The new Charmed is being dubbed as “fierce, funny, & feminist”
By Elia Esparza
Charmed Premieres October 14th on the CW
The Latino entertainment community should be delighted by the CW’s revival of the 90’s hit series Charmed, which premieres on October 14th– 20 years after the original. The reboot centers on three sisters in a college town who discover they are witches one night while drinking some concoction that is pumpkin flavored. One of those witches is played by Melonie Diaz.
Twenty years ago, the “charmed ones” were Alyssa Milano, Hollie Marie Combs and Shannon Doherty (and later Rose McGowan). The reboot has a multicultural cast which includes Diaz, Madeleine Mantock and Sarah Jeffery. This Charmed revival is emerging as one of the fall TV season’s most buzzed about prospects.
The new series created by Jane The Virgin showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman, who made some casting decisions that would not have been considered in the 1990’s — she wanted the three sisters not to be white witches. Urman told reporters at the Television Critics Association Press tour in August:
“We’ve had the chance to see three white witches. And coming off Jane, I knew so much more about what it means to be on screen, to see yourself represented, to see yourself as the hero of the story.”
The new fictional premise has the series the series begins with sisters Mel (Melonie Diaz) and Maggie Vera (Sarah Jeffery) living with their mother Marisol (Valerie Cruz), who shortly afterward is attacked and killed by an unknown demonic force. Three months later, Mel and Maggie discover that they have an older half-sister, Macy Vaughn (Madeleine Mantock), who was kept a secret by their mother for years but recently moved to Hilltowne to accept a new job at the local university.
There are several other elements different for in the new Charmed:
The sister’s different racial identities will inform their approaches to magic. After he first time the sisters are under the same roof, they unexpectedly start exhibiting new magical abilities; the eldest Macy receives the power of “telekinesis,” middle sister Mel can “freeze” time, and the youngest Maggie can hear people’s thoughts. Soon afterward, their “whitelighter” —an advisor who protects and guides witches—Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans) gathers all three sisters together and reveals to them that they are witches, as was their mother. Marisol had bound her daughters’ powers when they were born so they could live normal lives and was in the process of unbinding those powers on the night she was murdered. The sisters ultimately accept their new destiny as The Charmed Ones, the most powerful trio of witches who protect innocents and vanquish supernatural demons.Another change is that middle sister, Mel, is a lesbian; giving the power of telepathy to youngest sister instead of premonition. Another change is that now instead of being the Halliwell sisters, they are the Vera sisters. The reboot has a more diverse cast with different ethnicities: Diaz and Jeffery are Latino descent and Mantock is of Afro-Carribean descent.
Melonie Diaz
Charmed stars Melonie Diaz, Madeleine Mantock and Sarah Jeffrey as the sisters who discover they are witches in the pilot episode.
New York native, Melonie Diaz portrays Mel Vera and has impressive TV series credits: Elementary,The Breaks, Ro, CSI: Miami, and Nip/Tuck; and movie credits: The First Purge, All About Nina, Gringo, and Nothing Like the Holidays.
Madeleine Mantock
British actress Madeleine Mantock, is cast as Macy Vaughn, whose impressive TV series credits: Age Before Beauty, Casualty. She is best known for her work on the AMC series Into The Badlands, the CW revival of The Tomorrow People.
Remember Shades of Blue “Cristina Santos,” Jennifer Lopez daughter played by Sarah Jeffrey? In Charmed she plays Maggie Vera. Jeffery has amassed an impressive body of work that encompasses both television and film. Some of her credits include: DirecTV’s Rogue, Fox Network’s Wayward Pines, Disney Channel movie, Descendants, and in the indie film, Across the Line. Jeffery continues as a series regular on NBC’s Shades of Blue.
Melonie
Another big change for the new Charmed:
2. The writing staff includes a Latina witch. According to an interview that Executive Producer Amy Radin explained why it was so important to have representation in all aspects of the new production. “We have a real Latinx witch in our writers room,” Rardin says. “Every culture has their own witchcraft traditions, and we really wanted to explore not just from a Salem witchcraft but all kinds of different witchcraft that happens all around the world.”
Jennie Snyder Urman also shares the “Story By” credit with writers Jessica O’Toole and Amy Radin, who also executive produces. Silberling, Ben Silverman and Carter Covington, along with Vanessa Parise are also executive producers.
What else stands out in the new Charmed?
3. The show will use its college campus setting to tell stories about assault and harassment
4. And, without really intending to, the new Charmed, while using no names, the show strongly implies that President Trump brought about the apocalypse
Tune in on October 14th to see all the other Charmed differences and new additions– the character of Galvin was rewritten as a scientist, and don’t rule out an appearance from the original cast!
Melonie Diaz is repped by The Gersh Agency, Thruline Entertainment/Manager, Vox/Talent Agent Voice, Narrative PR; Madeleine Mantock is ripped by Denton Brierley, The Gersh Agency, Personal PR/Alexa Pearson; and Sarah Jeffery is repped by Alchemy Entertainment/Manager; and Play Management; and Gina Rodriguez is repped by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Narrative PR.
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