I had the chance to chat with actress, Katherine McNamara about her new show, “Shadowhunters,” premiering Tuesday, January 12th at 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on ABC Family/Freeform. The show is based on the bestselling young adult fantasy book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. “Shadowhunters” follows Katherine’s character, Clary Fray as she realizes how dark the city can really be when she learns the truth about her past.
Check out what Katherine said about playing Clary, filming the series and what fans can expect!
(ABC Family/Bob D’Amico)
Explain to us the term Shadowhunter.
Shadowhunters takes place in the The Mortal Instruments book series. The basis for that is all the legends are true. So every creature, fairytale, monster that lurks in the night is real. They exist on a plane that humans can’t see. That’s where the Shadowhunters come in.
Talk about your character Clary. What is she like?
My character is seemingly a normal girl growing up in Brooklyn. On her 18th birthday a series of events happen and her world comes crashing down and she discovers that she is a Shadowhunter, which is a half angel, half human hybrid. Their sole purpose in life is to defend the human race against the demons and try to keep the peace among all of the different races of creatures that exist among the world.
She’s taken on this journey through which she has to learn how to become a warrior. She’s surrounded by all these other Shadowhunters and all these other creatures. Her human best friend tries to help her through this process of getting her life back.
What drew you to this series and playing Clary?
A lot of things drew me to the series. I really love the world that this series exists in because it’s so rich and powerful. Something that draws a lot of people to this series are the characters. Some of them are warlocks, vampires and werewolves, they all exist in the world of fantasy, but they are all growing up. They are falling in love for the first time and truly are learning who they are becoming. It gives viewers a sense of looking at their own problems through the eyes of these characters — and maybe feel more ok with them.
A lot of things drew me to the series. I really love the world that this series exists in because it’s so rich and powerful. Something that draws a lot of people to this series are the characters. Some of them are warlocks, vampires and werewolves, they all exist in the world of fantasy, but they are all growing up. They are falling in love for the first time and truly are learning who they are becoming. It gives viewers a sense of looking at their own problems through the eyes of these characters — and maybe feel more ok with them.
Something that drew me to Clary specifically was that, yes she is a heroin, yes she is warrior, but she is truly flawed and she is kind of thrusted into this life where she has to rely on her instincts. I think that’s what her inner strength relies on. She makes mistakes. She is very loyal to the people she loves, but she doesn’t alway think about the consequences of her choices and she doesn’t think about what it will cost her and the people around her. Through all of this she learns from it and she grows from it.
Did you read the books before filming?
I was familiar with the book before filming and it was always on my list to read them, so I started reading them while I was in the casting process. I fell in love with the series and fell in love with Cassie’s writing. I’m just now finishing reading them and I can see why they have such a huge fan base. I’m part of it now!
What was it like on set when they were filming scenes where people would be disappearing, flying or jumping somewhere?
It was a really crazy ride, I have to tell you. Half of the time we would be on set and you would think it would be practical. We’d have the props in our hands, we would see the lighting effects, there would be the smoke, the rain and everything. The other half of the time we would be cowering from a tennis ball on a stick. Sometimes we would be running away from nothing or holding nothing in our hands. We sometimes were only given part of the sword instead of working with the entire thing. There are so many elements, half of them were there and half of them were not. It kind of became a talent. We would have to figure out specifics like where are we looking, what are we looking at and how scary is it? We needed to have an idea of what we were supposed to be looking at so we could react accordingly.
You manage to balance a busy career, while getting your master’s degree. When you get time off, what do you like to do for fun?
Sleep is overrated. I love spending time with the people that mean the most to me. I love game nights with friends. It’s the perfect way to decompress and relax. I love going to see movies. As much as I love creating the art that I am able to do, I love seeing it as much, if not more. I like to take my dog on runs, going to spin class, dancing, writing music. I just like to try to be as normal as possible. At work I am fighting demons, at school I’m learning applied economics. Everything is so abnormal, so it’s nice to just relax and read a book and think about nothing.
Thank you so much to Katherine McNamara for sharing some of day with me! It’s always such a job speaking with her. For more on “Shadowhunters” stay tunes as Pop Hearts TV covers the first season of the show!
Tweet me with your comments and questions! You can also follow Pop Hearts TV and I here:
