Interview with Taylor Napier

Hello, Taylor! It's great to welcome you to our interview! Tell us what your goals are for this year?

— Thanks for having with me! My goals for this year are pretty simple, I just want to work and have the best time possible doing it. Not take anything for granted.

Our traditional question: why did you decide to become an actor? At what point in your life did you make this decision?

— I think I became an actor because I've always felt a little uncomfortable in my own skin, and being able to play someone else... It felt like that anxiety that I had just went away when I was onstage. Of course there are nerves and all of that. It's impossible not to have a little bit of that creep in, but when I'm really in the scene and everything else in my life just falls away it's just magical. I can't really describe any other way. It feels like my mind is at peace for the first time. Well, I've pretty much constantly fought against it because it felt like such a silly thing to pursue, the odds are so slim that you'll even book a part, ever, and it's only getting worse. I've done a bunch of other things, gotten fed up with it, left the industry for a year, but I keep coming back to it. I don't want to do anything else, so as much I hate to admit it, it seems like this is it for me.

You have various projects in your filmography: «The Wheel of Time», «Hannah», «Wreck», «Atacama» and others. Which of them were the most exciting for you?

— It's hard to top The Wheel of Time just because of the scope of it all. It's a big show, and the cast comes from all over the world, which is such a fun thing to get to experience. I also get to push myself in stunts and horseback riding. I'm constantly being asked to learn new skills, which is exciting! Terrifying at times though! Atacama was really exciting because I wrote and produced the film, so being fully a part of making that happen felt very special, and it still does. Watching something that just existed in your head come to life is pretty damn cool and surreal. Also we had an absolute blast filming it in the most spectacular location imaginable. Seeing that first shot go up when we started filming was a real pinch me moment.

Tell us about your theater experience. What is the most meaningful thing the theater has brought to your life?

— I started in theatre, like most actors, and there's still nothing like being on stage with an audience. It's such a different feeling than working with a camera. When it's working you can feel the audience lean in and respond to every little thing you're doing. There was a study I read somewhere years ago that found an audience's heart rate and breath pattern started to sync up when they were watching a play, so the whole thing really does become a fantastic communal experience. I still try to get back to it all the time. While filming in Prague, sometimes when I have enough downtime I work with a fantastic theatre company there called Prague Shakespeare, just to stay active in it. I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for theatre. My whole life would be 100% different, to be honest. So I think just basically everything.

If you could play any existing character, who would it be and why?

— Brick from Cat on A Hot Tin Roof. I grew up in Tennessee, so anything Tennessee Williams. The language is just so poetic and lyrical while never losing its honesty. I think there's something so interesting about Brick, and also so very difficult to get right. Depression and grief can be a hard thing to make work as an actor without it either getting melodramatic or just boring. We love to see characters fight for something and finding the space to play a character that has seemingly given up, but making that enticing, engaging and almost cool is a really fun one to try to figure out.

Do you watch the projects you have participated in?

— I do. I shouldn't because the first viewing is always awful. I'm far too self involved to not just be incredibly nervous about my scenes that I can't really pay attention to anything else. I sort of have to get through it once, judge the hell out of myself, get over it and then go back and watch it for real the second time.

Have you read the «The Wheel of Time» book series to get a better understanding of the universe that the show is based on?

— I've now read up through book 5. I don't like to read too much ahead because I like to approach the world that my character would currently be in rather than knowing the future, though obviously you know your character's fate in the books, but being in the general time and place that the show is currently in during that season is important. You don't want to play a scene with knowledge your character wouldn't already have.

How did you prepare for the role of Maksim? Did you have any special way of approaching it?

— Maksim is a funny one because so much of the prep is technical. Dusting off the accent, learning the upcoming stunts and getting down to fighting weight are always a part of it. There's so much that goes into making a fantasy world that doing that sort of mental and physical shift back into it every season is really important. Thankfully now that we are in season 3 the relationships between the characters are so solid and you've spent so much time inside the character's head that you don't have to work to figure out how they feel about a certain person or thing. It's the wonderful thing about playing a character for so many years, it's like visiting an old friend from school. There's a shorthand there that then allows you to really focus on how the character is growing or changing that season.

Which scene from «The Wheel of Time» is most memorable to you and why?

— Tough! So many. My most memorable moment came this season, just such an epic scene and experience that I'm not sure I'll ever get to do something like that again, but I don't want to spoil anything. It was a dream come true for an actor like me though. My second favorite would be the campfire scene with Maksim, Nyneave and the rest of the warders in season 1. I think it's a lovely scene that shows the bond these men have between each other, but also the passion they have for what they do. It's also the first scene where I felt like as a performer I got Maksim. I feel like I created that character a bit by filming that scene. Also if I don't say any scene that I filmed with Priyanka Bose (Alanna), which is almost all of them at this point, she'll disown me. Any moment I get to be with her is memorable and amazing and she's perfect in every way, haha.

Was there any shooting location that impressed you the most?

— All of our locations are great. Though I will say the Slovenian Alps are something truly special. Just jaw droppingly spectacular.

If you could choose to play any character in this universe, which one would you choose?

— It has to be one of the Forsaken. They are just so much fun. Lanfear, Moghedian, Ishameal. Depends on my mood. Though it would mean those amazing actors wouldn't be playing those characters.

I always love to find some connections from people I've interviewed before to people I'm interviewing now. Guess who's connected to you? Fantastic Diem Camille! Tell us about your interactions on set.

— Diem and I shot for a few days during the first episode of this season during the battle in The White Tower. Diem is a force! She's so great in the scene. I believe it was her first day, and what a crazy first day on set that was for her. Very traditional welcome to The Wheel of Time, one that tells you this is going to be the most insane filming experience of your life, haha.

You wrote, produced and starred in the short film Atacama. Do you plan to produce more films in the future?

— I hope so! I have a couple of scripts I'm trying to get off the ground, it's a long process but hopefully in a few years I'll be talking to you about them!

Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do in your spare time?

— I'm pretty simple. I love to go to the gym, read, cook and travel. People can tell you I basically spend all of my free time doing one of those four things. Most likely planning trips, I go into hyper focus when I'm researching a trip and don't come out for hours sometimes.

Favourite movie?

— Jurassic Park. I wish I could give you a niche, avant garde (only 12 people ever have heard of this film) answer, but it's the one I always go back to.

Favorite TV series?

— The first season of Broadchurch with Olivia Coleman, that or 30 Rock.

Favorite game?

— Telestrations. Though I love playing Mafia.

Favorite book?

— Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Just finished it.

Your favorite quote?

— It's actually from my dad, so not a famous quote, but he used to always tell me "You're my horse even if you never win a race". Which made me feel like I would always be loved, even if I was a complete failure.

Favorite color?

— Blue.

Your favorite singer/band?

— Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash.

Your favorite song?

— Too many to name one, depends on my mood.

Three recent songs you've added to your playlist?

— Back to Tennessee by old friends band Josiah and the Bonnevilles, Hazy Shade of Winter, because they used it in the trailer for this new season of Wheel of Time, Fire by Saint Mesa.

What's your house from Game of Thrones?

— I've been told I would probably be a Tyrell, but I'll say Lannister.

Marvel or DC?

— Marvel.

What's your Hogwarts House?

— Ravenclaw. I'm a nerd.

Do you have an idol and if you do, who is it and why?

— So many, depending on what it is. My mom, for her strength, mostly. For acting? I tend to go back a few decades, Paul Newman, who I mentioned before I love, just for how easy everything feels. More recently, probably Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling, there's a special blend of wry humor they bring to every role that I hope to infuse in my work.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

— Stubborn, weird, sensitive.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

— I travel a lot, teleportation so I don't have to sit forever on a plane.