New ‘Sabrina’ conjures up dark magic
Television’s latest incarnation of teenage witch Sabrina is quite different, but “Riverdale” likely has helped prepare viewers for it. Netflix begins streaming “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” on Friday, with Kiernan Shipka (“Mad Men”) as the young sorceress struggling to master adolescence along with her nascent powers. Based on a comic book published since 2014, and with executive producers including the prolific Greg Berlanti, the show was originated to accompany CW’s “Riverdale” — which also takes a much different slant on Archie Comics characters — but Netflix picked it up for two seasons being filmed back-to-back, with production scheduled to continue through December. As in previous incarnations, Sabrina’s fellow-witch aunts Zelda and Hilda are present, but now played more seriously by Miranda Otto (“Homeland,” “24: Legacy”) and Lucy Davis (“The Office”). “I’d never seen the original TV show,” friendly Australia native Otto said of Melissa Joan Hart’s take. “As a kid, I had read some Archie Comics and I must have seen the Sabrina parts, but I didn’t have a huge knowledge of the character.” Otto sees that as a plus in reinventing the concept: “Originally when I read the script, I was trying to figure out exactly where the show was going to sit. I had seen images from the ’90s version, and I wondered if it was going to be a brightly lit comedy. Then, Roberto (Aguirre-Sacasa, Archie Comics’ chief executive officer and the series’ showrunner) showed me the Gothic design of the show and I went, ‘OK. Great. Now I understand where we are.’ “They’ve given us a world that is really fun to play in,” she added. “Zelda is not a very politically correct kind of character, and Lucy and I never read together. We just turned up, and off we went. I had worked with Kiernan before (in the forthcoming movie ‘The Silence’), so I knew what perfect casting she was for Sabrina. The whole thing came together so easily.” Though Otto did greenscreen work in “The Lord of the Rings” films, she’s surprised not to have much of it in “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” Still, she maintains the show’s supernatural elements “are really amazing in their detail. Sometimes, the language of the show is quite technical because it’s written in a certain style. I love the challenge, but sometimes, it’s a lot to get out.” Also a stage veteran, Otto appreciates having television as a creative outlet. “There are strong female roles there that are harder to find in film these days,” she said. “I’m not saying they aren’t there, but there aren’t as many drama movies being made as there used to be. TV has become a great platform for actresses.”
— ZAP2IT