Annie Briggs – Carmilla

By starrymag | October 29, 2015

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) What do you think Perry is doing to fight the Dean’s possession of her body? Do you think she’s putting up a fight in her mind?

 

A) I think most of what Perry is experiencing is dream-like in nature. It’s like when you wake up from a dream and can’t quite remember all the details, but the emotional memory of it is still with you. I don’t think Perry is conscious of the possession while it’s happening. But her body/brain hold the memory of those actions in the form of this shadow/hazy emotional  While I don’t think she’s consciously fighting the possession, even in her fully lucid state, she’s struggling withsomethingthat’s clearly going on within herself.

 

Q) What have you taken away from your experiences being a part of Carmilla?

 

A) So, so many things! Particularly, and most recently, I’ve been blown away by realizing how much this show means to so many people. Especially when we get to meet fans who have traveled from afar or receive letters that detail how the show has helped them, included them or inspired them, isincredibly And that’s a very necessary reminder in this business—who do we create for and why. And that, yes, it really can have a positive impact.

 

Q) What is something you hope fans understand about Perry after watching season zero?

 

A) I think Season One Perry has a fair bit of explaining to do. She bursts into the season with very strongly developed ideas/ideologies and fixations, of which the root is never explained. I hope that Season Zero begins to clarify where some of those character traits emerged. There’s a moment in Season Zero (and you’ll know it when you see it) where Perry gets shut down… like a deep part of what she connects to and aspires to be, is squashed and I think it’s deeply hurtful to her and mildly traumatizing. So, she changes. It’s a calculated choice on her part to deny what she’s experienced, which then morphs into a subconscious coping mechanism to repress this former version of herself and adopt an alternate.

 

Q) What was something about your character’s development in Season Two that really surprised you?

 

A) ….uhhhhh. like,the DEAN?!

 

Q) Where do you think the overlap is between Perry and the Dean?

 

A) Mama Dean is possessing Perry throughout the entirety of Season Two so there’s overlap the whole time. I think by the middle of Season Two, Perry starts to feel odder and odder in her own body and that sense-memory is really kicking in. She’s starting to blurt out weird, out-of-character things…So, it’s like she’s becoming suspicious of herself.

 

Q) We saw less in Season Two of the LaFontaine and Perry ship, what are your thoughts on their divide?

 

A) Two letters:P. [laughs] I jest. But Perry and LaF (Kaitlyn Alexander) are both dealing with very different things in Season Two and so the divide is the result of their focus being forced upon more urgent matters; keeping safe, saving the school, avoiding vamps, etc. Listen, their school is under siege—there’s no time for canoodling! Or even finishing up those macramé projects.

 

Q) Which was your favorite Perry moment from season two?

 

A) My favorite moment in the whole season is in episode 33, when Laura (Elise Bauman) and Danny (Sharon Belle) are up by the camera talking about some serious business and Perry is “casually” reading a book (read: totally spying) with her leg up on the chair behind them. That shot just kills me. I also enjoyed facing off with Mattie (Sophia Walker) and being able to show Perry’s more assertive side.

 

Q) With Carmilla Zero you get to work more directly with Nicole Stamp, what was it like working closer with her?

 

A) Nicole is great. She’s truly a team player and definitely jumped right into things with the rest of us with confidence and energy. Also, I was secretly so stoked to have a fellow curly-haired gal on set with me (a little insider tips-trading, if you will!)

 

Q) What behind the scenes moment do you hope never ends up in a blooper reel?

 

A) Honestly, I just pray that all of my behind the scenes moments will never see the light of day. But, there was one scene we were shooting at the end of the day, right around the time that my face gets horribly tired from talking so fast as Perry, and starts to sag. And we had to reshoot the scene a few times because my bloody tongue would just punk out halfway into the scene. A tongue strike! It would just stop working and flop out of my mouth like a limp noodle. Kaitlyn was dying. I had to like, pep-talk my tongue into action: “Com’on, do it for Elise!” (read into that what you will…).