[Quentin is reading from the book, The Tale of The Seven Keys. He reads the first chapter, which includes the Knight getting locked in The Castle at the End of the World and his daughter traveling to find the first key.] CLARA: Alright. Welcome to Physical Kids Weekly, episode 302, "Heroes and Morons." I'm Clara... DANI: ...and I'm Dani... CLARA: ...and today we're joined by the lovely Brittany Curran, who plays Fen. Welcome, Brittany! BRITTANY: Thanks guys! I love being back. CLARA: Well I am so happy to have you here because the last time we talked, Fen was still very new in the show and I know there were a lot of fans, especially book fans, who struggled with the fact that Eliot had been forced into this marriage with her. But I definitely see that turning around and now when we hear from fans about Fen, it's just a total lovefest and in fact, when we put out the call for questions for this episode, we got almost three times as many as we have for any other interview we have ever done. And I think that's a testament to you and how much humanity and empathy you bring to this role. So I'm really excited to have you back. BRITTANY: Thank you! I'm excited too! Yeah, I love the journey the writers took Fen on. That was really cool. CLARA: Yeah, and it seems like she's going to be going on a really cool journey, literally and figuratively this season too. So Dani. I'm giving Dani the listener questions and I'm sorry if we didn't get to yours. As I mentioned, we got something approaching 15 or 20 questions and we definitely can't get all of them. But yeah. I'm gonna let Dani start with the ones we were able to get too. BRITTANY: Awesome. DANI: Okay so the first is actually two. The first part comes from Elliott, who asks "How has Fen dealt with the emotional turmoil she's had to face in the last season?" and the second part comes from Freya— is there really a Freya? CLARA: Yeah, her name's really Freya! I know we have Elliott and Freya giving questions in this episode. DANI: "Does Fen ever regret her choice to abandon the FU fighters and try to create a workable partnership with Eliot?" BRITTANY: So to answer the first part of the question, the fact that I am cradling a log in the beginning of episode one should answer that. Fen is not dealing with it well, understandably. And for anyone whose wondering why I'm cradling a log, it's because of all the horrible trauma and kidnapping and wondering where my daughter is that I have now suffered a considerable amount of PTSD and trauma and am now in a deep state of psychosis and am quite 'dealing with it' by treating this log as my baby. It's like the fill-in for my child which is currently in the fairy realm in unknown parts. So yeah, no Fen is not handling it well at all. Which I think is pretty understandable and it was certainly interesting to play with. And then, the second part of the question. Oh yeah, with Fen -- how she feels about leaving the FU Fighters. Yeah, well the whole reason why Fen joined up with the FU Fighters was because her whole goal was just to do what's right for Fillory. So if being the FU Fighters is no longer the best thing for Fillory then her allegiance lies with Fillory first and foremost. So when Eliot starts to become a better ruler, she realizes that she can trust him -- that's when her allegiance is with Eliot. But just to make it clear, the FU Fighters were a thing from her past. She was never actually involved with Bailor, the FU Fighter. The FU Fighters were very much in her past. And once she married Eliot and came into the kingdom, she was 100% there and a part of that. So no, I don't think that was hard for her. I think she knew that was part of her duty and what she had to do. Did I answer that? I feel like there was another part. CLARA: I think she asked "Does Fen ever regret that now?" BRITTANY: Regret being a FU Fighter? CLARA: Regret being with Eliot and being his partner. BRITTANY: Oh well, I mean, I think Eliot's been a pretty horrendous husband [Scattered Laughter], so I think there's definitely that minor fact. But again, Fen comes from this archaic society of an arranged marriage that she never questioned and doing what's right for Fillory. So I think now that she's starting to get a bit more empowered, she realizes that she was -- cuz you know at the beginning of season two, Eliot acts like he was the only one forced into the arranged marriage. But I think it's easy to forget that Fen was just as forced into the marriage as Eliot was. She just took the news a little bit better because she was preparing for it her whole life. But of course I think she regrets it, but on the other hand, its what was best for Fillory -- having a Fillorian on court and she loves her child, even though she obviously isn't around. Sorry, that was a big general question. CLARA: No, I get it! She has complicated feelings! I think that makes sense. BRITTANY: She definitely has complicated feelings but whatever's good for Fillory is where Fen's at. DANI: Yeah, I think that you can tell that Fen doesn't necessarily love Eliot, but she believes in Eliot as a king. And I think that's why she supports him. You can also tell that with the rest of the royal court that they also support Eliot-- and Margo now. They believe they have what it takes to be leaders. BRITTANY: Definitely! CLARA: They're getting there anyway. [Laughter] DANI: Yeah. BRITTANY: Yeah, no, I think that Fen definitely sees that and that's why she sacrifices her own personal feelings and knowing that Eliot doesn't love her -- or at least I don't think he does -- I think she sacrifices having a marriage with love for the good of Fillory. She's better than I am! I'd get the heck out of there. Good bye! [Laughter] CLARA: We need to get her some Roxanne Gay. DANI: I think Eliot definitely cares about her, but I don't think he's in love with her though. BRITTANY: Yeah, I think he cares about her in his own way but yeah. [Laughter] I know, whenever Eliot does something bad, like another bad thing to her, I just get so mad about it. So I take Fen so personally, it's probably not healthy for my own psyche in real life. CLARA: Well I do think that's why people gravitate toward her so much. It's so nice to see that investment and to see you defend her. Like, I really liked when you said that to us the first time about how she's also forced into this arranged married, that is such an important feminist staement to point out. She's been put upon too. It's not just something she's doing to Eliot. I think that's great. BRITTANY: Yeah no exactly, totally. I think its so easy to overlook that and then -- oh, Fen is just as much in this forced marriage, except Eliot can go back to Earth and be with other people, but Fen stays in Fillory and just does her wifely duty. CLARA: Alright, Dani should we move to the next question? DANI: Yeah! We're going to combine a few listener questions for this next one. Shoutouts to Michelle and Gabriel. "Has Fen completely lost her shit, or is there something else going on?" BRITTANY: Yeah, Fen has completely lost her shit. [Laughter] There might be other things going on, but Fen has DEFINITELY broken from reality. CLARA: There were some interesting theories surrounding this question. I don't remember who, but somebody thought maybe she's under some spell. Somebody thought she was scheming with the fairies to get her daughter back. There were some really interesting ideas about 'maybe she's really pretending.' BRITTANY: Yeah, people are really clever! People come up with really cool things and sometimes people are absolutely right. But I think saying she really has lost it doesn't take away from other things that may happen. But I can say she's definitely lost her mind. DANI: Okay, so how do you approach material like that, where you have to play a character who has, in key ways, lost touch with reality? What do you draw from? BRITTANY: Approaching someone who has really lost touch with reality is definitely different than approaching any other type of thing. It's funny. In my career, I've played a lot of really horribly bitchy people and a lot of crazy people -- which are two different things -- but I've played these extreme things a lot. So to play someone who's having a psychotic break is an adventure in and of itself. So how I approach it was I called up my real therapist in LA -- we film in Vancouver -- and I thought, why not approach it from a completely human standpoint. So I called up my therapist and I said, hey, there's this thing I want to do. I don't know if you'd be comfortable but could we have a Skype therapy session and we'll do the session for Fen instead of for me, instead of doing a regular Brittany one. DANI: Oh my god. That's SO cool. BRITTANY: She was like, yeah, that sounds really interesting. It's funny because one of the things she specializes in is PTSD and that's one of the things Fen is really going though so I thought, oh this perfect, I already love this woman, and she has a degree in this thing. And so we had this therapy session and we just dove into Fen's psychosis and the fact that she's probably going through postpartum psychosis and all of these different things that are really serious, really really tough issues, and of course, on the show its a little elevated. Like my psychosis is a little elevated, but I still wanted the core to come from a place of truth. And it was really amazing -- and really devastating -- to explore women -- and men too -- but women who have grown through this type of thing because its really really really rough. I mean, I can't fully understand it unless I've gone through it, but studying it and researching it was fun actually -- to look at that side of human behavior. CLARA: I have to say, I thought your performance in this episode was so excellent and your facial expressions were arresting, especially that scene where Freya--where Fray -- I'm going to keep calling her Freya because of that fan [Laughter]. Where [Fray's] introduced and you sorta go from cradling the log baby-- which we definitely have to get back to that because I loved that Twin Peaks reference; it was so perfect -- to like, being a little out of touch with reality, but still in a nuanced way. Like you can see the fragility in that. It's not just played for laughs, to really asserting herself, like telling Eliot, no you don't get to make all the decisions, this is a thing I need to do. Where she really does seem self-assured, to where Fray is there and I can't imagine what someone would be going through at that moment, seeing their daughter who they thought they lost forever suddenly returning, having grown up; telling her to her face, I don't care about you at all. There's so much in there and you can really see that in your performance. It was great. BRITTANY: Thanks! Yeah, that was such an interesting scene. Like, Fen's lost it, but she has these moments of lucidity, like in the first episode where she brings up the Muntjac, the boat, and saying, Eliot no, I am going on this journey, I was the one who knew about the Muntjac. And asserting that, and I am going, I'm not just your little wife prop, I am a person. And I was so glad she finally stood up to him, for him to acknowledge that she's a human too. And then not realizing if [Fray's] been dead -- and then the joy of realizing she's alive, but also that loss of sixteen years or however many years have gone by. So Fen's lost all these years, but she's gained this life. And [Fray] doesn't care about [Fen]. But at that point, I don't think Fen gives a crap about that and in perspective, whatever, who cares if she's not happy, at least Fen has her daughter back. That was fun. And then Madeleine Aruthur, who plays mine and Eliot -- Hale's -- daughter, oh my god I love this girl SO much. Hale and I have just become obsessed with her. We call her our daughter in real life and are vying for her affection at all times. [Laughter] We're so proud of her in real life. She's this successful young actress and we've just fallen in love with her. When we both have children in real life, they're never going to measure up to you, Madeleine. So anyways, we've taken our characters really serious this year. DANI: She looks so actually fairy-like. BRITTANY: Doesn't she? She looks like she could totally be our kid too. This is a really good casting! CLARA: Yeah! She has the coloring of Hale's eyes, but they're big like yours. It's crazy! BRITTANY: Perfect match! And she's a very serial looking, very otherworldly young woman, and I just love her. She's my daughter and I love her. [Laughter] CLARA: Okay so back to your other baby, back to the log. DANI: What was your reaction to the log baby? BRITTANY: Oh my god, I thought it was the funniest thing ever when I read the script. Actually -- this is going to make ME sound like I lost it. But I actually got attached to the log -- [Laughter] BRITTANY: And that whole first episode and a half, I was like, as an acting exercise I'm just going to hold onto the log all day, but then I really got attached to the log and then part way through one of the days, I had to call my bank about something, some real life annoying thing, but I was holding my log the whole time. So I'm pacing back and forth on the stage for like 30 minutes, cradling my log, having a real bank conversation, people just watching me cradling this log and refusing to put it down. Then at one point I had to put another outfit on, so one of the wardrobe ladies had to take the log from me, but then she flipped it upside down and I was like, oof no, but I didn't wanna say anything because I'd sound INSANE so I was just standing there, looking at my log upside down and it was really a little painful. Then I got my robe on and I took the log right away. [Laughter] CLARA: Oh my god, that's a great story. BRITTANY and DANI: It is. BRITTANY: I tried to take the log home with me too at the end of the night, but then either Dean or Rosie -- one of our prop guys was like, no that's a pretty important log, we have to keep it. And I was like, alright alright. CLARA: Did you get the log back at the end of the season? BRITTANY: No I didn't! I guess that prop was important so they had to hold onto it just in case something happens. I don't know. I didn't take it. I wanted to. CLARA: Awww well I hope they hang onto it and you get to keep it at the end of the show. DANI: Yeah, that would be nice. BRITTANY: Honestly, I would SO keep that log. I love that log. [Bits of Laughter] CLARA: So does the log have a name? This was a question from Logan by the way. Although we wonder as well. BRITTANY: You know, the log didn't have a name. I am obsessed with Baby Groot in real life so I kinda was imagining that the log was Baby Groot the whole time. So I guess the log's name is Baby Groot. I didn't actually know. Other than Baby Groot, I didn't actually assign a name. I should have though. No, we'll say Baby Groot is the log's name. CLARA: It's appropriate. Baby Groot is a tree. BRITTANY: Exactly. Groot is a special little angel who I love and so is my log. DANI: I love Groot. Especially Baby Groot. BRITTANY: Oh yeah, love me some Baby Groot. CLARA: So the other thing I have to ask is are you a Twin Peaks fan? Did you know what this meant when you saw it? BRITTANY: You know what's funny, I actually, coincidentally started watching Twin Peaks this season. It became my treadmill show. So when I was on the treadmill, I would start watching Twin Peaks each night I would work out, but I didn't get very far, so I didn't get to the log lady part. So I do love Twin Peaks, but I didn't get far at all, so somebody else had to tell me. But now I know what it is and I thought the reference was hilarious. But I didn't know immediately. I wish I had. CLARA: Oh well you should go back and watch it. Catherine Coulson -- I don't know how much of the story you know -- but Catherine Coulson who played the log lady -- she died a few years ago from cancer so she filmed all of the new season while she was dying. BRITTANY [very surprised]: Ohhhhhhhh CLARA: Yeah, so I don't remember if she's holding the log in the new season. She's the one on the phone with Hawk in a couple moments. I went to a panel last night at SF Sketchfest for Twin Peaks and then Rachel Bloom and I don't know which was better. They were both fantastic. But they were talking about how she wanted to do this as her way of saying goodbye and how they chose Hawk to be the one she spoke through and said her goodbyes through. Both as the character and as the person. BRITTANY: Oh wow. My God. That's incredible. What an amazing outlet for something like that. But I can't even imagine going through something like that. CLARA: Yeah, well, I think that's part of the reason I loved this so much. It feels like a tribute to her. It's this iconic moment, but I also think there's this connection there. We don't know what the log lady has gone through in Twin Peaks that causes her to carry that log around, but there's a reasonable interpretation that there's some PTSD. BRITTANY: Absolutely. DANI: Now for our last question. CLARA: Which is COMPLETELY different in tone. DANI: So our last question is about Cheetos. [Laughter] BRITTANY: Oh yeah! I like this question. DANI: So Logan wants to know, "What are your favorite kind of Cheetos, and if Fen goes to Earth this season, what kind would she choose?" BRITTANY: First of all, excellent question. I saw this question on Twitter and I was already planning to answer it whether you asked me or not. So I'm glad it was already in the line-up. My favorite Cheetos are the crunchy jalapeno Cheetos. CLARA: Yessssss BRITTANY: They're so good! CLARA: They are so good! BRITTANY: I also love the puffy swirl Cheetos, but I haven't seen them in a store for the past decade. And they were the regular ones, the plain puffy ones, but they were twisty, and I swear to God, they tasted better. I mean, it's definitely not in my head, they definitely tasted better. And I haven't seen them in AGES. So those are my two favorites. But I am a very inclusive Cheeto lover so I love all cheetos, but those are my favorites. DANI: I want them to bring back the Hot Cheeto Asteroids. They were just like, little balls. BRITTANY: I don't think I ever had those ones. I mean, whenever I see a new Cheetos branding situation, I get them. I LOVE Cheetos. Canadian Cheetos are even cheesier than American Cheetos, I've discovered so I ate a lot of Cheetos while I was in Canada. CLARA: I think I've told you this, but my friend Mark in grad school -- he was like the life of the party and he hosted all the parties -- and at every single one of his parties, he would have Cheeto Salad, which was just a giant bowl with all different kinds of Cheetos you could find, tossed up together. BRITTANY:Yeah! Of course! It's Cheetos. [Laughter] CLARA: Okay, so the found half of the question was, " If Fen goes to Earth this season, what kind would she choose?" BRITTANY: Hmmm… Man, this should have been in my character development. What kind of Cheetos would she have? If she went to Earth, she would probably like the classic puffy Cheetos. I don't know why; that's just my inspiration. I feel like she's like the classic puff Cheetos. But she's the type who would try ALL of them and get overwhelmed but then keep eating them. CLARA: So we'll have to make her some Cheeto Salad if that happens BRITTANY: Get me some Cheeto Salad regardless. DANI: I would love to see Fen on Earth. I hope that happens. CLARA: That would be great. BRITTANY: Yup. CLARA: Like the fish out of water, like in Wonder Woman. That would be great. BRITTANY: Oh Absolutely. That would be great. That would be an adventure. And God, I loved Wonder Woman so much. I cried. I cried during the battle sequences because they had such badass women. Like, "oh no, I'm crying now." CLARA: You weren't the only one. How many times did you see it? BRITTANY: I've only seen it once actually. I'm a person who will watch a movie over and over again, but I try to leave a certain amount of time between watchings, so it's still too new to watch it again, but I was in love with it. I was in love with Gal Gadot--how do you say her name? She's so incredible. CLARA: Oh and she's like, the hottest person on the planet. I have such a crush on her. BRITTANY: And she's really a badass. She really really is. She was Israeli Special Forces, right? Like she really knows how to fight. She's a mom. She's so COOL. DANI: She is. CLARA: Some people have it all. [Laughter] CLARA: Okay, so I'm going to throw in one of my own, too, if you don't mind. Could you tell us about the movie you worked on this year, The Man from Earth. Who is your character, Tara [Ta-ra] -- or was it pronounced Tara [Tar-a] -- and what is she like? BRITTANY: It was actually pronounced both ways in the film so I'm not 100% sure, which is interesting. But yeah, The Man from Earth:Holocene was the one I was in, and it is the sequel to this science fiction cult hit that came out ten years ago, The Man from Earth. And it's about this fourteen thousand year old man who just aged up until 35-40 and then stopped aging. And he's just made his way through time, going about different lives. In the second movie that I'm in, he's a college professor at a school in Chico, which is in California, and I am one of his students, Tara. And it was this cool indie-sci fi film I was in. I filmed it actually right before I started The Magicians, and Tara is this really complicated young lady who's had a lot of misunderstandings in her life. She doesn't know how to express herself and she expresses herself overtly through her sexuality and doesn't really know how to balance that. She has a huge crush on her professor, who she doesn't realize in the beginning is fourteen thousand years old. She's really into older men.[Laughter] Yeah, she was really fun to play. And David Smith, who plays The Man from Earth, is an incredible actor so working with him was so awesome. He's such a cool guy. CLARA: I hope we get to see it! I was bummed I couldn't make it last week, but I got really sick last Friday. BRITTANY: Yeah! I figured you were out of town, but I invited you no matter what. It came out in limited release in theaters and hopefully it'll come out in different places. I think it's being released on DVD in February. CLARA: Excellent! I'll look for it then if it doesn't come to the area before then. BRITTANY: Definitely. CLARA: So yeah, has there been anything else you've been working on other than The Magicians, other than The Man from Earth that you wanna talk about? Anything we should look at? BRITTANY: Yeah! I have this other film, this horror film called Captured, that I did awhile ago, and it's supposed to come out this year some time. I play this punk-rock singer which was super fun. I got to be way more badass than in real life. I had full chest tattoos, which was really cool. Yeah, it was super fun. That's coming out later this year, then… what else? I've just been doing a lot of writing right now and trying to exercise. I had all these plans this year--taking sword lessons, and doing jujitsu, and then I broke my shoulder on Christmas Day, so I can't do that for a little while. CLARA: Aww. What are you writing? Are you writing a book? Are you writing like -- ? BRITTANY: Well since I was little, I was always writing poetry. So I actually started submitting poetry to literary journals and stuff like that, which is really, really hard. I'm also writing a script -- well a couple scripts -- but it's just in the very, very beginning process. Very early on. And short stories and stuff, just for fun. CLARA: That's awesome! BRITTANY: Yeah, but another thing I started doing at the end of last year was, I'm getting involved with this foundation called Donate Life, which is all about organ donation and raising awareness and money and all different kinds of stuff for research, and just general organ forward progress with organ transplantation. They're doing the 5k in April so I started my own team and I'm raising money, and I have some people joining my team for the 5k. BRITTANY: Organ transplantation is really important to me because my boyfriend, James, had a heart transplant four years ago and going through that process with him, I noticed just how many people need transplants and if everybody signed up to be an organ donor-- it'd be easy, you can go online it takes less than a minute -- there wouldn't be people who need organs. It's such a fixable problem. So I wanted to get more involved with that. So that's just another thing I've been doing with my time CLARA: And in California, when you go to the DMV to renew your license, you can just fill it out and get the sticker. BRITTANY: Yeah! You have to literally go to the DMV and check one box. It is so so, easy. CLARA: I have a friend who donated a kidney through that, through Donate Life. BRITTANY: They're an amazing organization. CLARA: Yeah, it's super cool. And they do an amazing job of outreach and really working with donors and the people who are receiving them, to make sure their needs are being met in what is a really scary situation. BRITTANY: Yeah. Absolutely. Totally. CLARA: Okay! So we should probably switch over to the episode. But before we dive into it in depth, I want to do a quick plot summary. So this is what I wrote up really quickly right before here, okay. On Earth, Q, Julia, Josh, and Kady team up to look for Mayakovsky's batteries, which leads them to Emily Greenstreet, a suicidal Professor Lipson, and...Alice. Meanwhile in Fillory, Fen insists on joining Eliot and Tick as the Muntjac journeys to After Island, and the Fairy Queen insists they take on a surprise envoy: Eliot and Fen's daughter, Fray. So I'll start by asking you, Brittany, what did you think when you read the script and realized what this episode was gonna be? BRITTANY: I was so excited. Me and Hale had talked a bit last season when our daughter went away, like what's gonna happen? Is she gonna die? Are we gonna have a baby on set next year? Are they gonna do some magical aging thing? We had no idea. So when I read it was the magical aging thing, I was so excited. I kinda freaked out and I was really happy for Fen that she actually gets her daughter, but in a very complicated, convoluted way with the Fairy Queen. So I was like SUPER excited, but really curious. There were a million ways it could go so, yeah. At this point, I still had no clue (obviously I know now) what was going to happen. CLARA: How do you think the introduction of Fray will affect Fen's relationship with Eliot? BRITTANY: Well, I mean I already know. [Laughter] BRITTANY: I can't give it away. But I guess you do see a lot of it in this episode that just aired. What it does is it just throws Fen further into her psychosis. Because at the end of season two, with being kidnapped and coming back and finding out Eliot didn't look for her at all and that he wasn't very concerned about her or their unborn child. I think what would happen a lot of times is that someone would be pissed and walk out on it, because clearly [she] and the unborn child are not a priority to [him] at all. But because they lost the child, that's what pushed Fen to this psychosis of just no matter what, wanting to create this family scenario. Because other than Fillory being Fen's love, she just wants a family of her own. And suddenly having Fray, the real child, this real person in her life, just throws her further into this alternate reality of having this perfect family -- which she doesn't have. So I think it just makes Fen more blind to the fact that Eliot isn't really that invested in Fen, where I think any other situation I think she'd be fed up, basically. DANI: I love the stereotypical father/mother/daughter moments they have. Like they're so excited to say those 'go to your room' and 'behave.' Those are some of my favorite parts. CLARA: Those are really great in this episode, for sure. BRITTANY: Yeah, Hale and I love those parental moments of telling her to go to her room. That was so much fun for both of us. Yeah no, Fen and Eliot do bond a bit more over it. Because they're in this thing together and Fen and Eliot both end of becoming incredibly endeared to Fray. And because of that, it brings us closer together, I think. But then Eliot also has to deal with this random 16-year-old daughter and crazy ass wife, which cannot be easy. And trying to fix magic. So I can't imagine how hard that is for our lovely Eliot. DANI: Yeah, I think my favorite parts of the entire episode are just like when Fen is like, we're finally a family! And he's like, we're fucked up enough to be! That was like best. BRITTANY: I love that line so much! DANI: So do you think that Fen trusts Fray? BRITTANY: I do think Fen trusts Fray. I think she does. I think Fen has to trust Fray or else she'd just completely, completely go to a whole new level of insanity. I think she's gonna trust Frey whether she really thinks she can or she can't. I think she thinks she has no option. I don't think she looks at it that way. I just think she thinks, this is our daughter, this is my decision, and I won't go back on that. Yeah, I think she does. Which Eliot, still in his right mind, is being a little more savvy about it than Fen is. CLARA: Do you think that's hard for her? That Eliot doesn't trust their daughter? BRITTANY: Yeah, I think it is hard for Fen because she just wants everything to be perfect and she just wants everything to fit in their perfect little boxes which obviously its not. But, again, because Fen is so indenital about so many things, I think its easier for her to brush over the fact that Eliot still doesn't fully trust her. DANI: Guess we should move on. We should cover some stuff that takes place on Earth too. CLARA: Yeah, you're absolutely right. I don't think I asked you our standard question yet, DaniI, which I normally do at the top of the show. So Dani what did you think of this episode? What stood out to you? DANI: I loved this episode. It was a really great ensemble [episode]. I'll talk about it more when we get to the MVP section, but everyone was just at their best. I think it was a really funny episode and I love those really funny episodes, minus some really deeper moments. I thought it was really interesting to see Quentin dealing with Professor Lipson and I know there was a lot of fack on the internet for that actually. Because in the previews, they showed that potentially happening, and people were like, I don't think Quentin should be dealing with someone potentially killing themselves just because of his own depression, his own triggers. But I thought it was actually handled very well. He handled it well and I really liked his side quip about like, that's the nearest building. It just felt really real. That's something I know a lot of people who've contemplated suiciude would probably say. So I really like that part. CLARA: And I think to your point about him, like people saying he shouldn't be the one who is talking her down, he shouldn't be the one in the situation, in a lot of ways, he is the one most equipped to handle that situation. Because he truly emphasizes and knows where she's been and I think you see that. He says a couple of things that really make her--like those are the things that really bring her back. That thing about raging against the dying of the light. There's one other thing that was a little bit earlier in that scene, but where it's clear that he knows how she feels and she recognizes that. And I don't know if that would work as well with somebody who hadn't felt those same things. DANI: Yeah. CLARA: I also really enjoyed in this episode seeing Julia and Quentin starting to repair their friendship and finding that equilibrium again. And you mentioned this in the last episode too, but in the scene with the sex magic, which I know seems like a weird place to to talk about, oh there's so much empathy and friendship here. That stuck out to me because Quentin's had this crush on Julia, pretty much as long as he's known her and he could have just been a jealous dick, but he wasn't. He was just kind to her. When he pulls her away, it doesn't seem like it's out of a jealousy thing, it seems like it's out of a like, 'are you sure this is what you want to be doing?' thing. And then they go and snap back into being friends again, instead of him yelling at her like he would have in season 1. DANI: Yeah, I think their relationship is really growing. A lot of their relationships are. Like they're getting closer to Josh, which I really like because I love Josh. I adore Josh. BRITTANY: Trevor Einhorn is so amazing. He's so funny. He's so heartful. I'm just so happy he's on the show a bunch this season. DANI: Yeah, I was really happy when they announced you both to be series regulars. That was just like, yes! BRITTANY: Thanks! Yeah, I was excited for the both of us because I just love Trevor so much. CLARA: I guess this is a tiny spoiler, but will you and he get to be pairing up at any part this season? BRITTANY: I can't say it! CLARA: Okay, okay, okay! [Laughter] CLARA: No spoilers, got it! [Laughter] CLARA: So tell me something. I don't really know how all the behind the scenes stuff works. Were you on set for any of the scenes you're not in, on Earth, for this episode? BRITTANY: For this episode? Not for this episode, no. I don't think I was. Sometimes I'll randomly be on set for a few minutes. There is one really cool scene with Jade that's coming up that I specifically came to set that day to watch and to be there with her. So that day I just came to hang out for hours and drank a lot of espresso and that was a lot of fun. DANI: Are the Fillory set and the Earth set really far away from each other? BRITTANY: No, some of the sets are probably about 20 yards away from each other. DANI: Oh, okay! BRITTANY: The Muntjac is literally the next stage over from the Physical Kids Cottage. CLARA: Oh wow! You should like, sneak in there and get some spoiler shots for your Instagram. BRITTANY: Yeah! But the throne room is a totally different part. It's on a soundstage like, 15 minutes away. So the throne room is like in its own little world, like in the show, kinda. Our sets are so cool because they're so magical. You just walk through and you're in this cottage then you're in the boat, then Dean Fogg's office. I love it DANI: The inside of the Muntjac is SO beautiful. Holy shit. BRITTANY: It's incredible. Our production designer, Margot Ready just did the most incredible job, and there's just so much detail. Like when you're on the Muntjac, and we're actually filming so all the lights are on and everything is lit and the lights are swaying back and forth, it really feels like you're on this magical pirate ship, which I just pretend I really am in, in real life. Just the detail -- like you'll never see on screen, like the deer theme, because the Muntjac is a Deer Class ship. And if you look on the show, you'll notice there's a lot of deer aestic on the boats and it's just -- . I go and just hang out sometimes and just look around and look at the books. It's so cool. CLARA: It seems really cool. I know that--I think it was Chris Fisher -- who started Instagramming pictures of that, way very early in the summer. And then like a month later, someone was like, we can finally announce it for real! And it's like, we've all seen it. [Laughter] BRITTANY: That was the best! I was like, did he post another picture of the Muntjac? CLARA: He posted SO MANY and then there was this big announcement like, oh we're going on the Muntjac. Like, everyone knows. BRITTANY: We know! We've known. [Laughter] CLARA: But it is. It's really beautiful and all the shots of it -- the outside shots and the inside shots -- are just all really spectacular. BRITTANY: Yeah, it's a really great ship. When we shot on the real ship, like out on the water, I had to bring so much -- I was like a mom when we went out on this ship. I had ginger gum, I had dramamine, I had ginger shots, I had five different things I was pedaling to people. I was like, Olivia, do you want a ginger shot? I was just like the mom that goes into a theme park with a fanny with literally an entire pharmacy to go. DANI: Smart, smart. CLARA: That's good. DANI: I always forget that stuff when I go anywhere. Like I was in Universal and all the rides are basically 3D/moving around violently and I got so motion sick. BRITTANY: Yeah, you forget! You forget that will happen. But oh, it happens. CLARA: Yeah, I can't. I mean, if you get seasickness and you had to be filming on that for months at a time, I imagine everyone was really grateful to your fanny pack. BRITTANY: Yeah, I only get seasick like 25% of the time I'm on a boat. But I don't want it to be the time I'm filming on a boat. CLARA: Yeah, that wouldn't be a fun DVD extra. BRITTANY: Not a fun DVD extra at all, no. [Laughter] CLARA: So the other thing I wanted to talk about in this episode is the animation sequence is just GORGEOUS. And I just kept thinking, where did this come from? So, Brittany, do you know where it came from? BRITTANY: I don't know. I wish I had researched that before I came on this interview. That would have been really fun and anecdotal for me to talk about. DANI: It reminded me a lot of the Harry Potter one from The Deathly Hallows, "The Tale of the Three Brothers." BRITTANY: Yeah, it reminded me of that too. I wouldn't be surprised if that was an inspiration. Yeah, no. I have no idea where it came from. It was really great. Well obviously I know the Tale of the Seven Keys came from the book, from Lev's books. DANI: If I remember correctly -- CLARA and DANI: It's very different. BRITTANY: It's very different, yeah. They ended up taking inspiration from Lev and then kind of molding it into something with a new life. But yeah, that was one of my favorite parts of the books -- The Tale of the Seven Keys and the lore behind that. Because I love mythology in general so reading that felt very mythological and I was so psyched when we got to do it in the show. CLARA: So I watched this sequence a few times and I watched it a few more this morning, and I have a crackpot theory I want to air about it. Brittany, I'm going to explicitly say, don't comment on this, if there's spoilers we don't want to know. If there's not spoilers, I don't want to know I'm wrong yet. DANI: I woke up to like, 20 text messages from Clara about this theory. CLARA: I'm just gonna say, for the record, I sent those text messages at 1:30, so. DANI: Hey, hey so I woke up around 1pm. I'm still slightly sick, so. CLARA: That's fine. I'm just teasing you. Okay, so here it is. Here's my crackpot theory. Like I said, don't say anything. I think Fen is the knight's daughter in this version of the tale and I have a lot of evidence about why. First off, her dad is a blademaker. So he's not actually a knight, but that is something that has to do with knighthood. Blades are really important in that. In the animation sequence, right before all the keys circle around to form the image on the front of the book, seven swords do the same thing. So it seems like they're pretty important, and as it turns out, Fen's knowledge as a swordmaker's daughter was critical to getting the first key. Okay, so that's point one. Still with me? BRITTANY: Mhm! I can't answer, but I'm still with you. CLARA: Point two, this one is small, but the dress the daughter wears in the animation sequence looks a lot like something Fen would wear. And one thing I noticed in this episode which we'll get to more in fashion, her style is pretty unusual, even in Fillory. Most of the villagers on After Island wear sturdier clothes. Fray also wears sturdier clothes, and more sort of pants style, and more sort of warrior style. And while the other castle staff definitely dress a little more like royalty, the gentle, billowing flowing dress with minimal embellishment -- the stuff Fen wears -- is pretty rare and that's what the daughter in the animation sequence is wearing. Okay, ready for three? BRITTANY: Yeah! CLARA: Okay, I have been thinking about why the story isn't in the book from the beginning. It could just be a silly magic trope, like it unfolds magically because quests don't give you everything that you need from the beginning. But it could be that it's actually being written as they go. Fen is the one to suggest the Muntjac, and she insists on joining Eliot to find the key. And the Fairy Queen does too, it seems like it's important that Fen's there. Maybe that's because she has to be the one to sail on the ship to unlock the next part of it. Okay, and one more piece of evidence. In the promotional materials, each of the main characters has a key that's associated with them. It seems like the keys do get mixed up a little bit, but in the stand alone pictures, each person has one key that's associated with them. Now that key, some keys have more than one person and Fen's is one of them, but Fen's key is the last one in the sequence in that circle of keys on the book and in the animation sequence. The first one is the Ram's head, and that's the first one they find. And I think that one's Eliot's. Fen's is the one that looks like a spade in a deck of cards, but with a bunch of lines through it so it's cut into 6 sections. The other character we see with that key in the standalone image is Quentin's and I don't know if that does anything to help my theory, but I don't think it disproves it because Quentin is kinda at the center of everything. And my last thing isn't a piece of evidence, but I also wondered if the castle in the animation is Castle Blackspire. So, Brittany, you don't get to talk about this, but Dani, I want to know what you think. [Laughter] DANI: I definitely haven't watched it enough to lend forth to your crackpot theory. I think it would be really cool if they gave a twist like that because the character who ends up being so critical is the first person they run into on After Island in the actual book. I mean, it plays a big role, but I think it would be cool if Fen's character had very deep roots. I don't know if I believe your theory, but I think it would be cool if it was true. [Laughter] CLARA: Which is totally fair, I mean there's definitely an element of wishful thinking to this, but it's not that crazy. Those things are real. They exist. She is a blademakers daughter. Alright. Okay, so before we go to fashion, I want to ask about two other things. We really didn't talk much about Earth. There's the whole thing where Jade--ah where Kady and Josh, like -- DANI: Dinosaurs! CLARA: Yeah, Dinosaurs, right [Laughter] DANI: I wanted to see it. I wanted to see the dinosaur so I'm kinda disappointed. CLARA: You see like a tiny bit of its tail or something in there at the end. Definitely not enough. BRITTANY: Yeah, I wanted to see the dinosaur too CLARA: Then the other thing I definitely want to ask Brittany about even though you're not in this part of the show: as a cat mom, how did you feel about the exploding kittens? [BRITTANY groans] BRITTANY: I was so mad. I was so sad. I'm just glad it wasn't a real cat in reality. DANI: They really hate cats on this show. Last season we got that thing with Reynard. BRITTANY: That grossed me out. CLARA: That was gross. BRITTANY: I still hate watching that scene because of how gross it is and how realistic it looks, but no, it really bummed me out with that cat. I liked Alice's survival instinct, but I felt bad that the cat had to die for it. And then the line, "The cat exploded. Which happens sometimes." Or whatever it was. That bummed me out because I'm obsessed with my cat. I actually had a nightmare the other day that she got run over by a car and I woke up in a cold sweat. It was the most horrifying nightmare of my life and so the idea of something happening to a cat makes me sad because I am a crazy cat lady. CLARA: I will say, if you don't follow Brittany's cat's Instagram, you really should. What's the handle again? BRITTANY: The handle I think is DuchessofMeowington. Her full name is Lady Purrsbury Duchess of Meowington. CLARA: Oh my God. DANI: That's amazing. BRITTANY: She went from being a cat abandoned on the side of the street to owning lands and titles so she's really worked her way up in the world. CLARA: She's so beautiful. DANI: I think your cat needs to follow my cat on Instagram. BRITTANY: What's your cat's Instagram? DANI:It's Dobbythehouscat, except house is spelled without an 'e.' BRITTANY: Oh my god that is so cute! Okay cool, I think Duchess and Dobby have to be friends, and I like Dobby in Harry Potter. CLARA: We should move onto fashion. But at the end of this, I definitely want to see Duchess. Is she there now? BRITTANY: Actually, yeah. She's in the other room now. I can grab her later. CLARA: Yeah, at the end of the episode. She's so adorable. Okay, cool! Fashion, hi! This episode has a lot of fashion in it. So first, I just want to talk about Fray's outfit because I think it is stunning and also very different from the other kinds of FIllorian outfits that we've seen. And my husband was saying it kinda looks like an elevated version of something you would have seen in Aladdin. And it's very beautiful and I know that Magali puts a lot of thought into them and I've been trying to suss out what that tells us about Fray's character. Any hints? BRITTANY: No, I can't. Welllll, her character's been raised as a fairy and so I originally thought that Fray was going to be dressed as a fairy. CLARA: Yeah! BRITTANY: With the netting and all that amazing fairy aesthetic, but no. She's definitely tough though. She's definitely a tough young lady and I feel like part of her outfit looks a little warrior-like and its kinda stiff. Like you said, the actual fabric itself. But it still kinda has this epithelial thing to it, shiny, and pretty, and otherworldly kind of in the way that the fairies are. But yeah, no. But hints, that's pretty much it. CLARA: it reminds me a little bit of something Arya Stark would wear. Like when she was still a princess before all the bad shit happened. DANI and BRITTANY: Yeah. DANI: Before she ran away from Knight's Landing. BRITTANY: Yeah, I could see that. CLARA: The other big one that stood out to me, other than Fen's outfits which I already mentioned how fits into my crackpot theory, was what Margo's wearing as the Muntjac is setting off. She's dressed like a military general, which is so appropriate for Margo, but she's got this black military jacket or cape maybe, with brass buttons. It's SO gorgeous. BRITTANY: It is amazing and I feel that really echoes Margo coming into her -- I'll just say this generally cuz it could mean a lot of things -- but coming into her power and whether that means as a woman, as a ruler, as a whatever. But I think it really echoes that part of Margo which I love. And I think Summer just totally nails this season. I love it. Obviously I don't know much about other people's wardrobe as much as my own, but I can say about Fen's wardrobe, if you look closely more this season, especially that velvet dress that I wore on the Muntjac -- I mean part of it was medieval with the cut and everything, but some of the fabrics, like the look of my costume (and you'll see it more again) as a 1920s vibe to it. CLARA: Oh yeah! BRITTANY: Yeah! Magali did that on purpose, kinda like that roaring 20s, coming into yourself and being a more empowered woman and being not so rigid and actually getting loose a little bit. So that starts to mirror. Fen goes through a lot this season but like, coming into your womanhood and your femininity and your power, like the roaring 20s thing, is a bit of theme for Fen this season and I got to wear all those amazing costumes. CLARA: Ugh, I'm so excited. Are we gonna get to see Fen in a flapper dress? BRITTANY: That would be cool! Although I do wear flapper-esk things. But yeah, that would be cool, a full on flapper dress. DANI: I had a really cool idea for a Halloween cosplay once where I was going to turn the Catwoman outfit into a 1920s thing and I still haven't done it. BRITTANY: That's cool! I love that idea. DANI: Yeah, like a masquerade mask instead of a mask. BRITTANY: That would be so cool. I love that. DANI: One day! Fashion wise, I have to point out I love what Julia was wearing. CLARA: That's what you say everything single time [Laughter] BRITTANY: What was she wearing again? DANI: She always wears these black on black tight pants, crop top, heels. She was wearing this red leather jacket at some point too during the episode that I loved. CLARA: She had a white crop top with a mock turtleneck at some point in this episode, which I noticed because it's not black. DANI: I just love Julia's wardrobe and want to steal it at all times. BRITTANY: I do too. She has some really cool blazers this season too that go with skinny jeans and just look so amazing on her. I just love her wardrobe too. CLARA: So we actually ask most of our guests whose wardrobe would you steal. Would it be Julia's? Would it be someone else's? BRITTANY: I would totally steal Fen's wardrobe because I wanna be a princess in real life and that's what she is and I love her princess clothes. But in terms of like real life clothes, I would probably steal Julia's, I would say. Or Eliot's, like a femmine version of Eliot's Brakebills attire, like the collared shirts and the prints and the vests. I'd like that. Like a femmine version of that would be really cool too. CLARA: That's the most common answer, regardless of gender of the guests, is Eliot's outfits. BRITTANY: Pretty awesome. His Fillory stuff -- everything is like, so beautifully Eliot. I love it. CLARA: Aww. Okay, anything else for fashion or is that it? DANI: I think that's it. CLARA: Alright, so then it is time for MVPs. And Dani, I'll give you a chance to pick an MVP of your own, but I have to say that I really think you are my MVP for this episode, Brittany. There's so much range for you to cover. In a way, there weren't that many scenes that you were in, but every one of them packed a huge punch. The log lady thing is a bit, and it's played for laughs, but this really poignant -- like you said when you were telling us how you called your therapist and did this therapy session, that really comes through in there. You can see all the nuisance. You can see all of the layers of emotional trauma that she's trying to process all at once. BRITTANY: Thank you! CLARA: So yeah. I really liked it. And I really liked everything about your performance and you're my MVP for this episode. BRITTANY: I'm so glad! CLARA: Dani, who's yours? DANI: Like I was saying earlier in the episode, it's a really good ensemble episode. I was gonna pick the bitch answer and just say everybody because everybody did an amazing job. Honestly, I couldn't pick out anyone that stood out a lot more than anyone else. BRITTANY: Yeah, it was a great ensemble episode. CLARA: It is a really big one with everyone. And the first episode of the season was kinda like that too. There were just a lot of ensemble cast moments. BRITTANY: That too. There's a lot of unusual pairings this season that I don't think people would expect, but when they come together it makes a lot of sense and ends up leading to these elements of our characters you wouldn't see without that pairing, I don't think. We kinda bring out those parts of each other. So yeah, there's a lot of teaming up this season that's really awesome. CLARA: Ugh, I'm so excited. BRITTANY: I can't talk about it, but I'm so excited for everybody to see CLARA: So Brittany, if you had to pick somebody as an MVP for this episode. Obviously you can't pick yourself because I'm not gonna make you do that. Who would you pick? BRITTANY: I'll say my MVP for the episode -- and I'll say this is pretty biased because he's my husband -- I'm gonna say Eliot. Because he starts the quest and the journey and gets on the boat and then risks his life basically to find out if the shadow bat is real. Even though it was a team effort with Fray realizing they're not the right markings to be a shadow bat, Eliot's the one who fully risks his life. I'll have to say Eliot for this one. CLARA: Alright. DANI: Good choice. CLARA: I mean, honestly, is Hale ever a bad choice? BRITTANY: I love that man SO MUCH. CLARA: And now we're into ratings. Dani, why don't you start us off? DANI: I think I'm going to go for an 8 out of 10. CLARA: I think you're going for the same thing I did, because I was going to give it an 8 out of 10 too because this is such a good episode, but I also know that it keeps ramping up from here. Let's save some room. DANI: Yeah. BRITTANY: You won't make me rate it, right? CLARA: No, I won't. I mean, you can if you want to, but I understand its really hard when you're in it. [Laughter] CLARA: I think its a really solid episode, but I gotta leave some room. I know what's coming. It's gonna be great. BRITTANY: Yeah, it's a petty good jumping off point, for sure. CLARA: Well I think then that's all we have. Are there any final points before I lead us out? BRITTANY: No, I'm just excited for everybody to see what happens. It's such an adventure, a true adventure this season and just as a fan myself of this show and of the books, it was such fun for me to be a part of. CLARA: Quest, quest, quest, quest, quest! [Laughter] CLARA: Alright well, thank you so much for joining us, Brittany. It is a pleasure as always. To our listeners, thank you for your wonderful questions and for joining us for season 3. Seriously, you had so many great questions. Keep it up all this season. I want to have this problem where I have to cut them down every single time. Remember to subscribe and rate us on iTunes. The more positive ratings we get, the higher we show up in search results, which means more fans can find us and hear interviews like with the lovely Brittany Curran. As always, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook @physicalkidspod. Bye! BRITTANY: Bye! DANI: Bye!