A Discovery of Witches' final season has plenty of battles to face and mysteries to solve. Now that Diana (Teresa Palmer) and Matthew De Clairmont (Matthew Goode) have returned from the 1590s, they must deal with the wrathful ways of The Congregation, solve a slew of vampire murders in present-day Oxford and do their best to keep their blossoming -- and controversial -- family safe. As Diana continues her search for The Book of Life's missing pages, a familiar ally returns for the beloved series final season: Gallowglass (Steven Cree).
Gallowglass brought a ton of joy to A Discovery of Witches Season 2, arriving at a time where both Matthew and Diana needed a friend-in-arms. Season 3 reunites Gallowglass with Matthew and Diana, but not without some tricky circumstances. Although less than a day has passed since Matthew and Diana last saw Gallowglass (from their time-traveling perspective), Gallowglass has been waiting over 400 years to reunite with them. During an interview with CBR, Cree explored how this distance of time will change Gallowglass' relationship with Matthew and Diana and his character's view of the world. Cree also teased a less jolly side of Gallowglass surfacing as warfare and secrets explode in Season 3.
CBR: We're now 400 years into the future, so I would love to hear what were some of your thoughts when you were modernizing Gallowglass? Aside from having a cool leather jacket and a motorcycle! [laughs]
Steven Cree: [laughs] Yeah, well, obviously, the wig is gone in season three. So my hair is back to as my hair is, which helps with the modernization as well. Yeah, it's a good question, because on day one, and for the first couple of days when I started Season 3, it genuinely feels like playing a new character. You get so used to the costume and the wig, so Season 2 made me feel the Gallowglass of that era, and I loved the costume in Season 3, but it still felt like playing a completely different person. So much has changed in 400 years. He's changed. He doesn't have quite the same carefree swagger that he had in Season 2.
He's a bit broody, if that's fair to say.
Yeah, definitely. Definitely. We will discover there's a lot playing on Gallowglass' mind this time. So he comes into proceedings with a far heavier weight on his shoulders, I think, and trying to keep a secret to himself that's tormenting him. Whereas in Season 2, he was just kind of like, "Hey, how you doing!"
See you at the pub!
Exactly, exactly. There's a bit more -- well, everything is to play for in Season 3 in general -- but for him in particular, he's in a bit more of a somber mood.
There are so many talented actors in Season 3. From your perspective, as someone who maybe didn't get to act alongside a bunch of the same cast in Season 2 because you were in a different time period, who were you most excited for Gallowglass to interact with in present-day Oxford?
Edward Bluemel. I was really looking forward to that. When I watched Season 1, when I got the part, Marcus was one of my favorite characters. I think he's a great actor. I just love what he brings to his character. I think also he and Gallowglass have a bit of a similarity. They're both the slightly cheeky ones with the one-liners who are quick to find light in the atmosphere. I didn't really get to interact with him too much. Also, I was looking forward to working with Owen Teale, who I think is such a fantastic character. [Peter Knox] is a great villain. He's a great actor as well.
Matthew needs both Gallowglass and Marcus -- but in different ways, even though their characters are quite similar. What do you think Matthew gets from those relationships?
Well, I think certainly from Gallowglass' point of view, I think Gallowglass helps Matthew to be able to laugh at himself, and maybe not be quite so serious all the time. Obviously, it's a very serious situation but -- and I think Marcus shares us as well -- they're able to talk back to Matthew and tell him how things are. Obviously, Matthew still ranks higher, but I think both Marcus and Gallowglass aren't afraid of standing up to Matthew and can give him a bit of a reality check.
There's a lot riding on Season 3. There are so many conflicts to come -- The Congregation, rogue vampires, secret alliances, etc. Without spoiling anything, I would love to hear how Gallowglass plays into some of these conflicts. I want to see some teeth and some fighting! I feel like that's a side of Gallowglass we've never seen.
[laughs] Yeah, well, there's certainly plenty of conflicts. We do see a side of Gallowglass we didn't see in Season2, which I think we've already hinted at because his whole demeanor is somewhat different. We get glimpses of that in Episode 1, and Episode 2, and in my interactions with Fernando (Olivier Huband), one of the new characters in this season. Fernando becomes a kind of confidant for Gallowglass. So we're able to get a window into Gallowglass' soul, I suppose, through his interactions with Fernando. As far as baring his teeth, just have to wait and see. I definitely smile, I'm pretty sure. [laughs]
Going forward in Season 3, so much time has passed and has changed for Gallowglass and Matthew. Without spoilers, how do you think this affects their relationship through this season?
Well, there's definitely a distance there. It's not in the script, but creating a scenario for yourself as an actor, Gallowglass is in this bizarre Back to the Future position, where he's experienced something now that he has to carry for the next 400 years. But the Matthew De Clairmont of 400 years ago would have replaced the Matthew De Clairmont of 400 years in the future. Whatever happened there, Gallowglass has had to contend with that and he's made this vow that he carries out 400 years later, which, as we will come to see, creates a real conflict for Gallowglass and his loyalty and love to Matthew -- which is something that Gallowglass really struggles with in Season 3.
One of Gallowglass' greatest traits is he is loyal to the core. I think that no matter what, we always find that with Gallowglass. Obviously, physically, they're separated as well, because Matthew has to go away somewhere for a while, and Gallowglass stays at home. So we don't have the Gallowglass and Matthew bond's as it was in Season 2, which is interesting for the story, but as an actor, I missed getting to work with Matthew [Goode] quite a lot.
Gallowglass saw a whole different side to Diana in the 1590s that others haven't. How does this affect his view of Diana?
Yeah, that's a really interesting point of view because I think he's instantly charmed -- and perhaps maybe beguiled by her as well.
I always thought from my point of view playing Gallowglass, that he -- whereas a lot of other people like Kit don't warm to Diana at all, and they seem to have no respect for her -- I think Gallowglass has got a lot of respect for this person who's from 400 years in the future and she comes [to 1590s], and she manages to adapt to this new world with grace and class and intelligence. He sees this fierce and loving, and loyal person. She's able to handle herself in extremely difficult and challenging and testing situations. So I think he has -- aside from anything else -- just has enormous respect for her capabilities as a person. He's seen her magic at work as well. Whenever we see her performing magic in Season 2, we're all pretty astounded by what she's capable of and the power that she harnesses.
That's true. There's this whole magical side of Diana that no one in Season 2 has seen yet.
Yeah, that's all to come.
What's something that you think audiences might get wrong about Gallowglass, that after seeing Season 3, they might change their minds about?
There's a perception I've noticed before -- and I don't know if I noticed that on social media, or if it was said to me -- but that Gallowglass is fairly simple and straightforward. I've always thought that Gallowglass is very complex and quite mysterious and lonely. He's always struck me as a bit of a lonely soul. When I've described him before, I call him Fun Bobby from Friends. He is the life and soul of the party, but in his own quiet time, I think there's a lot going on. I think he's a very deep thinker. So, perhaps, that's something that people will find about him in Season 3.
If you had to pick one creature to be and why, who would it be?
[laughs] Maybe the boring and obvious answer, but I would love to be a vampire.
Oh, really?
Yeah. Being able to perform magic would be fantastic as well. Being a demon -- that was an ongoing joke as well. We're never quite entirely totally 100% sure of what the demons do. Are they super intelligent? We're never quite sure what their superpower is. I'm fascinated by history, and so being a vampire... I'm sure there's a huge curse to it too. As Queen says, "Who wants to live forever?" But getting to live for centuries, seeing people changing, seeing the world change, I think would be pretty fascinating. And in films and in books as well, vampires are just always so cool.
See just how Gallowglass has changed in 400 years in A Discovery of Witches' final season, premiering on Shudder and AMC+ on Jan. 8.