“Motherland: Fort Salem” Exclusive: Taylor Hickson Talks “Raylla” & Reveals Who Was Booted Off the Set
Aside from the intense drama and action-packed battles and attacks with the Spree and the Camarilla, the biggest draw to Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem is the many relationships throughout the show. Not only are we loving the strong sisterhood bond with the main trio that make up the Bellweather unit — Raelle Collar, Abigail Bellweather, and Tally Craven — we’re very much drawn to their individual relationships as well. And the relationship that fans are most invested in is the one between Raelle and Spree member-turned-ally Scylla Ramshorn.
In an exclusive interview with PopWire, Taylor Hickson discusses her chemistry test with her on-screen partner Amalia Holm, working with her co-star, and the importance of their respective characters’ relationship.
Hickson, who last appeared on SYFY’s Deadly Class, shares that during the audition process prior to landing the starring role on the show, she and others were put through a very lengthy chemistry test. “They’d swap us out — so they’d put a couple of us in a room together and then swap out a Raelle and then swap out a Scylla,” the Canadian actress tells us.
“I remember feeling like, ‘Oh, my God. If they pick [Amalia Holm for Scylla], I’m screwed because she just made me so nervous and she really caught me off guard in the room. I think, ultimately, that was what worked because she was so confident and knew her place, and I was like, ‘Aw, Raelle is supposed to be this cocky son of a bitch.’ I just couldn’t [focus] around her. Of course, we only had the pilot script, so we never went on to see essentially what it became and how she does soften Raelle.”
Shortly after their chemistry reads, Taylor walked out of the room to find Amalia and Demetria sitting on a table who both shared the news that they officially landed roles on Motherland: Fort Salem. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, we got hired.’ And I’m going, ‘Oh, my God. I’m so screwed, because this girl who freaked me the hell out, she’s it. I think that’s exactly what they were looking for — Raelle to be completely thrown off her horse, not knowing how to react or communicate with this person. Ultimately, I think that’s what drove the stake into the casting process.”
While the show explores different kinds and types of magic, the real magic on the show is the on-screen chemistry between Raelle and Scylla, or “Raylla.” Unfortunately, the two were separated for most of the series’ sophomore season, and Hickson shares what that time period was like for the Collar witch. “Everyone can identify with the feeling of heartbreak,” she says. “Being furious with yourself for wanting to see someone you know is bad for you or you think doesn’t have your best interest in mind. Or someone who’s repeatedly hurt you or lied to you, you just kick yourself for being like, ‘Why am I missing this person? Snap out of it; I know better.’
“So you see her grappling with that in all these tiny moments, even when it’s irrelevant,” she continues. “Even when she’s speaking with her unit and wandering in the woods, her head’s turning, her wheels are turning. Her thoughts just revert back to there, back where she was happy, back when she was dancing with Scylla, back when she heard her say, ‘I love you.’ Everything that she ever thought about this person turned out to be a lie, or so she’s convinced herself. I think she just kept looking for ways to villainize her because it was easier to hate her than miss her. Ultimately, she of course decided she kept missing her. She saw Scylla at the riot and it was almost like a figment of her imagination. It was like a nightmare escaping a dream come true all in one.”
Even behind the scenes, the actresses who portray the picture-perfect pair constantly have each other in mind. Case in point: Because Hickson and Holm didn’t share much screen time in Season 2, they were each scheduled to be on set different days. One day in particular, however, one of them decided to do an impromptu drop-in. “Amalia decided one time that she was going to sneak on the set to see us,” Hickson reveals. “She was swiftly booted out because of Covid, and we threw a fit. We were like, ‘Get her back here!’ So we had to get it cleared through Health & Safety. I think [the LA team] even got involved, and they were like, ‘Alright, she can go in and sit.’
“They were working so, so hard to keep us safe, and it worked,” she adds. “We were the only production at the time shooting in Vancouver that hadn’t been shut down due to a positive case. It’s because of their diligence that we survived that long. But yeah, we missed her so sorely — and Demetria. My gosh, their energies. It feels like there’s something missing when you build that kind of rapport with people. We were so grateful to have some fresh, beautiful new faces added to the bunch. It just felt like our family grew a little bit larger. It was great.”
As for the “Raylla” relationship as a whole, Hickson shares that the couple has “taught me so much about myself and representation in media,” and is impressed and grateful for all the fan interaction regarding their relationship and the characters. “To see that many people touched and that many people connect with these characters, it feels like some of these people were holding their breath until this came along. It just blew my mind because we didn’t realize the gravity and the impact it would have on so many people.
“It’s become something that’s really incredibly important to me,” Taylor Hickson says. “Seeing the way that it’s touched so many people just by having simple representation, has now become a mission for me. It’s something that I’m constantly learning and growing around. The point of life is meeting people and hearing their perspectives and stories. Connecting to something that I didn’t realize was a platform to connect to was really, really interesting to me and it’s really opened up this fire in my belly.”
Motherland: Fort Salem returns in 2022 on Freeform.