Q&A: Legend of the Seeker’s Bridget Regan on Corsets, True Love & Being a Badass

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AT: How has your adjustment to living in New Zealand been so far?

BR: It was pretty rough in the beginning. I was living in New York, living quite a different life. I was doing a Broadway show, so I was waking up at noon and going to work, just living that New York life which is so romanticized to me now, of course. I have to remind myself of the sludgy rain and missing the train. I have to remind myself of those things because to me it’s all people dancing in the streets like a musical. For one, it was the farthest I’d ever traveled, period. And it was a big change, but I’ve adapted quite well. Everyone teases that I’m like a Kiwi now because I can do a pretty poor but trying accent. I’ve got a life here. It’s certainly not where I expected to be at this point in my career, but it’s been great.

AT: So as you were developing Kahlan, were you inspired by any other fantasy characters?

BR: I wasn’t really. I watched the Lord of the Rings series right after I moved here. I hadn’t seen them, which is pretty embarrassing to say, but when I had a few meetings with Mark Beesley who is our producing director we did talk about Cate Blanchett’s character in Rings, Galadriel, and I liked the power and presence that she had. When I read the books, I was struck with how young Kahlan seemed in some scenes. She seemed like a little girl sometimes, but in other scenes she was this mature, powerful woman. That was the dichotomy that I was most interested in.

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AT: Have you had much contact with the fan base of the show?

BR: I can’t even begin about the fans. They’re so lovely. Sometimes I feel a little far away from it, even though the show does air here. I get fan mail from all over the world and they’re so kind and so complimentary of the show and they say over and over that there’s not much else like it on TV. I love that they gravitate to it and that they like what we’re doing because it’s so hard to tell when you’re out there shooting all day and there’s no one to bounce your work off of except the grips and lighting guys. I long for an audience. I ache for it. I think that’s one of the hardest things about the television medium is that you don’t get that. You don’t get that immediate response. But yes, I’m really touched that the fans say they want to see us do more. They want to see us try to save the world … again.

AT: So what’s in store for Kahlan over the rest of the second season?

BR: Kahlan was raised to believe that she will never have love in her life, other than for her children that she hopes to have. They’re taught to confess and take a man as their mate, so what she has now is something she never thought she would have, which is this reciprocal love that can’t really be acted on. I think it’s made her go a little bit soft. Basically, her whole belief system has been turned upside down. When we first met Kahlan, she was all about prophecy and destiny, and that’s really been replaced with a belief in Richard. She’s been throwing prophecy out of the window lately. She’s put all her faith in this one man and I have a feeling that it will be tested. You wonder whether she’s acting out of duty or love and whether or not it’s clouding her judgment.

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