Maddie Phillips returns to ‘Supernatural’ and has stories to share

Maddie Phillips was welcomed back to the set of “Supernatural” with a birthday song. She plays Harper Sayles in this week’s episode ‘Optimism’ directed by Richard Speight, Jr and shares her fun experiences on set of the CW hit series now in its 14th season. Maddie split her childhood between Vancouver, Canada where she was born, and Perth, Australia where she played soccer, did some writing and photography, and considered acting her greatest love. Fans know her from her roles in “Supernatural”, “Van Helsing”, “Ghost Wars”, and will soon be spotted in films “Summerland” and “Santa’s Boots”.

Colleen Bement: Welcome back to “Supernatural” with your role as Harper Sayles in next week’s episode ‘Optimism’. How did the cast and crew welcome you back to the set?

Maddie Phillips: Thank you! It was such a dream come true to be back and so soon. And, I was welcomed via song now I think about it. My first day was my actually my birthday and as we were setting up for the first shot, our hilarious director Richard Speight, Jr and I were joking about sharing similar neurotic tendencies as he watched me maddeningly practice slipping a letter into an envelope without it wrinkling. I chalked my behavior up to being a perfection-seeking Virgo and then before I knew it Richard was declaring to the set that it was my birthday and everyone began singing. It was actually Richard’s birthday two days before as well, so it was a solid five-minute chorus before we got any work done. Now I think about it if I had to describe the energy of the “Supernatural” family briefly, that experience alone could probably do it.

CB: What, if anything, are you allowed to share about your character? Will fans love you or love to hate you?

MP: I think it all depends on how much fans will relate to Harper. She is known around town as a sweet, cheerful young woman who works at the local library, but she’s definitely dealing with more than she lets on. I don’t want to give away much but I will say that like a lot of us, she tends to let her emotions get in the way of logical behavior, especially when it comes to relationships.

CB: How does it feel to be part of the “Supernatural Family”? Were you already a fan of the show?

MP: I never watched “Supernatural” until I became a part of the film industry honestly. I spent my adolescence in Perth and we just didn’t have the right channel for it. When I moved back to Vancouver though I realized that you’re pretty much always going to know at least one of the actors in whatever episode you turn on. I truly feel so ridiculously lucky to come back to the show. I wrote about half a dozen thank you letters to certain members of the crew and would have done one for all them if I had the time. The positive, warm and deeply authentic energy of that set is unmatched.

CB: You’re a huge “Harry Potter” fan. Which character do you identify with the most and why?

MP: Suuuuch a hard question…I identify with a few but above all, I’d have to say Luna Lovegood because we both have always embraced our quirkiness, we live in our own little worlds and never shy away from sharing our crazy thoughts and ideas with anyone who’ll listen. But if Luna and one of the Weasley twins had a baby…I would defiantly be that baby.

CB: Your IMDB is off the hook! Fill your fans in on all the cool projects that you have in the works such as “Santa’s Boots”, “Summerland”, and more?

MP: Thank you! Oh man, let’s start with “Summerland”. It’s a road trip movie about 3 friends who steal my character’s parents R.V. and take off on road-trip from Calgary to California in the hopes of making it to a music festival called Summerland. One of my best friends, Rory J Saper, plays my boyfriend and the entire movie was pretty much shot in an actual RV over about 2 months. Just 5 boys, a couple cameras, myself and the open road baaaaby!

I actually booked “Santa’s Boots” the day we got back to Vancouver which was so exciting. It’s a Christmas movie and I play an easily overwhelmed elf in a department store haha it was such a fun time. I’ve also got a couple episodes of Van Helsing coming out over the next few weeks (episodes 9 and 13) that I’m so excited about because my characters got something going on with her that I’ve personally never even come close to experiencing. I was also lucky enough to book an episode on “Loudermilk” too which dream come true as I’m such a fan of Peter Farrelly.

CB: You’ve got another episode of “Van Helsing” coming out this month. What can you share about your experience on the set?

MP: My experience on set was wild. I actually had to fly from Calgary (where I was shooting “Summerland”) to Vancouver to film both “Van Helsing” episodes in a week and then fly to Vegas to meet back up with the “Summerland” gang. Shooting those episodes was such a dream. Most of my scenes were with Jonathan Scarfe which was so awesome, he’s such a natural actor, a really chill guy and made me feel totally comfortable, even when I had an entire kit-kat shoved in my mouth as we chatted in a massive Jurassic park-esque vehicle (you’ll have to see the episode).

CB: Your Instagram is fabulous. Do you enjoy modeling?

MP: Thank you so much! Thinking about it as modeling doesn’t really feel right though strangely. What I really enjoy about having my photos taken is collaborating with creative people and making something that evokes some kind of meaning, whether it’s a little serious or just kinda funny. I also just really love having something aesthetically pleasing and unique to pair with a caption because I kind of consider Instagram be a visual extension of my consciousness, an organized online portfolio for the cosmic chaos that that is my mind. I just have this insane need to share what’s going on in my brain and even if it’s just a dumb funny one-liner. I just find it so fascinating how unique our brains are so any chance I get to spew what’s going on in my head, I’ll take it.