TCA 2011: ‘The Secret Circle’ aims to bewitch viewers on its own
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There’s no nose-twitching or talking animotronic cats in the witch universe seen on the new CW series ‘The Secret Circle.”
“It’s very dark,” said executive producer Kevin Williamson. “Our version of witchcraft is very dark … there’ll be scary, evil witch-y woo.”
Williamson, who also serves as a producer on “The Vampire Diaries,” appeared Thursday at the Television Critics Assn. media tour in Beverly Hills, along with the show’s producers and members of the cast, to discuss the new mystery drama.
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‘The Secret Circle,” like “The Vampire Diaries,” is also based on a popular series of books by author L.J. Smith and centers on a coven of powerful witches. Cassie Blake (played by Britt Robertson) moves to a her mother’s hometown in Washington after a tragic accident leaves her orphaned. It’s there that she quickly discovers she’s a descendant of witches and is part of the next generation of the Secret Circle that will battle with evil forces.
But there are teens involved, so romance will also play a part in the series. Cassie finds herself in drawn to Adam (Thomas Dekker) who is the boyfriend of Diana (Shelley Hennig), both are also members of the coven.
When discussing what can be expected from the love triangle as the season progress, Dekker says audiences will learn that the Adam-Cassie relationship is more than just a teen “lustful” attraction, it’s predestined.
“There’s lots of inner conflict going on for my character this whole season,” Dekker said. Adding that he’s assumed the role of Cassie’s instructor on the witch lifestyle, bringing them closer together -- which only makes their dynamic more difficult. And things for the coven will intensify as they try to uncover what went wrong with the previous coven, Williamson said
“As our new circle tries to uncover that, for fear of their own future, they find a lot of those discoveries go intergenerational,” he said. When the pilot starts, our teenagers are a little suspicious of their parents. As the season continues, they’ll start to understand their parents in ways they never would have expected.”
Williamson said he was drawn to the project because of Smith’s ability to tap into his “happy place,” noting the themes of teen angst, coming-of-age journeys and other issues teens deal with that Smith spins with figures such as vampires and witches.
And though TVD and TSC have many links -- Williamson, the CW, Smith, witch characters -- don’t anticipate a crossover.
“I didn’t want this show to look like ‘The Vampire Diaries,” Williamson said. “I wanted it to be its own world … The witch mythology at the core of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and the witch mythology in ‘The Secret Circle’ don’t connect …We needed to start at ground zero.”
But you can catch them on the same night: Thursdays this fall.
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-- Yvonne Villarreal
Twitter.com/villarrealy
