Warning: Mild SPOILERS lie ahead for The Librarians: The Next Chapter season 1’s first six episodes!Charlie Cornwall has done a great job protecting her new Librarians thus far, but the Guardian has been harboring an emotional secret throughThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 1. Developed by Dean Devlin and John Rogers, the former of whom has continued his position as showrunner for the fantasy adventure series, the new show serves as both a sequel and spinoff of the films and prior series, centering on Vikram Chamberlain, a Librarian from the mid 1800s who finds himself stuck in modern day after an attempt to stop a warlord traps them both.
After incidentally unleashing magic on the world, and being tasked by American Librarian Jacob Stone to clean up his mess, Vikram is partnered with a new group of prospective Librarians, including former academic and magic believer Connor Green and skeptical academic Lysa Pascal. Joining them inThe Librarians: The Next Chapter’s castis Jessica Green’s Charlie Cornwall, a military veteran who was once offered the chance to become a Guardian, though, for unknown reasons, failed to land the job. Now given a second chance, Charlie works to keep the group safe while also striving to find redemption in the eyes of The Library.
With the show’s first season just over halfway finished,ScreenRantinterviewed Jessica Green to discussThe Librarians: The Next Chapter. The star opened up about getting to reunite with Devlin after their prior work on the fantasy-adventure seriesThe Outpost, Charlie’s arc this season and the deeper meaning behind what she’s been hiding from the group. She also shared her favorite dynamic to explore this season, how season 2 could expand upon it, and how far along in production they are on season 2.
Charlie’s Season 1 Arc Is All About Embracing Her Vulnerability
The Librarians Star Also Didn’t Try To Rely On Backstory Too Much
Where the originalLibrarianssawRebecca Romijn’s Colonel Eve Bairdtrying to find her place in the world of The Library as the group’s Guardian, and as a skeptic,The Next Chapteroffers a different outlook on the Guardian archetype, with Charlie not only being a believer, but also striving to make up for her failure the first time around. With season 1 so far keeping this under wraps, along with the rest of her backstory,Green reveals that the creative team “don’t go too deep with the backstories” of the characters with the actors.
“She, obviously, comes from a military family, and a very religious family, and I think she had a bit of a hard upbringing,” Green shared. “I’ve written it down somewhere, and I can’t remember it. [Laughs] She obviously finds The Library, and starts training to become a Guardian. You do all the work on that at the very beginning, before you even start filming, and then once you kind of step on, you let it go.”
This is her second chance, so she is going to do everything it takes for her to reach her dream.
Staying in the moment in lieu of relying on backstory, Green found Charlie’s season 1 arc to be “really fun to play”, particularly as she sought to balance how Charlie “puts up this big wall” with “this really tough exterior” and “no bulls–t” mentality,but is also “really insecure and vulnerable”. “She has this really soft side about her where she just doesn’t know if she’s good enough, and everyone around her can see it,” Green explained.
While the season doesn’t immediately let her bring her guard down, particularly as Vikram “is a real handful for her”, Green explains that much ofThe Librarians: The Next Chapterwill showcase Charlie going on a journey to “find the strength in her to believe in herself” and “to know that I am meant to be here” as she believes she is “just as good as the other ones” that got the Guardian job instead of her.
I’m supposed to work for The Library, and this is my destiny. So, yeah, it’s been a fun little arc for her this season, and next season, hopefully you get to see her let her hair down a little bit more.
Reuniting With Devlin Was A Joy For Green
The Librarians Creative Team Also Offered Something “Other Jobs Just Don’t Get You”
Coming into the sequel show,The Librarians: The Next Chapteractually serves as a reunion between Green and Dean Devlin, with the two having previously worked together on the sci-fi adventureThe Outpost. Describing their experience on the two shows as being “a blessing”,the star went on to praise having “learned so much” from the showrunner across both projects, particularly given Devlin “has so much knowledge” and is “just a wonderful person”, sharing her hope to work on “many more” shows in the future.
This reunion wasn’t the only major reason why Green was drawn to joining the world ofThe Librarians, expressing “who doesn’t want to play the Guardian, who gets to kick a– every day” and “who wouldn’t want to go on a magical adventure every week”. This fun extends to the actual production of the show itself,saying one can “never get bored of it”, particularly given “every week is something different”, as they shot a new episode every seven days during season 1.
“Season 2, we get one extra day, we get eight days,” Green shared. “But, you know, you’ve got seven days in a story, on this adventure, and then you’re on to the next one. So, it’s a really fun show that’s really fast-paced, and it doesn’t stop. There are so many things you get to explore and do that other jobs just don’t get you. So, yeah, I jumped at the chance.”
The Group’s Dynamic Is Fun, But Green Wants More From 1 Pairing
“…I Think Everyone Wants Them, As Well.”
While the show does focus plenty on the entirety of the four-person group working together,The Librarians: The Next Chapterdoes continue the original’s trend of splitting characters off into pairings for different adventures. Green agrees thatthe group scenes are “so much fun"and that she loves “getting to film scenes with Callum just as much as I do with Bluey and Liv”, particularly since Charlie and Vikram’s dynamic is “kind of like a mom and her naughty child”.
However, she ultimately points to her favorite pairing being that of Charlie and Olivia Morris' Lysa, as the two stars “have so much fun when we get to do scenes together”,while also feeling that “it’s never enough” in season 1, particularly since this dynamic helped unlock some of Charlie’s insecurities. This even led to the stars asking for season 2 to feature more of the pairing together, feeling that “the fans want a little bit more Charlie and Lysa action”.
Christian Kane Has Been A Big Mentor For The New Cast
“…Hopefully, We’ll See Other Faces Next Season.”
With the show still set in the same world as the original, the door is open fororiginalLibrarianscharactersto return inThe Next Chapterafter Christian Kane’s Jacob Stone appeared in the series premiere. Though keeping mum on what other returning characters the show may have in store, saying “hopefully, we’ll see other faces next season”,Green did praise Kane for his involvement in the sequel show, describing the actor as “a wonderful person” as Stone “passes us the torch” in the show.
“I love getting to work with Christian,” Green beamed, “and especially with me, he’s really guided me. I love listening to him share his experiences on set and everything, so that’s been wonderful. We always love him popping by the set.”
The Librarians: The Next Chapter Season 2 Is Almost Done Filming
It Also “Blows [Season 1] Out Of The Park”
Ahead of the show’s premiere,The Librarians: The Next Chaptersecured an early season 2renewal from TNT, with Devlin having confirmed to us prior to the spinoff’s debut that filming would begin in June and proceed through the summer. Looking to the future,Green confirmed the team are “in the final two weeks” of production on the next season, sharing that production is set to wrap on July 16 and that, at the time, they were preparing to film episode 12, which she previewed as being “huge” and “a rollercoaster”.
Though echoing that the team “had so much fun” with the new season, Green also acknowledged thatthe recent heat wave in Europe has created a unique hurdlefor the cast to overcome filming the recent episodes. “Yesterday was a really hot day, it was 38 degrees, just scorching sun, and poor Callum’s out in a three-piece suit with a leather trench coat and high leather knee boots, so that was a really tough day,” Green shared with a chuckle. “But we’re getting it done, and it’s really exciting, and I’m excited for all the fans to see the season, because if you like the first, season 2 blows it out of the park.”
In looking at how Charlie’s arc may differ from that of season 1, Green teased thatThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 2 will get more of “when she lets her hair down a little bit”,particularly since that’s something “fans really like” from the show thus far. Green also expressed that it’s something she loves “getting to play so much more than the serious girl” that she is in the show’s debut season.
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New episodes ofThe Librarians: The Next Chapterseason 1 air Monday nights on TNT!
The Librarians: The Next Chapter
Cast
The Librarians: The Next Chapter features a time-traveling librarian from the past who becomes stranded in the present. Upon returning to his now museum-castle, he accidentally unleashes magic across the continent. To address this, he assembles a new team of Librarians tasked with restoring balance.
