.
Wilson is about as perfect a choice for the part as possible. She really nails the depth of the character and steals the scene any time she appears. But such dedication to the role comes with a cost. According to Wilson, her time as the terrifying Mrs. Coulter caused even some of her own family members to see her in a new light.
“My nephew watched the first season, and that Christmas he looked at me in a different way,” the actor said. “‘Who are you, really? I’m not sure I trust you. I’m not sure I know who you are.’ But now he loves me.”
Hopefully whatever part Wilson lands next after His Dark Materials won’t involve striking fear into the hearts of children.
No release date has yet been announced for His Dark Materials season 3, but we know it will be coming sometime in 2022.
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