Amalia Holm – Motherland: Fort Salem

By starrymag | July 13, 2021

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) Season two of “Motherland” has really amplified the emotionality aspect of the series, which in turn has similarly kicked up the palpable suspense at the same time. The pacing feels quite intensified as well.  It hasn’t felt like there has been much time for any lingering breaths while watching.

A) I feel like this season is a level up from the first season and it is much more intense. There is an absolute urgency throughout all of the storylines and everything that is happening. You can really sense that there is something boiling in this universe.  I am really excited for the audience to see this season and I really think in a way that we are going to reach a broader audience.  A broader aspect of the Sci-Fi fantasy, but also more drama-oriented audiences might come towards us this season. I really like the way Eliot [Laurence] is going with this.

Q) When we pick up in season two there is this constant urgency as you said. I think season one did a really great job of setting up with season two’s storyline and the quicker pace, and how that also really plays into the tone as well. I wanted to talk about that aspect, how the tone shifts as we get deeper into season two’s underlying themes, which in different interviews and teases seems to kind of revolve around a multi-layered sense of life and death.

A) You are truly on to something in regards to a multi-layered sense of life and death. This season also takes a turn on moral principles and the way so many of the characters this season will have to rethink the principles on how they have built their own identifies. This is perhaps most obvious with Tally from the start, but also with Scylla who now has to work with Willa (Diana Pavlovska), the Spree leader, who sort of betrayed her and who is not who she thought she was. I really like that you don’t really know where people stand, but you kind of have to trust them anyways because everything is so urgent.

Q) It’s also really interesting too in the cinematography sense, in season one there were these great metaphors with so much gray areas with the characters and the visual aspects that the season showcases. This season it seems a little more of a greener area, and green signifies rebirth.

A) I haven’t even noticed that. I feel like I have to watch this show so many times to be able to see it from an outside perspective in that sense.  Because it’s still like, “That’s Taylor in that scene, but I’m not with her.  What is she doing?”  It’s kind of like, “Oh, that’s my friend!”

Q) Really the greener side has been more in the posters and teasers.

A) Totally, and yeah. It’s a very different poster than the one last year indeed.

Q) The signals on there indicate a lot of individual journeys for the trio. But even with her not being on the poster, we see Scylla set out on her own path as well.

Yeah, I couldn’t say it better myself. I am going to pay more attention to that because I haven’t watched that much.  I have only seen the first two episodes.

Q) We continue to talk about how “Motherland” has these great little hallmarks riddled in the series and added metaphors. Much like you, I have to watch the episodes a few times to put some of the puzzle pieces together.  It’s that layered and detailed.

A) Yeah, and I really enjoy that. I am really glad that you agree with me. I agree with you in that there is so much to explore in them, and I can’t wait for episode three because one of my favorite characters of the season comes in episode three; the Imperatrix. It’s the coolest thing.  I am like, “Eliot, you did what everyone wanted JK Rowling to do, but you did it better!”

Q) Yes! This season is totally like Harry Potter meets Greek mythology.

A) Yes! And I thought it was really inspiring to just sit around and think about that character.  Just after having read her in the script and how she spoke to Alder and what kind of history she was carrying and what that does to someone to have that kind of wisdom and insight, it makes her eternal in a sense, like she can challenge Alder (Lyne Renee) in a way that nobody else can.  But at the same time knows her place. She’s not out there for the power.  I really like that character and I am excited to see how she is played because I didn’t even meet the actress because we weren’t ever in on the same day.

Q) Yeah, Petra (Catherine Lough Haggquist) says to Alder that the Imperatrix has no one to answer to. And the Imperatrix also says directly to Alder I am not beholden to you, you don’t have any power over me. It’s a new dynamic to Alder.

A) My take on that would be that the Imperatrix knows something that goes much further back. She knows about these matrilines and has this insight in that.  Whereas Alder, she’s just been around for as long as she has been around, and she has been focusing on war and leading in that sense.  There is not much talk from Alder’s perspective on matrilines and keeping the blood and stuff like that.  That’s why I think it’s really interesting with that ancient knowledge of that and what status that will give her.  So, I hope we get to explore that more.

Q) Bloodlines and handfasting is a larger part of the storytelling this season. Now that the group is in War College things are a lot more real and more adult.

A) Definitely. Yeah.

Q) When we do jump back in season two we see Scylla is quite angry from having been burned with the army and the struggles that she went through. We get more of an individual insight seeing her with the Spree and Willa.  We of course learn more about Willa where there is this sort of affection in a sense for her with Scylla, but also an assertiveness as well because she is a leader at the same time.

A) Definitely. And I really enjoyed exploring that, especially with Willa.  Because Scylla is not there to be undercover anymore.  In Willa, there is actually someone she can be completely honest with, which we haven’t seen her with before.  So, we haven’t really seen her be that comfortable.  At the same time, she can’t afford to be too comfortable because she is there at Willa’s mercy – so to say.  She needs to stay relevant and do a good job and we know she has always been about doing a good job and being a good soldier in her own way and the lengths we have seen her take her job before.  She’s going to want to try to live up to a lot of expectations with Willa and try to figure out what Willa’s expectations are, and that is also in the dynamic of Willa being the mother of her love interest.

Q) It’s really nice seeing these unguarded more vulnerable moments between Scylla and Willa because they share someone in common that they have great affection for and love in Raelle (Taylor Hickson). Certainly, there is a dynamic there of this is what your mission will be and focus on your mission.  And it sort of seems that no matter how many times Willa has said “focus on your mission,” Scylla’s follow through with that isn’t always executed with that direction.

A) Yeah. I don’t really know how good of an agent or soldier she (Scylla) really is.  She is definitely a human and she brings that.  And sometimes that’s going to be on the good side of what she is doing, and sometimes it’s not really going to be that helpful.

Q) Willa is entrusting Scylla with this mission, and at the same time her focus is shifted in certain other ways at the same time. Sometimes Scylla can be a bit rogue with these tasks she’s been given.

A) Yeah…well, I mean, she didn’t mean to go rogue and team up with Anacostia. That just happened.  I mean, in her defense, there wasn’t much she could do because Anacostia was so set on getting on whatever it is that Scylla is up to and on to with this.

On the other hand, I think that if Scylla would have told Willa that she was going to visit an old Spree attack memorial, which was the one she committed by herself, I think Willa would be like, “Yeah, that’s going to be painful.  But that’s what you gotta do.”  I don’t really think she would disagree with her tactics in befriending those people.  But the thing about that with involving the army, it might be a little more challenging.

Q) Yes, the great debate about Mall Girl.

A) I know! When I read the script, I was like, “What, are you going to give it to them already? I thought we were going to keep this.”  Yeah, it is what it is.

Q) Speaking of gray areas…it is what it is.

A) I mean when the debate started last year, I was like, “No, they are going to be so disappointed that she is Mall Girl.” In a way, I like that it’s displayed already and there is room for a discovery and an understanding for how Scylla’s dealing with this. And, also, that we can see that I don’t think she was expecting to live maybe long enough to see and take in the consequences of what she did.  This way she is really facing them more than she probably would want to.

Q) Speaking of debates, you certainly posed a great with that scene on Twitter during the episode two watch. Whether Scylla is feeling regret for her actions or regret about the consequences that came from her actions.  And that’s what I really enjoyed thinking about this perspective on our own morality codes and compasses, too.  Yu and I spoke about that last season, this great morality compass that can lead you in one direction or askew.   It sort of seems to lead a lot of people in a lot of different directions.

A) I really appreciated that there was this debate about Mall Girl and all the theories. That was so much fun to follow. It must have been fun to come up with from everyone who was involved in it. At the same time, it’s interesting now how do you deal with the fact that this is your Scylla?  This is what she did, and there is no excuse for it.  There is an explanation, but there is no excuse really.

I just think there is going to be another space you’ll have to open up for her with this is who she is, and it makes sense if you don’t like her anymore.  Like, I totally respect that.

Q) Liking morally wrong or morally gray characters doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree with their actions. And I certainly don’t condone or agree with Scylla’s methods and choices, but I still do believe in her and I am invested in the core she has built and in the evolving journey of what’s to come for her consequences or catalysts.

This season we start to see these little cracks from Scylla.  When we see them in the scene with the Spree memorial and Anacostia pointedly talking directly at Scylla.  We kind of see these cracks before then but this is where we see things begin to really chip away with her. 

A) This is one of the wonderful things about fiction. We are all free to change our minds and to come up with whatever opinion we have about these people, and you can’t do wrong in your opinions about them because it’s not going to have a bad consequence for them in real life, which is just why it’s fiction. And especially this way when there are morally gray areas of which can be such a good way to train your compass.  I don’t want to get too political, but who do we put on death row, and is it ever justifiable and all of that…

Q) Something that’s also really added an extra layer and has been another debate is Scylla’s wardrobe this season. She’s out of the army uniform and into her civies. 

A) I think the funny part about that is, what I know about Scylla’s wardrobe is of course, one: she is going undercover with Willa and they are trying to dress like people dress within the anti-Spree movement and anti-military movement. So, going to the memorial she is trying to blend in and so she is dressing up as Justine.  When Scylla is Justine she is not in her own style, so to say.  Then, the other parts of it is that she’s in a Spree safehouse chilling with Willa and not expecting anyone to see her if she is not still in her day’s costumes, so to say, from being out on the mission. She is in what she has picked out from the Spree house, kind of.  I would say it’s her style, but it’s a style that’s been improvised and potentially compromised.  The question we were dealing with in thinking about the costume design of it with Tracey Boulton, the head of costumes, was how Scylla has been a dodger her whole life so she has been very used to changing clothes and trying to blend in wherever they went because they were staying undercover.  So, therefore, there are some pieces that are really Scylla’s clothing of choice, but then she can wear whatever, in a sense, as long as it is pretty functional because that’s what she is used to.

Q) I think when she’s undercover, the style of these costumers become a way to blend in physically, but also emotionally as well, because there is a lot of layering with blending in with that regard as well.

A) It’s a lot of long sleeves and a lot of hiding herself and making herself a little bit smaller and unthreatening, I would say. That was definitely a part of Scylla’s strategy when creating Justine because she really wants to approach this woman in particular, Bonnie, and of course not to appear as a threat to the man, Shane, who seems to have some questionable views on women.

Q) And I think that the wardrobe when we see her with Willa is this softer side, unguarded and she doesn’t have to worry about blending it. She can be who she is with Willa because there are no false pretenses there.

A) Exactly. Yeah. But I think it would make sense, from my perspective, it’s also partly that she is mixing clothes.  It’s hard to define Scylla’s style in that sense.  Because, yes, she will choose something comfortable or functional most of the time, but then all of a sudden that’s what she felt like for the day and she got a little bit dressed up. I would say she mixes and matches pretty much.  I guess it’s debatable if she has a sense of fashion or not, or if she is just in her way of being a seeking person, seeking good in the world and trying to find truth and fight for the right for the causes. I think that’s also part of her own style and she is experimenting with that still.

Q) She is this strong woman, but we also get this sense of kind of solitude as well when she is in her wardrobe around Willa.

A) Definitely. I would say she appears to be a strong woman, and that’s the face she usually puts on.  Season two she doesn’t really feel like a strong woman.  But she still is one to take action, and that’s one way of defining strength I guess, and she is trying to be progressive and alert in everything that comes her way.

Q) We talked about this character that Scylla is portraying with Justine, and Demetria [McKinney] portraying Amelia – I really enjoyed these moments between you two, like in the bar. We get these great physical aspects of your delivery with the comedy side.  With your characters kind of overplaying the drunkenness, and we get to see these amazing moments of exceptional range for you in between these deeper darker moments that we see for Scylla.  I feel like it’s on par with Tatiana Maslany who played these numerous characters so uniquely and exceptionally well with “Orphan Black.”

A) Thank you so much. That was one of the most fun parts of this.  In a way it’s a classic acting challenge, to decide how does my character act when they are acting. Are they a good or bad actress?  I would definitely say that Anacostia is a better actress than Scylla is, which is funny because you could think it would be the opposite.

Q) Scylla has had a lot of practice and Anacostia just jumps in with both feet. That’s also what’s great about episode three coming up, is that we see a little bit of Anacostia not fully going with the character portrayal of Amelia the way that someone undercover should be. 

A) I also think in episode two it’s a lot about how Scylla is really freaked out by the fact that Anacostia is even present, and that really throws her in her acting as Justine.

Q) Absolutely. She springs herself up at this memorial and then directs these tear-filled comments at Scylla, and you have to play like you don’t know each other. You have to play these characters undercover.  You have to play yourselves.  You have at least three different ways of approaching these characters.  You don’t know what she is going to say.  You don’t know if she is going to blow the cover.  It’s that nervousness and edge yet Scylla has to keep going, but again as we say, focus on the mission.  It’s very delicate doing that kind of ballet.

A) Right? She has a challenge ahead of her, definitely, because they haven’t had the most easiest relationship previous to this either.

Q) Anacostia did have these moments with ways she connected with Scylla in the cell that she didn’t expect, and then she lets her out of the cell. Then she shows up at this memorial undercover herself. It’s a shock to Scylla to see her again after what transpired between the two of them.

And you had mentioned on Twitter as well this incredible beautiful acting by Demetria within the acting that we saw with these tears as Anacostia/Amelia is directing these comments towards Scylla that nobody but Scylla knows are targeted at her.

A) To watch Demetria do that over and over again, it was just such a boost and that’s what gives you energy in this job. When you see someone who is so dedicated and that precise in their work.

Q) I am excited because it seems like a lot of “Quarterhorn” content coming up that’s going to keep us all enraptured and on edge.

A) It is. That much I can spoil.  You’re not getting rid of them for a while.

Q) The way that their interactions are, they don’t know what each other is thinking, and there is an interplay of trust or lack of trust in between, it gives off such a great buddy cop comedy vibe. Watching these fantastic exchanges between the two where they sass one another or you’re having to play the physicality of them, I love that you both can feed off of one another which adds to this amazing and at times chaotic dynamic.  And maybe it’s kind of a catalyst for how we see them infiltrate with the Camarilla.

A) Maybe. I had so much fun working with Demetria on this, and I love our two characters together.  Like you said, they can really play off of each other.  It’s a fun dynamic.  It’s richer than you might think initially.

Q) There is this great push and pull and want from fans for a “Raylla” reunion, and it sort of adds to the Greek mythology side with fate. Eliot has referred to Raylla as celestial beings and talked about them about being orbits.  To me, it’s sort of like having someone in your peripheral vision, and you can’t see them unless they want to be seen.  I would like to talk about how this great build up might be coming for them, and this possible crescendo for these two characters who have been on individual journeys but seem there may be this potential inevitably of a crushing build up between them.

A) Scylla’s longing for Raelle is pretty amplified by hanging out with her mom all of the time, and also it was never really gone. It’s what she lives for. That’s what happened after she was in that cell (S1:10).  She was really close to death, and I think we can see in the last episodes of last season she was kind of giving up.  When she got released and helped by Anacostia it’s now, “Wow, I know what I’m going to live for.”  It’s still about freeing all witches, but now that’s not the end.  It’s not “I don’t care if I live or die. It’s I want to free all witches so I can be with Raelle.” So, I think that is a constant.

If Scylla will have to work with Anacostia, a big perk of that is also having someone who is on the base with Raelle and someone who would tell you if something was really bad with her.  I mean, that’s what Scylla is hoping.  It might be a tactic in working along with the “Quarterhorn” pact in regards to getting information or being in close proximity of Raelle, even though it’s indirect.

Q) Yeah, if you can’t be with the person you love and care about, at least you can hang out with their friend.

A) Yeah. [laughs]

Q) Raylla fans have been really dedicated and they showcased their love recently during Pride with this incredible billboard in New York and there is already and outpouring of support with initiatives for getting a season three of the series from all of the show’s fans. That has to be quite meaningful for you as well.

A) Of course. It’s hard to put words to it.  It’s such a gift.  It just makes us smile all of the time.  I am really happy that the fans care as much about the show as we do, and about these characters and their story.  It means a lot.