Read the first part of this interview here.
Will we see Morgana with a sword again?
God, I hope so. But she doesn’t really need it anymore. She can just do that [does magic hand gesture]
It seems she still hides behind Morgause with her powers. Is she ready to step out and demonstrate her power?
By Season 4, absolutely. She is well known around, the fact that she is an extremely powerful sorceress. People are fearful of her powers. She has already gotten to that level. Which is great. Though the reams of Olde English that I have to learn. I have the ultimate respect for Colin. Although, he only ever gets two lines. I think it’s a punishment. I get spells that long [gestures], but Colin gets the tiny ones. How is that fair? Because it’s essentially learning gobbledygook. It means nothing.
What is it like to work with Emilia Fox [as Morgause]?
She’s unbelievable. I’ve worked with her before on a few other things, and I think a lot of the great relationship between Morgause and Morgana comes from the fact that Emilia is so wonderful, and I’m very fond of her as a person. She really does have this proper sort of nobility to her. She’s very still, she’s very beautiful. She really does work as sort of a high priestess. You believe it, that she is that powerful, and also that wicked in a way. Which is great. And the more I get to work with her, the better. It’s difficult, because she does another TV show at the same time, so we get her to come in and do a little bit and run out, but she’s a big fan of the show, so she makes a huge effort to come back and do it. We’re really lucky about that with a lot of the guest stars who signed on at the start, who didn’t know what the show what the show was. They’ve really made a commitment to do it each year. Look at Santiago Cabrera. He signed on in one year, and every year he’s come back. And he’s taken off now, and he’s doing so, so well, and he still supports us.
How is Morgana using her sorcery now?
It’s no longer a passive thing. It used to be very connected to her emotions, but now she’s in control of it. So, anywhere that she is, she is able to use it.
Morgana isn’t tied to one place. She goes on adventures. She goes out and about. Even gets into Camelot. And anywhere that she is, she is allowed to use her magic, because she’s entirely in control of it now. She still have parts of it tied to her emotions; visions and things like that, that she’s not entirely in control of, but it’s nice that she’s finally become a woman, in a way. She’s in control of her magic. She’s in control of herself. She’s strong. She’s confident.
People ask me a lot if I’m at all like Morgana, and I am, in fact, nothing like her. She’s kind of the woman I’d like to be. She’s very self-assured. She’s very intelligent. She’s very strong. You finally see that in Season 4, which is kind of gratifying to play.
When you first signed on to the series, did you expect to be able to take Morgana to this point?
I hoped. But no. You talk to Angel, and Angel always says that she knew it was going to be a hit. But this was kind of the first job I ever got. I was just happy to get a job. [laughs] I turned up on my first day, and I didn’t know anything. The director would say, “Okay, Katie. So if you could just come in, hit your mark, find the light and then walk to the window,” and I was like “Huh?” They’d have to explain everything to me. So I was working on a day to day basis. I was just hoping they wouldn’t fire me for the first month and a half. And so, you don’t really think that far ahead. And then, as the year went on, and they started telling you all of the different countries that had bought it, and things like that… I think it’s better that you don’t think about it, because if you did, I don’t think you’d be able to handle it. It’s eight months of the year just sitting in a bubble, and it’s nice like that. You get to spend it with Colin, and Bradley, and Angel, and Tony. And you get to swordfight, and ride horses, and basically be a big kid. And play in a castle and be evil, and bad-@$$ at it! And be Goth Jessica Rabbit! And I have an action figure! End. Of.
You know, my mum took my action figure and put it in a big wardrobe, and everybody who comes in, has to be shown the action figure. But she has it right next to the Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean figure. And she’s like “honey, I don’t know what happens when I leave the room, but, you know, they’ve both got smiles on their faces!” But that’s really cool.
Did you know what it was that the producers saw in you, that made them say “This is our Morgana?”
I honestly think that they cast me because they thought I’d be better as evil than I would be as good. They were like. “Eh, she’d be all right for the first couple of years, but I think she’ll make a really good b!tch, so we’ll just stick her in there!”
Merlin returns later this year in the United Kingdom and Season 4 begins in the U.S. early next year on Syfy!