The world of Charmed is coming back into our lives on Sunday, October 14, and fans have really mixed emotions about this. I was definitely one of those fans. I loved the original show. I still watch it on Netflix today. I can’t tell you how excited it made me when I was watching Pretty Little Liars, and Holly Marie Combs was in it. I’m a big fan.
Every time I see a news alert saying they’re making a remake of a show, I roll my eyes. I wish that Hollywood would come up with new ideas. I’m also that person that went to see the remake of Friday the 13th with Jared Padalecki. Once I saw the pilot of Charmed, though, I felt so much better. It was so much fun. I think we should all give it a chance before we bash it. I also think we should respect the feelings of the originals cast.
I got the chance to sit down with the new Charmed ones in the press room at New York Comic-Con. After sitting down with Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery and Madeleine Mantock, I’m even more excited. And I could just listen to Madeleine’s accent all day.
Melonie and Madeleine both agree that doing magic is hard. It takes a lot of imagination to pull it off behind the camera.
“I feel like I’m in a Marvel movie,” says Melonie. She’s speaking of green screens and having to see things that aren’t there.
Melonie’s character freezes time and Madeline’s character moves objects.
Madeleine says she would sometimes ask how fast something was going to be moving, but then thought to herself, she’d probably be doing the exact same thing anyways.
Sarah’s character reads minds, and while that may not be difficult for filming, she says it affects her character. Her character’s biggest flaw is how she handles reading minds.
These ladies are very excited to portray these characters in the Charmed world. They are very aware of the impact the show had on pop culture, but none of them really watched the show.
Madeleine didn’t think she had seen the show before but she knew all about it. When she was cast, her brother texted her saying, “isn’t this wild because we used to watch this”. She doesn’t remember this but says she used to knock on her big brother’s room and ask to come in, so she thinks it was more he was watching it, and not her.
Melonie is a huge fan of Jennie Snyder Urman and Jane the Virgin, that’s why she wanted to be part of this project.
“Jennie said something interesting, she did a show that was groundbreaking that people really responded to and that she felt so moved by that and empowered by that, and she felt like she couldn’t go back, she couldn’t go backward,” says Melonie.
“I feel like as a woman of color, we’re the majority, we’re not the minority anymore, and entertainment and television and film should really reflect that. And I think she takes it very seriously and wants her show to be representative and be inclusive. It was a no-brainer for her and a no-brainer for me to be a part of it,” she adds.
I’m personally excited about Sarah’s character. All the characters sound great and I look forward to seeing them grow and to learning about them, but Sarah’s character is into fashion, and I liked having at least one character I can swoon over their style.
“She’s girly and loves fashion and loves looking cute but she’s also really smart and she cares about things and I think its a nice thing to see a change to the girly girl not being vapid or mean. I’ve been definitely cautious of falling into those traps,” says Sarah.
Before you watch the series premiere on Sunday, October 14, check out the full interviews from the press room:
Melonie Diaz (Mel Vera)
Sarah Jeffery (Maggie Vera)
Madeleine Mantock (Macy Vaughn)
