Mädchen Amick is having quite a busy year. The actress can currently be seen on the CW’s Riverdale, playing Alice Cooper (yes, the comic book character pre-dates the rock star of the same name), mother to Betty Cooper. In this new take on Archie comics, Alice is a rather intimidating figure, who seems to have quite a lot of tough expectations for her daughter, Betty (Lili Reinhart).
Then, on May 21st, Amick will reprise her role as Shelly Johnson in the long-awaited revival of Twin Peaks, as David Lynch and Mark Frost’s acclaimed and influential series returns with 18 new episodes on Showtime.
I spoke to Amick about her role on Riverdale and what motivates Alice, along with the comparisons the series has gotten to Twin Peaks. We also discussed Twin Peaks’ return and what it was like going back into that distinct world so many years later.
IGN: When you first heard about Riverdale, what was your reaction hearing it was about the Archie characters?
Mädchen Amick: I went to a little bit of a fear place, like “Uh oh, how many different ways can this go wrong?” It's hard to bring things to life like that and do it in the right way. And then my second worry was and then how are they going to portray the parents and are they really going to have good roles in mind. But when I went in to meet with Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] and as soon as he was talking to me about one of his inspirations being Annette Bening's character in American Beauty, I was like, “Oh, I see what you're doing. All in! This is going to be twisted and it's going to really examine that perfect housewife thing.” They've promised that the parents would have great stuff and they weren't kidding. It's equal handed, really.
IGN: Even the idea of Betty as the sort of perfect teenage blonde girl, here we see she’s trying to live up to the expectations of everyone, including her parents. How do you think Alice views her daughter and how much is she trying to shape her in a specific way?
Amick: That's the fascinating thing about Alice. She's trying so hard to protect her daughter and to provide affection in her life, but with somebody that's that obsessed with perfection, you know they are trying to compensate for something. So you get to see behind the hard shell, Alice is a mess. She's an utter mess. All she's trying to do it protect her daughter from going through the same pitfalls that she went through and that may come off a little twisted and demented sometimes. She's got good intentions behind there. I promise.
IGN: As the show continues, is it safe to assume we keep exploring some of the history between these characters?
Amick: Oh yeah, it's so fun, whether it's kids or parents, to see how they interact with each other and you get to learn more and more history behind the town and not only the way they grew up, but the generations of what's going on in the town - and the deep rooted war between the Coopers and the Blossoms that's been going on. You know, like Hatfield and McCoy kind of stuff.
IGN: And then of course there are these intriguing mentions of Betty's sister.
Amick: We explore the other sister Polly and we get very deep into that storyline as well this season. And not only do we sort of get to learn that deep dark secret that has sent the daughter away, but also how that relates to Alice when she was younger as well. There are layers upon layers upon layers.
IGN: What was it like for you and Lili to build your rapport as mother and daughter?
Amick: It was very satisfying. Our mother daughter scenes, they're always my favorite. It's just fun to work with her as an actress and as a person. I really enjoy her and really get along with her. And also what they've written as the mother daughter relationship is always fun to navigate because it may be written one way but they're very encouraging to push the limits and maybe bring a different take to it. There may be one minute where you're like, “This is horrible, they're never going to recover from it!” And the next minute Betty is consoling Alice. It's a really fun dynamic to play.
IGN: The short hand for Riverdale we kept hearing in the lead up is that it's “Archie meets Twin Peaks.” As someone who’s very familiar with both, do you think that comparison is valid?
Amick: When I went in and met with Roberto and Sarah and when we talked about the show and we talked about the character, I never associated that to Twin Peaks at all. They didn't say anything about it, I didn't even pick it up from reading the script and it wasn't until, I think, after we shot the pilot and it was being screened for the Upfronts is when I started hearing the comparisons to Twin Peaks and I was like “Well, I guess I can see why they would compare it…” But it didn't jump right at me. But it's also because yes, murder mystery, yes, perfect town... learning dark secrets. But it has such a completely different rhythm than Twin Peaks. It's fast talking, quick witted, clever lines, and Twin Peaks is slow and reveals things very slowly. The feel is so different but I understand the homage and I appreciate it.
Twin Peaks Photo Gallery: All the Returning Cast Members
IGN: Moving over to Twin Peaks’ return, was it just surreal for you to be back doing it again?
Amick: It was. The first few days back on set I was crying the whole time. I was constantly fighting tears the whole time. It was touching, it was moving, it was surreal that we get the opportunity to revisit it and revisit it in a way that is appropriate for the show and celebrates the show that isn’t just a comeback or a reunion. Not to say that's not great for all the other shows that are happening, but this is more of a continuation of that same world instead of a reboot. It's not a reboot. It's just now seeing the characters 25 years later and seeing what they've been up to. People that love Twin Peaks will enjoy it and they'll get to see a lot of stuff obviously that they are familiar with. But for a new audience that comes to it, they're just going to love it for what it is at this point.
IGN: When you saw the new scripts, did it instantly feel like classic Twin Peaks or was it a little different this time?
Amick: David Lynch and Mark Frost wrote it, and it's right back. It's right back where it should be. That was the first thing I had done as an actress, and now coming back to it this many years later, I appreciate how they work - how David and Mark work and how David directs and what kind of environment he creates that's just a special, one of a kind thing. It was great going back to it. I have a different appreciation for it now.
IGN: There were so many questions over the years about whether Twin Peaks would ever return. Did you think it could come back?
Amick: Through the years, absolutely not. “It's not going to come back. You can't do that again. That was perfection. Let's leave it alone.” To be honest, I didn't really ever think about it coming back out on Showtime and that created a completely different environment where you can embrace it and do it in the right way. I sort of was always thinking there's no way this could come back out on network television. When it finally did come out in the way that it was going to be formatted, I was like, oh my god, this is brilliant.
IGN: Alice and Shelley are very different characters. Is it exciting for you that both of these shows are going to air pretty close to each other?
Amick: I am so lucky that throughout my career I've been able to play such different characters. Back in the mid 90s I went to a film festival and they were airing Central Park West at the same time as this cute little romantic comedy movie called French Exit and I got to go from one theater where I was goofy, falling over myself, to this kind of evil vixen kind of character. One was blonde and blue eyed and the other one was raven haired and smokey eye... Now to be able to have this opportunity again to be playing this "momster" Alice Cooper, over-controlling suburban housewife, and get to go come and revisit Shelley and her innocence and where she is now, I just feel really grateful and lucky.
Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9:00pm ET/PT on the CW. Twin Peaks debuts Sunday, May 21st on Showtime.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at http://ift.tt/LQFqjj.
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