Rosamund Pike: “‘The Wheel of Time’ is going in a much darker and more dangerous direction”

Fantasy stories have found their place in streaming. The sagas of George RR Martin and JRR Tolkien inspired series that fans devoured in 2022: “House of the Dragon” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”. But among the literature of this genre there was a jewel that was waiting for an adaptation at the height of the imagination of his followers: “the wheel of time”. Its first season, at the end of 2021, divided the audience, but that did not prevent it from becoming one of the most watched titles in the Prime Video catalog, so amazon studios It didn’t take long to announce not only a second, but also a third season.

The 9 chapters that will make up the second season will be released starting this September 1 and will present some of the characters that fans of the books most expected, but also a growth of the stellar characters. This is how Rosamund Pike told it in a generic interview conducted before the actors’ strike and provided by Prime Video for its publication in Skip Intro of “El Comercio”:

WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW:

-What makes a series like “The Wheel of Time” special?

Our cast. We are all today tied to this beautiful city of Prague, where we have been filming and living these creative adventures like playing in the best amusement park in the world. This monumental series of books, as envisioned by Robert Jordan, takes place in an exciting and thought-provoking universe. It has a huge amount of fantasy elements and these magnificent landscapes in the background. And within them, if we choose, we can crouch down and explore all the vital things that make us human. We may seduce you with an epic view, but what we’re really talking about are the core things that move us all: love, loss, sadness, why who you are is worth fighting for, and what path the world is leading you. The entire universe of this series is a testing ground for these characters that we really care about. I was not a fan of fantasy. I didn’t know what these kinds of stories could offer people. Now I really get it. It’s a way for people to read themselves into a wide range of characters and explore what makes us human, but one step further and into this world that also allows our imaginations to run wild.

– Why did you accept the role in “The Wheel of Time”?

I think, at some point, I wanted to escape from reality. He had challenged me to do real life characters in recent years. Before this series, I played Marie Curie and also a war correspondent named Marie Colvin. The idea of ​​playing someone who was magically connected to the source of what fuels the universe was incredibly interesting to me. This show has various elements, but it’s still people talking, it’s still people having a connection to other people. Whether or not they have magical powers and are linked by ties we don’t have in our real lives, like the bond between Moiraine and her Guardian, which is sealed with a unique power and allows them to communicate without words and understand exactly what the other is feeling, but it remains a story of loyalty, communication, love, a step away from our world, but linked to it. All human flaws, if you have them, still come into play in fantasy; pride, lust, greed, fear, jealousy, all those things that make us human. All of them also develop in this world. In the end it is not that far.

I was not a fan of fantasy. I didn’t know what these kinds of stories could offer people. Now I really get it.

– How important is female power in history?

I think “The Wheel of Time” is defined by female empowerment. Robert Jordan rose to prominence in the fantasy world for creating a host of incredibly powerful female characters. He created this organization called Aes Sedai, which is like, you know, like MI-6 (the British secret intelligence service), if it was run and its members were all women. In this series, women have a power that is like the kryptonite of this world. It is at your fingertips, you use it in different ways. There are other female characters that we know of, who aren’t Aes Sedai and therefore don’t channel that unique power. We know women who are warriors, we know women who are philosophers, we know women who are queens, we know women who are simply Machiavellian rulers, we know women who are despots, etc. He does the whole range of things that are traditionally preserved for the masculine in fantasy and more. In war movies, our war heroes in the world of “Wheel of Time” are women. Yes, we also have fantastic men. But I think what made Robert Jordan extraordinary was the way he didn’t see gender as a barrier to entry to any faction of his world.

– The series also has an important diversity in the representation of characters.

Robert Jordan created the world of “The Wheel of Time” as if reinventing the planet we know. It’s as if all the continents we know of broke and put themselves together. The cultures are intact, but the world’s ethnicities are completely mixed and you might have a culture that feels Japanese, but ethnically they’re a group of people representative of every ethnicity on the planet, the same goes for, maybe, you know, a French culture or a culture that reminds you of the Greek. That has given us license to have a cast that represents the width of the world and find actors from all over. It’s been incredibly exciting because we’ve been able to deliver faces that people are familiar with, of course, but also faces that people aren’t familiar with. I think it’s been really fun to say, when agents ask us what ethnicity we’re looking for for this character, and to be able to tell them any. This has been very liberating and means that anyone can imagine themselves on “The Wheel of Time”. It has been just wonderful.

People will realize that this is “The Wheel of Time” going in a much darker and more dangerous direction.

– What can fans expect from the second season?

We have crossed the limits of the locations in which we film. We have filmed in places that have never been filmed before. We know that we are going to offer something unique. There was a place that we filmed, which makes up a substantial part of episode eight, where we needed the gods of the universe to somehow come together to give us this place in a way that was perfect, and those gods did. The stars aligned, and there was kind of a 40-60 chance against us, but it was worth it. It was one of the most mythical experiences of my film career. I am very excited for people to see the result.

– And as for the characters?

The second season offers villains, intractable, intelligent and fearsome enemies. We’re getting further and further away from the best adversaries of the first season, the Trollocs, as much as they are a crucial part of the world of “Wheel of Time”. At the end of episode one, you see Moiraine fighting a blackout and you know she’ll do without that power. By the end of episode two, we realize exactly what the seanchan army will mean for our characters in season two; what is their invasion of a small town, dominance, the havoc they wreak, the way they weaponize the only power and the female slaves they can channel. People will realize that this is “The Wheel of Time” going in a much darker and more dangerous direction. I’m also excited for them to meet the Aiel, who are a culture of mystery, honor, and incredible fighting. They are fantastic warriors who, as they say, “marry the spear”. That is the most important marriage for them. A kind of marriage of women in war, which I find very interesting. I’m excited about a lot of things, but seeing the growth of our key characters, the maturity that develops in Two Rivers Five. All of that is something I’m excited for people to see.

THE WHEEL OF TIME/ PRIME VIDEO

Second season

Cast: Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Josha Stradowskim, Madeleine Madden, Donal Finn, Ceara Coveney.

Synopsis: A humble farmer, Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski), learns that he is The Dragon Reborn—a dangerous historical figure destined to save the world…or destroy it. Desperate to protect him from the Dark One, an army of powerful sorceresses must contend with his growing power and the coming madness. The Wheel of Time turns, and the Final Battle is near. Although Rand thought he had destroyed the Dark One, evil has not left the world. In season two, threats old and new seek out the young friends of the Two Rivers, now scattered across the globe. The woman who found and led them is now powerless to help them, so they must find other sources of strength. In each other, or in themselves. In the Light… or in the Dark.

Similar titles: The Witcher, The Sandman, Shadow and Bone.