Torrance Coombs – Reign

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) There is not a lot of times, but this last hiatus I was able to squeeze in a movie. It’s bank robbers meets serial killers and it is called The Last Heist with Henry Rollins who plays a serial killer and I play the leader of the group of bank robbers that encounters him while robbing a bank. It’s very silly, but a lot of fun! If I want to take up something during the hiatus I want it to be something quite different from what I’m already doing. What I realized was even though “Reign” is an intense drama, it kind of has a gentleness about it. For a lack of better terms, a feminity about it. What I realized right away when coming in for the read through of this movie was it’s all just dudes, like MMA fighters who are big beefy dudes who are tat’d up with cornrows that are telling me to bug off. As actors they are wonderful and talented people, but it was really intimidating where I had to go in there realizing it was a very, very different energy and I had to harness it and live in this world. It was a good reminder that not everything is “Reign.” I’ve been doing the show for a couple years now and you do get comfortable. You forget what different sets are like and that different energies happen.

Q) What is the tone of this new season of “Reign?

A) Things are a little bit more tightlipped as far as what we are allowed to talk about. There is a new dynamic coming into it with Queen Elizabeth (Rachel Skarsten) being prominent in the season. We have been building a bunch of sets so the English court will be featured prominently and have its own set of characters. You get to learn more about Elizabeth’s hopes, dreams, ambitions and vulnerabilities. That is the big change people will notice this season. Not that we’ve varied from the French court, but we have this new element at play now. The show, up until now, has been about Mary’s (Adelaide Kane) life in French court. As her life progresses (and I’m not sure if we’ll see it this season or not) she does end up in Scotland and her chief rival is Elizabeth. Elizabeth is going to start figuring into her life now.

Q) How do the dynamics with the characters shift with Elizabeth’s arrival?

A) For me, it doesn’t shift tremendously because I don’t ever get to see her. Things happen in France and then we have, “Meanwhile, in England…” Things start to shift and we wind up in each other’s courts. We travel back and forth between the two. As of yet, Bash hasn’t made his way to England. Maybe that is a future storyline.

Q) What has been your favorite part of Bash’s character arc?

A) Good question. I think that it is hard to say. I don’t know if there is an improvement in him, as a person. One of the interesting things to track with him has been that in the early going he is very much a skeptic. When there are weird things happening he thinks, “Oh, it’s just a bunch of people trying to scare you.” He’s always intent on unmasking whatever is happening – the Scooby Doo moments like, “Who is the man behind the mask?” As things have gone on, he has seen some things he really can’t explain. At the end of the last season, we saw that Delphine (Alexandra Ordolis) fled into the woods howling and now they have to reconcile everything that has happened between them. He needs her help now because there is potentially a new threat at the castle. Now that he has seen a number of things he can’t explain, on the one hand he is trying to tell people Delphine isn’t a witch, she is well intentioned and doesn’t practice dark magic. On the other hand, he’s like, “Give me some of that dark magic. I need your help!” He doesn’t really know if it is working, but it seems to be doing something. The transition from being a skeptic to a believer has been interesting.

Q) We did find out that Delphine and Bash’s souls were tied together. How will that tie into Bash’s court responsibilities?

A) That bond is still there. It definitely effects his ability to do his job. Then, it effects her as well. It’s a bit of a two-way street.

Q) Throughout the firsts seasons, despite where Bash and Mary have been in their relationships, Bash seems to be willing to do anything for her. Will Bash move out of that role or always feel bound to Mary?

A) I think number one he is bound to Francis (Toby Regbo). Then, by virtue of that, he is bound to Mary because their goals are often one and the same. Yes, definitely still this season he has always got her back. I don’t know that will ever go away.

Q) Bash seems to have the most love interest. Who would you pick as his perfect match?

A) Other than what we have seen already, it’s probably somebody brand new. It’s probably someone he hasn’t met yet. Everybody he has shacked up with has brought something different to the table. Ultimately, his failing is that once things progress to a relationship stage he feels trapped. He’s very much a guy who needs to get out there and needs to be doing something. He’s not happy in that domestic place. He feels constantly indebted to people and has a bit of a hero complex. They make him not the most pleasant guy to date when you get past the couple months part.

Q) Is there anyone you wish you had more scenes with or have yet to work with that you would like to film with?

A) We’re going to see more things with Delphine and we will see a lot of Narcisse this season. I love Craig Parker. I would love to have more scenes with him. In the few years, you kind of take for granted the main characters in a show to hang out with each other and know who each other are, but there has really never been anything to speak of between Bash and Greer, but this season suddenly they have some scenes together. That’s been a lot of fun to speak with Celina [Sinden] because usually we are just standing on opposite ends of the room. Now, we actually have some interaction and see how these characters interplay, which is fun.

Q) What scenes are you anxious or looking forward to fans seeing this season?

A) It’s going to be a bit of a doozy this season for people to watch. I’m very curious what people’s reactions are going to be to the introduction of all these new characters and to Francis’ ultimate fate. Just to see what they gravitate towards and what they mean to them, those are the big ones.

Q) Is there anything else you would like to be sure fans know about this season of “Reign?”

A) They have given me a little bit less guidance this year in terms of what I am and not allowed to say and they have been much more tight about sharing on set pictures. We can’t really do a lot of behind the scenes sharing. This season one other thing that happens is young Charles (Peter DaCunha), who has been away, returns and he has grown up some. There is another brother in the mix now. Bash’s relationship with him starts to develop, which is another part of this season. So, there are new returning characters you might say.