Supernatural‘s tenth season will come to an end tomorrow night in the season finale, “Brother’s Keeper,” and while there are many different things happening as we head into the season’s last hour, from Sam searching for any type of way to remove the Mark of Cain from Dean to Crowley returning to his evil roots, there’s one person who is connected to it all: Rowena. We got a chance to speak with Ruth Connell, the actress who plays the powerful witch (and, of course, Crowley’s mother), about how her first year on Supernatural has been, what Rowena’s endgame really is, and the twists and turns that are coming in tomorrow night’s finale.
TVOvermind: Supernatural is in its tenth season, but this was your first year on the show. Even though you weren’t a series regular, you were in more than half of this season’s episodes. How was it coming aboard such an established series and working with all the guys, Jared, Jensen, Misha, and Mark, that have been on the show for years?
Ruth Connell: This has honestly been a dream job, from the audition to the producers’ session to my first episode, which was directed by Jensen, to working with Mark…it’s literally been a dream job. I know at the beginning I definitely had one episode and was pinned for two, and they hoped for more, but I think they had to see where the storyline would go. I posted a picture yesterday of my first day on set, and here I am 12 episodes later…People try to say it all the time, but it’s true. I love the crew in Canada. I love everyone, from Ted who picks me up to Neil in the production office to the guys. I’m kind of pinching myself. I’m in Britain just now, because I was at my first big Supernatural convention in Birmingham with everyone the other weekend, and it’s amazing. I didn’t understand how amazing the fanbase was at the beginning. I mean, I knew about Supernatural and that it had been on for 10 years, but casting tried to warn me. They said to my agent, “We don’t think really think Ruth’s understanding the impact her character might have on the show and quite how devoted the fans are.” [Laughs] It’s just been such a gift. It’s honestly been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.
Speaking of the Supernatural fanbase, the reaction to Rowena has been really positive. Even our own reviewer, Hunter Bishop, has singled out your performance and how great the character in his reviews.
Oh really? I need to read some of these. [Laughs] I love what the writers give me to do. Because the show is established and because everyone knows what they’re doing, it’s so cool. Let’s say Bob Singer is directing an episode, and I’m like “Bob, Scottish people say things like this,” and they let me do it, you know, and sometimes they’ll keep it. It just feels so complete, just because the writing is so good and solid, and you can have a little bit of space to put an extra Scottish word in here or there. I’ve really enjoyed what the writers have given me. I think I’ve been really lucky. Rowena’s had some amazing one-liners. What an amazing character to be given.
She is definitely is fantastic and a great female villain for Sam and Dean to go up against. What do you think makes Rowena such a great character?
There’s a lot of layers to Rowena. The first thing that was a gift was her relationship with Crowley. Who doesn’t want to see the King of Hell roasted by his mom? Everyone has a mother or some kind of relationship like that, so they can relate to that dynamic, and it’s a lot fun. It’s fun to get to torture Mark Sheppard. [Laughs] I think that’s the first thing, and then I think it’s because of the fact that she’s a survivor and she’s been through a lot. But she has fun. There’s a lot of relish. That’s why I hope I bring to it, because I’m loving filming so much, I’m loving playing this character so much. It’s nice to see someone enjoy being bad and enjoy doing all the things that she gets to do. And then, of course, there’s the dresses. [Laughs] It’s nice to have a bit of glamour among all the flannel and black suits. There’s a lot of reasons to like Rowena, I think. I’m very lucky.
Well, I think you’ve definitely brought that “fun” aspect to the role.
And then there’s the magic, what she’s going to do with the spells and everything. It’s interesting to see, because she’s powerful, but she’s been on the run. Her goals have had to change during the season. It was all about the Grand Coven, and now it’s become something else. Now she’s in chains because of Sam. There’s been a lot of challenges for her to overcome, and I think it’s interesting to watch her try to get out of of whatever scrape she finds herself in.
Speaking of magic, Sam wasn’t able to kill Crowley in last week’s episode. Does that mean Rowena is definitely done using her knowledge and powers to help Sam try to get the Mark off of Dean?
There was a little clip. I’ve tried to watch all the trailers, and there’s a little clip where I think you see Sam pointing a gun at Rowena and he’s got six [bullets] filled with witch-killing brew. [Laughs] So I think it’s safe to say there’s still some story left to find out there. To me, this episode is like an episode of choices. Sam, Dean, Crowley, Castiel, and Rowena all have big decisions to make in this episode about how far you go to get what you want. It’s written by Jeremy Carver, and there’s a lot in [the finale]. It’s a great episode. I meant to say this before about Rowena. I think it’s in “Inside Man,” where Crowley thew her out, you also see that even though she’s really strong, she can be vulnerable as well. It’ll be interesting to see, in “Brother’s Keeper,” what side of Rowena, or both, we get to see.
And Crowley found out about Sam and Rowena’s plan to kill him. Should we expect a big confrontation between mother and son in the finale?
There’s a lot of of confrontation in this episode. I think you can see that coming, with Sam, Dean, Rowena, and Crowley, and I think Castiel gets kind of caught in the middle. [Laughs] It was fun to film another scene with Mark again. For a long time, I only worked with Mark. We joke now and say we were stuck in a dungeon. [Laughs] Which was great cause then I wasn’t filming outside in the rain or anything. So it was really great being back in the room with Mark again. I mean, it’s a big episode.
Supernatural always goes very “big” for its finales.
That’s the only reason I can think for why Charlie died is because we wanted a big catalyst to provoke such a big finale. Because we were all shocked and devastated, and I thinks that’s a signal to how dramatic the finale is.
Rowena’s gone from wanting to be spend time with Crowley and get to know him better to wanting to kill him. What’s it been like getting to explore that very up-and-down family relationship this season?
I think it’s great because it’s really complicated, and that’s what real relationships are like, especially those closest relationships. And I think that’s hopefully the poignancy [of Rowena and Crowley]. I mean, when I see Mark, especially when I’m doing ADR sessions, and I see what he’s doing on the screen, it makes it extra poignant. That’s why everybody loves Crowley: deep down, he wants to be loved. And here comes his mother that could satisfy a little bit of that, or give him some of that, and there are moments this season when Rowena is reaching out to him, and it’s just a shame, because they are quite similar, that they can’t actually land and trust each other. So that’s where we are.
And it’s been a gift, again, to have all those different levels. And when Crowley threw Rowena out in “Inside Man,” I think she was playing her game, he was playing his game, and that was kind of real, to be [betrayed] by your son when he’s really the only ally you’ve had, that’s the big catalyst for why she wants to kill him. I think we’ve kept people guessing as well, because both characters are also figuring things out as they go along. Mark said something interesting to me, something to do with this last episode, and I said, “I say this, and I can’t rationalize it because I feel the opposite.” And he said, “It’s okay. It’s just a lie.” [Laughs] So, yeah, it’s been great fun.
As you said before, Rowena’s had these changing motivations throughout Season 10. Do you think she has a specific main goal in mind? For example, would she want to become the Queen of Hell? Or is it just her “survivor” nature, that she’ll choose the winning side, whatever that is?
It seems to be more moment to moment with Rowena. That’s how she’s survived. But, like Crowley, there’s an endgame that maybe isn’t that obvious. I do think she is intelligent, and I do think it’s been a big learning curve for Rowena, with the Grand Coven not being what it was and the Men of Letters—a lot of it speaks to witchcraft in the real world. There’s lots of reasons for her to have built a different endgame, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions at the end of this episode, because a lot does get revealed. And we find out in this episode an interesting chunk of Rowena’s past, which I find really interesting as to why she feels the way she does about Crowley.
Be sure to watch the Season 10 finale of Supernatural, which airs tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on The CW.
[Photos via The CW]
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