By Taraneh April 4, 2018 in Interviews, Television

Pop Culturalist Chats with Brittany Curran

Brittany Curran has been on fire in this season of the hit TV series The Magicians. As Fen, Brittany has audiences falling in love with her over the course of her (really well done) transition from wide-eyed young girl to supportive wife to heartbroken mother to a strong woman taking charge of her life.

We were excited to chat with Brittany about that journey, what she’d like to see happen for Fen, and what other projects she is passionate about.

PC: Fen has had a complex emotional storyline and has grown a lot this season. How did you prepare for that? Did you do anything different than you normally do?
Brittany: I actually did do something [to prepare] that I’ve never done before in my whole career: I called up my therapist. Fen dives into this state of psychosis, and I have never dealt with that in my life to any degree. I have acting teachers and amazing teachers in general, but I thought, “This is a whole psychological thing that I have no experience with.” So, I called my therapist and said, “Hey, can we do a Skype session, but for Fen?” She thought it sounded awesome so we did it and dove into the character.

One of the things [my therapist] happens to be an expert in is PTSD. She had such incredible insight. [We] discovered that Fen is going through post-partum psychosis—which women sometimes do after giving birth—and going through PTSD from being kidnapped and losing her child. So, that was a journey that I had never really done in my preparation before at any point in my career.

PC: As Fen has come outside of Fillory and explored a different world, she’s interacted with other characters, like Julia, that she hasn’t shared screen time with before. How has that changed her? What was that like for you?
Brittany: I loved it. It’s a bit of a fish-out-of-water story for Fen this season. She’s lived in Fillory her whole life and might not have even known where Earth really was; to go to this different plane of existence was a huge culture shock for her. She grew up with magic, but she didn’t grow up with cell phones or emojis. That is magic to her. It was so much fun to play with that.

Being able to work with Stella Maeve this season was incredible. I love working with her! I feel like her character, Julia, brought out a lot of strength in Fen. Not only coming to Earth, but [also] teaming up with Julia was a bit of a paradigm shift for Fen because Fen hasn’t really had any positive female relationships. They’ve all been very complicated and very toxic, in a way, especially with Margo. The Children of Earth in Fillory never really see Fen’s value. For Fen to suddenly have this other woman who respects her and cares about her and sees her as valuable…it really empowers her to go on this quest to save the fairies. That is the hardest thing she’s ever had to do because, you know, she blames the fairies for all of her trauma. And, for her to turn around and realize [the fairies] are victims too—and are good—was a big, big shift for her. I credit a lot of that to the Julia character.

“The Losses of Magic” Episode 303: Brittany Curran as Fen, Madeleine Arthur as Fray (Photo by: Eric Milner/Syfy)

PC: What was your favorite part of this season for Fen—and for you personally?
Brittany: Oh, from Fen’s point of view? I love it! Fen’s favorite part of her life this season would be the moment with Julia, herself, and Skye (the fairy, who is played by this awesome actress named Anya Savcic). When Julia was teaching Skye that she could do magic, that she had magic, and then the flower appeared in Skye’s hand. Then [Skye] almost died, but was saved. That was a huge moment for Fen—seeing someone who has been victimized their whole life suddenly find their power; that she was part of the empowerment was very different than what she was used to experiencing. It’s funny, even on set, when the cameras weren’t even on our faces—[the moment when] naturally as an actor you would want to stop and save your emotions—we all started happy crying together. It was the coolest moment.

My favorite part of the season…I mean, that moment was pretty high up there. But, I would say just being able to work with Stella in general was my favorite. All of our scenes where we have complicated emotions going back and forth and we’re being honest and hard on each other because we care…doing those scenes with Stella and feeling like two humans just talking, that was probably it.

PC: Obviously you can’t reveal anything for the finale, but, looking ahead for Fen, what is something you think would be great to explore for her?
Brittany: Actually, something that happens to Fen in the episode is 110% something that I really want to explore. I wish I could talk about it! You’ll know it when you see it. Something happens to Fen that is very outside of what she ever expected to happen to her. I am so, so excited about that.

Another thing I would really like to see Fen explore in the next season—that I don’t know about at all—is standing up to Eliot. If Fen could express herself to Eliot more and not be so nice about the fact that he’s left her in the dust all these years [I’d love that]. He does have that courageous moment when he apologizes to her for how he’s treated her, but she just brushes it off and says it’s ok. Forgiveness is obviously very important, but I think there needs to be a little more of Fen accepting that Elliot hasn’t been a very good husband before she goes into forgiveness, if that makes sense. I think she deeply cares about him, but there are things that if she doesn’t get off her chest and say to him, [they] will just boil up later in life—like things do in all types of relationships. I would love to see some closure with that.

PC: Beyond The Magicians, do you have any dream projects or roles you want to do someday?
Brittany: More than anything, I want to be a Disney princess. [laughs] I also love Westerns. My very favorite show of all-time is Westworld so I would love to be on that show.

I just love good stories. I love character-driven stories. Specifically, I’d love to do a Western or a spy movie. I love James Bond movies, too.

PC: Is there anything else you see yourself exploring down the line, outside of acting?
Brittany: Yeah, I definitely do. I think my first love is acting, but I also want to write and produce. I have been writing screenplays for a few years, and I write poetry and short stories. I want to be my own storyteller and make my own projects.

In addition to my career, I’m also involved in some charities. The one that I am really focused on right now is Donate Life. It’s a foundation that champions organ transplantation. They raise awareness, money for research, and all good things for organ transplants. I got involved with it because my boyfriend had a heart transplant five years ago. He got the transplant literally three weeks after we started dating—the weirdest whirlwind of the beginning of a relationship—but I got to see how he acts under pressure. He’s an incredible human being. Just being with him throughout the whole process, I learned so much and how much of a need there is for more donors. People being on the waiting list waiting for donors is such an avoidable problem. If everybody got themselves on the donor list, all these people wouldn’t be dying, really. Around 22 people die a day because they are waiting for an organ, and it’s preventable.

I’m running a 5K on April 28 in Los Angeles for Donate Life. I have my own team; people can join my team and run or walk with me. My goal someday is to start my own organ transplant foundation.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Guilty Pleasure TV Show
I have this obsession with The Flash, Arrow, and all those shows. I love The Flash so much. I have a Star Labs shirt, a mug….I go hardcore. [laughs]

Taraneh

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