The School for Good and Evil

Casting their spell… (From left) Lady Lesso, Agatha, Sophie and Professor Dovey

Available: Wednesday 19 October

Genre: One-off fantasy drama wo teenage pals learn hard lessons in what it means to be saints and sinners. Based on the popular 2013 novel by Soman Chainani, The School for Good and Evil is a fantasy saga following the exploits of best friends Sophie and Agatha, who are kidnapped and swept off to an enchanted school where aspiring heroes and villains are trained to protect the balance between good and evil under the guidance of the Dean for Evil, Lady Lesso (Charlize Theron), and the Dean for Good, Professor Dovey (Kerry Washington).

TBeautiful relationship

‘Agatha is an outcast in her village and has been characterised as a witch,’ says Sofia Wylie, who plays her. ‘Nobody likes her but the person she loves most is her best friend, Sophie. Their friendship is so beautiful.’

But Sophie soon exposes her evil soul, blaming Agatha for stealing her place in the School for Good.

‘This story is about seeing the good and bad in each other and accepting that,’ adds Sophia Anne Caruso, who plays Sophie. ‘It’s not just discovering you’re beautiful but also that you’re evil – and everybody is a bit of both.’

Both young actors loved getting into character. ‘The costumes were amazing and it was such a collaborative process helping create them,’ says Sophia, with Sofia adding: ‘It was strange trying on these princess dresses and thinking: “How am I supposed to act like I hate this?” It was a dream come true.’