[Quentin and Poppy are on the Muntjac talking about how she found the Abyss key in a dragon’s nest. She gives the key to Quentin, pretending not to know what it does.]
CLARA: Hi everyone and welcome to Episode 306 of Physical Kids Weekly, “Do You Like Teeth.” I’m Clara.
DANI: And I’m Dani.
CLARA: And today we’re joined by the Geek Queen herself, the brilliant, the talented, the phenomenal Felicia Day. Welcome, Felicia !
FELICIA : Thank you for having me!
CLARA: Thank you so much for being here. We're just really thrilled to have you here, both because of your role on the show and because of the role you’ve played in making independent media productions like our little podcast possible. 
So one thing that we ask all of our guests the first time we have them on is how they got involved with the show. 
FELICIA : I have--it's a strange story. Well not really a strange story, but I was really lucky to be talking to Syfy about doing a role on a show and I said, ‘well ideally I would be on The Magicians, it's my favorite show that you guys have right now.’ And it just so happened that they were in production and I went in to meet the producers, Sera and John, and they were like, ‘we have this role you might be perfect for. It's Poppy.’ And I was like, ‘wait what? I believe I remember that from the books!’ I was like, ‘are you serious?’ Because I figured I'd just have some small role or some role that was not actually like, like iconic like that, or in canon. And so I was just so thrilled that they thought I was appropriate and it all worked out. It's kinda a dream to be on a show that I enjoy as a fan. I of course admire Sera so much. She was the person who got me on Supernatural so I am blessed with Sera Gamble's favor and hopefully it will continue in the future. 
[LAUGHTER] 
CLARA: One of our listeners, Logan, has some kinda crazy theory about your character on that show and your character on The Magicians being connected. Which I won't ask you to speak too--
FELICIA : Really? I hadn't heard anything about that! But I love that idea. [LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Well I'm sure Logan will be happy to have that approval. So I heard you say that this is one of your favorite shows, The Magicians, and it sounds like you also read the books. Is that right?
FELICIA : I did read the books. I read the books when they first came out, so several or so years ago. In fact, I know Lev Grossman, just it's a strange coincidence. He interviewed me for one of my first “legitimate” with, I believe it was Time Magazine. 
CLARA: Yeah!
FELICIA : When he was a reporter and he interviewed me about Comic-Con one year. About what I do, and The Guild, and everything like that. And then he sent me his book because his first book was called Codex--
CLARA: Yup. Mhm!
FELICIA : And Codex is the name I named my character-- it was a name I've used all my life online, Codex was like my handle, and it was from The Ultimate Dragon: The Codex of Infinite Wisdom. But Lev Grossman's first book was called Codex-something or other. But anyway, he sent me a copy of that and so we knew each other for many years. And when I did my book tour for my memoir, You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), he actually introduced and interviewed me for my very first stop in New York City. 
So it's such a weird, strange circle, because he didn't y'know, he wasn't in the loop when I first started talking with them to be on The Magicians, but when he sent me an email saying he was thrilled I was gonna be Poppy, I was so relieved and I was like, you know my work, I really hope this doesn't screw me up in your mind.
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: I told him we were interviewing you for the podcast and we were talking a little bit about your character and the sorta differences between the book and the show and he said, first of all that he thinks they've kept sorta main things in tact, but he also said that he likes you so much he doesn't know if he would care if they hadn't. 
[LAUGHTER]
FELICIA : Awww, that's so nice! Yeah, you know I was never even contemplating doing an Australian accent. It was just-- it would insult the whole country of Australia. [LAUGHTER] Although there are people on TV who do worse accents like, you don't need to do that.  And I'm not blond. But other than that, I do think that the spirit of the character is certainly intact and actually, they did a little twist on her in a way to make her slightly more sociopathic, which I enjoy a lot. 
CLARA: Oh yeah!
FELICIA : It goes with the tone of the show. 
CLARA: We'll get there. We'll get that for sure. 
DANI: Yeah [LAUGHTER] She's quite sociopathic.
CLARA: Dani, I know you had a question about the comparisons of the show and Buffy, right?
FELICIA : Oh?
DANI: Yeah, you were on Buffy obviously,  one of the greatest shows of all time and everyone is now kinda comparing The Magicians to Buffy, like saying its the new Buffy of this generation. How do you feel about the comparisons and how do you feel about being on such progressive TV shows?
FELICIA : You know that's a really interesting comparison. Buffy, at the time, if you watch Buffy now, or even Buffy five years into Buffy, it's so interesting. Because Buffy, the TV show especially really, just blew up so many molds and defined so much other TV that other people copied, that you almost don't appreciate how revolutionary it was in having such strong a female character, the arcs, the big bad arcs over the season that they established. They had the bad guy of the week but they also had these big long arcs of relationships and bad guys that basically define genre TV nowadays. 
And I do think The Magicians is similar in that there are a lot of iconic relationships and arcs and big epic story arcs, but at the same time, I think Magicians, in the spirit of Buffy, sorta breaks down and invents a new way to do genre. So I think it's almost like the natural progression of another generation looking at genre because it's very deconstructional, it's very nihilistic, and very realistic when it comes to personal relationships. There's not always like a great, sunny, rosy side between you and your friends and the people you have sex with. There's a lot of darkness there too and The Magicians, really with everything and that sort of nihilistic, deconstructed sort of lens. 
So yeah! I think there's some similarities, but it's not as if it's derivative in any way. I think that there's similarities in that they're pushing the knob, pushing forward in genre, and pushing the edges to as far as they can go. 
DANI: Yeah, we really enjoy it. I feel blessed that I actually watched Buffy as I was growing up. Like growing up with a female character like Buffy meant a lot to me and I think that it's great that The Magicians is kinda giving people strong female characters again. I mean there's so many, there's plenty, but--
CLARA: Well they're all different. 
DANI: Yeah, well everyone's so different. It's just realistic, like you said. They feel like real people just in a fantasy setting. It's amazing to see.
FELICIA : Yeah. I agree. I agree and I'm so lucky to be around still, doing what I love, in the kind of shows that I love.
DANI: You've had an interesting career. Like Clara mentioned, you paved the way for a lot of indie productions. Could you tell us a little about what it was like when you were trying to get The Guild off the ground? 
FELICIA : Y'know I look back and I don't-- I know that everything I did was sorta out of a desperation to get my voice out there and not really having anyone else understand me or allow me to do my thing. And the great, wonderful thing is that at the time, there were all these things emerging that were giving people the tools, but it was very very early on and because I had been on the internet since I was a kid, I saw those tools and leap of faith-ed the opportunity and the avenues. 
And even to this day, I will spend--like last year I did a lot of very professional writing in Hollywood and none of it got made, and I told myself this year maybe you just need to go and do your own podcast or write a graphic novel or do whatever it is to get your voice out there. Because if you keep waiting for permission for somebody to let you do it or waiting for them to praise you enough that you get off your butt to do it, you might never do anything. And it's not like you find that and you're always like that. It takes a lot of strength of will, it takes a lot of bravery. It takes a lot of gumpson, and it's hard to have that all the time, especially when we don't have positive reinforcement.  But the great thing is that the internet allows you to be able to get your voice out, even to four other people. Even one other person, it's really worth it. 
And so I guess as a byproduct of what I did, the most wonderful thing that I hear is [that] I started a podcast because of you, or I wrote a script because of you, or I decided to go back to school and study filmmaking cuz of you. That really shows you the direct link between creator and creativity and encouraging other people to get their voice out. I think that's more impactful than people just enjoying your work because its affecting their lives and the way they conduct themselves and the way THEY create their own opportunities as well. 
DANI: Yeah, for sure. 
CLARA: I think what you said about this about this being the right confluence of factors when you launched The Guild, is something that really resonates with me for this podcast because we really started it on a whim a year ago and just got really really lucky that we got in touch with the right people at the right time and that I think podcasts are where they are right now so that having a podcast that supports a show is kinda an important thing both for the show and for the podcasters. And we have people all the time ask us, like how are you getting guests or whatever else, and most of the time, what we have to tell them is we just got really lucky. Kinda in the right place at the right time. 
FELICIA : Well it's also--yes there's luck--but also a lot of people have ideas every single day about things and you can't bottle every idea you have, but you also have to be brave enough to follow your ideas through. And so you might have had an impulse but you didn't follow through. You didn;t get all the technical equipment together and you didn't just go ahead and start and you do all this stuff. There's a lot of reasons, millions of them. There's a lot of reasons not to do something. Even if you have the most brilliant idea and it just goes to show that if you follow through, the follow through is really the most important thing. Kudos to you guys for actually keeping going and getting that idea and just getting it off the ground. 
DANI: Yeah. I think it's also passion. Like you have to have a lot of passion for what you're doing. 
CLARA: Yeah.
FELICIA : Yeah, absolutely. Like, I wanna be a famous blogger or I wanna be a famous podcaster or I wanna do these things or I want to have written a screenplay. Really it's just actually realizing, hey I want to enjoy the process that's happening.
CLARA: Yeah.
FELICIA : Versus just the end result. That really... I mean I fall into that trap sometimes too. Like I wish I had this and it's the end result I want versus the process and the process is really the thing you need to look for. 
DANI: Yeah.
CLARA: Yeah, I think that's definitely true for us for this podcast experience. Cuz we're definitely not making any money off of it so it's not about the end results. 
[LAUGHTER]
DANI: Yeah.
CLARA: So I read an interview with you, Felicia , from I think a few years ago, like 2012 or something like that, where you talked about experiencing success at a time when you hadn’t really defined what you loved or figured out what you wanted out of life.  And I was just really curious about how did you work through that and how you figured it out with such a spotlight on you?
FELICIA: I don't even know if I know now. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Fair.
FELICIA : I mean that I think we're always constantly changing as people and for awhile I stumbled upon something that gave me a lot enjoyment and half of me is something like, ‘oh I should go back to doing that like I used to do’ and half of me is like, ‘I don't know if that's exactly what I want to do, but I don’t know what I want to do next’. I think, y’know I did work through a lot of issues and I had a lot of stress and I let a lot of pressure get to me particularly around those years because I had too much work. And I was doing a lot of things for other people because I thought I wanted to be something that I didn’t or I didn’t want the process, to be honest with you. Like a business-- I was a business person and I was running a business and I had all these employees and people depending on me and I wasn’t being as creative as I wanted to be. I was just being sort of a figure head and it was not good for me and I got myself out of that and I got back to doing creative stuff. Then the last couple of years I had a baby.
CLARA: Congratulations.
FELICIA : Thank you very much! She's one year old now, but I'm actually struggling with what’s next and there's actually something that I thought I wanted, but now going through this big life change, I don't know if I want them anymore, but I don't know if that's out of fatigue or I truly am I different person, so I think we're always constantly changing and growing and having to check in with ourselves to see if our goals are still what we want. A lot of people look at people who give up dreams or goals as failures or you look at yourself as a failure--it's not. Maybe you just work through them and you have new goals or new dreams and it's okay to let go of things in the past because ideally, we're always growing and we're always changing and I think if we're stagnant and you have the same dream your whole life, maybe you're not growing, maybe you're not pushing yourself, maybe you're not finding what else you can be as well. That's a very long winded, not helpful answer that you're never there. Even if you think you get it, you're still not there, and so never look to that goal to be your happiness. Always look to the daily grind in a sense, or at least daily process of what you're doing and always be flexible enough to change and grow and let go and still love yourself. 
CLARA: Kinda the moral of The Magicians too. 
DANI: Yeah.
FELICIA : That's interesting!
DANI: That's great. You're a great fit.
You’ve written a great deal about what the internet means to you. What are your earliest memories of the internet? What’s the first community you were involved with online?
FELICIA: Well the internet has been with me since I was like six years old.  I remember my mom using a tiny, tiny computer that was so old to dial-up with the modem to type on a copy-surf thing. It was all green screen that she used and she would type to other people and argue about politics. I would use that service and try to get cheap hits for Infocom games and things like that. 
My early memories are kinda like the beginning of the community public internet. I have so many fond memories and the first real community I was a part of was The Ultimate Dragons. If you read my biography, I write extensively about this bulletin board on this service called Prodigy [CLARA: Yup], which was pre-internet. I dialed-up and I loved being a part of them. I had fanfiction, I wrote about books I loved, and it really made me feel like I belonged because I was a homeschooled kid and I didn't have friends that were real, in person. And when I found that place that accepted me, it meant so much to me so whatever I do on the internet, I feel like whenever I feel alone or away from myself or adrift, I go back and do something to create a community around myself and other people and for people who like my work, and it makes me feel so much fulfilled. 
Like I just started a Discord server and there's so many [people]. There's hundreds of people chatting now and it's so much fun to pop in and see what people are talking about or just chat myself. It really centers me in what I enjoy because that I think, universally, making people feel welcome and accepted and having a home, in a sense, online is very important to me as a person and I think will always be. 
CLARA: It gives me real thrill to hear that you play Infocom games. I have long been a text adventure nerd. I still am. They still exist. 
FELICIA : Oh, I've always said, if you ever get six months off just write your own choose your own adventure game cuz it's a great kind of open source way to create a text adventure game and there's some really clever, really well-written ones out there that people have done. It's great. You can get them all on your phone too for like seven dollars. I have them all on my phone [LAUGHS]
CLARA: You can get Tads Interrupters on your phone.
FELICIA : Oh wow!
CLARA: Yeah. I went back and replayed Bureaucracy recently.
FELICIA : Oh my gosh! [LAUGHTER] I just remember there's one Infocom game and I can't remember the name of it, that was a murder adventure, and there was this girl named Deirdre in it. She always got murdered, I think, and I was like, if I ever have a child I would name her Deirdre--which I didn't, but at the time!
CLARA: That is really cool! Right now I love the sorta of renaissance of them, of all the Emily Short stuff. I don't know if you ever played her her work, but if you have--
FELICIA: I haven't played that. That sounds fascinating. Don't give me another addiction.
[LAUGHTER] 
CLARA: Well I'm going to give you one! Well she's a person, but the game I would suggest you play is Galatea. It's pretty quick. There's something like two hundred or three hundred possible endings--
FELICIA : Oh wow!
CLARA: And the whole game is a conversation with a statue that has been brought to life.
FELICIA : Ooooo, that sounds really cool!
CLARA: Yeah! One of the reasons I really like it is because it's like a real conversation. You have to get her to trust you and if you ask things out of order or are impertinent or dig too deep, she, like, shuts down and it cuts off entire lines of conversation.
FELICIA : Oooo, that sounds so good! I think that I love escaping into other worlds and I love living in things. I think that especially with gaming, there's always this sort of debate between the mechanics of the gameplay versus the storytelling and to me, it's always storytelling that makes me want to be in a game. 
CLARA: Yes!
DANI: Same.
FELICIA: I will totally check it out because that sounds amazing. 
CLARA: Yeah, I think you'll really like it. She has a lot of really good stuff, but that's the one that got me addicted to her.
Okay so we’ll get to the episode soon, but I actually want to share a little bit of our backstory that I’m not sure most of our listeners even know. We had a couple requests before to say a little bit more about how we got involved. So Dani and I met through Tumblr, because of The Magicians fandom -- but it was a pretty small fandom at the time because the show wasn't out yet. This was like what? 2014? 2015? Something like that. 
DANI: Yeah, something like that.
CLARA: Yeah, and I remember that when I read the books I was really confused because I would like, talk to my friends about them and almost no one I knew had heard of them, despite the fact they were bestsellers and it sorta felt to me that they were these little underground bestsellers. And we were on Tumblr. There were like, what? Five blogs? It was like you, me, Cat, Andy, and Rosalind, and that was pretty much it. But the thing about being pretty early in a fandom is that you kinda get to create this community and then you see all the great parts and the terrible parts of the fandom and the internet. And so we've had this chat going on for two or three years now for a lot of people it really is a haven but it’s also been an occasional target. Like we've got 4chan-ned a few years ago, which was really awful, just putting all sorts of Nazi paraphernalia in there and stuff.
FELICIA : On Tumblr?
CLARA: No, in our chat on Skype. Not this one, don't worry.
FELICIA : I'm so sorry. It's awful and I don't know how people, unless you've been through it, I don't know if you can describe how violating it is to be attacked on mass by people online, especially in that way, and you feel so scared and you feel threatened.
CLARA: You do.
FELICIA : I mean for many years I didn't even feel safe in my own home because I knew that that board was kinda fixated on me and knew where I lived so it's really scary. And the fact that there's no repercussions for a lot of that stuff is really upsetting.
DANI: Mhm.
CLARA: So the question I have for you is you've been through some of that stuff and probably a lot worse than we have as very tiny podcast people. How do you maintain optimism and authenticity online knowing what's out there?
FELICIA: You just have to protect yourself the way you need to be protected and I definitely withdrew myself from the gaming world quite a bit and I went quiet a lot in that world and a lot of companies stopped hiring me for things because I became controversial BECAUSE they attacked me which was very ironically sad. But  kinda stepping out of that world a little bit definitely helped because that's what was really the main focus of their wrath, was my (I guess) being vocal about my involvement in gaming and defending women who were being attacked by them in gaming. 
But I was also very ruthless about muting people because one bad comment I would let ruin my day and I wouldn't write for weeks because I was so demoralized and that's just who I am. I know I should be more resilient and I've had so many bad things said about me, but at the end of the day, I can't help the way that I react and the only thing I could do is just try to protect myself because I wouldn't put up with that in real life so I just ruthlessly mute or ban or block people and I never read bad comments. I try not to read comments on my videos anymore and I will just ban anybody who's just a jerk cuz they don't need to see my stuff. Save them effort. That's the only thing you can do really because [some] sites still don't give you the tools to even do that. Twitter's got a mute button and a block button and all these things. And unless they're actually gonna clean up and take responsibility for the space that they create, you have to do it yourself so I think protecting yourself with every single tool you have is all you can do. 
And be very careful with your personal information and use a PO box. And really, if you're going to be any kind of public figure, treat yourself very very carefully and never put your personal information out there for fear of somebody like that just tracking you down and wanting to do something bad or even threaten [you]. Even a treat is enough to make you feel unsafe and its not right. 
CLARA: While we're talking about that I wanna plug a book. Violet Blue, is a sort of internet journalist and diversity advocate has this great book. Like's like Privacy for Good Girls or something like that-- The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy, that's what it is. Has some good tips in it. 
FELICIA: Wow. Well I think everybody, everybody even if you're not a public figure or something, should follow those rules because honestly, you never know who's going to fixate on you. Even somebody in real life, you don't want to give them any ammo, especially we're a lot too loose with the things we do online and you need to protect yourself as much as you would in real life with your online personal information. So yeah, that's great. Everyone read it. If it gives you tools, do it. 
CLARA: Good advice. I think we owe some fun ones after that. Dani, you wanna...?
DANI: Yeah, so we're wondering what video games are you playing right now, and are there any games on the horizon that you’re excited about?
FELICIA : This is sad because I have so many games I want to play and yet I have no time. I started streaming again. I stream on Saturday nights a lot, on Twitch, because I love it. It's just so much fun. I've been streaming this game, Vaporum. It's kinda a dungeon crawler-y throw-back game and I need to play the Edith Finch game. I have to play. What Remains of Edith Finch. It won a lot of the video game awards last year. It was released last April so I really, really want to play that. I have another game, Castles and Kingdoms, that's kinda sort of a castles Sim City that I started playing then I stopped. And I still haven't played Dishonored 2 so I'm like catching up with 2017 cuz I had a baby and she's a real cramp in my playing games style. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Well, you're more ahead than I am. I don't actually--I would say I don't understand Twitch, as a human, but I watched part of your Life is Strange Twitch and I really enjoyed it. 
FELICIA : Oh wow! Thank you! I love that first game.
CLARA: Yeah, it's solid. 
FELICIA : Really solid. It always gives... it made me cry, I think. [inaudible 26:45] made me cry, cry. 
CLARA: I think it made a lot of people cry.
DANI: It was good. I'm just silently waiting for Kingdom Hearts III to come out. 
FELICIA : That's what a lot of my friends are doing. I am not so much a PS4 person so I can't say. I got a Switch and I was playing Golf Story, which I got stuck on. I really just need to get my game up and get past this thing [LAUGHS]. I really love the switch. I was not sold on the WiiU. I was like, this is terrible and I didn't wanna get another Switch. But I got one for Christmas and it is so well made and so well done that I would highly recommend, if you're on the fence, get it, because you will be very pleasantly surprised. 
DANI: Yeah, I love my 3DS so that's like the last Nintendo thing I got, but ugh the Switch. I work in electronics in a retail store so I look at them all the time.
FELICIA : Oh so you're fine. 
[LAUGHTER]
DANI: I'm like, I want it, but I'm more like waiting for them to release more games. 
FELICIA : Yeah, I mean I have Skyrim and I think I can't even start. I've put like three hundred hours into Skyrim. I need to stop. I cannot put it in my Switch. Even though its on there, I don't wanna play [LAUGHS]
DANI: That's me with Diablo III. I have to buy it for, like, every system that I have. Spend way too much time.
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Alright, well we should probably get into the episode though I think we could talk about video games for like a million years if given the opportunity. 
DANI: Probably.
CLARA: So, episode time! As usual, we’ll start with a quick recap. Dani, why don’t you kick it off this time?
DANI: Sure! 
After learning that her magic came from Reynard, Julia attempts to transfer it to Alice -- with some help from Dean Fogg and a magical creature. In Fillory, Margo and Eliot discover that the fairies are growing an army and steal some of the fairy eggs for leverage. Meanwhile, Quentin and Benedict continue the quest and run into a Brakebills postdoc Poppy Cline in the process. She’s eager to give Quentin the key, which inflicts psychological torture on anyone who touches it. Though Quentin survives, Benedict isn’t so lucky -- he plunges into the Abyss and is swallowed by a dragon, who takes him to the underworld, key in hand.
CLARA: I’ll start by asking our usual question -- Dani, what did you think of this episode?
DANI: I liked it. It was hard to watch in some moments. Just the depression monster made me very sad. But I think it was a really good episode. I mean it's really hard to follow up on the heels of episode five cuz it was amazing, but I am so glad that we finally got to meet Poppy. 
CLARA: Yeah, me too!
FELICIA : You have to say that cuz I'm here.
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: I think we'd say it anyway. She's been-- You probably haven't listened to all our other episodes-- like this entire season Dani's been doing a Poppy Watch.
FELICIA: Ohhhh okay. That's what that hashtag has been. 
CLARA: Yeah, I actually think I owe her a couple of bucks because she correctly guessed that you would appear in episode six.
FELICIA: Oh wow!
CLARA: Yeah, I actually think I owe her a couple of bucks because she correctly guessed that you would appear in episode six.
FELICIA: Oh wow! 
[LAUGHTER]
DANI: I did. I did.
CLARA: That was solid. It's on the record. So Dani, were you surprised that Julia and Alice went through with the transfer?
DANI: Ah, no. Because they're both absolutely the kind of--
CLARA: Cuz they're stubborn.
DANI: They're very stubborn. Like Alice wants the magic really bad and Julia just really doesn't, so I was not surprised at all. But I love the way that they did it.
CLARA: Felicia, are you involved at all...? Like, how much do you know about the other storylines? Versus being sort of committed to your own.
FELICIA: I know just having read the script that I was in and I'm caught up--I'm several episodes behind right now, but I did start watching season three. I'm not as involved in the other episodes, in other storylines, but I am familiar with what's going on. I don't know what the fairy eggs look like cuz I haven't seen it--
CLARA: Oh, they're creepy.
DANI: They're gross. 
FELICIA : Yeah, I just heard they're gross. I just kinda wanted to see them at the prop table, but we never shot on the same day so they never had them out, but I can imagine they're disgusting. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: They're really gross. They're like... do you... it's like a particular type of stress ball that like you squeeze it and it pops out in one corner.
FELICIA : Oh yeah!
CLARA: They're like that, except they're vein-y. 
FELICIA: Okay.
CLARA: Okay so Felicia, what did you think when you read the script? What were your sort of initial impressions about this episode, about your character?
FELICIA: I mean I was thrilled. I loved it. I thought it was really... it was more lighthearted than the average Magicians episodes, I would imagine, in my estimation. I was kinda worried that Poppy was too peppy, but when I got into the room and I was acting with Jason, I was like, oh okay, this is how this is gonna work. We kinda, I think we kinda hit it off immediately, and found this great sort of way that these two characters enlivened each other and sort of brought new aspects out. At least for him and his character. 
And I love that especially because it was a great contrast to when the depression monster came in, his depression monster, because that contrast was even more severe than the sort of the Quentin that we know from the beginning of the world and the show. I loved it and I loved some of the lines I got to deliver. I love the fact that it was a lot more racy, in a sense, than anything I'd ever done before, and I sorta got to have that tension with him. It was everything I could have dreamed of in a part and I was just so grateful that I got to be Poppy because I love her as a character. She has so many layers and I can't wait for even more of them to be peeled back.
CLARA: She's definitely...like I think it's hard for me-- I think every episode I say I have a different favorite character, but Poppy is definitely one of my favorites and it's for exactly the reasons that you mentioned. Because she's so different from every other character in the worlds. 
FELICIA: She has sort of an optimist, but it's not really on the surface. On the surface very often [she] is a pessimist and peppy and sort of irreverent, very short handed with people, but that's covering up a lot of stuff. 
DANI: Yeah.
CLARA: I work at a company now that is full of Australians and I think it's that she's Australian, is what I figured out from that.
[LAUGHTER]       
FELICIA: But yeah I do think there's a quality to Poppy where she calls out bullshit .
CLARA: Yeah, absolutely. 
FELICIA: I really like that and it is an Australian thing. She's Earth-y and kinda not affectatious and will tell it exactly for how it is, which I love. It's actually how I am in real life. I say things that are just inappropriate, but they're exactly the truth in what I'm thinking, and I don't think I've ever had a character where I got to BE that. And so I love that it's sort of playing an aspect of who I am, but I've never used it on screen. 
CLARA: I have to say so, I really enjoyed this episode. I have eagerly anticipated Poppy's appearance like everyone else, but I do have to say she was, kinda as you mentioned, a little more sociopathic than I expected. How did that hit you when you realized she was sorta maybe not care so much about death?
FELICIA: Y'know I was working on the script a lot before I went up and I was like, wow. She is not a good person. But y'know I feel like I--like in my mind I invented some things that are like, well this is why somebody would be this. And so, she's not evil. There's nobody who's evil. Nobody's evil. Everybody's at work acting in their truth and their needs--out there working out their needs. And so for Poppy, she has to get a goal accomplished and that's to get the key out and she doesn't really care, she doesn’t have a personal connection with this. She looks at other people as people who can facilitate her needs. 
And that's a little sociopathic, a little narcissistic, but for somebody to be able to withstand that key I think you have to have that iron strength of character because if you think about it, she had a depression demon and she was the only one who could withstand it. So what kind of person can withstand that, have that kind of capacity? That is a person who has either been strengthened by force and by abuse or either by herself or other people. 
So that kinda maybe--I kinda think of it as attachment problems. Maybe she had attachment problems as a kid. Maybe she didn't have a loving parent to sorta attach too and she had only attached to herself and that's why she brought that out. But y'know with Sera and John behind the show, really seeing through that flavor of nihilism and stuff, I'm glad that they took off this sort of sweetness that we see and have these other layers underneath, but that's a lot more fun to play with, to be honest with you, as an actor. 
CLARA: Yeah, to have like a real person--
FELICIA: Exactly! It's so perfect. That's one thing. It can be a lot of different things, we all are, and I love that. All these different characters are like that, and Poppy immediately in the first episode, has those layers. 
DANI: Yeah. Were you nervous at all about how she’d be received?
FELICIA: I try not to think about that. I mean, I want to do the very best I can. I want to bring myself wholeheartedly to the character. And I think I was a little intimidated because I think Jason is such an amazing actor and you never know when you put two people together what's gonna happen and what's gonna come out and he... y'know it took awhile. You kinda do that dance of, what is it that I'm gonna bring that he's gonna [bring], how is he gonna bounce off me, how I am gonna bounce off him? I think it was actually good to have that sorta dancing around each other in that first episode and as we move forward, we found this great rhythm to the two characters and the way they interact. I love it and I just love working with him. I think I've had the privilege to work with a lot of amazing guy actors especially and each one when they are professional and just great people, it's just wonderful to see how you improve as a person and as an actor, as an artist, when you work with people like that. He's great.
CLARA: I really love that scene after he meets his depression monster and realizes what the key does, when he comes and confronts Poppy.
[CLARA and FELICIA talk over each other]
CLARA: What was that?
FELICIA : Was that when she was doing yoga?
CLARA: Yeah! When you were doing yoga, and it's because you have him in the middle, kinda like these two foils in a way. The one who's like, ‘whatever! You're either gonna survive or you won't and that's how and it's gonna be!’ Or one whose like, ‘calling him a wet blanket’ and also looks exactly like him, a little goth, emo version of Quentin 
[LAUGHTER]
DANI: Yeah.
FELICIA: I just love that scene because it's such a relief that I was able to get rid of my own monster. I'm just LOVING life. It's like I'm at a spa or something, and I'm not repentant at all. I don't know this guy and he can't give it back to me unless I take it. Well, y'know what? I believe in you, dude!
[LAUGHTER]
FELICIA: Like if it goes wrong, like, I don't know, I don't really care [LAUGHS]
CLARA: So I think that sorta begs another question. We don't see Poppy's depression monster, but she has one right? So what do you imagine that to be like, Poppy's depression monster, other than obsessed with seagulls?
FELICIA: I think that there's times that I think I hint at it. That the depression monster's like there.
CLARA: Yeah, like a look over the shoulder.
DANI: Oh yeah! I totally thought she was conspiring with fairies at first. She kept looking over her shoulder and I was like, fairies!
[LAUGHTER]
FELICIA: Oh good! So you were thrown off. Even you! That's fantastic. [LAUGHTER] I mean, I think if you look at Poppy, you see a very incredibly strong willed person who has already heard all the words that a depression monster could say to her. I think that's where I started off. So she either--I had a copy of scenarios were she was either, she had a parent who talked to her like that, in a way that you may either be destroyed or you can be steel hardened. And she survived and was steel hardened. 
And whether it was herself she heard these things from, like her inner monologue or inner person [who] was abusive to her, or she had somebody who was abusive to her, or went through some things that just made her be incredibly strong like that, I think what I was operating from was that she had that already. So the depression monster was something she’d been used too and something she'd had to steel herself against. And even though it might hurt, she'd heard it before, and therefore, she is able to either accept what it's saying because really the depression monster is a bad part of you inside. Either accept it or just totally reject it all full force. 
DANI: Yeah. You were saying that Poppy's different from all the other characters you've played. What do you find most interesting about her?
FELICIA: I really love that she's very physically competent and I know that that's strange but y'know she's physically comfortable in her own skin. When she throws off her own clothes, that was super hard for me. I had to be in front of everybody with very little clothes on. It was the first time I ever had to do that as an actor and it was very liberating in a sense, because I had just had a baby too so I was kinda insecure about that. So the fact I had to, in order to be the character, throw that all away, actually gave me as a person, strength. I'm like, ‘this is what you get when you get me.’ [LAUGHS] And that was a quality that Poppy has that I feel valuable as a person, having been her, to have that in my life, because I think we should all have a little bit of that. This is what you get. [LAUGHS]
DANI: Yeah.
FELICIA : And you should accept it. Because if you don't, you're an ass. [LAUGHS] I think I love that about her. I also loved the fact that she gets stuff done, man!
CLARA: She really does.
FELICIA : She's not going to be defeated. She's gonna do what she needs to do even if it's step on other people. To me, Poppy would be amazing in business in the area that I wasn't good at because you have to be ruthless and you can't really care about people 100% and you can't necessarily do the right thing every time in order to get ahead.
DANI: Yeah.
FELICIA : Y'know those CEOs, they don't have clean hands. Billionaires don't have clean hands and I admire, in a sense, those people. I wouldn't want to be them, but I think that's the kinda person Poppy is. 
CLARA: So I think we also have to talk about Benedict. Dani, I know you were really, really upset when he died.
DANI: Ohhh I was.
CLARA: Aww. 
[CLARA and DANI talk over each other]
CLARA: Wait, what was that?
DANI: The thing is that there was a point in the episode where I knew exactly what was gonna happen. Cuz Benedict was on ship and Benedict dies, because he dies in the books. But I was still, like, taken aback because I felt like we had no time with him. But at the same time, we didn't really have that much time with him in the books either. Like you said to me in a text, you said, it made it more... like Quentin's grief over the thing made it make a lot more sense. Cuz he feels completely guilty over Benedict's death in the books and now I feel like it's gonna be elevated even more, like to a bigger level. But Quentin, I keep thinking that, say, if Quentin had been given this key like a year ago, he probably would have done the same thing as Benedict.
CLARA: Oh yeah.
DANI: But he's grown a lot. He's grown a lot as a character so it was nice to see that growth for Quentin, but I was so sad to see Benedict carrying it and I just knew immediately what he was gonna do. Plus it gives us a cheeky way to get back into the Underworld.
CLARA: I agree with you. Once Benedict and Quentin had that conversation, when Benedict thought that Quentin was gonna kill himself, I was like, oh shit, Benedict is gone. We're done with Benedict. But up until that point, I had really sort of figured, well Benedict is playing a different role here. Y'know I talked about this. I kinda thought that Frey was gonna be the one who died because that would have more of an emotional impact on some of the characters. But it was really impressive to me how this episode wrote its way into a big emotional impact for Quentin with Benedict dying when it wasn't there before. Like there was basically no relationship. 
DANI: Yeah.
CLARA: Yeah and I don't know, the whole thing was like. [SIGHS] Poppy comes out and she has that hilarious Burning Man line which, Felicia, what do you think Poppy's scene is at Burning Man?
FELICIA  [LAUGHING]: I mean, I think Poppy's into all. I think she definitely doesn't sleep so she takes whatever she needs to do to just burn right. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: But yeah, I think that whole--I think there is a real emotional impact now from Benedict's death and ugh, I wasn't expecting it. 
DANI: Yeah. Honestly. I was like, I expected it towards the end of the episode, but when it started I was just like, okay. I just wasn't expecting to lose Benedict so soon, so it kinda hit me like a ton of bricks, but I think that the emotional impact will probably be worth it. 
CLARA: Yeah. And I guess, I mean Felicia, I'm definitely going to tell you not to say anything. Dani! Do you think Poppy's gonna be the one who goes with Quentin this time? To the Underworld. 
DANI: That could potentially be what happens, but also in the Underworld is also where Julia kinda figures everything out so. I'm not sure.
CLARA: But Julia's been there right? So I don't know. I'm gonna put that theory on my docket, that the whole dragon thing means Poppy's gonna end up in the Underworld. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: And now we'll move onto something FELICIA  can talk about. Fashion! Well first, let me ask. Anyone else have anything they want to say about this episode? Felicia, any behind the scenes things you can share with us?
FELICIA: Um, wow, I mean I loved being on set. I just have to say, if you think the sets look good on the episode, you definitely if you see them in person, you would be astonished. I walked onto the Muntjac and I was like. WHAT. In the world. The set, the interior set was amazing, and then we shot at 4am on a Friday, and walking down the dock to look at the boat with that dragon on it--I was like, this is the best job I've ever had. [LAUGHS] I'm astonished at what they do just production wise on the show. It's just stunning especially on any budget, I just think it's wonderful. 
CLARA: You actually reminded me of something I forgot to mention which is that shot when they're on the presipise of the Abyss, is just BEAUTIFUL, just stunning with how half the sky's in complete blackness and half of it is in this twilight-y glow.
FELICIA: I just love the director, Carol? Oh my gosh, am I forgetting her name? Anyway, she was amazing to have on set. Very fun to work with and I loved having to do something provocative like that, having a woman director there was great. It made me feel really comfortable. 
CLARA: That's great.
DANI: Before we move onto fashion, I do have--.
CLARA: Yeah!
DANI:  --a few tidbits we didn't mention that I made sure to take notes about. For one, I think that Margo's going to end up with this killing weapon somehow, the one that they mention--
CLARA: Killing weapon.... Oh yeah! The Stone Queen mentions it.
DANI: Yes. 
CLARA: Do you think it's gonna be 'Sorrow' and 'Sorrow'?
DANI: Maybe. That would be amazing. There's also a really funny thing and I'm pretty sure it was a cheeky reference. They were mentioning vaginas with teeth and I'm pretty sure it's just to make fun of this really bad movie that Hale was in about vaginas with teeth
[LAUGHTER]
FELICIA: Wasn't that a Diablo Cody movie with Megan Fox?
CLARA: It was called Teeth, yeah?
DANI: Well there's this movie called Teeth, yeah, but there is that Megan Fox movie that's great.
FELICIA : Oh wow, okay. There's multiple vagina teeth movies?
CLARA: Oh it's a whole genre. I don't exactly recommend looking it up. 
FELICIA : No, I don't think so. 
DANI: And then also I miss Josh. I just have to throw that out there. 
CLARA: Oh yeah. We were talking about this because he's been promoted to series regular and we saw him in like, two episodes. Where is Trevor? Bring back Trevor. 
DANI: Yeah.
CLARA: And Poppy misses Josh too, so ya know. [LAUGHTER]
DANI: Yeah.
FELICIA: Mmmm. Can't say anything.
[lAUGHTER]
CLARA: Sounds good. Silence is great. Okay, fashion?
DANI: Fashion.
CLARA: Okay, I have to say, I actually really love Poppy’s style! Partly because, I'm almost kinda wearing what she was wearing in that episode today. I'm wearing a white waffle shirt instead of a black one, but like the same military jacket. So partly I like Poppy's style cuz it's sorta like mine. It's practical and comfy but still stylish. She's got lots of fitted shirts and loose jackets. She looks like she’s up for any adventure. She's got the right shoes for it, which is exactly what I’d expect from a dragonologist. So that was my first note. Poppy. Looks. Great. What did you think? Is this what you expected from Poppy?
DANI:  Yeah, I think so! I was also though kinda expecting a more Summer-y look, because Poppy's from Australia and they're always wearing like, y'know, not wearing jackets and wearing shorts all the time, but I do like the look though. It actually reminded me of something you would wear.
CLARA: It's true. Like I said, I'm wearing that right now. Felicia, what about you? Is her fashion what you expected? Do you think it reflects her character as you see her?
FELICIA: I liked it. It reminds me a little bit of Jade, but like tighter. I really liked the leggings I got to wear. They were SPANX brand and they really kept me in. I felt very held in and I liked the fact it was practical. She's not a show-y person, like she's not there to guild anything she has, she's like this is what you get. So I loved that about her character and I loved that about the wardrobe that she got. And there's greens. I just like greens. I feel I look good in green so I'm just glad they put me in green. 
CLARA: I think that's probably true. I think that red hair and green go well together. 
FELICIA: Exactly.
DANI: Yeah.
CLARA: The other outfits that stood out to me were: Well the first one that stood out to me was Quentin’s guard outfit in Castle Whitespire, cuz that was ridiculous.
DANI: That was so ugly.
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: I love that he's like, it's so hot and sweaty!
DANI: Yeah. 
CLARA: So that one and then Eliot’s lavender suit in the carriage and I think that partly stood out to me one, because it's a classic Eliot outfit. It's like so show-y. The opposite of Poppy, so show-y. And partly because I just read an interview where [Hale] was talking about episode five and he mentioned a purple suit, and I was like, I don't remember a purple suit so I think it was a slight spoiler for this episode. [LAUGHS]
DANI: I think that I mostly fashion-wise always notice Julia--
CLARA: How'd I know you were gonna say that?
DANI: She's wearing her red leather jacket that I want to steal from her wardrobe.
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Aren't you still working on the sweater? Hyman's sweater?
DANI: The cardigan. Yeah, I want Hyman's cardigan. 
CLARA: The last one I noticed, and this is not gonna surprise you, was Margo. I actually think she's worn that gold and red ensemble before, that's in the carriage. And then I also noticed that she was wearing a black dress in this episode, which is the episode after she got force-married to King Geoffrey. That's just his name now. And I thought that was another brilliant thing it seems like it is about it being an anti-celebration for her.
DANI: Yeah, Margo always looks beautiful. She was wearing white, I think, too. 
CLARA: There's a little white lace underneath the black, but it was mostly black.
DANI: Yeah, she always looks amazing. We can pretty much always rant about it for a couple minutes every time.
CLARA: I knooow. 
DANI: Alright so we have a question for you. Whenever we have a guest on for the first time, especially from the cast, we like to ask, if you could steal any character’s wardrobe, whose would it be?
FELICIA: Oh boy. Eliot's. 
CLARA: EVERYONE says that. 
[LAUGHTER]
FELICIA: I mean it looks so good. I told Hale on set I'm like,’ were you born to be Oscar Wilde or is there just an application?’ [LAUGHTER] Because he drapes himself over things. Like he'll be in the chairs near makeup and I'm like, 'you're draped. You're not human. You're draped like you're on a fainting couch, right now, and you're just in a set chair. What's going on here?'
CLARA: How'd he respond when you said that?
FELICIA: I think he just kinda, ‘Huh’. He did something with his hair that was romantic. I don't know. He's ridiculous. He's like Lord Bryon. I don't get it. 
DANI: Now I wanna see a movie about Oscar Wilde played by Hale.
FELICIA: I know. 
CLARA: That'd be good.
DANI: He'd be amazing.
FELICIA: He needs to definitely be in a period piece. Immediately. 
DANI: Yeah, he really does. 
CLARA: Alright, those are all my fashion notes. Dani, Felicia, do you have anything you want to mention?
FELICIA : Nah.
DANI: I think no.
CLARA: Alright, then we will move on to our MVP.
So I don’t know if it’s because I knew we were going to talk to you, or because I’ve been waiting so long for Poppy, or because you’re just that great, but your performance really did stand out for me, Felica. And you and Jason were just so phenomenal together -- Poppy’s perky pragmatism is such a great counterbalance for Quentin’s pathetic despair. Is that a fair characterization?
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: So I think I’m going to give you an MVP as a pair. 
FELICIA: Oh wow! Great!
CLARA: Cuz I think the two of you on screen kinda made a new character that was amazing. So yeah, that's mine. Dani, how about you?
DANI: I was thinking a similar route. Probably both of them. They kinda owned the episode for sure. So I'm gonna go with the same. 
CLARA: Alright well, Felicia, how about you? Is there someone you'd like to nominate? Obviously you can't nominate yourself, but you can try.
FELICIA : You know, I did like Benedict. 
CLARA: Oh yeah, Harvey.
FELICIA: I thought he gave a really good performance. You know he's kinda a silly character in a sense, but he really put some layers into that, and made me feel sad. With very little real estate, he made you feel a lot of different things. And there's one scene in particular at the very end, right before he goes over, that I was watching because we were shooting in the middle of nowhere on Friday at 4am and everyone was really tired and he just really nailed it, and he made me feel very sad for him. And like I said, very little real estate for him in the script, but putting a lot as an actor into that. So I guess I would nominate him.
CLARA: That's a good one.
DANI: Yeah, we've really enjoyed Harvey as Benedict.
FELICIA: Oh he's so fun! He's a big YouTube person so he knows a lot of YouTuber people, which is so funny. [LAUGHTER]
CLARA: I didn't know that, but I can see that. He's constantly putting things [on Instagram]. His Instagram stories are just perpetual. 
FELICIA: He really is very odd all the time. We did some funny videos that I hope he uploads when the episode comes out because we were constantly doing things. [LAUGHS]
CLARA: I think I saw one right after they announced you were involved with the show where he turns the camera on you and you say, 'I'm not perpetually taking selfies of myself' or something like that.
FELICIA: Oh yeaaaah! He uploaded that? Why didn't he send me a text? That's ridiculous. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Well it was awhile [ago]. It was just after they announced that you were on. Probably just too excited.
Okay, so that's MVPs. Episode ratings. Dani, what's your rating for this episode?
DANI: I think I have to go with an 8/10 just because episode five is just too good, so.
CLARA: You stole it out of my mouth. I had written 8/10 for myself because it's a really good episode, but it's just really hard to follow 3x05.  Felicia, instead of asking you to rate the episode on its merits, which I know is really hard when you're in it, I'm just gonna ask you on a scale of 1-10, how much fun was it to make this episode?
FELICIA : Oh it was a ten. It was a ten all the way. It's really hard to walk on a set and go, 'ohmygod I love these people, I love this character, I feel so blessed that I get to act these scenes.' This was just such an amazing opportunity and I love this character and I can't wait for you guys to see what else I get to do. So yeah, I rate Magicians 10/10. 10/10 for craft service, everything. All the crew members, everybody. 
CLARA: I hear its really great--one of our listeners did ask us to ask so I'm glad you brought it up-- what's it like coming onto a show that's already established as a new character?
FELICIA: You know it's always very nerve-wracking but when you know you're going to be around for a little bit, [when] it's not just a one episode thing, it's a little different because you have sorta of a different... people approach you differently, they treat you differently. You're really establishing yourself; you get a lot more real estate, you know acting wise. So it's nerve-wracking, but I have to say from up and down the chain of command at Magicians, everyone was so lovely, and especially Jason. I have to give him a huge shoutout. Just a wonderful gentleman. Amazing with his dogs! If you've ever seen his dogs, you'd know he's a really good person inside and out so he really made every scene just a joy and made me love acting, really, in a way I hadn't thought about acting in a couple of years.
DANI: Huh, wow. 
CLARA: That's so great to hear. Oh my god. Well Jason, I hope you're listening to all the wonderful things Felicia 's saying about you.
FELICIA: Yeah, he should listen. [LAUGHS]
CLARA: Okay, anything else y'all wanna say before we wrap this up?
FELICIA: Thanks for having me, that's what I was gonna say. And I really hope you love Poppy in all the other episodes I'm in. 
DANI: We're very excited.
CLARA: Yeah. Felicia, thank you so much for joining us. I know I speak for both me and Dani when I say it's just in delightful chatting with you. 
DANI: Yes.
FELICIA : Good luck with your podcast! I will listen from now on about how you think my wardrobe did. 
[LAUGHTER]
CLARA: Listeners, thank you for sticking with us for Season 3. 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 great interviews with people like Felicia. And as always, follow us on Twitter or Facebook @physicalkidspod. Bye!
FELICIA : Bye!