Hannah Levien Talks ‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ and That Iconic Wig! [Interview]

If you’re a fan of sci-fi shows or shows that involve the supernatural in any way, you’ve probably seen Hannah Levien on your screen before. She has previously starred on Supernatural, Bates Motel, Colony, and UnREAL, with prominent roles on The Magicians and Siren.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Levien about her latest role as Christine on Brand New Cherry Flavor.

Brand New Cherry Flavor is an American horror drama based on the 1996 novel by Todd Grimson. Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion, who also worked together on Syfy’s Channel Zero, created the series for television.

Christine is unlike any character that Levien has played, which was part of the initial appeal.

“I saw the role of Christine in there and loved it. In the first episode, she’s described as a young Debbie Harry, like Blondie, the singer. I’m a huge blondie fan, and as soon as I saw that, I was like, ‘oh my god, that would be such a fun character,'” Levien said.

However, the script is what sealed the deal for her. “I first read the script and just loved it. I feel like the dialogue and the writing really leapt off the page. It’s so inventive, unique, and has so much personality, pace, and rhythm to it. I really think it’s such a well-written show. I also thought it was so absurd, weird, and genre-bending, and that made me excited about it.”

“I think, initially, I was excited about the project because I really love Nick Antosca’s writing. Now, I’m familiar with Lenore Zion, who co-created Brand New Cherry Flavor. She’s also phenomenal. I would say the project appealed to me right out the gate because I love the minds of Nick and Lenore and the vibe of the character right away,” she continued.

Brand New Cherry Flavor should be in a category of its own with the originality and concept.

“I think the genre-bending element of it is quite unique. It’s really funny. It’s a dark comedy. It’s absurd and set in the ’90s so it has a period feel to it. It has horror aspects, drama, and I just think they go to these bizarre, horror imaginary worlds.”

“I don’t feel like the creators set out to make something ‘unique’ or necessarily disturbing. I think they just were serving their own creativity, and that’s what came out of it. I think there’s a real authenticity to that,” Levien said.

While the show’s overall feel includes suspense, gore, and the downright bizarre, Christine somehow finds a way to bring the laugh, even when she’s not trying to. 

“You know, when we were there on the day filming, you’re not thinking ‘this is funny.’ You’re sort of in the reality of it. So, it’s been really great having Christine recognized like that and fans writing me saying that they’ve found a lot of joy in my character. I love that character and the fact that I got to serve that function in the story. It’s not how I saw her when we filmed, but something I’m really glad for now,” she said.

One of the only issues for Levien was getting into a character where she had to step out of her comfort zone.

“The things that were different for me really came as we started filming, and I think discovering what this absurd style was. I had to start really thinking like Christine, and not like Hannah, who doesn’t want to say things that are kind of offensive or that sort of thing, where Christine is very outspoken.”

“There’s this sort of absurd style to the writing and what we see on the screen where my character isn’t really reacting to the bizarre things that are happening in the way that you generally would react. It’s kind of like you have to suspend your imagination even as an actor and just step into this style and embrace it,” Levien continued.

“I used to get to do that in theatre, but not so much in film and TV, so it definitely was a surrender and acceptance to the style of the show. I think it was really fun once we started to discover where it was at.”

And of course, when talking about Christine, I had to bring up the iconic wig. Inquiring minds need to know if Levien got to keep her hands on it.

“I have the wig! Halloween is coming up, so I’m like, ‘maybe I just need to dress as Christine, I don’t know.’ For me, that wig, the wig designer, costume, and hair and makeup team on Brand New Cherry Flavor made such a difference in the show. I think it’s the creativity.”

“I said before, some of this reminded me of theatre, and for me, what’s so wonderful about it is not just the discovery of the whole ensemble together, the story and all of that, but the hair, makeup, costume element to each character in theatre, for me, was such a huge pride in creativity. Brand New Cherry Flavor really felt like going back to theatre in that way as well, like getting ready every day and putting that wig on.”

Levien has a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting and Directing that she acquired at a young age at the University of Sydney. Her love for content and storytelling eventually leads her to create her own short film. “I started off with these films and stories I wanted to write, and finally, after working on The Magicians, I met a lot of really great film people in North America.”

“I had this short film I had written and wanted to make, and it seemed like the right time and right people to do it with. One of the directors from The Magicians came on board to direct it with me and is actually the director of photography for The Magicians. She filmed it for us, we did a full crowd fundraiser, and it was a low-budget short film,” she continued.

“It’s a sci-fi short written by a woman, directed by a woman, and the producer was also a woman. We were really fortunate to strike a chord with that full women in film movement that we’ve been seeing happening.”

The name of the short is Hunting Season. It won ‘Best Science Fiction Short Film’ at the Sydney Indie Film Festival in 2018. It also garnered Hannah Levien, Shannon Kohli, and Ines Eisses a nomination for ‘Best Narrative Short’ at Tribeca Film Festival in 2019.

“It’s set in a remote gas station in a small town where there’s a creature on the loose, and it ends up confronting the main character who works at the gas station. They have this life-changing altercation, her and this creature,” Levien explained.

The premise sounds intriguing, am I right? Well, unfortunately for the audience, it isn’t quite ready for public release. However, it’s the beginning of a brand-new horizon for Levien. “We had a lot of interest in distribution and finding the right platform. Now, we’re actually developing it into a feature film, so we haven’t released it yet because of the intellectual property aspect of it.”

“We may still do that, but we are excited to be in that stage of development, taking this short film concept of mine, which I never intended to make into a feature film. I never thought that we would have the response we did, which was really amazing.”

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*Featured image credit: Corey Nickols

Be sure to catch Hannah Levien on Brand New Cherry Flavor now streaming on Netflix.  

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