"She’s terrifying but also wonderful": Mayfair Witches director Axelle Carolyn explains Carlotta’s horrific actions (Exclusive)
The fourth episode of Mayfair Witches is where the slow burn series becomes a conflagration. In the final moments, Carlotta Mayfair (Beth Grant) glimpses Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) putting on the family heirloom necklace which gives her access to otherworldly powers.
In a fit of rage, she attempts to burn her niece down and also stab her. Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa) enters the room and gets stabbed in the melee that ensues.
Quite a sequence, to say the least.
SK POP was thrilled to chat with Axelle Carolyn, who directed Episode 4 of Mayfair Witches, to break the scene down. This humble interviewer echoes every word of praise that she had for Beth Grant, who played Carlotta Mayfair so spectacularly.
Read on to find out how the cliffhanger came together.
Mayfair Witches Episode 4 director Axelle Carolyn dubbed Beth Grant's performance as outrageous, grounded, phenomenal, and crazy!
Beth Grant’s performance elevated Mayfair Witches Episode 4 to the next level. According to Axelle Carolyn:
"Things never go exactly the way you plan them to go. Sometimes, they go better. In the case of working with Beth, they went beyond my expectations."
The Mayfair Witches Episode 4 director also outlined how Grant brought new life to the vicious character of Carlotta Mayfair:
"Some people might look at Carlotta and think very one-dimensional and think she’s the villain of the piece and we’re going to play her like a villain. And she’s going to be motivated with anger. And Beth took a very different approach. And we discussed it quite a bit because I loved the fact that everything with her came from heartbreak. It comes from…she’s someone who has very strong convictions. Who believes very strongly that she knows what’s right and what’s wrong. And she’s going to make that decision for everybody else."
She continued:
"And that’s where she becomes the villain obviously. She imposes those standards and those ideas on other people. But she is very clear in her own head that she is doing the right thing. And even at the end when she decides she has to burn the place down and kill people, she still believes that she’s doing the right thing to prevent a greater evil."
The turning point in Mayfair Witches Episode 4 is when Rowan puts on the necklace that firmly grants her access to the supernatural lineage of the Mayfairs. This makes Carlotta very incensed indeed. Axelle Carolyn broke this down:
"And I thought that the way that she made that come across was beautiful. The moment that she sees that she’s lost. When Rowan is putting the necklace around her neck, she decides I have to do something more drastic because I have lost everything now."
On the Mayfair Witches set, Axelle Carolyn may have been a director, but much like us, she was also a fan.
She explained:
"That little moment. The little moment she talks after that, to her staff and what she does…seeing her decision, seeing that look on her face, seeing that disappointment, seeing her pain and then seeing her complete single-mindedness, which is what makes her a proper villain was…it was so much fun to watch."
When Carlotta Mayfair dismisses her servant is when she decides to go through with her dastardly act. Carolyn explained:
"If she’s made that decision in the last couple of hours, she’s probably still coming to terms with it. And she’s probably also really wondering am I going to go through with it. But the moment she gives him the signal to lock them inside, this is it. She’s done it. The decision has been made and you might as well go for it."
Carolyn dropped adjectives galore for Mayfair Witches star Beth Grant:
"So, the way that she played it was that she’s unsure, she’s nervous, she’s confused, she’s angry, but once her mind is made up and she knows it’s going to happen, she has the place locked, then she does one of those amazing Beth Grant performances where she’s outrageous, and grounded and phenomenal and crazy and I had so much fun watching her do this. I have to tell you. It was so much fun. She’s terrifying, but also wonderful."
Catch Mayfair Witches Episode 5 only on AMC and AMC +. What do you think the next chapter in Rowan Mayfair's story is?
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