The third season of The Wheel of Time, based on the epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, premieres this Thursday! We've been talking to the cast and crew ahead of time, getting more excited with each interview.
Today, we chat with Madeleine Madden, who plays Egwene al'Vere. What in store for Egwene in season 3? What was it like filming the new episodes in far-flung places around the globe, and what distinguishes season 3 from the prior two? Watch our interview below and read on for the written version!
WiC: What's something you're especially excited for fans to see in The Wheel of Time season 3?
Madeleine Madden: "I'm really excited for fans to see our dream-walking. I know that that's been teased by [showrunner Rafe Judkins]. So I'm really excited for fans to see how much we've actually drawn from the books as well, because this season is the closest season that we've done from the books. So we've drawn a lot of the inspiration — just the way it looks visually — from the books. So for me, that was really exciting as a fan of the books, but also as an actor, to step into this and to see everything that's possible in the dream world is very exciting."
WiC: As we've seen in trailers, Egwene will head to the Aiel Waste in season 3. What was it like filming in the desert environments?
Madden: "It was a challenge. It was a real challenge. We were shooting in the middle of summer in Cape Town, so it was very very very hot. But also it's a massive gift to be able to shoot on location, and not just shoot out of a studio for these moments. It's really important that you're on a location because the landscape in this series is like a character of its own. So to be able to interact with that, and to touch things that are tangible, really informs your energy.
"And even the weather. Like when it was really hot, and we were thirsty and needing to sit down, that actually really works in the scene. I feel like there wasn't much acting that needed to be done to look tired in those scenes."
WiC: Just out of curiosity, how hot does it get in the summer in Cape Town?
Madden: "We had a day that was, like, 50 degrees Celsius." (Editor's note: that's about 122 degrees Fahrenheit.)
WiC: It looks like Rand and Egwene's relationship will grow more tense this season. Can you tease anything about where they're at?
Madden: "Absolutely. I think, when we find them back together at the beginning of season 3, there's a lot of unresolved issues and conversations, and I think it's very endearing that they try to rekindle what was a relationship from what feels like a lifetime ago. But so much has happened, and they're people that have forever changed. And we see this season their relationship comes to a head, and we see them actually talk about what's going on in their lives and what they've experienced, which is something they've been keeping from everyone, really."
WiC: You're playing a post-traumatic stress arc after Egwene's time with Renna and the Seanchan. What was that like [with] Egwene working through...the lingering trauma of a really terrible experience?
Madden: "I think when you're on a series and in a story this large in scale, it's easy to sort of skip ahead and be like, 'Okay, that happened and now we gotta move on.' Because there's so much more we need to tell, and I've been really fortunate that I was given the time in this season to be able to flesh out that journey. And it was really important for me as an actor to honor what she has been through, and that it's not just something she can easily recover [from]; and so the healing needs to honor that time. And so we see her really come to terms with what's happened to her, and we the way her trauma is manifesting in the dream world, and she has to sort of face that head on."
WiC: Did you have a favorite new scene partner to play off [in season 3]?
Madden: "I have two...They're the wise ones. So Nukâka [Coster-Waldau] and Salóme [Gunnarsdóttir], who play the Wise Ones. I was so excited to work with them. And in the books, you can think of who will play a character and maybe their age or whatever — your mind kind of runs free — and when you meet you've been sort of stewing on these pages for so long and rehearsing these lines with these characters that you haven't even met, and I think jumping into a scene with them was a breath of fresh air, because I think they bring something so different to the show that we really haven't seen before. And that's the beauty of this show, as well, is we have casts from all over the world, and everything brings something so unique to the work that they do. So all of my scenes that I did with them were really wonderful."
WiC: Anything you think distinguishes the new season from the second one or the first two in general? What's new about this one?
Madden: "It's the closest season to the books that we've done so far, so I think that's something that'll make the book fans really happy; there's a lot of little easter eggs in there that relate back to the book. I think for new audiences, we're so established in the world that we have now. Our characters feel really fleshed out. The magic feels established. And also, just visually, this season is breathtaking. I think it's the biggest that we've done so far, and everyone's hard work really translates onscreen.
"So I think that's what sets it aside from past seasons. I heard a lot of people say that they think this is the best season so far, so we'll have to get your take once it comes out."
Thanks to Madeleine Madden for speaking with us! And check out some of our other interviews with the cast and crew:
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