Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Blood & Treasure’s Katia Winter

Katia Winter is one of the stars of CBS’ new summer adventure series, Blood & Treasure. The role finds Katia combining the best of both worlds, as she grew up wanting to be a detective, but then fell in love with acting. Pop Culturalist spoke with Katia about the series, her character, and how she prepared to kick some major butt.

PC: Tell us about Blood & Treasure, your character and what drew you to this project.
Katia: Blood & Treasure is a summer action-adventure series. It has Indiana Jones vibes with a splash of terrorism involved. You’ll go on this fun, treasure hunting adventure.

My character is an Interpol agent who’s tracking blood antiquities. That’s how she gets involved and goes on this journey.

I was drawn to this role because of the police aspect. I actually almost went to the police academy when I was younger. I’m obsessed with detective shows, and I’ve always wanted to play a detective of some sorts. It felt like a good compromise. [laughs] Although, the Interpol agents in this series are a bit glamorized; Interpol agents don’t carry weapons or arrest people, but they let me do that in the show, which was a lot of fun. Also, we traveled the world—we went to Morocco, Rome, and Montreal. That was really appealing and fun. I was coming off a serious movie, and I was in the mood to do something really fun. This was definitely it!

PC: What was the preparation like?
Katia: It’s weird with TV because you don’t get a lot of time. You get the script maybe a week before you start filming. The only preparation I would do is fight training and making sure I was in good shape. I knew I had a lot of physical fights coming up, which I also requested. I wanted to kick some major butt in those scenes! I’ve been training in martial arts for a long time and I wanted to utilize that in filming. I worked with the stunt people and all the martial arts trainers that they had in Montreal in between filming. That was everything I could do. Besides that, you’re along for the ride with the audience.

PC: How similar or different would you say you are to your character, Gwen?
Katia: We’re not very similar, though I’d like to be more like her sometimes. She’s unafraid and says exactly what she thinks. She’s very no nonsense. She doesn’t sugarcoat anything. That was really fun to play. Obviously, we’re both Swedish, so the roots are there. It was actually a ton of fun to play a Swedish character for the first time! It was interesting to see how the writers perceived the Swedish stereotype. I was able to look at my own people and say, “I guess we are kind of like that.” [laughs]

PC: There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this series. What should fans expect? Is there a scene that you’re really excited for people to see?
Katia: Oh, yeah! I’m excited about the action and fight scenes. They’re really cool. We were lucky because we had a great director, Steve Boyum, who was a big stunt guy in the ’80s and ’90s. He did all the big movies then. He directed a few episodes, but he also came in and directed the action scenes. He’s very good with shooting and directing action scenes.

PC: Can you tease anything about Gwen’s storyline and her overall involvement in the story?
Katia: She’s definitely a grower. She’s not in it as much in the beginning. I think she’s the only character that doesn’t have a personal agenda; she’s just there to do her job and she wants to do it well. She doesn’t like when other people don’t do their jobs well. She’s not necessarily a rule breaker, and it’ll challenge her throughout the season. Everyone else seems to be breaking the rules, and it drives her insane.

PC: Fans will remember you for your role in Sleepy Hollow. Did you take anything from that experience over to Blood & Treasure?
Katia: In Sleepy Hollow, my character was strong and powerful. I never got to utilize those powers because I was in purgatory for a whole season. Then when I finally came out, I turned evil, and did a bunch of stuff.

When I met with the writers for Blood & Treasure, they asked me what I wanted to do this season. They were open to any and all ideas. I told them, “I just want to kick some butt. I don’t want to be a damsel in distress. I don’t want to be saved.” They were like, “Cool, we can do that.”

Gwen does her own thing. She doesn’t care about waiting for people. She’s the muscle. She’s got her male partners, but she’s the one that takes control over the situation.

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Katia: It crept up on me. I was dead set on becoming a detective. I went to this military-infused high school, and I was going to go to the police academy. I had to be twenty to apply, so I had a gap year where I started traveling. I had an interest in film editing and directing, but I was too insecure to expose myself, to be vulnerable in front of people. That disappeared as I started traveling. I remember coming back to Stockholm, and I thought, “I have to try.” Subconsciously, I was drawn to it. I never thought growing up that I would become an actress, but I was drawn to it because it’s an exploration of one’s self.

PC: What’s been the biggest lesson you learned being a part of this industry?
Katia: I’m so grateful that I took this path. I’ve grown a lot as a person. I think had I become a detective, I wouldn’t have had this personal journey that I’ve had. You have to look inward a lot through acting, and you have to be comfortable in yourself. You learn a lot about yourself. You have to face your vulnerabilities. It’s been challenging, but also so rewarding.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Katia: Law & Order: SVU

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Katia: Love, Actually or Notting Hill

PC: Favorite book?
Katia: I read a really cool book last year called Beartown. That was great. It’s about a hockey team in a small village in Sweden. It sounds really boring, but it’s really good.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Katia: Book of Mormon

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised is on your playlist?
Katia: Metallica

PC: Hidden talent?
Katia: I like building things.

To keep up with Katia, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and catch Blood & Treasure every Tuesday at 10/9c on CBS.

Photo Credit: Austin Hargraves // Makeup: Desirae Cherman // Hair: Lucy Gedjeyan // Styling: Adena Rohatiner