When Rachel Skarsten swaggered onto the scene during the second episode of Lost Girl’s third season, we knew right away that we were going to like her. Maybe it was the way Tamsin put Dyson in his place the first time she opened her mouth. Maybe it was the way Tamsin hopped into the boxing ring to go toe-to-toe with the fellas. Maybe it was because we still have a lot of love for Skarsten’s Birds of Prey character, Dinah Lance. Or maybe it’s her one-paragraph biography that boasts a degree in English Literature and Classical History, and a hockey championship. The more we get to know Tamsin and Skarsten, them more we love them. Lucky for us, she took time out of her busy schedule to chat about the upcoming Lost Girl finale, about Tamsin’s relationship with Bo, and about what she loves best about her badass (anti-?)heroine.
AfterEllen: Let me kick this off with a question I’m sure you’ve been asked a million times, but what was it like for you to join Lost Girl‘s cast in such a prominent way in the third season?
Rachel Skarsten:It was great. You know, normally you have to say nice things in interviews. Nobody wants to be that actor that’s like, “Oh, well, you know, it sucked.” [Laughs] Coming into a show in its third season presents challenges because usually the actors are already best friends and super tight, so it’s difficult to come into that, or there’s already existing drama on set and you have to deal with that, but Lost Girl‘s reputation preceded it. I’d heard that everyone on the cast and crew loved the show, and that they all wanted to be there, and they all really liked each other. So, I was nervous, but they truly embraced me and welcomed me into the gang. I’m not only friends with them on-set, but I’ve been hanging out with Anna [Silk] here in Los Angeles, and I saw [executive producer] Jay Firestone out recently, so it’s been like being adopted into a family.
AE: Let’s talk about Tamsin. You must be thrilled to be playing that character. There are so few women like her on TV.
RS:Oh, I know. I love her. You know, it’s funny, people are always telling me on Twitter “You just have the best one-liners!” Like I came up with them. But no, I just get to say them!
So, Jay created the character of Tamsin in his mind and pitched it to the network and they said, “That person just doesn’t exist.” But when I went in and met with him, he said, “You are this character. You don’t know her, but you are her. You have to do it.” And of course I already trusted him because he has a history of writing strong, empowered, smart female characters. I think all of his characters on Lost Girl are great, but Tamsin kind of takes the cake. She’s so vivacious and bold and almost bordering on ridiculous in her self-assuredness, but she owns that ridiculousness. She’s wonderful.
AE: How much did you know about Tamsin when you started filming? She has got quite a backstory that has unfolded as the season has progressed.
RS: Well, I was supposed to sit down with the producers before we started shooting and they were going to tell me everything about Tamsin. I didn’t come in until the second episode. I had been in Norway visiting my family, so I came in the day before we started shooting, and we just went right into everything and it was crazy and busy, so I didn’t sit down and talk to them. So, I would say for the first five episodes, the producers would come up to me and say stuff like, “Oh, she’s a Valkyrie! Or, “Oh, she has this crazy past!” So I knew Tamsin had this backstory and all these other motives, but I wasn’t quite sure what they were specifically. I learned her from the scripts as we went along, early on, which was fun for me because I could put that layer of uncertainty underneath her confidence.
AE: What’s your favorite Tamsin to play? Because there’s obviously a lot of physical stuff, plenty of drama, there’s comedy. You get to do so much with her.
RS: The comedy, for sure. I mean, every actor loves to do the emotional stuff and I love the physical stuff because I have a past in sports, so that’s a lot of fun, and when you’re doing things like that, you get to work with amazing stunt coordinators and do things you would never normally get to do. Like, I learned to box and fight with sticks! But the comedy with Tamsin is so much fun to play, and it is what people have responded to most about her, so that makes it even better.
AE: Do you have a favorite comedic scene from season three?
RS: To be honest, my favorite comedic scene is one where I’m not the funny one, but it was so much fun to play. It’s when Anna and I were sitting on the bed writing our secrets. Anna was so adorable as a little child. Both Kris [Holden-Ried] and I, every time we finished a scene, we wanted to go up and hug her, just like, “Ah! Anna! You’re so cute!” In one of the takes, I ended up popping the paper in my mouth. I don’t think anyone was expecting me to do it, but I was like, “Eh, whatever!” It was just so much fun. And it was also one of my earlier episodes and one of the first opportunities I’d had to spend time with just Anna, so it was great.
AE: Well, that leads me right into my next question. Can you talk a little bit about the evolution of Tamsin’s relationship with Bo? What’s going to happen with those guys?
RS: At the end of the season, we will finally find out why Tamsin has such animosity toward Bo, and also why that animosity is easily swayed into love – like a lot of animosity, I think. There’s a real investment there for Tamsin, and that investment is so deep and dear that she is afraid of it and has found it necessary to hate Bo, rather than love her, because she thinks it’s going to make things easier for her.
AE: Do you think their relationship will blossom into real romance?
RS: [Laughs] You know, a lot of people ask me that. Well, first of all, I hope not. Because fans are so loyal to either Zoie [Palmer] or Kris that they’re just going to be like, “WHAT?!” But, you know what, I don’t know. I’ll leave that to Jay. When I was reading the scripts and figuring out stuff as we went along, I thought perhaps [there was a chance at romance], but I also thing there’s a wonderful yin-yang in the friendship between Tamsin and Bo that is wonderful to explore. So, I’m not sure, really!
AE: You also got to work with Linda Hamilton this season. How was that?
RS: Yes! So, I’d heard rumblings that there was this Acacia character, and rumblings about who they were trying to get, and then suddenly Linda Hamilton‘s name was thrown into the mix. Terminator was made before I was born, but everyone knows who Linda Hamilton is. I was so excited, but then I also started to feel a little guilty, because here I was coming onto the scene in the third season and I was getting to work with Linda Hamilton, but I also really got to know her as a person and a friend. Kris was like, “This is ridiculous! I’ve been working on this show for three years!”
AE: Of course the other thing that happened in that episode is that Lauren slapped Tamsin right in the face.
RS: Yeah, that happened. [Laughs] It was actually really great. I worked a lot with Kris and Anna, and I hadn’t worked as much with Zoie or Ksenia [Solo], so of course my first real scene with Zoie has her slapping me in the face. I knew it was coming! I knew I deserved it! Because everything was going so well on Lost Girl, I deserved to get popped in the face! But really, those scenes with Zoie were great. They’re both fun and tragic at the same time.
AE: OK, I have two final questions that are kind of the same question: What can you tell me about what’s going to happen to Tamisn at the end of this season and are you coming back for season four?
RS: All I can say is that the two last episodes will blow your mind! I hate when people say those kinds of things because I’m like, “You’re not telling me anything!” But they were so epic to film. And they will leave everyone with so many answered questions and so many unanswered questions.
AE: I can’t wait! I know you said you don’t want to make a love triangle into a love rectangle, but I do need to tell you there’s a lot of love for Tamsin at AfterEllen, both as a romantic interest for Bo and just as a badass female character. Our readers are split straight down the middle between Doccubus and Valkubus. So, stay alive! And we hope to see you in season four.
RS: Thank you! I am so grateful that Tamsin has received such a warm reception!
The Lost Girl finale airs this Sunday night on Showcase at 9 p.m., and on Monday, April 22 on Syfy. You can find out more about Rachel Skarsten by following her on Twitter (@RachieSkarsten).
