I was a huge book nerd when I grew up.
You have to be pretty committed to it more so than just, I love these books.
I think that was something that was really important to us.
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That happens throughout the season and you get an episode…
I think that she comes out a little bit more, especially in this first season.
She’s the number one on the call sheet and she’s the lead of our show.
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JUDKINS: It’s both of them.
A, it’s such an iconic… She was so different from any character who proceeded her in that world.
She broke what people thought a woman could be in fantasy when that book series came out.
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JUDKINS: Yeah, it is the monomyth for a reason.
You get to see it though, for us, with multiple characters.
It’s not one character that’s on this hero’s journey, it’s all of them.
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JUDKINS: It is a lot to balance.
The books actually are 50/50 split between female and male POV chapters.
I think we’re being very true to that in the show.
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I mean, I think it helps that you have really strong actresses in those roles.
They have just as many chapters as the boys.
Hopefully when people watch the show, they are still seeing Moiraine on screenand not seeing Rosamund Pike.
Random question: Did you struggle at all with coming up with a logline for this?
Its approach to storytelling makes it often defy a simple logline.
That’s the sell of the show is.
Are you connected enough emotionally with those kids to want to know what happens to them next?
I think that at its core is really what… there’s incredible women inThe Wheel of Time.
It’s based on this much more Eastern philosophy than Western philosophy.
There’s all these interesting things happening.
You definitely see swings this season.
I just never expected that I would.
That adaptation is so much more loose.
We like to still take swings like that and do it with our storytelling style too.
I know you’ve got so much material to work with from the books.
Do you feel like you know what Season 8 is?
I mean, I’m lucky because I have this book series that sticks the landing.
I have to figure out how to navigate us there successfully.
My target is always on that ending and how I’m going to get us there successfully.
Every season is different.
It’s not like, oh, it’s going to be two books per season.
I think there’s seasons that will be three books and seasons that will be one book.
That’s just how we have to approach it.
It’s about the stories and how they arc out.
In a perfect world, how many seasons does this show run?
I would be really so happy to get there.
The Wheel of Timepremieres Friday, November 19 on Amazon Prime Video.
