The Lifetime drama series Witches of East End is inspired by Melissa de la Cruz’s best-selling novel that centers on the Beauchamp family, a multi-generational family of witches.  After discovering that they are witches with ancient magical powers, and learning how to cultivate their craft with the help of their mother Joanna (Julia Ormond) and aunt Wendy (Madchen Amick), Beauchamp sisters Ingrid (Rachel Boston) and Freya (Jenna Dewan Tatum) had to deal with threats from within their own family that they never could have seen coming.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actress Madchen Amick talked about the amazing final two hours of Witches of East End Season 2, that the finale will be both satisfying and shocking, how satisfied she was with Wendy’s personal journey this season, what it’s been like to work with this group of women over the last two seasons, what she’d still like to see from Wendy, which former Twin Peaks co-star she’d love to see on the show (and in what type of role), having the threats be much more personal and close to home this season, filming that gut-wrenching moment, and the scenes that are her favorite to shoot.  Check out what she had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Collider:  What can you tease about the two-hour finale?

MADCHEN AMICK:  Well, having the two hours is amazing.  It’s going to be ongoing and jam-packed.  With every episode, the writers seem to up themselves with the different storylines that are happening, and opening up even more tragedy and suspense.  So, there are some storylines that are wrapped up very nicely and that are satisfying, and then there are a couple storylines that are opened back up for a pretty amazing cliffhanger at the very, very end.  We need all the viewers possible, so that we can get picked up for Season 3.

When you read the script for the final hour of the season, what was your initial reaction to it?

AMICK:  There was a great part of it that the four of us actresses really got involved with the storyline and really fought to make sure that we came together, which we feel is just so important.  Seeing the core of the four witches, coming together and being powerful, is so gratifying.  It was fun because we were really involved in that part of the storyline.  That was really satisfying.  There were other things where we were just like, “Oh, my god!,” because we were in complete and total shock.  If they can shock the actors that have to play these parts, the audience is absolutely going to be shocked.

Are you satisfied with how things end up, not only with the story that you were telling this season, but with your character’s personal journey, as well?

AMICK:  Yeah.  I think it was really nice to explore the more responsible side of Wendy, and see her step up and take charge.  Her loyalty to this family was constantly tested, and I think that was really fun.  The first season, I felt like Wendy just blew in with the wind through the front door, and had one foot in and one foot out, which is really fun to play.  This season, you got to see how maternal she can be, and how dedicated of a sister she can be.  That was really fun to explore.

What was your reaction when you found out that Wendy’s boyfriend, who she really cared about, was going to become her father?

AMICK:  Oh, my gosh!  When I heard that, I was like, “Okay, that’s brilliant!”  Poor Wendy is constantly saying, “We’ve got such bad luck.  It always ends in such tragedy.”  And once again, here we are.  She finally gave in and gave more of herself to this relationship, and yet, once again, whenever they dabble in mortal love, they end up getting caught up in harm’s way.  It was just so creepy for Wendy.

What’s it been like to work with this group of women, over two seasons, and spend so much time on set together, really forming a family bond?

AMICK:  It’s really amazing.  I have to say that, from the very beginning, we had that connection.  To be a little bit sappy, it was magical.  We immediately bonded.  We immediately got along.  It felt really good, from the very beginning.  I was very sad because I was only supposed to do the pilot, and then I was going to be killed off.  I was sad because it doesn’t happen very often, when you connect with people like that.  So, I was even more happy and excited that they invited me to stay on for the rest of the series.  But, it’s just been wonderful.  We work really long, hard hours for five months in a row, away from home, so to have that group of women, and the men, too.  Daniel [DiTomasso] and Eric [Winter] are amazing, too.  We really do have a great family dynamic and honestly get along.  It’s not B.S. getting along, but we really do love each other and get together every weekend.  Even now that we’re back in L.A. and have started the rest of our lives, we’re constantly calling and texting and seeing each other and missing each other.  It’s a real genuine bond.

Have you given any thought about what you’d like to still see from Wendy, or what you’d like to learn about her, if you have future seasons to explore her?

AMICK:  I really would love to see more of Asgard, the godlike other existence, back in their real land.  That would be very cool.  It’s obviously very challenging to do ‘cause you’ve got to do it really well, but I would love to see that.  And I would love to see some of her past lives.  There’s one in particular that I’m really curious about.  She had her voodoo New Orleans days, and I like that part of her.  She’s always having to fight going over to the dark side, so I’d like to see how she probably played with a little bit too much dark magic back then.  Plus, she was kicked out of the family, so she was on her own and probably not in the greatest headspace.  I think that would be really fun to see.

If you do get another season, is there a Twin Peaks actor that you’d love to reunite with on the show, in a guest appearance?  And would you prefer to work with them as a friend or a foe to Wendy?

AMICK:  Well, Peggy Lipton is a fan of the show.  I was like, “We’ve gotta get Peggy Lipton on as a guest star,” and she said that she would love that.  That would be so cool!  I think she would be this beautiful, regal goddess that maybe comes over from another realm.  I’d love to see her in a bad girl role.  That would be fun.  Maybe she could be a bad girl that Wendy used to hang out with in another realm, and she’s come back to cause a bunch of trouble.

This has been a really tough season for this family.  Instead of all of the outside threats of Season 1, this has been a season of threats from within the family.  What was it like to explore stories that were much more personal and really close to home for them?

AMICK:  I really liked it because, at the same time that you’re showing their struggle and really showing their foes, seeing the history of that being within the family, it shows how there’s a lot of history in the Beauchamp family.  It gave you peek into their past lives in Asgard and the dynamics they had and the uprising that they went through.  I thought that was really fun to explore.  It gave the fights between them a contradiction.  We talked in Season 1 about how much I loved my nephew, Frederick, but now he’s come through and I’m fighting those feelings of love for my nephew because we can’t trust him.  It was a big contradiction that was really fun.  I had a lot of fun with it.

The moment that Wendy and Joanna walk into the backyard and see the bodies of Ingrid and Freya hanging was a pretty shocking one.  What was that like to film, and how difficult was that to watch back?

AMICK:  Oh, it was terrible!  I chose not to see the girls, even preparing.  I didn’t want to see them in their dead make-up.  It was just too heart-wrenching.  So, when we see them, it truly was shocking.  In a way, because the scene was set so beautifully, you don’t really have to do much, as an actor.  It was just really a reaction.  It was gut-wrenching.

As a shape-shifter, Wendy bares her body more than anyone else on the show.  Are you as comfortable in your own skin as she is, or is that something you wish was a trait that you had from her?

AMICK:  No, I definitely am.  I think they write it pretty freely because they know that I’m fine with it.  I’m comfortable.  It’s refreshing to me, in a way.  I have played a lot of roles, in my career, where I’m the sexual interest.  I’m always having to fight that.  I don’t want to do that and have it be gratuitous, and that’s a hard thing to balance in this business.  But the way that we use Wendy’s nudity, to me, is just another comedic beat.  It just happens to be what happens when she shifts, and she doesn’t really care.  She doesn’t really care about clothes, and she doesn’t really understand why everyone else has a problem.  I think it’s a funny aspect of the character, so I’ve enjoyed it.

When you consider the entire series, is there a scene or storyline that you’ve most enjoyed exploring as Wendy?

AMICK:  I really have a soft spot for any Joanna-Wendy scenes.  Not only do I just love and adore Julia [Ormond] as a person and as a co-worker, she blows my mind with her talent and I just love to see what she’s going to bring to the scene.  And she’s said similar things back because I’ll have a take on something that she didn’t expect.  It’s just so fun to work with her, and I love the relationship that they’ve written for them, but that we’ve also brought to the table, ourselves.  So, I just love the Joanna-Wendy scenes.

The two-hour Season 2 finale of Witches of East End airs on Lifetime on October 5th.

Madchen Amick Witches of East End Interview