Exclusive Interview with Reign Star Adelaide Kane
Recently, we had a chance to chat with Adelaide Kane while she was waiting to catch a flight. While we spent the majority of the time talking about Reign, we did sneak in a few off-topic questions at the end of the interview. The closing conversation got nerdy, in the most fantastic way, and I only wish I’d known beforehand so I could have left more time at the end for an in-depth discussion. Anyway, read the interview below to see what’s in store for Mary in the upcoming third season of Reign (which premieres October 9th on The CW), how Adelaide describes her personal style, and discover what makes Adelaide a little bit nerdy.
First of all, I know you guys are in the midst of filming season 3, how’s that going?
It’s good, it’s been fun! I have a little bit more time off this season thanks to the introduction of Queen Elizabeth – she’s been taking up some screentime, which has been nice – and we’ve also had a bunch of [other] new people coming in. We’re all on really good terms, even three years in, which is awesome. It’s sort of like going back to school a little bit; we’re all sort of a big family now.
You guys have been working together a long time!
We have!
Let’s talk about what we saw in the Season 2 finale. How will Queen Elizabeth’s integration affect the dynamics in the French Court this season?
It’s definitely been a topic of conversation. In the episodes, there’s been a lot of friction with the English faction; that’s been a really large plot in the last few episodes we’ve shot. We’ve had an English ambassador – played by Nick Lee – and it’s been great having him there, having that to play off and to represent the interests of the English Court. So yeah, it’s definitely starting to figure more heavily into our storylines, the Scottish versus English and Catholic versus Protestant conflicts that are so famous in Queen Mary’s history.
That sounds so exciting! Fans also saw Queen Catherine essentially gave herself to Queen Elizabeth to destroy your character. Is that going to be a long-kept secret?
They start exploring that particular relationship [between Catherine and Elizabeth] early on this season. Francis and Mary are gonna find out eventually, and I imagine they are not gonna react… well.
Really?
Yeah, it is not going to be something they just… let slide. [laughs]
Throughout the show we see Mary go back and forth between her head and her heart, but what are your hopes for Mary this season as her leadership is going to be challenged by Elizabeth and dealing with all that?
I’d like to see her step up to the plate and make strong decisions, be a little less selfish, be a little bit more calculated. I think that she’s been a little bit back and forth the last couple of seasons and I am hoping she’ll mature more and be a little bit more consistent in the decisions she makes and look at [consequences] – because she ends up hurting people, and she doesn’t think things through. Being so inconsistent is very difficult to play. [laughs] It’s harder to like my character when she changes her mind on a dime. I love her, but I do get frustrated with her when she makes one decision one episode and completely changes her mind the next. We don’t get our episodes in advance so I can’t even stand up and be like “Oh God, how do I justify this choice?” I know it’s more dramatic that way, but I’m hoping for a little bit more consistency. I’m hoping that she’s grown up a little and has settled into a steadier more flexible managing style.
Sure, that she maybe stabilizes a little bit.
Yeah, makes some smarter choices.
Mary has a lot of heavy emotional scenes. How do you get yourself into that mindset?
It’s gotten easier over the years. I use music for that, and I sometimes draw on my past experiences to get myself in the right emotional state. Everybody has traumatic experiences in their lives, and you have to dig up some of that. Sometimes it’s easier than others, sometimes I don’t need to do that, sometimes I can listen to the right music, get in the mood, and it will be fine, and sometimes I really have to dig at old wounds to get there. Sometimes it’s more of a technical thing and sometimes I have to just beat myself up, which is not fun.
Oh, man. I can imagine.
It’s challenging and it’s rewarding work. It makes me very happy; it’s satisfying and cathartic, but it can mess with my head sometimes. If I have a whole day of really emotional work then it can be a real bummer. Crying all day is a real bummer.
Maybe they should make Mary more of a comedian?
I wish she was more of a comedian, but I’m not very funny. I don’t know if I’d be able to pull that off. My comedic timing isn’t great. It would be fun, though. It’d be fun to have her be a little bit more playful sometimes.
Let’s talk about the costumes a little bit. Everybody loves talking about how gorgeous the dresses are and I’m sure it helps with getting into the mindset, but have you ever reached a point where it’s less exciting and more just cumbersome, having to deal with these costumes?
Like, is it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. The costumes are beautiful and amazing and fitting is always very exciting, but one of my pet peeves with the costumes are heavy earrings. Wearing a really heavy pair of earrings all day… it hurts your ears. The clip-on earrings? That’s killer. They give me headaches – and some of the crowns give me headaches. I think my biggest pet peeve though, the thing that’s most likely to frustrate me is stepping on the skirts, whether it’s other people stepping on my skirts or me stepping on my skirts.
Oh no!
If it’s one of those skirts that is just a little too long, and I keep stepping… I will lose my mind. There are certain skirts in wardrobe that I want to rip to shreds and burn. I trip up on them and it’s just- when you’re trying to get ready for a scene and you’re like “okay, cool, let’s do this” and you’re pumped and you’re like going in, then trip and you fall face first into a door, again and again and again. And again. And people are stepping on you, it’s ugh, so annoying. [laughs] But that doesn’t happen very often. Honestly I don’t get irritated with costumes very often. Once a week maybe I’ll be like, “this corset, I want to eat more lunch and I can’t. This is annoying.” They are quite uncomfortable, but you do get used to it. It’s like wearing a bra for the first time. Usually it feels kind of awkward but then you get used to it.
That’s an awesome analogy! Has Mary has a particular dress yet that you’ve been glad to be like “oh, at least I only have to wear it this once”?
No, not really. I’ve had no particular dress that I despise beyond all others. I’m pretty easygoing when it comes to costumes. Because Meredith [Markworth-Pollack, Reign‘s wardrobe designer] knows what she’s doing and I trust that, I very rarely will be like, “No. I’m not going to wear that.”
While we’re on the topic of fashion, can we talk about your fashion interests? You frequently post outfit of the day pictures on Instagram and we love your style, but do you have a certain designer or fashion guru that you look to for inspiration?
High fashion brands? Sure. I love Hubert Lang, Dolce & Gabana, [Yves] Saint Laurent. Sergio Rossi is currently my favorite shoe designer followed very closely by Louboutin, of course. I have a few pairs of Jimmy Choo’s, Prada’s, and a couple of pairs of Saint Laurent’s, as well, obviously. I do love high fashion, but I try not to look at it too much because it just depresses me that I can’t afford it. [laughs] But some of my favorite wish-list type items, the Givenchy Antigona bag – I really want that; that’s like top of my list – along with the Chloe Drew bag in like a calfskin color. I just bought a Mansur tote bag with a gold lining that I’m totally in love with. It was my splurge for my birthday.
How would you describe your style?
My style is a little bit eclectic; it’s more of a modern [look]…. I like clean lines and structural elements, anywhere from mid-rise skinny jeans to dressy. I hate skirts so much. Ease of wearing is ideal for me… sort of like more masculine, clean; I don’t tend to wear a terrible lot of very feminine things. I think I posted [an Instagram picture] the other day in a floral midi dress with a denim jacket over the top and that is about as girly as I get. Nothing with lace or sequins or sparkles or ruffles or none of that. None of that. More into body con or jeans, and like a button-down, leather jacket.
Do you have a fashion accessory that you can’t leave the house without?
Yes, I do. My go-to necklace that I have – it’s got my initial on it, “A” – designed by Bianca Pratt. One of my best friends, Kelsey, she has one with a little “K” on it. I take that off every day at work, and then I put it back on and that is all I wear every day. I’ve got a little pair of gold earrings that I wear every day, as well. And when I remember, I put my rings on – but taking like six rings off every day is a pain in the ass.
What do you think Mary would never leave castle without?
A hairbrush! Have you seen how much hair that girl has? That is so much weave. If she didn’t have a brush with her at all times I feel like her hair would start to try to capture and eat small mammals. [laughs] She’s got a lot of hair. She needs to manage that, keep that locked down.
So is that like a wig, then, that you wear on Reign?
Yeah, I wear a combination of pieces and a half-wig. My hair is reasonably long but I don’t have that much hair. My hair is really fine. I’ve got a lot of it, but it’s fine.
Wow, I didn’t know that! So for our last question: our website is “Talk Nerdy With Us,” so do you have anything that you’re into that makes you a little bit nerdy?
Are you kidding?? Absolutely! I love comic books; I have a GameBoy that I carry around with me at all times. I still play Pokemon; I play Harvest Moon games; I love Zelda. I have both games on my Nintendo. I always win. [laughs] I play the Wii, X-Box, PlayStation, all of it. I like playing Assassins Creed and Halo…. And comic books in particular? I’m a really big comic book geek. I also watch anime and read manga. I love Star Wars. I love Indiana Jones, Blade Runner. Fifth Element is my favorite movie of all time.
That answer was awesome! I love that you just like immediately rattled off like an entire list! [laughs]
That’s part of why I wanted to do this interview. Talk Nerdy, that’s sounds like it’s right up my street. I love fashion, don’t get me wrong, but I can talk more about nerd stuff than I can about fashion.
So let’s talk about nerd stuff.
I can talk for hours about nerd stuff. It’s like, for fashion, I need to open my Polyvore, I need to check Instagram. My obsession with fashion is less like trend specific and more item specific – or a general vibe. I’ve become adept at finding very specific items that I want as part of my wardrobe, like I want it to be very curated as opposed to being super faithful to one brand. There are very few brands that I adore every season. Although, once I do pick a brand that I love, I tend to be very faithful. Like, J Brand denim is all I wear. Anyway, do you want to talk about comic books? We’ll talk about comic books. All day.
What comics are you reading right now?
Right now I’m re-reading Preacher. I’m re-reading Preacher because they’re turning it into a TV show that actually Lucas Ness – who was with my friend Caitlin Stasey, they’re dating – he’s in it. It’s one of my favorite comic books, from the 80’s early 90’s classic comic. It’s super dark. That same artist has done another comic book called The Boys. I have apps on my iPad so I can read my comics from there. I really love Fables, as well. Sandman, which is a classic that everybody loves…. I really like Chew and Madame Xanadu. I used to read iZombie and now –
It’s a TV show!
Yeah! My friend Rose McIver is on the TV show; The CW is making that. I also really love Deadpool. Deadpool is my favorite antihero.
Of course.
I’m really excited. I saw the red-band [Deadpool] trailer and I lost my shit. I was like “Ryan Reynolds, you’ve redeemed yourself from your Green Lantern days.”
On to even bigger and better things.
Exactly. And Deadpool is my favorite so I was really nervous.
I’m super impressed right now. I think that’s the best response we’ve ever had for that question.
Excellent. I’m surprised you left it until the last. Although, if you had asked that question first, we never would have talked of anything else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_S8ELpd1_s