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Interview with Katie McGrath (Labyrinth)
By Audrey Oeillet, Arnaud Doucerain and Aurélie-Gabrielle Ruas, conducted July 7, 2012

Katie McGrath is a regular at Comic Con Paris: she was present in the two previous editions for the promotion of the British series Merlin, in which she plays the character of Morgana. This year, we met again, but to talk this time of the miniseries Labyrith in which she plays Oriane, a major character. An interview with joy and good humour!

Hi Katie! Can you tell us a bit about Oriane, your character in Labyrinth?
So I play Oriane, the elder sister of Alaïs du Mas. She is somehow the engine of malevolent forces at work in the medieval part of the story. Through her jealousy towards her sister, she puts this book, which is the heart of the plot, in danger, by removing it from the hands of Alaïs, the guardian, to bring it into the hands of let us say, someone more harmful.
She is...I would try to say it in a delicate and nice way, but ...she's evil. There is someone more evil, but she's still evil.

Like Morgana, she has a lot of problems with her father...
Yes. The difference is that before the beginning of the novel, or the TV series, Oriane is already broken. She's already doomed in some way, there's no possible redemption for her.
As for Morgana, because we know the legend, because we know what she went through, we see her more as a sympathetic character, you feel that there may be redemption. With any luck, I don't know yet myself.
But Oriane has no good side. She may have a sympathetic side, but ...she will not become nice at the end.

Did you know about book before, have you read it?
I bought it as soon as it was released. I would have loved to play Oriane, no other character really interested me. So when they called me to play another role...seriously, I was bad! I thought, 'no one is going to be drawn to that! "
While for Oriane, I was cast almost instantly.

You're not interested in nicer roles?
I would love to [play them]. I think when I read the role of Oriane, as I was still filming Merlin, I thought, "I can play someone evil." Ultimately, Oriane and Morgana are not all the same, and I hope nobody expects them to be, but I was so plugged into Morgana in my head, as I was playing her for eight months, that I wasn't able to get out of it to play Alice [T/N: the lead role in the present-day part of the series]. And then when you see Vanessa (Vanessa Kirby, who plays Alice -Ed.), she was so brilliant and wonderful, that you wouldn't want someone else for this role. It's perfectly understandable why they ignored me and made the choice.

Christopher Smith (the director of Labyrinth) told you to play it differently, even if you had already played a villain. Can you tell us a little more?
With Morgana, she was a character we know very well, for five years...I play her with all the [history of] years past, and you can see all the little pieces of what she was.

With Oriane, she was a complete character from the start. I know who she is from beginning to end, because it is a complete story, I know how it will end. So in those two 90-minute episodes, I know where I am. Whereas with Morgana, you must discover that each year, including as an actress.

And that's the difference, as Oriane is already a complete character, and there are no surprises while you play her, because you know what you have to do, and you can portray it completely, you know? These are two very different characters, as Morgana has gone through many changes, then with Oriane, she is who she is. I'm really bad at explaining this stuff. Et voilà. (said in French)

You said you haven't met John Hurt?
I've never met him! I've never met him on Merlin, I've never met him on Labyrinth. I didn't film in Carcassonne, so I wasn't there when he was there, and he didn't film turned in Cape Town so...I didn't see him. I think he was there for a few days, but I was already gone. It's crazy.

In addition, he lived in the area of Ireland where I come from, and his ex-girlfriend watched over [T/N: babysat?] us, my brothers and me. Seriously...I should have already met John Hurt!

Maybe he doesn't want to meet you...
Yes, that must be it. "Bouuh, she's a bitch, I don't want to meet her. Katie McGrath? Nah, I'll take the back door."

But John Lynch, who played Balinor in Merlin, is also in Labyrinth. And he is an amazing actor, there is not a single reason on this earth why he isn't yet a great and wonderful Oscar winner. He's the actor most "present" whom I worked with. It's scary when he acts.

So you have not filmed in Carcassonne?
No, I didn't need to go there, I had to film in Cape Town only.

Perhaps because with the filming of Merlin, you're used to France?
Oh, and suddenly, I would not have needed to be in France. Maybe, but suddenly I felt a little lost, because that time that everyone was in Cape Town, the others had been together for two weeks, they had all already bonded. But of course, from the first night, it didn't matter anymore. We filmed 10 days in Carcassonne, and five or six weeks in Cape Town, still filming the contemporary part simultaneously. But the medieval part seems more obscure, because of the period, because it is farther from reality, while the contemporary part is more accessible, since it's just what we see every day.

Who do you prefer, between Julian Jones (Merlin writer whom she was with in the previous Comic Con, -Ed.) and Christopher Smith?
From the perspective of writing, or the fact of working together?

Working in general?
Julian never directed in Merlin...Julian is great! His work is already done when he gives us the sсript, so he's always happy and lovely, because his work is done, he just has to sit and enjoy until the next sсript.

Whereas with Chris, we are with him while he works. He is a very "visceral" director, he is very involved, he's a real director of actors. And he doesn't have fixed ideas, like "that, it doesn't work." He lets you try, and will never say that an idea is a bad idea.
These are two totally different experiences.

Afterwards, if we go out for a few beers, I think I could drink well with both! (laughs)

Chris Smith told us he loved filming in the dirt, he said the grime was "sexy". Was that felt on set? More than on Merlin, for example?
Yes! With Labyrinth, for the first few days, I seemed too clean. All the others were already dirty, but for some reason, do not ask me, the dirt doesn't appear on me. Even when you watch the series, I'm not as dirty as the others. They put dirt on me, and it did not work. Or, makeup artists lied to me: "Like so, we put the dirt" when in fact, they did not.

But yes, it's very different. Because Merlin is much more a fantasy series, they take liberties with realism. Labyrinth also has foundations in fantasy, but it is very realistic. If you hit me in the face, I'll have a mark that will fade in three weeks in history. In Merlin, if you take a blow to the face...Finally, there's a dragon who speaks, we take some liberties here and there, while Chris wanted it to be more realistic, more visceral, more dirty and just wanted to stick to realism. Even the "magic", the grail, seems more plausible.

You worked on costumes before filming Merlin, tell us a little bit about the costumes on Labyrinth.
What is good with the costumes on Labyrinth is that the designer really understood what we wanted to do with the characters.
I arrived two days before filming began, for my first fittings with the costumes. I've seen them all, and I asked the costume designer to shrink them a bit, so my clothes are more fitted on me, more than they are on Jess (Jessica Findlay Brown, who plays Alaïs - Ed).

Because for me, my character now fully conforms to her image. This is her strength, using her image to get what she wants. And that's what I wanted for my costumes, they are all...on the tight side of respectability, somehow. So all my costumes are adjusted, all my hairstyles are more perfect, I'm not as dirty, these kinds of details, because I feel that Oriane is a very visual person, a little superficial.

So Alaïs is a little dirtier, a little more relaxed, and the costumes reflect that.

It was nice to do that when we arrived because it allowed us to set up details, to already show who our characters are with the costumes. I do not feel a strong enough actress to play a character without any assistance possible.

There are a lot of sex scenes in the book. Is it the same in the series?
Yes...My god, when my mother sees it!

That's what's great about Chris. I did the final test in the morning, and at about 16h, the casting director told me that Chris wanted to see me. I met him at a bar, with the casting director, and the first thing he said was about the sex scenes. He said: "You know they are there, they are a part of the history, I can not tell the story of Oriane without that."

I really respected him for bringing up this topic to ask me how I felt about that. And I said: "I don't like it, I'm not comfortable, but I understand why she does it, and I agree: you can not tell the story of Oriane without it."

So we agreed on the fact that these scenes were necessary, I went home, and I cried...just kidding! It went well. I was nervous until I met Emun (Emun Elliott, who plays Guilhem du Mas). You can not imagine a better partner to do that with: he is adorable, kind, generous, and a brilliant actor. The experience as a result was much easier than it could have been.

This was the first time that you filmed such scenes?
Yes, essentially. People who tell you that it's easier with time are lying. They are horrible scenes, you don't enjoy them. At least for me, personally. They don't make you feel less or dirty or anything like that, it's just...bizarre. You film, there are about 30 people [present]...but, you can not tell the story without doing it, and it is important to Oriane, to show that she sees sex as power. When I read the book, I realized it was a prerequisite before even applying for the role. You can not play certain characters without going through some scenes, otherwise it's not worth trying to play these characters.

I think Oriane is my favorite character in the book.
Yes, I think she is the most intriguing, mysterious, we always try to assemble the pieces to understand her. The other characters are well written and well, but Oriane...is missing parts, you do not know what happened that explains her actions. You don't know.
The missing ingredients are inside, and you wonder about her, the more you want to dig, until you realize she has a kind of psychosis that affects just about everything. And I think that's what makes her a good villain. You can not play a good villain, if viewers can not...how can I explain? There should be softer moments, moments that make evil worse. I explained that badly, but we need more gentle moments when you play a villain, to highlight how they can be bad. Otherwise, you do not see it, and that is what is right with Oriane. She can be really lovely...to get what she wants.

To play in a format such as Labyrinth, is that it makes you feel like turning instead to movies, or rather to continue with TV series, after Merlin?
It's a question I get quite often, and I think that I will get less and less. Because some TV series are better than some movies. Watch Game Of Thrones: its production, its budget, its actors...it's incredible. Labyrinth as a TV movie...I could never work with people like that on a standard film. You can not meet so many talented people, so many different countries, because Labyrinth is a European co-production. I had never heard of Lena (Lena Dörrie) for example, who plays Rixende, and she is amazing in this role, because she is German, and I don't speak German.

So I think over time, there will always be big Hollywood productions, and there will always be small independent productions, but in between the two, there will be television. Because the money is there, the production is there, and the history...As Chris said, the ability to tell a story in thirteen hours, instead of one and a half. An actor will necessarily agree with that.
So yes, I like making movies, but I also always like to do television, as long as it's good TV, and as long as they are good films.
I think I would be very lucky to do another series like Merlin for another 10 years, or another TV movie such as Labyrinth, or other films. I think it is mostly a history of projects, and to have the opportunity to do them or not.

Like a big baddie in Game Of Thrones?

Yes, yes, that would be no problem!

Brienne of Tarth?

No, the role is taken! And believe me, I would have liked that role. But the actress that was cast is good so...Anyway, there are plenty of possible roles, the book lasts for years.

You've heard of Lies of Locke Lamora? It's part of the cycle of the Gentlemen Bastards. That, that would make a good TV series.

And before Oriane, you tried for the role of Alice?
Yes. No, actually the casting director called me for role of Alice. And I thought to myself, "they cannot find me credible in this role." I auditioned, and of course it didn't work. And when I met the casting director at the bar, after a few beers, we talked a lot, and I said, "You know that I read for the role of Alice." And he said "But no...Oh my god yes! It was awful!" "Yes, I know!"
But Vanessa is ten times better than me. She has this way of playing the character very innocently without making her weak.

And she's blonde!
Yes, she's blonde. It helps with the innocence. I think that's why people don't believe that I'm a nice girl.

Thank you Katie!

Interview with Toutelatélé roundtable.#