We literally finished filming 100 episodes of a fake apocalypse to be in a real-life one.
Marie Avgeropoulos plays a fan-favorite character of “Octavia Blake” in CW’s Emmy-nominated series “The 100” which finished filming just in time to bring us the seventh and final season before COVID-19 changed the world. There was no wrap party. No goodbyes. Get up close with Marie to find out what she has been doing during the quarantine and hear about her new film “Jiu Jitsu” opposite Nicolas Cage.
Colleen Bement: How have you been staying sane during this crazy pandemic?
Marie Avgeropoulos: I’ve already come to terms with I have no idea how there’s going to be a movie business after this, so I’ve been gardening my ass off. I’ve planted green peppers, cucumbers, onions, and after this maybe I’ll know how to open my own landscaping business. Instead of going to the manicurist, I’ve bitten all my fingernails off out of pure anxiety, and with the gardening, they get so dirty so why bother? I’ve made two banana bread fails. They look like they fell into a ditch. It’s bad for my ego and I’ve kept cooking and not baking. I’ve started to count my weeks according to my favorite Greek dishes and right now I think I’m up to 16 of them.
CB: Season 7 of “The 100” premiered last night and fans are super excited about this final season. What was the atmosphere like on the set when you started filming the first episode through to the end?
MA: I was 24 years old when I got the job of Octavia Blake. I started off with me and my warn-down car in Los Angeles, California driving down from Canada, then jumping off a chair in my audition room screaming an iconic line from the pilot. All the way to the dynamic warrior that she’s become after 100 episodes later. The vibe on set and the environment have always been incredibly positive. Being an outdoorsy girl myself enjoying camping ad fishing and riding a motorcycle, and always enjoying hikes and working in beautiful British Colombia in the rain forest has always been a blessing. That has been our office and our classroom for “The 100.” It taught me a lot over the years and I’ll always be grateful.
CB: What was the atmosphere like on the set on the last day?
MA: On the last day was incredibly anti-climatic due to the fact that the powers that be wanted to keep us all safe. We didn’t receive a wrap party. We didn’t get to say goodbye to one another. We couldn’t congratulate one another or thank one another because of COVID-19. We literally finished filming 100 episodes of a fake apocalypse to be in a real-life one. I still haven’t even come to grips with the fact that it’s over. It was definitely bittersweet because Octavia has taught me a lot of things that I’ll forever keep in my heart. I couldn’t close the chapter and put the book up on the shelf of “The 100” in my heart.
CB: Do you have a favorite development of your character? Maybe “Bloodrena”?
MA: Yes, my favorite character development was Bloodrena, absolutely, because I chopped off my long hair into a bob because I knew that was the quickest way I could snap my brain into not feeling not as pretty as I used to feel yesterday. Then I was told that it was going to be a really dark season dealing with difficult stories like cannibalism and dictatorship and roman fighting was incredibly hard for me for me, but the cast and I always managed to laugh in between takes to brighten up the mood. I didn’t wanna go bat-shit crazy in real life.
CB: Was there a relationship on the show that you would have liked to explore further?
MA: Adina Porter is my favorite person to work with me strictly because she teaches e so much. There’s no irony in the fact that Octavia calls her Data in the Grounder language that was created for “The 100” meant Teacher, and she was my teacher on and off-screen. My favorite moments with her were when we weren’t on set and I could just pick her brain about all things dating and life and making choices. She always was very open with me conversationally and we always could share a wonderful laugh together.
CB: Now let’s talk about new projects, even though I realize so many things are on hold. Tell us all that you can about “Jiu Jitsu.”
MA: “Jiu Jitsu” is starring Nicolas Cage, Alain Moussi, and myself and Tony Daa. Suffering from amnesia Jake Barns (Alain Moussi) is captured by a military squad led by expert military intelligence ops led by Myra, played by me, investigating a disturbance in the wild in Myanmar. Jake is rescued by Wylie (Nicolas Cage), and an ancient order of Jiu Jitsu fighters who must help him recover his memory and regain his strength and fight in an epic battle that will determine the fate of mankind.
Written by Colleen Bement
