Last year after the season finale of The Magicians, the site The Nerd Element wrote an article titled “Fen Needs A Win,” and anyone who watched the SYFY show could agree that Brittany Curran‘s character needed some character growth, more screen time and some all-around love. Well, Fillorians were granted their wish in season 3 of the show, when Brittany was brought on as a series regular, and we really saw Fen shine! From her deranged psychotic state to finding herself in New York City, Brittany’s “Fen” came alive. Now, as the third season comes to an end, and the cast heads to set to prepare for season four, HollywoodLife.com sat down with Brittany to talk about her lively character, and find out what was really going on in that head of hers!
HollywoodLife: In the start of the season, viewers were kind of given the idea that Fen may be dumb, or really crazy… Can you explain what was going on?
Brittany Curran: Fen’s changed a lot, especially since the second season. She was incredibly naïve, which comes across as dumb sometime, and I think part of that feeds into the fact that she was raised in this archaic society that already had her fate figured out for her, she was already told who she was going to marry, and then she marries this powerful person and still has no power. Then, the third season, she’s in a state of psychosis, so it’s a totally different thing. She’s lost her mind. She’s definitely, definitely in a psychotic state right now, which is why she’s acting so weird. Then, in the third season, everything that has happened to her has been just so awful. Getting kidnapped, giving birth in the fairy realm, having her husband not come look for her. She really found out then that Eliot does not care about her, because of how callous he was when she was kidnapped nine months pregnant. That’s a hard pill to swallow, all of those things. So, she kind of reverted back to this belief that her life is perfect and the only way that she can deal with all these tragedy is believing that she has the perfect family and the perfect kingdom, because that’s what she wants. She wants family, she wants her kingdom to succeed.
HollywoodLife: Fen also deals with post-partum depression and the tragedy of losing a child. How will she overcome that loss?
BC: I think it’s really interesting, first of all, because it’s these real life issues, again, coming into this magical world showing that magic can’t fix everything and it doesn’t matter, which relates so much to real life. You think about Penny’s cancer and all these things. Losing the baby forces Fen into the reality of the tragedy, and because of it she finally stands up to Eliot a little bit and is like, “I need to get away from here. I need to do this for myself.” And she goes to Earth!
HollywoodLife: Why do you think it’s so important for the show to include these real life issues?
BC: One of the biggest lessons that I like about the show and the books is that these characters, Quentin especially, think “If I just get this thing, I will be happy.” And Quentin thinks “If I just get magic, I’ll be happy” and he gets magic and he’s not happy, and then he’s like “If I just go to Fillory I’ll be happy.” And he goes to Fillory and he’s not happy. Obviously these aren’t real life, but they’re placeholders for other big things in our lives and I think it’s a good lesson that you have to be happy with the now, because we all go through hard times in our lives, obviously, but if you can’t be happy with what you have now, it doesn’t matter how much money, how much fame, how much success you have, you’re still not gonna be happy. That’s what I think magic is a placeholder for. It’s metaphorically representing wealth and success and all of these big things in life. People do lose children, which is one of the most tragic things ever, and they do go through depression and they do go through all these terrible things, and I feel like science fiction or fantasy is such a great way to tell these stories because it kind of removes you from your preconceived ideas about these issues.
HollywoodLife: Do you think Eliot (Hale Appleman) really loves Fen? What are your thoughts on their dynamic?
BC: I think a lot of people failed to see that she was just as forced into this marriage as he was, except when they’re married, he actually has ruling power and can make real decisions in their land and she can’t. He’s gay, so that obviously adds this whole other level that Fen couldn’t understand because she’s marrying a man and she’s attracted to men. But she’s still forced to marry a person. They’re still human beings. The sexism in the relationship bugs me even though it’s not real. I don’t really think he likes her that much, but Fen, the most important thing to her is honoring Fillory and whatever’s best for Fillory, so in her head she thinks if supporting the king and supporting the kingdom is what helps Fillory the most, then I will do that, too. So, in the second season, she allows herself to be mistreated so much by her husband, but then the third season, she’s in a state of psychosis, so it’s a totally different thing.
HollywoodLife: Does Fen feel jealous or Margo and Eliot’s relationship at all?
BC: I think she does, in a way. She’ll always be jealous of that bond that Margo has with Eliot, but the season goes on, Fen starts getting to a point where she just doesn’t care anymore about the relationship with Eliot. I think she starts to grow and accept that it’s not a good partnership and she can’t force another person to act a certain way. That also wouldn’t be right. I think she was definitely jealous of Margo second season, but I’m starting to think that more than jealousy, the jealousy’s actually turning into an admiration and even though Margo betrayed her and sold her baby. Margo is this incredible, Force of nature who’s just so unapologetic and so herself and I think Fen really admires that a lot, even though it doesn’t come across on screen a lot. When Fen goes to NYC, she gets some of that strength and freedom, like Margo has.
HollywoodLifers, make sure you tune in to The Magicians season finale tonight at 9 PM ET on SYFY!