On Fox's Sleepy Hollow, it's not easy being Katrina Crane. The wife of main protagonist Ichabod was trapped in purgatory for the majority of Season 1, and now even in Season 2, reuniting with her husband hasn't felt so good.
Katrina has a lot going on. She has a complicated relationship with Ichabod, which includes still caring for her ex-fiance Abraham Van Brunt, the Horseman of Death, she has strong magical powers and sometimes feels like the third-wheel in her marriage. It's all of these factors that make Katrina such an an enigmatic and fascinating character to watch. Last Monday night's episode teased Katrina's full turn to the dark side. Will we soon see her go completely evil?
That's certainly a possibility, according to Katia Winter, the Swedish-born actress who plays Katrina. One way or the other, we should expect to see a stronger, more in control Katrina in the weeks ahead. Winter spoke with T-Lounge over the phone about Katrina's transformation, third-wheeling Ichabod and Abbie and improvising in Terrence Malick's upcoming film Knight of Cups.
We've seen Katrina go through a lot of changes from Season 1 to Season 2, particularly going from being stuck in purgatory to now being free and reunited with husband Ichabod. How do you think your character has changed or developed from Season 1 to Season 2?
Oh my God, yeah. Well lots has happened, I guess since she got out of purgatory. It's been really fun too, to have actual scenes with characters and not be sort of stuck in this horrible, like, hell under the spell of Moloch. So it's been kind of interesting to try and find her ground and, I guess, purpose in the show. It's been a hard character, I think, for people, and for the writers as well to write for. But I think since she wasn't that established in Season 1 and now she's all over Season 2, she finally finds herself and her purpose, because it's been a little hard. You know, she's thrown into this world, and her marriage and her husband aren't really the same, and things aren't really the same between the two of them, but they're trying. She obviously tries to help Headless, who she has a bit of a soft spot for, because she feels guilty that she's responsible for the way he turned out. Yeah, it's been a whirlwind. It's been so many things thrown at her, so I'm interested to see how it all wraps up at the end of Season 2.
Can you remember the craziest prank or scare that happened on set?
This wasn't me actually. I think it was one of the producers that put one of these headless creatures, I guess some corpse was lying around in the special effects trailer without a head. And they put it on Tom Mison's toilet in his trailer. It was just sort of sitting there. When he opened the door, it was really funny.
Because I wear a wig on the show, when I take the wig off, I look like a bald person because I have this wig cap on, and there's all sorts of short, long, weird-looking wigs, you know. This one wig I put on, it was really, really short gray hair, I looked like a completely different person. I'd be running around on set, and people wouldn't recognize me. I'd run up to the producers, and I'd be standing there looking like a weird stalker. They'd all turn around and go, "Who are you? Are you supposed to be here?" I'd put on a weird voice, and it'd take them like a couple of minutes. "Oh my God. Is that you?"
Yeah, I can imagine being on that set, just being kind of creeped out the whole time. There's so many scary-looking things around.
It's weird. You like walk past a tent, and there's like a bloody, weird, little stressed-out creature just standing there drinking tea, you know. It's a bizarre set to be on but fun.
You're in Terrence Malick's latest film Knight of Cups. Is there anything you can tell us about your role in that?
I don't really know, to be honest. We were just improvising a lot. I was working with Christian Bale and Joel Kinnaman. There was no script, so I didn't really know that much a part from Christian Bale plays a very depressed writer, and we were sort of just improvising all the time. So I have no idea. Terrence Malick was like, "You can do no wrong. I will just throw you into scenes. And try and make Christian mad. And run around in the fountain. And then read this poetry." It's very abstract, so I don't know. I haven't even seen it, so I don't know how much I'm going to be in the final cut, because [Malick] had a million actors working on this film, but it was so much fun to kind of be free in that sense and he made you feel so comfortable. I was really nervous at first. I'm like, "What do you mean do whatever you want? I don't know."
Have you ever improvised like that before for a project or was that something new for you?
Yeah, not since drama school, really, because you don't really get to do that at all while filming. They're very specific. You have to say this word, not that, you know. So it's usually word for word you have to get right, especially TV, not so much film, depending on who you work with, I suppose. This is completely different. But it was fun to think outside the box and be free and do whatever you want to do.
And you're also stepping into the role of producer on an upcoming film, Lost Inside. So what has that been like, taking on that new role?
It's been so much fun. I think it started about a year-and-a-half ago. I found this crazy-good novel written by a close friend of mine, and we spent a year making it into a screenplay, and it's fun. I never realized how creative producers can be and how, you know, you have much more control over a project. Because as an actress, especially on TV, you don't have any creative control over the story and whatever's being told. You're just given the script, and you do the best you can with it. But in this, it's, you know, you're involved from the start, and you get to make so many decisions and choices creatively. So it's been amazing, actually. I never realized, because I always pictured producers as being all about the money, and they don't really care about the creative side, you know. But it's been a really pleasant discovery.
We found this great director. It's a really intriguing, very unique story, because it's rare that you read something that hasn't really been done before. It's very dark, very twisted. I grew up in Scandinavia to Ingmar Bergman films and Lars von Trier films, so I like those really, really gritty, dark stories that move you into the core of your being, you know. So this story is definitely one of those. Visually, we're making it a little bit more commercial as well. So I think, you know, I'm very excited. And now especially wrapping the show, I can focus and really work on it full-time. I will for sure keep doing [producing] as well as acting, because it's equally fun, being behind and in front of the camera.
You're starring in Lost Inside also, in addition to producing. Is there anything you can tell us about your character in that?
Yeah, it's so much fun. I can't wait. The novel is called Hikikomori, which is essentially, a Japanese word for someone that locks themselves inside and never leaves the home. They estimate about a million people live like that in Asia at the moment. It's common, you know, when you can order food online, you don't ever need to leave the house. The main character locked himself away when his girlfriend was killed years ago, and he gradually became more and more insane. So you follow this one character in this kind of rotten apartment. And he has this girlfriend who sings, but she's imaginary, and she sort of changes, and she's very kooky and quirky. It's essentially a love story, a very tragic love story between him, his imaginary girlfriend and the ghost of his dead girlfriend that keeps haunting him and his past that keeps haunting him. So it's a psychological, very disturbing film. It sounds really crazy, but when you read it and see it, it makes so much sense. And to be able to play that kind of character, she's very much alive, even though she's imaginary. She sort of becomes real. She starts developing her own thoughts. Her own opinions on things, even though she is essentially a figment of his imagination. So yeah, it's going to be lots of fun to do that for sure.
Has it started filming yet?
No, we just got a director, and we have a couple of other roles to cast. We're sort of aiming to get it shot by the end of the year, so it's up and moving, but it's good.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for grammar and clarity.
