MANILA, Philippines — If you find yourself stuck at home this Halloween or if you ran out of candies for the little trick-or-treaters in your neighborhood, you can opt to treat yourself instead by bingeing on Netflix’s newest supernatural series that launched this week. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, based on the cult-favorite Archie comics written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, tells the story of half-human, half-witch Sabrina Spellman, as she navigates between two worlds: her mortal teen life and her family’s legacy, the Church of Night.
In June, this writer, together with journalists from other countries, visited the various Vancouver sets of the show. Production designer Lisa Soper took us on a tour of the impressive halls of Baxter High, the eerie Spellman house, Madam Satan’s devilish home, Mr. Blackwood’s office, Harvey’s home, the Mortuary, the Botanical Garden, the Magical School Hall with the terrifying giant statue of Baphamet and Sabrina’s bedroom.
While on the set, we were able to have a close look at the intricate and lavish costumes designed by Angus Strathie who reminded us that Sabrina is not a period show and the costumes are “timeless.” The story is set in the present day but the costumes and locations evoke a time in our immediate past.
“This show is going to be a really big surprise for anyone that knows anything about Sabrina because it has elements of the comics but it really brings the characters to life and takes twists and turns that you just wouldn’t expect,” Kiernan Shipka shared with us during our chat during a break in filming.
Kiernan leads the cast as the titular Sabrina. Teen heartthrob Ross Lynch is also in the cast as Harvey Kinkle, Sabrina’s boyfriend. The rest of the talented cast include Lucy Davis (Hilda Spellman), Miranda Otto (Zelda Spellman), Michelle Gomez (Mary Mardwell/Madam Satan), Chance Perdomo (Ambrose Spellman), Richard Coyle (Father Blackwood), Gavin Leatherwood (Nicholas Scratch), Lachlan Watson (Susie Putnam) and the three Weird Sisters, Sabrina’s tormentors, are played by Adeline Rudolph, Tati Gabrielle and Abigail Cowen.
The cast, excluding Miranda Otto, chatted with us during breaks in filming and they all shared their excitement about the show. (Interviews with the rest of the cast will be featured in another story.) Part 1 started streaming on Netflix this weekend. The second part will air sometime later. They were filming Episode 7 during our visit.
“I think it’s going to be such a fun show for people to watch specially if you have a connection to Sabrina in the past,” Kiernan said.
LJournalists on the steps of the Spellman House during the Sabrina set visit.
The actress, who was in Sabrina costume and make-up during our interview, told us that she was a Betty and Veronica fan when she was growing up. “I really like both!” she exclaimed when asked which team she’s on. She’s a natural brunette but she has been coloring her hair blond in the two major parts she’s played.
She was blond on Mad Men while playing January Jones’ daughter. “I’ve been blond pretty much for the last 10 years. And then, I dyed my hair brown and it was pretty long and I loved it! And then I auditioned for this and they’re, like, ‘So we want you blond again,’ and I was, like, ‘Awesome! Sounds good, anything for this,’” Kiernan happily recalled.
Fans of the comics would notice a striking resemblance between the illustrated Sabrina and Kiernan, including the character’s signature bob. The transformation was a gradual process according to the pretty actress. “I dyed my hair blond and then we did a cut and then we did another cut and we were playing around with the idea of bangs and trying to figure out what the iconic head band was going to look like and copious fittings and different sort of things.” She added that to “upkeep the Sabrina bob,” her hair gets trimmed every two or three weeks.
In this adaptation, Sabrina is at the beginning of her dark education as a sorceress. In her mortal life, she is a sophomore at Baxter High. She’s intelligent, compassionate and brave and she’s the last one standing between humans and the forces of darkness that threaten our world.
“It’s really exciting to play someone who’s 16 and kind of figuring themselves out and growing as a person. It’s been a really amazing challenge as an actor to find the points in which she is changing over time and make those a little more pronounced,” Kiernan said describing her role.
“Sabrina is very witty. She’s very interesting, very funny and very sharp,” she added. “And it’s insane to see her in between these two worlds because one is so fantastical and outlandish and the other is so grounded that it really makes for some naturally funny moments.”
Despite the darker nature of the story, fans can still expect the humor that characterized the comics. “The show as dark as it is has a lot of humor,” Kiernan emphasized although she acknowledged that Sabrina’s chilling adventures are far different from the sunny Archie comics many have grown used to. “I knew that the comics had darker elements to it but I tell you every single episode that I read, my jaw drops again. It’s this never-ending excitement, edge-of-your-seat sort of job because it’s crazier than the next. It never ends. It’s so fun!”
“The show is dark and funny at the same time. It has a lot of classical horror elements like Rosemary’s Baby — there’s a lot of artful, horror sort of elements and the show is an ode to all things that Roberto loves and that happens to be a lot of amazing things.”
For those who may not notice it right away, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is one of the first series to champion the Time’s Up initiative in Hollywood. The major protagonist is a woman and her major antagonists are women, too. There’s a telling bad guy on top but the women take front and center in this Netflix saga.
“I think we’re in a new frontier,” she declared. “I grew up totally a feminist and proud of it and I am excited that feminism and female empowerment and gender equality is at the forefront right now and I am really excited to be a woman in television. It’s really cool and I have a lot of hope for the future.”
Kiernan finished Mad Men when she was just under 16 years old. Now 18, she’s committed to Sabrina for however long the character’s adventures take to defeat evil and defend humans.