Continuing our series of interviews from the Secret Circle set (you can read Shelley Hennig’s interview here and Britt Robertson here), and to get things ready for a new Secret Circle tonight at 9PM (ET) on The CW, today we talk to Phoebe Tonkin, the show’s bewitching Faye. What’s going on for a character who puts a “b” in “witch?” Let’s see what we were able to find out….
Beware of spoilers within. Please do not copy this interview onto other websites; instead, just place a link! Thanks!
“She’s starting to get a little frustrated,” Phoebe says of Faye’s mindset by the time the episode they are currently shooting, which we believe is the series’ eighth, comes around. “She can see that Cassie is starting to slowly take away everything that’s important to Faye, and she’s also always had Melissa to depend on and boss around, and Melissa’s kind of finding her feet, and Faye’s starting to suddenly feel a bit lonely, like she doesn’t have people to rely on. She’s paranoid that people are turning against her. She just always likes to be in control, and she feels like her control is being taken away from her,” she tells us. “She kind of starts lashing out a little bit. She feels very threatened by Cassie and she starts questioning herself and kind of goes a little mad.”
But before the madness, and before Faye’s current state of affairs, is it true we’re going to be seeing some of her back story? “I think we’re going to start seeing a lot of what happened to Faye when she was younger – both when she was much younger, like a 5-year-old, and also when she was in her early teens. She’s had a few bad boyfriends. She’s had her heart broken. I think that’s probably driven a lot of her behavior, because she’s had her heart broken. Not just by guys, but by situations that have happened to her from her childhood,” she tells us. On the subject of romance, Phoebe does think we’re going to see some developments in the love department. “As I said, we’re going to explore some past relationships, but I’m sure that, especially with a show like this, there’s always characters coming and going. They’re at high school, they’re going to parties and meeting people, so I’m sure that there’ll be someone that’ll come into Faye’s life. I feel like Faye needs someone where there’ll be as bad as each other,” she laughs.
Right now one of the most important relationships is with her mother, the equally-manipulative Dawn Chamberlain (Natasha Henstridge). “Her father died when she was little, so the only parent figure she’s ever had is her mom who has not really taught her anything. Her mom’s the principal, and she’s let her get away with a lot of stuff, because Dawn’s very concerned with how people perceive her. Faye’s never gotten detention. She probably never got told off by her mom. So a lot of her behavior is taken straight from her mom, and she doesn’t even realize that her mom is that bad,” Phoebe explains. “I think Faye’s used to doing her own thing and getting home at whatever time she wants to, and they have a relationship that’s more like friends than a mother and a daughter.”
If Faye could get into any mischief that she wanted, what would she do? “I think with Faye, she’s always doing these things and not thinking about consequences, so I think it would be something that’s not vindictive. She doesn’t want to go out and hurt anyone, but what would be kind of fun? Something like changing hair color, or something really mundane. That kind of magic, that every little girl is like ‘if I had magic powers, I would do this to myself or that to myself.’ Or create the ideal boyfriend or something like that. Maybe she’ll bring someone back from the dead. That’s kind of cool,” she says.
The binding of the Circle soon after Cassie’s arrival means that Faye’s individual powers, without being around another witch, are now gone. Is Faye still trying to unbind the Circle? “I think she has realized that if we don’t bind the Circle – even though she likes to be in control, she doesn’t like the consequences of what happens when the Circle is not bound. And she also starts realizing, in a few episodes, how much they could be in danger if they don’t all get together and do magic spells together,” she teases.
A new Secret Circle airs tonight on The CW. Here are some extras associated with the episode that you might enjoy:
Secret Circle Forum – “Slither” Episode Forum (come talk about the show!) – Countdown/LIVE Discussion Forum Thread – Cast Image Gallery – Episodic Image Gallery – Episode Description – Promo Screencaps – Preview Clips & Trailers – The Secret Circle at KSiteTV
Disclaimer: Travel accommodations for our Vancouver set visit were provided by Warner Bros. Television.
