Elle – The ‘Shadowhunters’ and ‘Arrow’ alum on tackling Stephen King and making movies in quarantine.
Kat McNamara did not spend 2020 learning to crochet or baking banana bread over and over and over again. Instead, the 25-year-old actress filmed a horror movie from home, started development on a YA adaptation, appeared at virtual fan conventions, and plotted where her career goes next as she looks to explore what she calls “new avenues of her psyche.”
But the pandemic escapes no one, so we’re meeting over Zoom. “I have tried to make the best of it, being the stubborn optimist I am,” she laughs as we both admit 2020 was not the year either of us planned for.
But 2021 is looking bright, as the 25-year-old stars in the CBS All Access adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, a prescient work by the master of horror that follows a group of survivors after a deadly man-made virus ravages the world.
McNamara stars as Julie Lawry, a small-town girl with a wild side who finds herself susceptible to the call of Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård), the mysterious and supernatural ’dark man’ who serves as the show’s chief antagonist. It is, perhaps, the role most unlike herself McNamara has played thus far.
“It was an exciting prospect because I get to be a chameleon and transform,” McNamara says, “but the ways in which Julie is different to me make me uncomfortable—the language she uses, the stigmas she holds, are just not okay. But because it’s Stephen King there’s not much you can really change about it, so it was a process of turning it into something good.”
Julie, says McNamara, is “probably the worst example of who to be.” Self-absorbed and ignorant, the character pressures men for sex and mocks those she believes are less fortunate than herself.
“This past year we’ve had the time to look back at society and the stigmas and habits we’ve fallen into and confront [them] and hold ourselves and others accountable for the ways we treat other people,” McNamara says. She hopes to use the show as “an opportunity to guide people towards the right resources” as further episodes air.
CBS risked the wrath of King fans when they confirmed the ending of the show would be different from the book, and with two fandoms under McNamara’s belt—and more than five million followers on social media—she knows better than anyone how perilous that can be.
In 2015, the Kansas City-born actress’s world changed forever when she was cast as Clary Fray in the Freeform series Shadowhunters, based on a series of young adult books with a passionate built-in fanbase. Hours before her casting was announced, “Who is Clary?” was trending on Twitter.
Grumpy Magazine just released it’s new Collector Edition magazine and our girl was the subject of the 26 page magazine with a full new interview and just gorgeous new photoshoot to go with it. I have added in the photoshoot and full digital scans from the magazine to the gallery for you all. If you would like to get your hands on the magazine you can get a physical copy Here or a digital copy Here.
grumpymagazine – She might be just 25, but it’s no surprise that Katherine McNamara feels like she has lived a million lives throughout her career. Unafraid to put herself out of her comfort zone and explore her inner self across all mediums, the versatile actress — who can also sing and dance — has proven her dedication over the past few years by getting involved in multiple and diverse projects. She booked her breakout lead role on fantasy drama and global phenomenon Shadowhunters when she was only 19, then kept finding success by joining the cast of hit superhero series Arrow — all that in a matter of years. As a true “chameleon” that she intends to be, one of her most recent projects led her to take on a darker role as she entered the apocalyptic world of Stephen King in the adaptation of The Stand on CBS All Access.
Kat — as many refer to her — was interviewed by fellow industry friend Zelda Williams on New Year’s Eve. The two of them met at their first Upfronts for Freeform in 2016, when Katherine was promoting the first season of Shadowhunters while Zelda was attending the event for her show Dead of Summer. As a horror movie enthusiast, Zelda directed and produced Kappa Kappa Die in which Katherine made a brief — but memorable — appearance, as she recalled happily that she was shooting Arrow in Vancouver and flew to Los Angeles for a day to get murdered with a Jello shot. Throughout the friendly conversation full of positive energy, Katherine reflected on the hugely different year 2020 has been for her, staying creative and busy during quarantine, and successfully going from hero to villain on-screen.
ZELDA WILLIAMS: I do miss work and I know you do as well. Looking back, is there one role that feels like this defining era for you? There’s like everything that was before this role and then everything that’s come after.
KATHERINE MCNAMARA: I feel like Shadowhunters would be that one for me — not only because of where I was in my career before and after, but also where I was as a human being. I had been working in and out of television and movies for years. Shadowhunters was really the first time that I was at the helm of something. I had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders — not only to the book fans, but the on-set responsibilities of being in that position. I was also 19 years old when I came into the show and I finished it when I was 23. So it really shaped a lot of who I was as an adult, and there was even a period of time as the show was ending that I had to go, ‘‘What is Katherine like as an adult after this show? How do I frame my life now?’’ Because everything in my adult life has been framed around this job.
Magazine Scans > 2021 > GRUMPY MAGAZINE – Katherine McNamara (Collector Edition) – January 2021
Photoshoots > 2021 > Set 002
Kat was back and had a much bigger part in this weeks all new episode of The Stand 1×05 – Suspicious Minds, After last week’s flashback and are now in the present and Julie has made it to New Vegas and is the girlfriend of the second in command and still as crazy. You can find HD Screen Captures and two episode stills now in the gallery.
Television Series > The Stand > Season 1 > 1×05 – Suspicious Mindsd > HD Screen Captures
Founded in 2017, The Losers’ Club® is a bi-weekly podcast for Constant Readers of Stephen King to dig deep into his oeuvre and the myriad TV, film, print, and stage adaptations of his work. The series is hosted by pop-culture writers Randall Colburn, Justin Gerber, Dan Caffrey, McKenzie Gerber, Mel Kassel, Aiysha Gatson, Dan Pfleegor, Jenn Adams, and Michael Roffman, who gather together to read between the pages.
4 new episode stills from this weeks all new episode 1×05 – Suspicious Minds have been released and added to the gallery.
Television Series > The Stand > Season 1 > 1×05 – Suspicious Minds > Episode Stills
The up-and-coming actors #KatherineMcNamara, #HenryZaga and #OwenTeague are part of the impressive ensemble cast, which includes heavyweights like #WhoopiGoldberg, #AlexanderSkarsgard, and #JamesMarsden, that star in the new television series #TheStand. The series is based on the iconic 1978 novel by #StevenKing with the same name and it is the story of the world in ruins after a man-made plague wipes out over 90% of the population and a battle of Biblical proportions that happens between the survivors.
The actors finished filming the series just days before Canada went into a countrywide lockdown cause by the COVID pandemic. The surreal notion of filming #TheStand as the world took on the Corona Virus was one of the many topics that the trio of actors discuss in their group chat for this video.
Well let’s face it we all knew this was going to happen after over a year of nothing but it’s sill a sad day for all Mia fans out there, here is hoping we get to see her on legends to tie up the cliff-hanger.
This is what Kat had to say about it all.
“Thank you for letting me be a part of your story…even for a little while…” ✵💚🏹From Blackstar to Star City, thank you for joining Mia on her journey. What seemed a daunting hood to fill soon felt like family, and I have nothing but love, gratitude, and fond memories for everyone who was a part of bringing her to life. I hope that, like Oliver, Mia is merely the beginning of a new generation of heroes and stories to come. Raising a glass of whisky to Mia, cheers to the future! 🥃
EW – Green Arrow and the Canaries has flown the coop.
EW has confirmed that the CW is not moving forward with the female-fronted Arrow spin-off series. The news is hardly a surprise as it’s been a full year since the backdoor pilot aired as Arrow season 8’s penultimate episode with no word on a series order, but now it’s official.
The potential Green Arrow and the Canaries spin-off starred the all-female vigilante team of Katherine McNamara as Mia Queen/the new Green Arrow, and Katie Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy as the Canaries. Set in 2040, the backdoor pilot written by Beth Schwartz, Marc Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship, and Oscar Balderrama saw Earth-2’s Laurel Lance (Cassidy) traveling to the crime-free Star City of the future to recruit a time-displaced Dinah Drake (Harkavy) and Mia — Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak’s (Emily Bett Rickards) adult daughter — for a mission to save the city and the timeline.
Guggenheim revealed on Twitter that the decision not to move forward with Green Arrow and the Canaries was made back in early 2020, citing the pandemic as possibly “the deciding factor.”
Actually, the decision was made back during the start of the pandemic (which, I believe, was the deciding factor). The actual announcement was made today.
By the end of the backdoor pilot, many new questions were raised that unfortunately won’t be answered now that it isn’t going to series, like how Dinah of 2020 got to the future after she was last seen on a motorcycle heading to Metropolis in Arrow’s series finale, as well as who kidnapped William (Ben Lewis) and why the villain in the Deathstroke mask had a tattoo that matched the etchings on the Queen family’s hōzen.
tvline – Katherine McNamara appears as Julie Lawry in one single scene during The Stand‘s fourth episode, and she makes quite an impression — though not necessarily a good one.
Julie arrives near the end of Thursday’s installment, appearing in a flashback to Nick Andros’ (Henry Zaga) and Tom Cullen’s (Brad William Henke) journey to Hemingford Home in Colorado. While resting and picking up supplies in an abandoned warehouse, the men encounter Julie, who’s donning a party dress and jewelry… and aiming her shotgun right at Nick. (Her first words: “You dangerous?”)
Throughout the next five minutes, Julie 1) decides Nick is not only harmless, but also quite attractive, and attempts to sleep with him, 2) gets interrupted by Tom, whose developmental disabilities she quickly mocks, and 3) angrily shoots at Nick and Tom when they don’t agree to let her join their journey.
Needless to say, Julie’s a far cry from Clary Fray or Mia Smoak, the respective Shadowhunters and Arrowverse characters for which McNamara has become known. Below, the actress explains why The Stand‘s Julie was such an appealing departure for her, along with a few teasers of Julie’s forthcoming devotion to the sinister Randall Flagg.
TVLINE | The Stand‘s cast is big, and quite stacked, at that. How did you come to be involved?
I’ve known about this project for a really long time, and being a huge Stephen King fan, I was excited to be a part of it in any way. I’ve known [series co-creator] Josh Boone for years… and we both have been sharing our love of Stephen King for a long time. [Laughs] But getting to play Julie — it’s such a fascinating character for me, and a fun challenge, given that I’ve been playing heroes for the last several years. Getting to dive into a character who’s a bit more villainous — it was a treat to get to play with a different set of colors.TVLINE | Was this kind of role something you were actively seeking out, after Shadowhunters and Arrow? Something totally different?
When I first started in this industry, I made a promise to myself that I would never just end up doing one thing. That’s the joy of being an actor. It was a thrill to get to do this, and that first day on set — [Julie] literally comes in guns blazing, and that’s the only script I had at that point. Diving into set, I knew they had been in production for a few months, but Brad and Henry and the rest of the crew welcomed me with open arms. I was instantly put at ease by everyone’s willingness to play, and to really commit to this world that Stephen King created. It’s been exciting since Day One, and it’s been creative soul food for me, as an actor.
buzzfeed – Katherine McNamara has taken on a lot of beloved TV roles in the last few years. From her work as Clary on Shadowhunters to playing Oliver and Felicity’s daughter Mia on Arrow, she’s brought some fandom favorite characters we love to life. Now, Katherine is starring as Julie Lawry on The Stand, a role that is wildly different from anything she’s played in the past.
To celebrate The Stand, Katherine sat down with us to chat about everything — like the best piece of advice she got from Angela Lansbury while on Broadway, which Shadowhunters moment she’s most proud of, the final days of filming Arrow, and how her role in The Stand came about. Here’s everything we learned:
1. First, What’s the last TV show you binge-watched?
Schitt’s Creek. I feel like I was a little late to the party, but I just needed something lighter. I’ve been watching a lot of darker and more intense shows, and I just needed to laugh and I needed something fun. I’m absolutely in love with that show.2. Which emoji do you use the most?
[laughing] So, after doing Shadowhunters, and being around the guys for so long, especially via texting, I feel like I tell a lot of unabashed dirty jokes. So, I feel like I have to put the little smirk face (😏) to just make sure people know that it’s a pun or a joke. It just sets the tone.3. What’s your favorite movie of all time?
Okay, I have three. Gilda with Rita Hayworth, The Princess Bride, and The Usual Suspects.4. Is there a movie or TV show that made you want to become an actor?
I used to watch a lot of old Hollywood movies as a kid, and one of the ones I remember the most was Funny Face. It was the one movie that Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire did together. I was a dancer growing up, so I just loved it. It captured the magic of Paris. I didn’t quite know I wanted to be an actor when I first saw it, but there was something about that movie that, retrospectively, I think really influenced me in a lot of ways.5. What’s a role people would be surprised to find out you auditioned for?
I was almost Fiona in The Giver a few years ago. I was the second choice and we didn’t know for a long time [if I would get it or not]. That was one of my favorite books growing up as a kid. I actually had to choose between flying to New York for a final callback for a Broadway show and flying to LA for that final callback. I was on my layover, I think I was somewhere in Texas, and I had to stop and make a choice. I ended up flying back to LA. I just loved that book so much I had to give it a go.
