NYCC 2017: Interviews with the Cast & Producers of ‘Siren’

Credit: Freeform

Freeform’s upcoming new series, Siren, will change the way you perceive mermaids. You could even say it’s not your ordinary mermaid tail.

The small town of Bristol Cove is known for being the previous residence for mermaids. Most of the townspeople just consider it an old legend and nothing else. But when a mysterious girl arrives, the question presents itself: could these mermaids actually be real? And if so, what brought them back to town?

We got the chance to interview some of the cast and producers of Siren at this year’s New York Comic Con. Some topics that were mentioned in these interviews include: the origin story behind the series, and the ever important question: is there a difference between mermaids and sirens in this series?

Siren‘s Creative Team – Eric Wald & Emily Whitesell:

What’s most surprising to me in this interview is how Eric Wald fell in love with this project. He explains that he’s always been in love with the origin story of Jaws – the humanity and history of the town, combined with the storytelling of the characters and their development throughout. It’s far more then just a monster movie, he mentions. Wald was also fascinated by the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides portrayal of mermaids. The idea of meshing the humanity of Jaws with Pirates‘ mermaids sparked and the Siren was born!

While watching this interview, you can really tell that both Wald and Whitesell are fascinated in diving right in and creating the show’s mermaid mythology. The idea of vicious and violent mermaids is something I’ve never seen before, so I’m ecstatic for them to be bringing a new light to mermaids. And if you’re like me and wondering why the series is called Siren when mermaids are the main focus (when the two have been categorized as being very different creatures), it’s because the series will mesh both creatures’ characteristics in portraying their mermaids (ex: the Siren song).

Eline Powell (Ryn) & Fola Evans-Akingbola (Maddie Bishop):

All I’ve seen is the panel, these interviews, and the series trailer and I’m already in love with the cast! You can just tell how excited they are to be working on this project, and how educated they’ve become on marine life and the history of mermaids. Both Eline and Fola go into great depth on their characters and how we’re introduced to them during the series’ start. “Because she’s never been on land before, she’s in a constant anxious state at this point,” Eline Powell says. Add in the fact that the reason she’s on land in the first place is to find her sister that was taken, and that heightens her anxiety even more! Eline also briefly talks about how she chose different forms of marine life to portray the physicality of Ryn. For example, she wanted to be very expressive with her eyes like a fish to show the fear Ryn would have at being on land for the first time. It’s so evident how much research and time Eline put into creating her character!

For Maddie, Fola says, “The arrival of Ryn throws her life in all different directions and you get to see how she deals with that. And how she deals with the arrival of this force of nature.” Speaking of Ryn, when we asked how Maddie’s view on marine biology might change once finding out that Ryn’s a mermaid, Fola explained Maddie’s point of view and how that might change: “She has to adapt to the fact that of what’s in front of her. It takes a bit of convincing, but she’s kind of wrapping her head around it as she goes.”

Words can not describe how ecstatic I am for this series. Even before I watched the trailer (which can be viewed below), I knew this would be right up my alley. With the portrayal of mermaids being told much differently than in prior forms of TV shows and films containing these fascinating creatures, Siren is sure to gain attention and interest for loads of people.

The Siren series premieres on March 29th at 8/7c on Freeform.

The trailer as well as a sneak peek can be viewed below.


What are you most looking forward to in this series?