On February 26th, FanCity Central and Film Daily hosted a screening and Q&A panel for the long-awaited premiere of Shadowhunters 3B in Toronto. It had a great turnout with guests from the cast and crew nearly being equal in number to the fans! Many locals who worked on the show came out to show their support, including Jade Hassouné (Meliorn), Nicola Correia-Damude (Maryse Lightwood), Stephanie Belding (Iris Rouse), Adam Kenneth Wilson (Ragnor), Kevin Alves (Bat Velazquez), Michelle Argyris (Kaelie), Joshua Horvath (Raphael’s vampire bodyguard), Brian Hui (head of the make-up department) and John Rakich (location manager). There were meet-and-greets that occurred before and after the screening and panel, with many guests staying much longer than expected.
The moral of this story? The cast and crew of Shadowhunters care a great deal about the fans and this show has changed their lives just as much as it has changed ours. Oh, and let’s have more of these kinds of events. Many, many more. Let’s get into a recap of the evening.
The cast and crew during the Q&A panel after the screening. (@FanCityTV)
The Best Part About Their Jobs?
The vote was unanimous across the board that the best part about everyone’s job has been: the people.
“What you see onscreen is a fraction of a memory of what we did,” said Jade, “but we have a very different experience doing the show and that’s the best part, and then obviously, being able to share it in the future with all of you is a whole other special thing.” Jade also said he was born to play Meliorn, citing his lifelong love of mystical creatures. Michelle shares that love (and good thing, too, because she also played a seelie).
Nicola detailed what her life was like before coming on the show: working mom with a five-month-old baby. It was Dom Sherwood and Kat McNamara that got her out of the house and partying, although their hangovers the next day weren’t nearly as bad as her own.
Kevin talked about the welcome mat that was laid out for him when he joined the show in Season 2: “You always get really scared when you join a cast because you know how cool it is when you start with a cast at the beginning; everyone’s always ready to get together. But when you join a cast, you’re always like, ‘Ah, they’re all just in a groove and I’m just gonna show up.’ But everyone was really welcoming on the show, so that was very cool.” He didn’t even know what character he was playing until he got to set!
What was one of the first things Stephanie knew about her character? That she was in her sixties. The 47-year-old actress was initially thrown with getting cast as someone much older than her own age, but once she got the script and realized she was playing a warlock, things started looking up. “I’m playing a character who’s completely autonomous; she’s beholden to no one, she has her shit together, she runs her own show, and she plays with the big boys,” she said. “So, if we could have more of that, please?”
Adam agreed with Stephanie that pretending to be a warlock is a whole lot of fun. He likened Ragnor and his history with Magnus to the fans and their history with the Shadow World pre-show: “[Ragnor is] like an avatar for your relationship – you see, he’s got this history with Magnus, like you have a history with Magnus. You are his family; you are the circle of love that he’s grown with. And the Shadowfam is that. They are the history of these entities, so I’m just lucky to be a part of it.” He played coy…or cryptic (see what we did there?) on whether or not his character would be making a reappearance.
Joshua’s character grew from one named “Vampire” in the script to getting a name – his real name. He was only meant to be on one episode, and the first scene he filmed with Jade not making the cut did nothing to give him any hope of returning. But luckily, he did. And he’ll be appearing again before 3B is over. He put a lot of emphasis on 3×13 being especially wild.
https://twitter.com/NephilimUpdates/status/1100738577581985794
Nicola on Maryse’s Growth (It’s a Lot, Guys)
Nicola’s favorite thing about Maryse is “how drastically, obscenely, and amazingly she’s changed, and you don’t even know – oh my God, you don’t even know what’s coming.” We can’t imagine how it’s possible for Maryse to progress even more than she already has! Nicola says she feels like she got to play three different characters in one. “I think we’re at a time in history right now when a big topic of conversation needs to be: How do we apologize authentically?” she said. “How do we actually change ourselves? How do we say, ‘I used to be this, and I no longer want to be this, and I want to work towards being a better person’? At least I hope that’s a conversation we’re having right now because it’s sorely needed.” She brought up the amazing scene between her character and Alec Lightwood in 3×03, “What Lies Beneath,” as one of Maryse’s most meaningful scenes: “The last scene with runes, Alec says, ‘Let’s fight this.’ And I say, ‘No, I did these things. This is true. I did this and it was wrong, and I know that now.’ And so, I accept that I deserve what is happening to me. I deserve to be excommunicated. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t deserve a chance to move on with my life.” That drive for genuine reinvention is what she finds most inspiring about Maryse and we tend to agree.
Adam on Magnus and Harry (And What He’d Give Malec as a Wedding Gift)
Adam said all his work in building chemistry with Harry Shum Jr. was done for him the second he laid eyes on the man. “I really feel like Harry is a wide-open ribcage and his heart is just beating there and if you want to touch it, it’s right there,” he gushed. As for what he would give Malec if they were to get married (*screaming hard, guys*)? Get ready for this. “I would create a portal to a realm where only they exist,” he stated, “and there’s no powers and there’s no responsibilities and the only magic is in each other’s arms.” We’re a puddle now, thanks.
Stephanie on Working with Ariana Williams
Ariana Williams, the little actress who plays Madzie, had only just turned four years old when she came on the show in episode 2×05, “Dust and Shadows.” Her mom was with her onset at all times and Stephanie really hit it off with her. But she says it was Matthew Daddario who Ariana was in love with. Aren’t we all?
Josh on Working with David Castro
Life imitated art when it came to Josh and David since the two have become quite close over the last two years. “As a vamp bodyguard, I let him down because I get my ass kicked all the time,” he laughed. “But I love him a lot.”
Brian on His BTS Posts
Brian’s Twitter blew up when he joined the make-up department of Shadowhunters in the second season. He assured us that the work he does to capture all his great behind-the-scenes moments onset isn’t a chore for him at all: “I’m a fan myself of genre shows and stuff like that, so I feel it’s just a way to connect with you guys and you guys seem to like it and you guys have a little smile on your face; that always makes my day as well.”
John on His Favorite Location
Of course, John wasn’t able to divulge any of the locations in 3B, but he told us that his favorite location so far is the prison grounds for the Gard from the mid-season finale in 3A. Stephanie was onset for those scenes and agreed with him that it was a captivating location. “It’s basically an old mill ruin in the town of Rockwood […] outside Toronto close to Guelph,” said John. “It’s a huge national park,” Stephanie added, “so you can go and meander and have a picnic and make a day of yourself there.” It took seven dump trucks of gravel, snow machines for days, and every space heater available to complete the 19-hour day.
The Importance of Representation
The cast doesn’t take lightly the importance of a show like this (with such a large fanbase) having the level of representation that it does. “In high school, I was a size 10, mixed-race, bisexual teenager,” Nicola attested. “I did not see myself represented anywhere on any screen, anywhere in the media […] Any of the elements of what I was were not on television. And so, to know that this generation and my son’s generation are gonna be seeing television that not only tells these stories but doesn’t tell them like they’re the outsiders…” She also didn’t forget to mention that playing female characters who are “powerful, who aren’t getting rescued all the goddamn time” is something she very proud of as well. Amen, Nicola, amen.
Shout out to @TheThighHolster and @25boydie for providing us with this #SaveShadowhunters gear for our 3B premiere! Not much longer until guests will get to wear em! #saveit #Shadowhunters #FanCityTV pic.twitter.com/XdqqyeK107
— Fancity Central | Emma (@FanCityTV) February 26, 2019
The Power of Fandom
I think we broke everyone’s Twitter, Shadowfam. Because everyone had a story about their Twitter blowing up when they were announced as being part of the cast and even the crew have some stories to tell about how astonished there are by their own social media numbers. But we been knew.
Kevin was warned by Alberto Rosende about our fandom being a force to be reckoned with. But Kevin could not imagine that he would experience anything near the level that Alberto has experienced. Oh, Kevin… oh, poor, unassuming Kevin. We do not discriminate in this fandom. Even the writers have become our best friends.
Jade’s new album (coming out this June) is literally titledLove Letter to a Fandom and the fandom means so much to him that he just had to make it clear to us that things are not over once 3B ends. “That’s what I keep explaining – that this show is not gonna end. This is your fam; this is your kingdom, your universe, your reality,” he enthused. “We’re just passing by, you know? And it’s gonna live on forever, really, truly. Nothing’s ending. There’s a huge season coming; there’s a million things. The end is more than what you think, the last few episodes. You’ll see what happens. It’s more than just episodes.” We’ll never let go, Jade. We promise!
Nicola made sure we knew that the feeling is mutual when it comes to how life-changing this whole experience has been: “My whole life, like, four years ago, I could not have imagined the doors that this has opened for me, the people I’ve met, the traveling that we get to do. Just the connections I get to make with people on the street. Like, you guys have changed our lives and that’s all about you.”
Stephanie emphasized that what we do for the cast and crew is validating: “The work we’re doing matters. It resonates and we represent, and we appreciate it and we’re giving voice to people who don’t traditionally get voiced. And you can’t go back now. This is the new normal. No apologies, no need to explain. It is what it is what it is.”
As for #SaveShadowhunters, Jade says: “There is a result that keeps appearing, right? So, there is an outcome to this. There has to be, at some point.”
Check out the full video below:
Shadowhunters airs on Freeform on Mondays at 8pm EST and is available the following day to stream on Hulu and Netflix International. See our article On Ratings and Social Engagement to learn how to make your view count.
