She also praised LuPone for her openness to take on the task of Lilias heroic last moments.
She wanted to have a lot of conversations.
DEADLINE:Episode Seven, seems like something that you would have planned before, beating out other episodes.
Lillia Calderu (Patti LuPone) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, on Disney+Marvel Television. © 2024 MARVEL.
Can you talk to me about how you made all those connections?
Im thinking specifically of the different Tarot card poses and shots.
We didnt break it any earlier than the other episodes.
Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) inMarvelTelevision’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL
DEADLINE:Viewers got to experience how Lilia lives her disjointed life.
How tricky was that to structure in the episode itself?
SCHAEFFER: It was really hard.
My brain melted, the writers, Cam Squires and Gia King, their brains melted it.
I held it emotionally in my heart and in my brain, and I knew it really well.
DEADLINE:Did Patti LuPone ad lib any lines in this episode?
SCHAEFFER: You know what?
I cant think of an ad libbed moment.
She wanted to have a lot of conversations.
That one was my idea.
And you tell that to Patti LuPone, and shes like, Got it.
And then she does it, and its so beautiful.
DEADLINE:Is Maestra her mother, Coven leader?
Could you talk more about that history?
SCHAEFFER: Yeah, you know, I would love that to be at fans interpretation.
In my mind, she is a teacher.
I think that she is a matriarchal figure, and thats whats essential to the character.
DEADLINE:I loved when she calls Teen Teenager.
And they were like, We thought you wrote that.
No one can remember who wrote it.
And Im like, a line that good, someone has to take credit.
I think it was Cam.
It sounds like Cam to me.
DEADLINE:I was thinking she could have said Billy Maximoff.
I think he is at a point where anything that she says, hes gonna question it.
DEADLINE:He also says, when talking about Wanda, Shes not my mom.
I have a mom.
And then later he asks, am I Billy?
Hes obviously still struggling with that identity.
Can he ever fully be both or one?
Are we gonna see that unfold?
SCAEFFER: Thats a great question.
DEADLINE:How did you decide which character would dress up as, which witch?
SCHAEFFER: That was really fun.
For Billy, the Maleficent look, its a point in the season when he is really feeling himself.
He really is stepping into himself, and he also, is no longer under Agathas thumb.
With the headpiece and with the shoulders, hes bigger, he is more.
Theres so much theatricality to that look and also darkness to it.
So that felt very right.
For Jen, it felt like such a fabulous reversal.
Shes the one whos been in pink the whole show.
She carries herself like a princess.
Shes so very femme.
Will we maybe see what is on that card in future episodes?
Will that connect to his arc at all?
SCHAEFFER: I remember, I saw it on the day.
I guess that was maybe an editing choice for us.
DEADLINE:What does it mean that Rio is Death?
Could you talk more about that?
Agatha knew this already.
How does that change what weve seen so far?
SCHAEFFER: Well learn a bit more so theres only so much that I can say.
Who would Agatha be embroiled with?
who would kind of turn Agathas head?
And the answer was Lady Death.
I feel like that goes with the episode.
So I was, I was wearing this out of solidarity for her today.
DEADLINE:Lilia has a heroic moment where she slays the Salem seven.
She reverses that card.
Was that at all a consideration that she survives, or was this very much her final bow?
DEADLINE:Some detailed questions was the castle floor meant to resemble a chess or checkers board?
And what phase of the moon was this trial for Lilia?
SCHAEFFER: I love that analysis of it being like a chess board.
That wasnt the literal thing.
We had to have a particular kind of floor where the where the swords would lodge into it.
Not all the swords were real, but the hero swords were real.
The ones that fell, fell, landed hard.
We had a lot of early ideas.
We were, Theyre on a bridge, theyre hanging, theyre on a boat.
But we were our North Star was that Lilia is air.
DEADLINE:Did therunes around the rim of the table.
Your path winds out of time was something that stuck through all of the iterations.
The specific runes, theyre not directly, of import on whats transpiring In that moment.
Is that symbolic of things to come?
Agatha was purple in the spirit trial.
So yeah, if you look in that Iron Maiden, youre gonna see some green vines.
DEADLINE:The last thing Lilia says to the trio as they walk through.
A lot of fans are picking up that its like a Wizard of Oz homage.
Can you talk more about that?
And, I mean, thats all we really ever want, right?
A person wants to connect with the person in front of them.
And she recalls that she protected him with the sigil, and he is grateful for that.
She is the oldest witch in this group, she has the most wisdom.
She is handing him the sort of the tool of of education in a witchy community.
SCHAEFFER: Thats a nice interpretation.
DEADLINE:With the metro station stop, and Jens question of it being a way off the road.
I love that moment in any story.
and that she would like, push everyone out of the way and save her own ass.
DEADLINE:Everything connects.
You mentioned the sigil.
Lilia was the one that cast it.
Any reason its shaped how it is?
SCHAEFFER: The design of the sigil took a while.
And so we did that, and then added some embellishment.
When we designed it, it was like upright.
It works out, yeah, but it was like a long process to design.
DEADLINE:So it wasnt like a specific word, like Maximoff, or William?
We sigilized Billy Maximoff.
What non-spoiler version can we expect from these next two episodes?
More than anything, we want this to be a satisfying, emotional experience.
