With the second and final season of Carnival Row now streaming on Prime Video, we were able to sit down with the star Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad; Paper Towns) to talk about her leading role as Vignette Stonemoss in the neo-noir fantasy series.
While we steered clear of spoilers, the über-famous English model-turned-actress was more than kind enough to share her thoughts on Vignette's newfound purpose this season as the fae joins the Black Raven and begins to embrace more of a leadership role within her community.
We also talk about her evolving relationships with the two most important people in her life - Philo (Orlando Bloom) and Tourmaline (Karla Crome) - and how those key dynamics ultimately help her character's journey through the final episode.
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ROHAN: Since some time has passed since, how has Vignette grown since season one?
CARA: Yeah, I mean, she steps into her own in season two a lot. I think a lot in season one, she put others needs before her own, and I think by the time we get to season two, she's facing a lot more adversity. She's constantly fighting for the things she loves, fighting for the people she loves, fighting for the rights of those who don't have any. There's a lot more conflict, and she is forced to become a leader, which I think surprises her. I think she didn't really realize the capabilities she had if the pressure was on, and I think she really stepped up to that.
ROHAN: Part of her embracing more of a relationship role includes her joining the Black Raven - what kind of wrinkle does that add to her journey this season?
CARA: Well, I think that was always something that she didn't understand, or especially with her relationship with Philo, that was always kind of out of the question for her. But when her and Philo start to deal with kind of the same problem in different ways, they don't see eye-to-eye. The Black Raven are her people, they are the Fae, they are the ones who are trying to fight for their rights and escape the segregation which they've had to deal with. It adds a layer of darkness, a layer of grittiness, that layer of like, ‘Right, no one is going to help us and no one is going to help defend us. We have to do whatever it costs to get out.’ So, that's kind of what she has to deal with, but I like that for her.
ROHAN: Season one is a lot about Vignette and Philo finding their way back to one another, but now you're together - and Vignette is also getting a lot of support from Tourmaline. How do these relationships help her resolve and help build her confidence moving forward?
CARA: Well, there’s a lot of twists and turns in season two, so I think even though she starts back up with Philo, Tourmaline is still someone that she has loved for her whole life, like that relationship that she has with Tourmaline will never go away. So, that's what's kind of beautiful about this is that love isn't simple, it doesn't work exactly, especially in this pain, in this situation, there is so much that if her and Philo have completely different arcs, that's never going to work if they just couldn't keep having a conflict within a conflict. But, you know, that's part of the journey that she goes on.
ROHAN: I don't want to get into any spoilers, but I also really enjoyed seeing you in Only Murders in the Building last year. What was that like and did it serve as sort of a palate cleanser from the intensity of Carnival Row?
CARA: We stopped for COVID and then, we started back up in COVID, so there was no Only Murders until after I finished - I started Planet Sex first and then, I started Only Murders in between Planet Sex. So, Only Murders was a palate cleanser of Planet Sex, but that I didn't need a palate cleanser from. Yeah, I would have loved to have done Only Murders in the middle of it.
It would have been weird, but I think this crazy thing about Carnival Row is that there is a whole element in the beginning of the show where it's showing this clade-like disease and then, we broke for COVID. So, that was really crazy. You know, I don't wish COVID had happened. I wish there wasn't that time and space in between. I think it was a really hard time for everyone, but it made us realize how passionate we were about the project to come back and finish it in the way it should have been finished.
In a fantasy world where humans and creatures clash, Season Two ofCarnival Row picks up with former inspector Rycroft Philostrate a.k.a. Philo (Orlando Bloom) investigating a series of gruesome murders stoking social tension. Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne) and the Black Raven plot payback for the unjust oppression inflicted by The Burgue’s human leaders, Jonah Breakspear (Arty Froushan) and Sophie Longerbane (Caroline Ford). Tourmaline (Karla Crome) inherits supernatural powers that threaten her fate and the future of The Row. And, after escaping The Burgue and her vengeful brother Ezra (Andrew Gower), Imogen Spurnrose (Tamzin Merchant) and her partner Agreus Astrayon (David Gyasi) encounter a radical new society which upends their plans. With humans and fae folk divided and freedom on the line, each hero will face impossible dilemmas and soul-defining tests in the epic conclusion of Carnival Row.