Freya Allan Interview

The wired headphones, the muffled scrape of a towel against a phone speaker—and then, actress Freya Allan appears on Zoom, fresh-faced and bronzed after a morning dip in the Moroccan sea. She’s currently on a much-deserved break in Taghazout, soaking up the North African sun rays and decompressing after what has been a seismic shift—professionally and personally.

“I’ve just been silly all day,” she admits, a trait her friends and family are apparently quick to assign to the 24-year-old. Throughout our conversation, her humour surfaces easily; threaded with stories about her first acting gigs, childhood nativity plays, and a mother who – in the right mood – has “the most demonic sense of humour.”

For the past seven years, Freya has almost been living in two worlds. As Princess Cirilla (best known as Ciri) – the hard-knuckled, evolving heir at the heart of The Witcher – she’s used to wielding a beacon of magical power. But in her own life, the greatest challenge was simply figuring out who she was—and who she wanted to become. 

First gracing our screens at just 16 years old – fresh out of secondary school – The Witcher world is all she’s ever known—it was her first major job, after all. Yet behind Freya’s unprecedented entry into the industry lies a journey that’s been anything but straightforward. The role catapulted her from an uncertain schoolgirl to the centre of one of TV’s most anticipated fantasy epics—an arc mirrored by Ciri’s own evolution on-screen. 

As Freya looks back on her character’s journey, she reflects on the interplay between actor and role which has informed much of her adolescence and early adulthood. Though she admits to the constant schooling that comes with the gig, she has cultivated a deep wisdom: as an actress, a student of her craft and as a young woman. “I feel like you’re just constantly learning. There isn’t one point where you feel like you have completed the course,” she elaborates. These days, her approach to the show’s emotionally demanding scenes is anchored in a self awareness—fortified by her experience on set and gentle nudges from her co-stars Henry Cavill and Liam Hemsworth. She likens her experience to “jumping out of a plane”—and even still feels immensely grateful for the opportunity – and responsibility – bestowed upon her. 

But having just wrapped filming for the fifth and final season of the series, Freya isn’t afraid to ask for more. She’s at a crossroads: released from the role that shaped her youth, and finally free to chase the stories – and the woman – she’s still in the process of discovering. That, to Freya, is the most exciting plot twist of all. As we reflect on her seven-year-long experience traversing the Continent, and the adventures that still await, one thing becomes clear: she doesn’t share Ciri’s penchant for time travel, but she certainly has her determination. And right now, that’s all she needs to write her next chapter. 

ASWAN MAGUMBE: What was your earliest memory of acting? 

FREYA ALLAN: The earliest memory would have been a nativity. I played a wolf in the nativity, and I put my hand up and said that I didn't want to play a baddie, so I made myself a vegetarian wolf, and then I had this line and everyone laughed. That was the moment when I was like, “Oh my god, I'm obsessed with this, everyone's laughing at my vegetarian wolf line.” And I just got hooked. In terms of the first job I got through an agent, I remember it was a short film, and I was so excited by everything. I thought everything was incredible—and I remember I had to learn a piano piece for the scene, and I was really stressed about it.  

ASWAN: That takes a lot of determination to throw yourself into all of that at an early age. Was film, acting and TV a constant or an undercurrent in your life? 

FREYA: Not really. Both my parents are creative people, but not necessarily in a clear way. My dad is an amazing photographer and my mum is a psychologist, but she has a creativity to her—so that was always somewhat around. My parents watched a lot of films, but I don't feel like it was anything that was particularly a standout thing in my childhood. I think it was more so to do with me being an only child until I was 11, I had to use my imagination a lot, and because I had to completely entertain myself all day, I think that probably played a part in it. 

ASWAN: What would you say are some of the traditional – or maybe a little bit unorthodox – ways that you began prepping to be an actress? What were some of those biggest lessons that you learned?

FREYA: You’re just constantly learning. There isn't one point where you feel you have completed the course. It feels like with every character and the people you're working with, you can learn so much. From project to project, you're always going to continue to learn and add things on. For certain roles, you'll do certain things and take away certain things, and for others, it varies. When I was shooting the first season of The Witcher, I was like, “Oh god, I've got to do all these really emotional scenes quite early on”, and even though I'd never struggled to feel a lot of feelings all the time – I feel like most actors are people that can and that's why we're able to reach certain emotions daily – I was overthinking everything, and going, “How do I cry?” I remember being in my room, my mum would walk in (because she was with me on the first season), and she’d just see me crying on the bed, and I'm just practising. What I've learned with a lot of those kinds of scenes is that the best stuff, in general, with acting comes with doing the prep—and then you have to let go. It's a mental game in many ways. You need to be free when you're shooting and you're in the moment, and you have to try to not have a preconceived idea of what you want the scene to be, because I think that's a restrictive way of going into something that's number one: collaborative, and also something that's mostly fun.

ASWAN: Speaking of that release, how are you able to discern when you've surrendered enough of yourself to be able to fully channel that character, rather than let Freya creep in?

FREYA: Sometimes, if I've tried to build up a certain feeling all day and hold on to something, whatever that may be for the scene, that might be quite draining. I’ve sometimes found that to be a hindrance to the scene. But this is all learning, I’m continuing to see what works for me. It could change again, but currently, I'm finding it's better for me to fall into it, rather than harness it all day. I might go into another character and feel like that's appropriate, but so far, I've felt that that doesn't benefit the scene, and it makes me have this pressure of what I think I should be feeling and being in that scene, which actually is not always beneficial. Recently, I've really enjoyed talking about scenes with directors and the other actors. I love talking about the scenes and us all expressing our ideas beforehand. 

ASWAN: You’ve been on The Witcher for years now—and from quite a young age. I'm so curious about what that evolution has looked like for you; especially going from a teen to a young woman.

FREYA: When I got the role, I did a little bit of research while I was auditioning. I thought I was going to get the scripts through and it would all be me (or rather Ciri) training and all this stuff. I was really looking forward to it, and when I read the scripts, it was just me running away constantly and being chased by everyone as a princess. Obviously, I was really excited I had the role, but I wanted to do some stuff. When things started to kick off in season two, and Ciri started to go through her training – and therefore, I started to go through some training – I was so excited, but I always found myself each season wanting to do more. I want it to be hard. I want to do proper sword fighting. I want to do proper stunts. That was what was really, really exciting about [season] four, and especially five, which we've shot. I've had to wait years to get to do the stuff I wanted to do—the real action. I've been in that stunt department for like four or five years, I love it. I did a bit of dance alongside acting at school, so I've always had that side of me that I love as well. Obviously, acting is always going to come first. That's my main thing. But if I get to occasionally do the roles which also involve action, I'm so down.

ASWAN: Do you think that dancing alongside acting better prepared you for the action that was involved in this role? And if so, in what way?

FREYA: When I was 13, weirdly, my first ever professional gig was actually a ballet version of Rapunzel. At that point, I'd never done any dance—maybe a few random dance lessons here and there. I'd actually got that role because I was really good at pretending to be a beanstalk or something, but it had dance involved. But when I was 13/14, I became absolutely locked onto Dance Moms (the TV show). I was obsessed with Maddie Ziegler's dancing; I loved her style. I would watch her dancing and just want to copy her. So, actually, a lot of what I was able to do was self-taught, but then I got ballet and contemporary lessons. I was always quite aware of how my body moves. Dance enables you to execute stunt moves better, because it's actually very similar—obviously, we're not actually hurting anybody. It's a dance, essentially, and you're able to compute more easily the notes from your double on the choreo or on the physicality, because you've used that part of your brain for dance. It's very similar. So, I think it's massively beneficial. I almost felt like I was on Dance Moms, having to constantly learn a new fight, like how they learn a new dance every week. That's how it felt for me.

ASWAN: And as an actress, you get to see how the choreography and the scene interplay with each other, rather than the viewer, who only really sees it as a fight scene.  

FREYA: Yeah, definitely. My priority is getting to play all kinds of characters. I don't want to be boxed into an action actor. But down the line, I would love the opportunity – if there's the right character – to work with some more incredible choreographers, because there is some cool stuff out there that I've seen. I'd love to continue collaborating with people.

ASWAN: What was it specifically then that drew you to The Witcher and the opportunity to play Ciri?

FREYA: No one knew who I was at 16 at all. I was just trying to get out there, and actually, I'd just joined a different secondary school, and I really didn't like it. Auditions had been going well, but I was still under 16, and when you turn 16, you basically no longer have to be on a licence. If you're 16 and you look a lot younger; they'd rather hire a 16-year-old than a 14-year-old, so you're more likely to get roles. Anyway, I joined the secondary school. My mom was like, “Honestly, Freya, I reckon you're going to get a role, I wouldn't worry,” and I was like, “Yeah, right Mum, thanks for that, but let's see.” Three weeks into this new secondary school, I got The Witcher. I was aware of how big it would be, and I remember there was a moment where we were like, “Whoa, we're signing on to five seasons, that is a lot." But when you get a gig like that, and you are just trying to make it as an actor, that's massive, so it was a no-brainer. I also think that if my younger self had known that – my younger self loved fantasy stuff – it would definitely be a dream for her. Obviously, you grow and you change – not to say that I don't love fantasy now – but you grow out of certain things and want other things for yourself. It's definitely been a long one, but at the time, it was a no-brainer.

ASWAN: Do you feel like when you were that young, you were also able to pre-empt the grandeur and the success that the show was going to have?

FREYA: Googling it online and researching everything, I could see that it was going to reach a certain height. I could see how much anticipation there was online, and it felt quite clear that it would be of a certain scale. I'm still, partially, always having to remind myself to remain grateful for it, because obviously, seven years of your life is a lot, and it's scary at times when you think about it, but I'm grateful for the support it's provided for me for seven years and beyond. Even that financial support at such a young age is incredible. Now that I'm out of it, I'm excited to see what's beyond that show. 

ASWAN: As you get ready to let go of Ciri, I wanted to know what part of her transformation has surprised you the most?

FREYA: There’s this moment in season four where she kills eight people in Rome, and the last person, she just keeps hacking to death, and she's shouting, “fuck you, fuck you” – this is also in the book – and for me, that sums season four Ciri up in a nutshell: very on-edge, very unhinged in moments, and definitely far away from herself. I think, in trying to find herself beyond all the expectations and pressures that everyone's put on her all these years, she strays so far from herself that she's no longer on the right path to finding who she is beyond that. It’s been interesting for me seeing the show come out, and a lot of people have been really angered by that and upset by it. And I say to them, that's what happens in the books, that's the brilliant thing about this character: she's been this child, and she's been through a lot, and now, she is taking a bit of a wrong turn, as a lot of people at that age do in normal life anyway—let alone atop the things she's been through. That’s what's so interesting and exciting, that she is so far removed from herself, and that's her journey to coming back to herself. Anyone who knows the books knows that she'll find her way back to who she is eventually. But this is, unfortunately, her way to that, which I, as an actor, find really exciting.

ASWAN: How do you foresee her future, having already known it? 

FREYA: Well, I hope she has a fucking holiday. Honestly, the girl needs to go on a psychological retreat. She needs to go into a retreat for a bit and get a lot of mental help – she's got a lot of traumas – and then, she needs to go to an island and have a fucking Margarita or something. I wish that for her, I really do.

ASWAN: So hypothetically, your happy ending for Ciri would be for her to end up on a mental health retreat?

FREYA: She needs to be on a mental health retreat! And then she's going to go on a desert island with some really nice people that have maybe also gone through really traumatic events – they can somewhat bond over that – but also people that maybe have some light-heartedness to them. And then just a bloody glass of something on a beach, and no one hunting her. And luckily, she time-travels—that’s her whole fucking power. She could time-travel to now, here in Morocco with me, and she could just have a margarita with me. 

ASWAN: Would you be more frenemies than friends?

FREYA: This is so interesting. I might slightly envy her in some ways, because she's really cool. But also, is she a bit arrogant? I don't know. You know how they say opposites attract? Maybe we're too alike. I think we'd get on, but maybe we wouldn't be able to be really close, because we may be too similar in energy at times.

ASWAN: Ciri has a power—time travel, but also her hunting skill. Then there's also her emotional power, strength and vulnerability. How do you navigate that balancing act when you’re playing her?

FREYA: She’s always had an affinity for fighting. When she fights, she's connected to Geralt as well, who she's deeply tied to. It's kind of her safe place. Killing? Not so much, even though I know that sounds ironic, because the killing is naturally a part of it. So the only emotional side to it is obviously the deaths. How you go about that, in this world and in the right way, is a journey. But the fighting for her is what she feels safest in. Her training at Kaer Morhen with the witches, when it comes to her power, or her superpower – whatever you want to call it – she runs away from that. That’s a journey she's going to have to go on in season five: to take ownership of this power that she has and not run away from it any longer. Emotionally, she's got so much self-doubt in general, I think that's why the physical side is easier. But that’s what I love about her so much: at the core, she is a really good person. She's had a lot of bad things happen to her, and she's angry about that—but it's going to come out the other side.

ASWAN: What would you say is the biggest lesson that you have personally taken away from playing Ciri, especially now that you're coming to the end of this character that has taken up the last seven years of your life?

FREYA: When it came to ending season five, both Anya [Chalotra] (who plays Yennefer) and I had a moment of saying, “We love them.” She loves her character and I love Ciri so much. I’ve loved playing her, especially in the past two years—her feistiness, determination and her love. It depends on the role, but I'm sure many actors do feel like they take something away from their character. But yes, especially if you've been seven years with a character, you've grown alongside them. Ciri’s the best. It’s funny, because earlier when we were talking about if we’d get on, as an actor, she feels like this best friend I’ve had while growing up. Whatever difficult things are happening in life, Ciri’s always been that constant thing. And then, in terms of playing her, I've been lucky to have had the best drama class. I've been around all kinds of actors and have been able to just absorb and take in everything. Also, I think the joy of what comes with being on a show for that long, and being one of the leads, is that you really do get to have a voice by the end. It’s been a great drama school. I’ve learned all kinds of skills. It's honestly insane. But now, I just need to hop out of Ciri and get into something else.

ASWAN: And what does that look like? 

FREYA: I’ve had a few things come my way since leaving, and I really want to do something that sparks me. Obviously, you look at who's making it, and if there's someone that you feel you can learn something from, that's what I'm after. I'm after something where I can be met halfway, in the middle, with somebody. I really want someone to test me. I like the idea of being in awe of someone's mind and being challenged by that person. It's like a puzzle. Being intentional is what I'm trying to do, which is difficult because we all have imposter syndrome all the time.