Madeleine Mantock has opened up about the controversy surrounding the Charmed remake, admitting that the initial description for it should have been worded better.
“In the starting of the reboot, when it was announced, maybe better words could have been used to describe it, which is something that Jennie [Snyder Urman] has said herself,” Mantock recently told me.
“They started out by calling it a feminist reboot. Not trying to denote that the other wasn’t. But people said that it was a barb against the original.”
“I think now that people are realizing that we meant both are. In that regard we haven’t spoken to anyone personally [from the original cast], but I have seen the positive support they have offered and I am really grateful for it.”
But while Mantock is yet to speak to any of the previous cast members, which included Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan, she did insist that she’s “grateful” for Doherty and McGowan’s recent support for the reboot.
“I haven’t no, I haven’t spoken to any of them. I think the main connection we have had, recently we’ve had, they have been so lovely and I am so grateful for the positive feedback from both Rose and Shannen, showing us our support.”
“It felt like the page had turned and they were expressing that this could be something great for a new generation. And if we can give even just a little bit of what they meant to people starting back in 1998 then that is a good thing. That is what we want to do.”
It turns out, though, that Mantock herself was never actually a devout fan of the original series of “Charmed,” as she confessed, “I definitely remember it. I think it was my brother that watched it.”
“I knew what the characters looked like, I knew there names, there were elements of the show that I knew. I knew they were all sisters. And their names began with the letter P. I was definitely aware of it. But not enough to call myself a fan.”
“Most people are because it was such a huge entity. There’s no other show that I can remember where I am not sure if I have watched a full episode, and I know what it is about, so it speaks to the huge, pop culture moment it had that people do.”
“People went to it for fashion, for all sort of things. It sparked a real interest in people and kept people watching for 8 seasons because it brought something new. There were 3 female at its forefront that wasn’t the norm at the time.”
“After we were cast me and Mel went back to watch the pilot. Because we were told that in our pilot script there were a few call-backs to what they had done. So I wanted to see it so I could pay homage to what they had done.”
But while Diaz and Mantock might not have watched the original episodes when they aired, “Charmed’s” new showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman made sure to surround herself with writers and creatives that were die-hard fans.
“Jennie is so brilliant. She has a brilliant mind. She is so precise and quick. I feel really grateful that we have her.”
“The team that she has assembled, we have Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin, who worked on Jane The Virgin with her, and she picked them to write the show, who have been friends since they were 12 and were mega fans of the original.”
“They have the well of information and passion that we turn to.”
You can see what they have achieved with the “Charmed” reboot when it premieres on October 14 on The CW.
