[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Fate: The Winx Saga.]In Season 2 of the Netflix original series Fate: The Winx Saga, the fairies at Alfea are trying to find their footing while they’re being pushed to their limits under the harsh authority of Headmistress Rosalind (Miranda Richardson). As Bloom (Abigail Cowen) and her Suitemates – Princess Stella (Hannah Van Der Westhuysen), Aisha (Precious Mustapha), Musa (Elisha Applebaum), Terra (Eliot Salt), and Flora (Paulina Chávez) – become suspicious about who’s behind a very dangerous threat, they realize that they must learn to strengthen and unite their magic, in order to save the Otherworld.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Chávez talked about joining the show in Season 2, bonding with this ensemble cast, what she most enjoyed about playing Flora, the dynamic with Terra, the process for shooting the magic scenes, what she thought about Flora’s choices in the finale, and what she hopes to see in her character in a possible Season 3.
Collider: How did you come to this? Did you have to go through a whole audition process? Had you been aware of the first season? What is it like to do all of that for a show for the second season?
PAULINA CHÁVEZ: It was just another audition. I got requested for it. I already knew about the show. My sister had watched it and I had watched a few of the episodes, so I was really excited because it’s a re-imagining for an adaptation of Winx Club and I remembered watching a few of those episodes growing up.
Is it more nerve-wracking when you know what it is you’re auditioning for, or is it less nerve-wracking?
CHÁVEZ: I don’t know. I don’t think I was nervous or overwhelmed by it because I always see auditions as auditions. It was just another audition that I gravitated to.
What was it like to join this show in its second season? What was your first day on set like? What was the first scene that you did?
CHÁVEZ: The first scene that I did was when I meet all the girls in the Winx suite and I’m just navigating the room. That was the very first scene that I shot, and I was nervous. I hadn’t been on a set that big in a really long time, but it was so wonderful. The whole cast is so great, that they made it so easy for me.
As a character, do you feel like Flora is someone who tries to fit in, or does fitting in just come naturally to her?
CHÁVEZ: Fitting in comes naturally to her. She doesn’t have to try. Flora knows how to work the room.
How was it to figure out how she fit in with the group, along with figuring out her family history with Terra? What was it like to navigate all of that at once?
CHÁVEZ: I think it was lovely. I enjoyed every part of it. Flora fits in very easily, but she’s still trying to find her place and not overstep, even though, maybe sometimes, she does a little bit.
What was your own experience like, finding your place among this group of actors? Did you have time to get to know any of them ahead of time? Did you have to just jump right in and get to know everybody while you were working together?
CHÁVEZ: When I first arrived to Ireland, we had to all quarantine for five days. After those five days were out, we all hung out because why not? We were going to work together. It was just very natural and nothing was forced, which doesn’t normally happen, but I’m so happy that it did. I’ve made pretty amazing friends on the set.
What have you most enjoyed about working with this cast? What have you learned from working with them?
CHÁVEZ: They’re all so hilarious. They’re so quick-witted. There’s never a dull moment with them, truly never. We would always have a blast.
What have you most enjoyed about Flora, as a character, since day one?
CHÁVEZ: When I first auditioned, I absolutely fell in love with her, from the get-go. I loved what they were doing with her storyline and the fact that she’s just such a powerful Latina. That’s what really gravitated me to her and what seems to gravitate me with all the roles that I do. They really make a mark.
What do you think Flora sees in Riven? What is it about the two of them that immediately draws them to each other?
CHÁVEZ: They’re both flirts. It’s just a fun little game to them. Flora does not see anything going with that relationship, and she makes it very clear. She still likes to have fun, and she thinks flirting is fun. Everybody wants to believe [there’s something more], but Riven and Flora know there isn’t.
How would you describe the relationship between Flora and Terra? What has their history been, before we see them this season?
CHÁVEZ: What I made up in my brain was that they grew up together. And then, because Flora’s parents love to travel, they separated and did their own thing. Now, they’re just coming back together and rediscovering the relationship, and finding out that there are struggles to it, but trying to work through them.
Do you think they would have been friends, if they weren’t family?
CHÁVEZ: If they weren’t family, I think they would eventually have become friends. It’s one of those relationships that you just work a little bit harder on, but they do love each other so much, and they care for each other so much. I think that’s just so wonderful.
The scene in episode four, when Flora tells Terra that she thinks she’s jealous of her and that she wonders sometimes why they’re even friends, is so heartbreaking to watch. What was it like to shoot that moment? We can see how hard it is for Terra to hear something like that, but how did flora feel in that moment?
CHÁVEZ: She did not feel good, for sure. I do believe that she said it because of how Terra has treated her in the past, like she’s just a kid. She was just very tired of being undermined by Terra. That scene was hard to do, especially with Eliot [Salt]. But Eliot is so great that we were just worked through it together. It’s tough love. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but you need to do it.
Flora is the first person that Terra decides to come out to. What was it like to read that moment and to shoot that moment? It feels like it means so much to Terra to feel that acceptance and love from Flora, in that moment.
CHÁVEZ: When I first read the script, I thought that moment was so lovely. And then, getting to shoot it and actually be there to witness it live, was so cool. Eliot did a phenomenal job. Even just watching that scene back, I can’t help but cry a little. It’s her truth, and it’s a lot of people’s truths, so I think it’s a great representation for them.
Having acceptance in that moment really leads to Terra being able to tell everybody in the Winx suite. It’s the thing that pushes her to keep pursuing her truth, and the big group hug that results is so beautiful. What was that like to shoot and get to be in that moment, with everybody embracing Terra together?
CHÁVEZ: It was heartwarming. It felt very real. Eliot has said that those scenes took her back to when she was first coming out. She was like, “I think I needed this, just for me.” We love that episode so much.
Everyone’s magic is growing and strengthening, this season. How would you say that Terra and Flora’s magic really compliments each other?
CHÁVEZ: Flora works more with plants, and Terra is experimenting with minerals this season, which is very exciting. There are a lot of different aspects to our magic, which is wonderful. I love that everybody gets to see both of them.
What’s it like to do the group magic scenes? Is it more complicated to do those scenes, when you’re all using magic and you’re all having to pretend all these different things are there, that aren’t actually there?
CHÁVEZ: Yeah, it’s time-consuming. The convergence crystal scene was an all-day scene that we shot, and we didn’t even finish it that day. We had to finish it up the following day because you have to get everybody’s closeups, you have to get the right lighting, and then you have to do the special effects. They would bring in lights when the magic was actually starting, and they would turn on the light, and then when you would stop, they would turn off the light. It was very strategic, but it all ended up looking so cool. Obviously, that kind of art just takes time, but the end result is always so cool.
It’s really cool to see that finished product, but in the moment, does it ever get awkward, filming a magic scene when there are no actual effects there?
CHÁVEZ: It’s a little funny, when we’re making weird faces and imagining that we actually have the magic going into a convergence crystal. When we’re doing the scene out of context and saying those lines, it sounds very weird. It’s a little funny. We had a lot of fun shooting that.
What’s it like to see how all of it ultimately looks, once it’s all put together?
CHÁVEZ: It’s better than I could have ever imagined it to be, honestly. You never know how it’s actually gonna look. They had a 3D model on the laptop, to see how they actually wanted the magic to look, so that gave the actors the imagination to be like, “Okay, so that’s what is happening.” I know what’s happening, but I don’t really know how it’s gonna look like, so seeing the end product is always a little bit of a surprise because it looks so cool. I wish I had the magic powers, growing from my fingers, but I can just watch the show for that.
What was your favorite moment for your character, this season?
CHÁVEZ: My favorite moment, I have to say, was her sacrificing herself to kill all the scrapers. Terra’s like, “No, you can’t be reckless. You can’t just do that.” And Flora is like, “No, I need to do this.” I think that’s where people realize she has good intentions at heart. She might come out with a little bit of trauma from that.
What was your reaction to learning about what would happen in the finale? What was it like to read that last script?
CHÁVEZ: I already knew where her ending was going. (Show creator) Brian [Young] gave me a little scoop into it, so I wasn’t surprised. But when I actually read the script, I was like, “Wow!”
How did you feel about the choice that Flora made, deciding to sacrifice herself for everyone?
CHÁVEZ: It’s pretty fitting for Flora. That’s just who she is. She’s a people person. She cares about people so much that she just wanted to protect everybody
That moment, when she’s looking at the scars on her body, you really just feel for her. What was it like to see how that would look?
CHÁVEZ: Honestly, Flora seems like she’s very closed off, at that moment. She’s not gonna tell anybody how she’s actually feeling.
On a personal level, after everything she’s been through, by the end of the season, what would you like to see with her, in a Season 3? What would you want to explore with her?
CHÁVEZ: I’d like her to be more vulnerable and let people in. It doesn’t seem like she does that. I think somebody is bound to notice that she’s not actually okay, and maybe she’ll ask for a little bit of help, instead of being the one helping.
Fate: The Winx Saga is available to stream at Netflix.