[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Season 3 of A Discovery of Witches.]The drama series A Discovery of Witches, adapted from Deborah Harkness’ best-selling All Souls trilogy, has followed vampire Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode) and witch Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer) as they were united in love to protect their family and all creatures, fight threats from both the past and present, and join their power to successfully ensure their survival. Theirs was a forbidden love story with everything working against it, but their goal of unlocking the secrets to all creatures would ultimately prevail in bringing vampires, witches and demons together.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Palmer talked about how satisfied she is with the way the final season turned out, what the experience of wrapping the series was like, shooting the dance scene at the end of the last episode, one last prank they were able to pull off, seeing the villains finally get what was coming to them, the full-circle ending, and what she’s hoping to do next in her career.
Collider: I’m really impressed with how complete this final season feels with everything that it brings together and wraps up in just seven episodes. Obviously, I would’ve been happy with more time with every character, but it feels very satisfying. How do you feel about the way everything ends up? Were you satisfied with how all of it played out this season and tied up at the end?
TERESA PALMER: Yes, I was actually. We were up against so many challenges because of COVID. We went into it expecting that it would feel really different this season, and it did. It was bittersweet, in some ways, because we didn’t get to have that same camaraderie with the crew and because of all the restrictions, but I loved the way the season turned out. I think it hit all the points that we needed to hit. And truthfully, we had Deb Harkness as our leader, walking us through all of this. I knew that everything was getting run past her, and if there was something that absolutely needed to be included, Deb would’ve put her hand up and said that we must have it in. So, I felt really safe, in that she was one of the main people making those decisions. I felt good about it.
What was the last scene that you shot for this whole show and what was it like to hear that announcement when they say it’s a series wrap for you and for your character?
PALMER: Oh my gosh, it was actually a little bit anti-climactic, to be honest, because the last official day on set was when Sarah kills Knox. We were at this hanger, and freezing cold. I’ve never felt cold like that, in my entire life. It was just ice to the bone, every time they took your blanket away. And when they said, “Action!,” you were just like, “Oh, I can’t even move.” Luckily, I didn’t have to do much. Poor Alex Kingston had to do so much in that scene.” That was quite fun. When they said it was a wrap, everyone was clapping and hugging because it was the end for the majority of our crew. Then, we had a small little breakout crew for one extra day, the following week, with just Matthew [Goode] and I, and a couple of the other characters. That was our main wrap because we said goodbye to crew members we had been with for three years, and everyone had a drink, and a hug, and took photos. But then, the actual very last thing we filmed was meeting my friend out in front of the university, where we run up and I say, “Oh my God, it’s so good to see you,” and Matthew comes in, and he’s a little bit icy and cold, and a bit suspicious about my relationship. It was pretty funny because it was meant to be in the summer, but it was snowing outside. The extras in the background were in winter gear. The director that day was like, “Every one of these extras will have to be taken out because they’re wearing winter clothes, and every snowflake will have to be erased in the post-production,” which was just wild. And because we were all so freezing, they wrapped, and we went, “See ya!,” and left. It was so anti-climatic. I think we were over it, at that point. We had already done our big goodbye, and then they were like, “Oh, sorry, you’ve gotta come back and do this one shot.” So, that was quite funny.
How was it to shoot the final dance that you have at the end? Did you get time to rehearse that?
PALMER: I loved that. Anytime we get the opportunity to dance, I love it. And Matthew’s a really good dancer. He’s just very natural at dancing. He kept saying, “I’ve got two left feet.” That’s not true. He’s very, very good. It comes naturally to him. And I love dancing, myself. We always had fun. We got together, did the rehearsals, and picked it up quite quickly, which was good. And then, on the day it was just about having fun with it and not having to be perfect in the steps. Our dance teacher was there, and we did it a number of times from different angles. By the end of the day, you’ve probably done the dance 20 or 30 times. On the very last take, Matthew expected that we were just gonna do the dance again, but instead, they played, over the speakers, “In Da Club,” by 50 Cent. We all knew about it, but Matthew didn’t, otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it. He went to take my hand, and then we all started jamming, like we were at the club. And then, the crew came and we had this mini little dance party on camera to say goodbye. That was in the final week as well. So, that was really funny. Matthew was laughing and eye-rolling because we all thought it was so funny. We liked to play pranks on each other, and that was one of them. That was one of the ideas that, Aiysha [Hart], who plays Miriam, and I had. We both were like, “Hee, hee, hee, let’s do this.”
I love that moment because, especially in the wider shot, it looks like a holiday family portrait.
PALMER: It was so sweet. That was actually the last time we saw a lot of the other cast members, so it was like a goodbye, in a sense. It was just a lovely way to wrap up the season.
Peter Knox really has been a thorn in the side of Diana Bishop and her family for a while. What was it like to finally get rid of him and to have Sarah be the one to be able to take that bit of control back?
PALMER: We loved that idea. It was incredible that Sarah was the one that kills him, that she finally is in her power, and she gets to have her justice. I wanted that for her, which was really exciting. Alex Kingston gets to have her moment, and she did it so beautifully. It was just so powerful. She was a real force this season. Some of my favorite memories of filming this season were with her. I got to spend so much more time with her, the last year when we filmed. It was just gorgeous. And the funny thing is that Owen Teale is an actual ray of sunshine. He is the most joyful, beautiful person. He loves my kids. My kids love him. Everyone he’s around thinks he’s just such a gentleman, and full of life. All the ladies on our show have crushes on him. Everyone is like, “We love Owen. What a gentleman. He’s a class act.” So, for him to be playing a character like Knox is just quite funny because he could not be further from that character, but he plays it really, really well. You need that antagonist. You need that character in a show. It was bittersweet for me. I was sad because he was a very important character in our show. But he really did get what was coming to him.
And it feels like Gerbert is even worse and more power-hungry than Knox. You’ve got some very bad men on this show.
PALMER: Yes, we do.
How satisfying was it to fully deal with him and to really do it on an intellectual level?
PALMER: I loved that. I loved that it was understated. We didn’t kill Gerbert, but we really played his little game, and it’s almost more traumatic for him to have that experience and to be dethroned in the way that he is. He’s the sort of person, it seems, that doesn’t accept change. He’s very, very conservative in his beliefs, and the way things go. He’s very regimented and very rigid in how things have been for centuries and centuries. So, to have to shake up his world like that has such a tremendous negative impact on him that it felt really good. It felt really good for Diana to have her day in court. She’s so powerful in that moment. She’s actually spreading such a beautiful message, which is, “This is actually harder for all of us. We have to come together as a collective with none of this separatism that’s not actually going to serve us moving forward. It’s a beautiful life lesson in general, so it was quite fun. I really beat Gerbert at his own game.
And I love that she shows up fully prepared with the book and with a science handout.
PALMER: She’s done her research.
What does it mean to you to have been a part of telling a story where it really does all come down to one woman, dressed in a most excellent pantsuit, and that it is her power, her strength and her pure heart that really saves everyone?
PALMER: I like that we have our moment of seeing her in her physicality, in her powers. But then, I really like that it comes down to just communication, in the end, and just actually talking things out. In that room, she’s as human as she can be, really. She’s connecting to them on a human level. It’s a room of creatures, but she’s saying, “Doesn’t it make more sense for us to do it in this way?” To have the backing of all those incredible people, by the end of her speech, is so humbling and such an empowering experience for her. And to oversee the reigns being passed to Agatha is just everything coming full circle. It’s unbelievable. One of my favorite things is how Tanya Moodie played that, with her exhilaration, her excitement, and her surprise. I thought it was just so endearing because it felt so genuine. It made me love her character even more, which was wonderful. To me, it was the perfect wrap-up for this show.
Where do you want to go from here? When you play a character as great as Diana Bishop, what do you want to do next? Do you want to do something totally different? Are there genres that you haven’t worked in yet? Do you want to do another long-term exploration of a character on a TV show? What is the thought process that you go through, in figuring all of that out?
PALMER: I’m trying to channel maybe another TV show and a couple of movies. I wanna bounce in between. I’d love to have a show and be able to do some films in between. I naturally gravitate towards characters who are going through it and who are vulnerable characters who have something to overcome. I love genre pieces. I love psychological thrillers. I’m reading a few things. There’s something I might end up doing, which is in that realm, but it’s not confirmed yet. I just want a gritty character piece. The fantasy world was such a wonderful thing for me to escape into and to lose myself in this world, but now I think I want something really grounded in reality, and a very significant, incredible character piece. That’s what I would love.
A Discovery of Witches is available to stream at Shudder, Sundance Now and AMC+.