Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, executive producers of the upcoming syndicated fantasy show Legend of the Seeker, told reporters it was their goal to capture the essence of and remain true to the spirit of its source material, Wizard's First Rule, the first book in author Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series of books.
Legend of the Seeker follows the adventures of Richard Cypher (Craig Horner), a seemingly average young man who discovers that he is a child of prophecy and possesses magical powers. Helping him harness those powers is a Confessor, the mysterious and gorgeous Kahlan (Bridget Regan), and an old Wizard, Zedd (Bruce Spence). On a weekly basis, amidst action, romance and magic, the trio must face off against Darken Rahl (Craig Parker), an evil emperor who aims to enslave the world.
SCI FI Wire was on the line on Oct. 15 when Raimi and Tapert--who'd previously produced such shows as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Cleopatra 2525 and Xena: Warrior Princess--joined reporters for a conference call. The following is part one of a two-part Q&A featuring edited excerpts of the conversation. A nationally syndicated first-run series, Legend of the Seeker will premiere on Nov. 1.
Kahlan seems different yet similar to Xena (Lucy Lawless). Xena was bigger and stronger than some of the guys she was fighting. Kahlan kicks butt, too, but she looks smaller, and because of her white flowing dress, there's a lyrical quality about her. Can you comment on the concept of female heroes?
Raimi: Well, this is Sam. Rob, maybe you should answer this since you're the co-creator of Xena and were actually the main man on that show.
Tapert: Well, briefly, I think we were very fortunate with Xena, the right place at the right time with the birth of the Internet. It was the first female action hero, really, to be on TV at that time since Cagney and Lacey or Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman in the '70s. So Universal took a real chance. Sid Sheinberg at that time said that none of those shows had done particularly well in syndication on reruns for him. But we were fortunate. It really opened the door at that time for the woman as the hero and as the protagonist. And that really mushroomed. And I think we see that carrying through.
You know, we were a reflection of society, probably, at the time. But we've seen that Buffy and Alias and numerous shows with women in the lead as very strong characters have come since then. And regarding this, Kahlan is very different than Xena. Kahlan is drawn from the great book that Terry Goodkind wrote; Wizard's First Rule was the first one. And Sam and I fell in love with this character. And she's a female action hero for 2009, so she has a different complexity, a different secret, a different reason for doing what she does. And yes, she's perhaps more feminine at the same time as being as ruthless as Xena was.
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(Bridget Regan and Craig Horner star in Legend of the Seeker.)
There's a beautiful visual element to Legend of the Seeker. That's especially the case when it comes to Kahlan. She's in this white dress and whatever she does--ride a horse, walk towards Richard, fight the bad guys with her sword--she seems to swirl in a white glow. Would you agree that creates a unique visual image?
Raimi: I think our director did a great job in working with Bridget Regan, who is the woman who plays Kahlan. And she's got a grace and a style of movement that is unique. And I think it reflects some of what Terry Goodkind put into the book, that she is actually a high priestess. She's much renowned as a religious figure in the book, we're to find out eventually. So she's been raised a very particular way, and I think her movements are not common, like a lot of the other characters in the book, frankly, that come from ...
There are three basic lands in Terry Goodkind's story of Wizard's First Rule. And she is the high priestess of her land and much revered by all the people and almost a religious figure. So I like the fact that the director and Bridget developed a grace and a style of movement that fits a royal persona. I think it's fitting to the character that Terry created.
Keeping with Kahlan, what was it about Bridget that drew you to her for the role?
Raimi: Rob was the one who found Bridget and showed her to me. He'll have to say how he originally discovered her, but when I saw her I just thought that she was ... I believed her. I believed the things that she said. Obviously, she's striking. She's quite beautiful to look at, but a lot of actresses are beautiful. But she made these fantastic situations and fantasy situations, ... she grounded them by being very human and real.
And when she expressed emotion, I was moved by her, and I believed her, and I thought we couldn't ask for anything more. Because these are stories of friendship and loyalty and self-sacrifice. And if you don't really believe the people in the center of the characters--if you don't really believe that they're rooted and someone really exists in a three-dimensional way--then those stories won't have the weight. It won't work at all. So it was her, I guess, ability to just convey that she was a solid, soulful individual. That's what convinced me. But Rob, how did you come upon her?
Tapert: I couldn't have said what appealed to us about Kahlan, about Bridget, more eloquently than Sam did. And it was just a casting call. She was in New York and showed up on the tapes that we got. And myself and people involved really liked her. And I went over one Sunday afternoon and showed her to Sam. And we all kind of concurred that she would bring to life the Kahlan that we had read in the books and loved.
Will we see any of the Renaissance Pictures regulars making guest appearances on Legend of the Seeker?
Tapert: Ted Raimi [Sam's brother and a regular on Xena] is in the next episode after [the pilot].
Raimi: And if Bruce Campbell would ever, ... his show is so successful, [USA Network's] Burn Notice. It's a wildly great success. But if he ever, if that show ever gave him a break, Rob and I would love to have him on Legend of the Seeker.
What was it about the Goodkind books that made you want to turn them into a TV series?
Raimi: I didn't know how popular they were. ... They have, like, an intense following of people who are really dedicated and in love with the characters, and I guess it wasn't the popularity that I knew about when I read the books. But Rob and my other partner who we sometimes team up with--Josh Donen, a very good guy--said to me one day, "My son has read this book, and he just loves it. He's been reading the series, and he can't put it down. Do you want to take a look at it?" And I said, "Yes, please." And I read it, and I was just swept away like I am during the best of the original William Shatner Star Trek episodes. I mean, it has all the classical elements of sword and sorcery types of adventures. But I just was so attracted to the characters that Terry Goodkind created.
He tells the story of this young boy who is thrust into this world that he's unfamiliar with. He tells the story of how the boy has to become quickly adept at matching these skills to survive and to help others. And ... you connect with the boy, and you really respect him in the writing. I really like the person that is the hero. He has a very good heart, a good soul. He strives to do the right thing. And he falls very much in love throughout the course of many of these books with Kahlan. She has secrets that will prevent this love, and I just got swept up in the love story also between the two of them. And they were such noble characters I really wanted them to be together. And I wanted to know what this terrible secret was that kept them apart. What was she hiding that wouldn't allow them to be together?
And I also really like a great villain, and Terry came up with Darken Rahl. [He's] just the most nasty, terrible villain, [and] I really felt threatened. I felt our main character is threatened whenever Darken Rahl would send his [emissaries] or villains after our heroes and heroines. So I think [it has] all the classic reasons why you like a great story: great characters, great friendships. That's one of my favorite aspects, actually, the friendship between Zedd, the wizard, the older man in the story, the wizard who is like a father figure to our hero, and I like the story of a boy and his father and the classic influence that a wise man has on the hero. And I like the love story between Kahlan and Richard and the adventure and wondering whether he'll survive his next terrible trap so that he could succeed, so that he could continue the love story that I'm so interested in. So it's all those things that I think every reader of Wizard's First Rule and the rest of the sort of series was attracted to, just great storytelling, great characters, great friendships depicted by the author.
-Ian Spelling
(Part two of SCI FI Wire's Q&A will post tomorrow.)
