Britt Robertson Joins the “Circle”
by Lynn Barker
 Brittany (Britt) Robertson was Lux, a teen daughter reconnecting with her parents on TV’s “Life Unexpected”. The pretty blonde actress made a fun appearance in Scream 4 and is now starring in the witchy new CW series “The Secret Circle” in which she plays Cassie, another new girl in town… but this one has some powerful spellcasting chops!
AGW is with Britt in Beverly Hills as she tells us about the new show, working in Vancouver, rooming with another “witch” and learning how to cook.
AGW: Did you have second thoughts about doing this since you played another teen in your last show?
Britt: After “Life Unexpected” ended, I wanted to do something that was completely different from Lux and the show, because I wanted to be able to keep my fans but not have them confused about who I was or what my character was. I’d never worked in the supernatural genre, never done anything like that. Something that Kevin Williamson (“The Vampire Diaries”) was a part of in that world seemed so appealing to me. It was the right decision at the right time.
AGW: Did you have to audition for this or did Kevin (show creator/producer) see your work on “Life Unexpected”?
Britt: I think Kevin had seen my work and then they sent me the script, and the day after I had a meeting with Kevin and everybody then the next day I went and read for Warner Brothers and the CW, and literally, as I came out of the audition they came out and they were like, ‘You’ve got the job.’ It was a three day process of like ‘Mom, I’m on another CW show.’ But it was cool. It was very short and sweet.
AGW: Tell us about your character Cassie. She does a little magic in the pilot.
Britt: In the beginning she comes to the city and she’s completely shell-shocked by her circumstances after her mom passes. She meets Thomas (Dekker’s) character Adam, and all these other people who are actually part of a coven, and then she finds out that she is part of this new generation of witches.
 One of her first experiences with magic is when Cassie and Adam go into the woods and he tries to introduce (the powers) to her and they make water flow from a leaf. It’s very romantic and very sweet and sexy and cool. It’s such a beautiful scene. It was the first scene we shot of the entire show, so there was a lot riding on it, but I think it turned out pretty well.
AGW: Even with that beauty, is she embracing her part in the “Circle”?
Britt: (Her first reaction) is to run away from it. If someone was to tell you that you were a witch, I think that it would be something like, “Okay, you’ve got to be kidding me. I’m out of here. You’re crazy!” she knows nothing about witchcraft. Her mother was very guarded about that whole world. Her mom ran from it and didn’t want any part of it, and I think Cassie has no knowledge of what it truly is. And that is her conflict, is learning what it’s about and how to deal with it; embrace it or to run from it, or what to do. That’s her inner conflict.
AGW: How long do you think she’ll be resisting this power?
Britt: You can only resist the power for so long when it’s all you have. She has no family, she has nothing else to reach out to, so the circle has become her surrogate family and I think that, very quickly, you’ll see that she steps up and welcomes her destiny.
AGW: Are you looking forward to playing that moment where she embraces her abilities?
Britt: Yes, I truly am. We are working with it now trying to figure out when that moment actually is, and I think there’s probably a progression to it. Also it’s about the relationships that she develops and the more she’s able to trust those within the circle, the more she’ll be able to stand up for herself.
AGW: There have to be a lot of effects in the show for the magic. Are you used to working with that?
Britt: A lot of it’s computer generated, a lot of it’s CGI. A lot is green screen like all the storm stuff. And I think that will be a big part of our show for sure. It’s something to get used to. I’m challenged by it every day, but it’s something that I’m learning to embrace and explore and hopefully master it at some point.
AGW: Were you interested in the supernatural before this show?
 Britt: Once getting the part, I obviously read the books and I’ve become more familiar with it. I didn’t want to do too much research into the witchcraft world, considering my character is so new to it all. I think learning as my character develops was probably the best decision for me at the time, and still is. But I really didn’t have much knowledge of it at all. I mean, I knew Kevin’s work and I love scary movies but I’ve never really even seen “Vampire Diaries” up until meeting with him, and then I was like, “Oh, I’ve got to get into ‘The Vampire Diaries’”.
AGW: How did reading the novels help you?
Britt: Part one was very helpful because I just got to know who my character was coming into this new world. I just wanted know who she was, how did she respond to all of this, what was her relationship with these characters? I try not to get too stuck on it because I feel like it could change at any moment.It was just nice to have a good solid base.
AGW: After a busy day on the set, what do you do to relax?
Britt: I come home to my roommate Phoebe (Tonkin), who is on our show, she plays Faye, and we make food, we work out.
AGW: That’s so funny because your characters are kind of opposites on the show. She’s the more aggressive witch, kind of Cassie’s evil rival in a way. So how did the roomie situation come about?
Britt: Both of us wanted to save on rent. (she laughs) No, we are in Vancouver and we know no one, and Phoebe and I get along really well, and we both wanted a roommate, and I was just going to find someone random on Craig’s List or something,.. I know that’s scary, right? She was like, ‘Why don’t we just room together?’ So then we found a place and that’s how it came to be.
AGW: What do you cook together?
Britt: She does amazing salads, and she makes some beautiful teas. She makes me tea every night, she’s like my mother. I’m trying to learn how to cook. She’s helping me out a little bit, but I’m a lost cause, I think, at this point.
AGW: Isn’t the Faye character dangerous to Cassie?
Britt: I think in these first couple of episodes you see that Faye is a big force in Cassie’s life and she’s a big force in the circle. We butt heads all the way. But I think you’ll see, like in the books, those relationships grow and develop and enrich.
AGW: Do you do any cool stunts in this series?
Britt: Yeah, we just got finished doing a couple of really cool stunts. Adam ends up being my instructor a little bit through this whole magical experience and so we got to do a couple of stunts together. We have a stunt coordinator, but off set I started working with a trainer. I’m trying to get buff. We do boxing, we do hikes, we do weight training, trying to keep a mix. Pilates, what have you.
AGW: Do you think magic abilities would be cool to have or a curse?
Britt: If I had power, I don’t think that I’m the type of person who would be capable enough to know what to do with it. I think that’s similar to my character’s conflict in the show. Her biggest fear is to be out of control of her powers and to do something that she is not intending on doing. I think that that would be the scariest thing for me as well, for it to go so completely wrong and you end up hurting somebody or you end up doing something evil.
Uncredited photos copyright and courtesy The CW Network, 2011
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