The Wheel of Time: Madeleine Madden reveals what it’s like to be thrust into fantasy franchise

Every studio or stream wants to launch the next Game of Thrones and this series is being positioned in exactly that conversation.

Every studio wants to mount “the next Game of Thrones”, combing through the archives of fantasy and sci-fi to find the one that will spark a new obsession.

From The Witcher and Shadow and Bone to Foundation and His Dark Materials, plus the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon and the Lord of the Rings TV spin-off, the expansive worlds of genres previously sidelined are now front and centre of streamers’ ambitions.

Amazon Prime Video is optimistically positioning The Wheel of Time in this same conversation. Adapted from Robert Jordan’s beloved 17-volume novel series, the high-fantasy series ticks many of the boxes – magic, a quest and a battle between good and evil.

Headlined by Rosamund Pike, the series starts with the search for the Dragon Reborn, a reincarnated person who will either save the world or destroy it.

One of the candidates is Egwene, a young woman who finds herself thrust into a larger-than-life adventure, which is not dissimilar to the experiences of Australian actor Madeleine Madden who was cast in the role and found herself in Prague a mere two weeks later, embarking on the biggest project she’s ever been involved in.

The Wheel of Time is streaming now. Picture: Amazon Prime Video

Madden, who grew up in Sydney and comes from an artistic family (her aunt is Rachel Perkins), is familiar to Australian audiences through her work on titles including Mystery Road, Picnic at Hanging Rock and Pine Gap.

But she’s about to become exposed to a global audience.

Madden talks to news.com.au about the parallels between herself and Egwene, being pushed off a cliff and how her matriarchal family informed her experiences on The Wheel of Time.

The Wheel of Time is a massive uprooting of your life – it’s a huge production that shoots for months, you’re already filming the second season. Egwene also found herself thrust into something grand and unexpected. Were there parallels between the two of you?

100 per cent. I often reflect on that actually, of feeling like, ‘OK, I was thrust into this incredible but really scary new chapter of my life’.

Obviously Egwene’s journey is a little bit more traumatic than what I’ve gone through, it’s been wonderful for me. But I definitely related to the fact that like Egwene, my world changed almost overnight.

That’s really helped inform my character and the experience that I’ve had, which I use as a resource to play Egwene. I’ve grown with her and there’s a lot of similarities that I have drawn between us.

That’s what we do as actors, use our own life experiences as a resource for our craft.

Madeleine Madden with her The Wheel of Time co-stars. Picture: Amazon Prime Video

What else of your own experiences did you bring to the character that maybe wasn’t originally in the script?

My heritage of being an Aboriginal woman. I’ve been raised in a very strong matriarchal family and that’s a big part of our culture as well. And that’s something we really see in The Wheel of Time world.

Women are really at the forefront of conversations, leadership and authority. I’ve been raised by incredibly strong women, and I have a lot of strong women in my life.

In particular, there’s the importance of ceremony and the different stages of initiation that our people go through, that’s something we also see in The Wheel of Time. In episode one, Egwene goes through her own ceremonial initiation into the women’s circle.

So, for me, I understand the importance of a moment like that for my character.

One of the initiations for your character is she’s pushed off a really high cliff and into a river. Did you do the stunt yourself?

I was pushed! I was pushed off a cliff. I had a wonderful stunt double, Gabby. She jumped off first and everyone made sure it was all safe.

I said to our wonderful director, Uta [Briesewitz], ‘It would kill me to know that somebody else has done this and not me. It’s a huge part of my character and also a big part for me personally.

I felt an obligation to do that. It was terrifying but brilliant. I’m very proud of it.

Did you only jump once?

I jumped twice actually. They told me I only have to do one but I said I would like to do it again, a better one where my dress is not coming up over my head.

What was the stunt training like in general?

It was rigorous. We were over there for a month before we started shooting – horse riding lessons, stunt training. We’d do an hour of horse riding and three hours of stunt training every day, five days a week for a month.

Our bodies were broken. I thought I was a relatively fit person but, no.

But it was amazing, it was such an important part of finding our characters’ physicality, how they move, how they’ve walked their entire lives. The horseriding was particularly important because you’re not actually having to master it, but you’ve got connect with your horse.

Madeleine Madden was thrust into the world of The Wheel of Time. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

You talked before about the matriarchal elements of the series but female characters haven’t always been treated well in fantasy. It’s been shifting the past few years but did you have conversations with the creators, the writers to make sure the women on this show weren’t going to be sold short?

Absolutely. When Robert Jordan wrote the books, he was ahead of his time for the way gender dynamics, duality and equality was looked at.

Looking at that through the 21st century lens has been fascinating, and it’s something that was really at the forefront of our minds in the scripts and storytelling.

It’s a reflection of what we have in life. That’s what makes this series stands out in this genre. There are lots of diverse, strong women in this world and there absolutely needs to be more. That’s something we see in our own personal lives.

And [showrunner] Rafe Judkins is a genius, he understands and knows the characters so well. I read once his favourite character is Egwene.

This is a huge global series, it’s going to every country, and it has a dedicated, built-in fanbase. Are you ready for the exposure?

The series has been a long time coming. The build-up has been pretty gradual but now it’s happening so fast. We’re eager to get this show out there.

There are definitely moments where I feel a bit overwhelmed and just have to throw the phone away for a couple of hours or days. But I’m excited to share what we’ve been secretly working on for the past two years.

It’s a lot and it’ll be one of those things where you don’t really know how it’ll go until you’re thrust into it – similar to when I first started this show, you’ve got to sink or swim.

The Wheel of Time is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video with new episodes available weekly

Share your TV and movies obsessions | @wenleima

Originally published as The Wheel of Time: Madeleine Madden reveals what it’s like to be thrust into fantasy franchise