Prime Video’s The Wheel of Timeis back with Season 3! And to celebrate, Geeks of Color was lucky enough to sit down with the cast of this popular, beloved fantasy series to chat about the latest season.
The series, based on author Robert Jordan’s acclaimed series of novels, has grown in popularity since its debut in 2021. This is because with every season, the series’ characters have significantly evolved, as the story has gotten closer and closer to matching its literary counterpart in terms of quality and complexity.
We had the wonderful pleasure of sitting with two of the stars of the show Ceara Coveney and Ayoola Smart.
Check out the interview with Ceara Coveney and Ayoola Smart below:
In Season 3, Coveney’s character ascends to a very important role, while butting heads with her mother. So, we wanted to know what it was like for Coveney to work alongside Olivia Williams and where the journey of Coveney’s character might lead this season.
Coveney shared,“It was amazing to work alongside Olivia Williams and to have her play my mother…she brought such incredible energy to the role. I think she really embodied the character. She brought it to life in ways that I just couldn’t possibly imagine. And so to work on set with her and be in scenes where we’re butting heads and kind of trying to find that mother daughter dynamic. She just had such energy that she was so intimidating because she brought that kind of dynamic so easily to the character. I felt like I there wasn’t much that I had to do to find that conflict between the two of them. And it felt like a really powerful moment when Elayne, you know, does stand up to her mother and she finds that strength.”
Coveney continued, “And it really feels like a turning point for the character which then takes her on such a journey. I think this power that she finds in these scenes and these moments with her mom really, really propel her into the world. And it opens things up for her. I think she really understands her strength and her power, and in that, it really takes her on some adventures. I don’t want to say too much, but yeah, it she has a very, very incredible journey this season.”
As Geeks of Color, representation is one of the biggest things we want to see in the industry. With Smart’s character they are not just a person of color, but also one who is LGBTQ+. Having these multiple layers of the character, we wanted to know how it makes Smart feel and hoe important it is.
Smart said, “It’s a huge privilege to, first of all, just to get to play this character. She’s too faceted and interesting. And as a Person of Color, it really is one of the first times I’ve had such wit with a character like this. So that, in itself, has been amazing. But yeah, I completely agree. It’s an incredibly important time now more than ever for representation. And I think one of things that Wheel of Time has done quite well, particularly within the fantasy world, has been the casting. Kelly Valentine has done an incredible job, I think, to cast a genuinely international cast, but also to feel like she is casting the right person for each role. And I think you know, that has caused pushback with casting announcements over time. And thankfully, it’s been a lot smaller negative feedback than the positive, which has largely been incredibly welcoming and supportive.”
Smart continued, “But I think when things like that happen, it just highlights how important it is to keep pushing forward in all areas, and particularly in fantasy, where sometimes people you know can believe. Like we saw it with Bridgerton as well. You can believe that there are dragons in the world, but you can’t believe that a character can be brown? So I think having the layers and complexity so that we see ourselves across the board in every facet in every genre, not just as villains, or not just as people who die immediately. As people who have full, complex, well-rounded characters, I think it’s hugely important for People of Color and for the LGBTQ community.”