While The Winchesters features some familiar characters in Mary Campbell and John Winchester, part of the appeal is also that we get to meet new characters such as Nida Khurshid‘s Latika “Lata” Desai and Jonathan “JoJo” Fleites‘ Carlos Cervantez. The second episode of The Winchesters airs tonight (October 18) at 8PM ET/PT on The CW (see a clip here), and we were able to speak with Nida Khurshid about this new part and what it’s like to join the world of Supernatural. You can find the interview below.
KSITETV’S CRAIG BYRNE: What was your familiarity with Supernatural before you landed this role?
NIDA KHURSHID: I had definitely seen quite a few episodes of Supernatural. I love that whole world. I love the escapism. I love the magic, monsters, lore… I love feeling like there’s more to life than just this, so Supernatural is definitely something I’ve seen. Now, I haven’t seen every single episode like one of my other co-stars Drake Rodger, but I’ve seen quite a bit of it.
Without giving a lot away, the reason why the four of these friends – Mary, John, Lata, and Carlos – get along so much is, of course, what they do – hunting – but also, I think they have similar backgrounds and similar dynamics with their parents. I think that’s another form of glue for all of them, and there’s a lot of relatability there. And now why La Tunda went for John, specifically? I think maybe he was just an easy target. I don’t know. That’s actually a great question. I don’t know why she chose that, but I’m a little glad… I don’t think I’d want to face La Tunda, to be honest.
You have a storyline with Bianca Kajlich’s character, Millie, coming up In Episode 4. Is there anything you can tell us about that? How do the two of them get along?
I think that Lata has a lot of care and respect and love for John, so I think that anyone who is the part of his world, and his family, she’s automatically going to open her arms to [them].
Is it freeing to play a character that we don’t know what her fate is, in the show’s world?
It is freeing, because that is who we are as human beings. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, and we just have to really live in the present moment and focus on our choices. I think that’s exactly what Lata is doing. She’s trying to figure out who she is in the hunting world, as well as who she is just as a girl existing in this society right now. What she likes, what she doesn’t like, how her pacifism impacts her job, right now, as a hunter in training. There’s a lot to her. I think a lot of layers are gonna be peeled back, and I think people are going relate to her a lot more than they think.
It is the most fun. It’s literally like playing dress up, of course as actors, but also there’s another layer of playing dress up as their as their characters as well. I think it gives a sweet little nod to the Scooby gang as well, with all the undercover scenes that we have. It’s been so much fun. We all as a cast, I think, really love doing those undercover moments a lot.
We know the iconic pairing of the show is supposed to be John and Mary. But would you be for or against a John and Latika pairing?
Look, I realized John and Mary ended up together and they created the iconic brothers, but I think it’s a very interesting potential storyline that us as human beings, we are capable of having more than one love, and I think that’s okay, and I think that’s normal. I’m not saying if it’s going to happen, or if it’s not going to happen, but I think that would be really interesting for John and Lata, because I think they are a lot more similar than we think, and perhaps that is going to be shared throughout the season, is how they’re more similar than they are different. We’ll see if that brings them together or if it doesn’t – I don’t know – but I would be very pro-John and Lata and I am pro-John and Mary. I like both!
One thing I love about the show is the supporting cast. Can you talk about Lata’s relationships with Carlos and Ada?
Carlos kind of has this siblin- like banter with Lata, and I think the two of them have found a lot of common ground with maybe feeling a bit like outsiders in their lives. I think that is sort of the unspoken thing between the two of them, where they’re like, “yeah, I get you.” We’re just automatically going to finish each other’s sentences, and be each other’s yin and yang.
Lata looks at Ada as like a glowing goddess of knowledge, and I think she strives to be a lot like who Ada is. She’s really fascinated by Ada, and I think Ada looks as Lata as someone who is a force to be reckoned with. I think the two of them really support one another, as do Carlos and Lata. There’s a lot of belief in each other, and that stems from pure, honest love for one another.
Are you prepared for the life of Supernatural fandom and conventions?
I am thrilled and excited. I feel so lucky to be a part of this, and I want to do right [by it]. I want to just be able to share this experience with fans. We would not be here if it wasn’t for you guys. So I’m excited. I’m grateful. I look forward to them and really, truly look forward to meeting everyone.
How much of your own characters’ backstory where you told when you started?
When we started the pilot, I knew a little bit about Lata, but the really beautiful part about this whole process has been that Lata and Carlos as characters are new in the universe, to. We have a lot of creative freedom thanks to the incredible Robbie Thompson… we are able to create side by side. I feel very lucky. I feel like this creative collaboration has been one of the highlights of this whole process.
What do you have to say to the fans about why they should be tuning in on Tuesday night?
Fans should be tuning in on Tuesday night to further get into like the nitty-gritty relationship dynamics between these four friends, to further get to know Millie and Ada more, and to potentially get to know a new monster. And, I think there’s a little bit of singing from my lovely co star JoJo [Fleites] that we’ll get to indulge in, and a bit of bad singing on my part, too.
The Winchesters “Teach Your Children Well” airs Tuesday night, October 18 at 8PM ET/PT on The CW.
