Switches Gathering 3. Part 7. No messing up, just messing around

Sunday morning Panel with Jess, Lyne and Ashley.

Question. For Jess. What do you miss most about South Africa that you didn’t realise you would miss?

Jess. My family. They are always there. Our culture. Our resilience. Saying cock, you can’t say that in the US. Also [inaudible], every syllable of our language carries our identity. Missing Demetria’s laugh – same feeling. Hard to put into words.

Question. For Ashley, we have come to know Abigail in season 1. But in season 3 we learn that Alder’s sister is called Abigail. Do you think Petra named her after Alder’s sister.

Ashley was initially thoughtful about the question. She didn’t remember General Alder’s sister being called Abigail.

Lyne. Is that true?

Jess. Yes.

Lyne puts on Jess’s sunglasses and pretends she is not there!

Ashley. Maybe. Don’t know. My mom had to get in her good graces somehow

Question. If you could have any animal as a pet, even mythological ones, what would it be?

Ashley. Unicorn.

Lyne. Dragon. And I’d ride it. FLY ride it [Ashley makes cowboy gestures]

Jess. Taking notes. Fan fiction… Rabbit. I love rabbits. I’m going to have to come up with something cool, after unicorn and dragon. [Pause] Rabbit is good. Bunny rabbit.

Question. What’s your favourite holiday? Do you have any funny family traditions?

Lyne. In Belgium we have [inaudible] which is Santa Claus, but not Santa Claus. He comes on December 1st and we would put our shoe at the fireplace. We’d put a carrot in there for the white horse. We would also put a letter asking for what we want. Then mum and dad would get us what we wanted. Her dad told her the story that they went out one night and got really drunk and they came home and needed to put everything together, there was a Playmobil and a Lego box, he would actually assemble it for us. So he was assembling it completely drunk. These are the funniest and most cherished memories of our family holidays. We would be in the house at a window looking down in the house at the table where they put everything. But that night they were so drunk they put it in another room. The three of us run down and there is nothing on the table. My mum says perhaps you should check the other room then

Ashley. I have it written down. Christmas is favourite holiday. Favourite thing to do is decorate the tree with my mom while listening to Mariah Carey. Her Apple music might be Justin Bieber all year, but get to December and it is Mariah Carey. Make gingerbread houses and have a competition, she wins. Matching Christmas PJs. Big pieces of ice and choose a theme, last year was Shrek, so you walk through like a Shrek ice museum. Loves Christmas. Feels warm and fuzzy

Lyne, I’m going to come to you

Ashley. Great. Everyone’s invited

Jess. Favourite holiday is Peso with her family. Particularly the feet washing ceremony. It is so intimate.

Lyne asks for clarification.

Jess explains that it is Peso, Passover. Incredible time. So intimate. Won’t forget the first time, never seen her dad cry before. He and his brother, washing their mother’s feet. Jess was visibly emotional. She’s not always in South Africa to do it, so she and her husband do it. Feels stupid, just the two of them, but get out the bucket, wash each other’s feet, very honouring. Something of South Africa I miss is a really good Braai on Sundays. Miss the smell. Whole day event

Question. If you go out to eat, which would you prefer Braai or a Texas cook out?

Jess and Ashley stand up and stand off against each other fists raised, as if in a boxing match.

Lyne. Doesn’t know either of them. So chooses both.

Jess. Ashley hasn’t had a Braaai. She hasn’t had a Texan BBQ

Ashley. My mom’s Texan BBQ can’t compare to anything. Lists everything – corn, wings, hot dogs, sauces, vegetables, meats, everything… Have 20 – 30 family and friends. So both

Jess. Get back to you next year

Question. On the show, was there anything you had to redo over and over because you kept cracking up?

Ashley. Season 1, when Tally was opening up the roll from Gerit.

Jess. I was so serious. She kept laughing

Ashley. Got yelled at by the director. This is so funny

Lyne. First of all I never mess up. There is a reason I never had anything to put in the blooper reels. I never messed up. Unless you have anything. [Imitates mic drop, brushes shoulders and hands the mic to Jess].

Jess. We had a lot of fun in the ice caves. No messing up

Lyne. We were messing around.

a clip of this exchange can be watched at https://x.com/witchplague/status/1971399786441113713

Jess. The rose ceremony in 1.01 was quite difficult. We had filmed the pilot and she never understood the scene. We had a chance to refilm with Ashley and I knew then what the scene was all about. Explains to Ashley about sitting on the floor and sharing the rose.

Ashley finally remembers the scene

Ashley. Mothers who passed. When the salva ran out.

Jess. The energy had to be so specific. Was able to work out what had been missing, had to be the heart of the scene and cry. Filmed the entire day. Stayed on the floor all day, crying, pretending to burn petals. Rare opportunity that you don’t get to do, a scene with a different actor and we were a different unit. So we had done that scene and I had missed it, but got a chance to land it this time

Question. If there were to be another season, where would your character be – storyline?

Jess. Told by Eliot that Tally would end up a General. Fascinated. Helped in season 3 to understand the journey to who she needed to be. Just showed up on a farm. Tally and Alder somewhere, creating a matrifocal compound, training some chickens. Stay in touch with the unit.

Lyne. Distance, coming back, can feel it. It was the Magic dust that was bringing Alder back.

Ashley. Talked about this last night at the cocktail party. First she would explore the First Song and the new power. Then the Camarilla are witches, bad things. She would stay in the army. Ther would be resistance, she would be fighting somebody.

Question. If General Alder wrote her autobiography, what would be the title?

Lyne. I know.

[Jess whispered into her ear – a lot]

‘45 years of being a General.’ Then she explained that Alder had been the General for 45 Presidents. Then Lyne told us Jess’s idea of ‘The Last Ride’.

[I think Lyne was working her way towards something like ‘General to 45 Presidents’.]