Arcane fans are heavily invested in the relationship between Hailee Steinfeld's Vi and Katie Leung's Caitlyn––so everyone was pretty upset when Katy Townsend's Maddie was revealed to be sleeping with Cait in Season 2, Episode 4.
Maddie is a new character for the show, who was originally introduced as a member of Caitlyn's Enforcer striker time. She's an optimist and a ray of sunshine in the dark world of Arcane (where kids are dying left and right), though that hasn't stopped many from thinking she might be secretly working for the enemy.
The Direct's Russ Milheim sat down with Katy Townsend, the actress behind Maddie in Arcane Season 2, where she defended her character's relationship with Caitlyn and talked about her experience on the beautifully animated series.
Katy Townsend on Maddie Coming Between Caitlyn and Vi in Arcane Season 2
"I Think I Underestimated the Chaos That This Would Cause
- The Direct: "Now, episode four, you do something pretty crazy. You get in the way of the VI. Have you looked into any of the fan reaction to you putting yourself in that?"
Katy Townsend: I've seen some things. Listen, I think I didn't realize––I knew this was going to be controversial, but I think Amanda Overton, who wrote the episode, she was like, 'Oh, this is gonna cause all kinds of chaos.'
And I didn't, especially as a Cait-Vi lover myself, you know, as a person, I'm rooting for them to be together. But I think I underestimated the extent [of] the chaos that this would cause. I've been seeing clips from screeners where people are reacting to the opening of [Episode 4] recoiling in horror...
[I'm] trying to take it all light-heartedly. I posted a couple of funny, light-hearted things about it on Twitter, but, yeah, from a personal point of view, it was mortifying to come in the way of that. Totally.
But also, if you're talking about responsibility, is this really Maddie's responsibility? I think Cait has a lot to answer for her own choices and decisions, too... I don't want to blame––I'm not going to blame Maddie. I think she's just my little sweet cinnamon roll, with her wide-eyed optimism and her affection for Cait.
I know it was quite a jarring time jump for people with the opening of Episode 4. But you know... these are teammates and friends that have been sort of in close proximity. The stakes could be higher. There's a lot of loyalty and trust. Their intimacy, I think, gets often born from these situations. You know, things happen.
What Is the Core of Caitlyn and Vi's Relationship?
"I Think Loyalty and Trust and a Kindred Outlook..."
- The Direct: "When it comes to your Maddie's relationship with Caitlyn, what's the core of their relationship? Because we haven't really seen too much of it. We've seen bits and pieces. But for you, just getting into the character, how do they work?"
Katy Townsend: I think loyalty and trust and a kindred outlook... Maddie is the sort of perpetual optimist and the enthusiastic person radiating the sort of warmth. Even from that opening scene, Maddie sort of just, you know, we see VI at her low point, and Maddie comes in like this bright pop of color with the orange hair and the smile... and we see a sort of shift in the score and the lighting,
And it's just this sort of enlightened perspective, and which is certainly a parallel to Caitlyn, to who Caitlin is, or who she was. I think there's a lot of commonality there.
And you know, some, not saying it's me because I don't want to get myself into trouble. Some could argue that she's a more viable partner... that they actually make quite a good pairing.
- "When it comes to VI, you guys were pretty friendly in that first episode. Do you think that's pretty much over? You can speak hypothetically, but if you guys ever cross paths again, is that pretty much toast the moment she realizes?"
Townsend: It'll depend on VI, where VI's at right now. Yeah, in her headspace, I would want to keep my distance anyway. But yeah, I can't say... I mean, I can speak as a queer woman. I can speak to sort of the intricacies and complexities of queer relationships and how so many of us date women, and then date their friends, and then their friend's friends, and then we all end up being friends, and there's also some drama sprinkled in. So, yeah, I don't know. I think it's going to be all right.
Putting Katy Townsend Into Maddie
"They Kind of Captured Part of the Essence of Me Anyway."
- The Direct: "Did you add any of your own personal quirks to her as a character through your performance that maybe wasn't originally on the page and that you just kind of found in the moment?"
Katy Townsend: Yes, I think innately, a lot of my quirks, for better or worse, were poured into this character... I'll tell you what was really jarring, actually.
Our sessions were recorded for the animators. What was really fun about this character is I think maybe, I don't know if I'm the only one, but I think I'm one of the only actors who they modeled the character after my own video and images and things. The animators drew the character based on pictures of me, parts of my performance, and things like that. And so they kind of captured part of the essence of me anyway.
But you know, it's funny because one of the things I love about doing voiceover, as opposed to maybe on-camera acting, is how sort of unselfconscious you can be. You can just kind of go in there in your sweatpants. You're not worried about how you're perceived or how you're coming across.
I remember watching a cut of the first animatic cut of the first episode, you know, Maddie's introduction, and seeing her on screen for the first time, and recognizing so many of my awkward, switchy, silly quirks in her, and I was like, 'Oh no, she's unbearable, but she's kind of cute'... And that was a trip actually seeing that.
It was quite a weird––I can't describe it. It was almost like an existential thing where I just sort of zoomed out of my own body and saw myself in this animated soul. And I was like, This is wild. So that was pretty mad, actually.
... Another thing as well, I'll say is, it's been very sweet. You know, the outpouring, especially from that opening, that first episode. The outpouring of love for this character has been amazing, because I poured so much of myself into it... I hope[d] she would be likable, but I didn't know she was going to come across so kind of cutesy, adorable. So that's been kind of hilarious for me to be like, when people are like, we love your character, and I'm like, does that mean you love me?
Katy Townsend Comments on Those Theories About Maddie Being Evil
"Does That Not Speak More to the Cynicism of the Fandom?"
- The Direct: "A lot of people think that you might be evil, secretly, working with ulterior motives... You know, people keep pointing to you being the first to do the salute at the end of the third episode."
Katy Townsend: With regards to the salute and stuff, I mean, I think that speaks to Maddie sense of duty. I have been dabbling in all the theories and stuff. And obviously, I can't say too much, but I don't know. I mean, does that not speak more to the cynicism of the fandom, the fact that this sort of bubbly, optimistic ray of sunshine peaks out from behind the clouds, and we're like, it's evil! Kill it with fire!
What's Katy Townsend's Dream Maddie Spin-off Arcane Series?
Townsend Wants to See a Queer Thelma and Louise Story
- The Direct: They've confirmed that spin-off shows are in development, so what is your dream Maddie spin-off series? What do you want to see in a hypothetical world, if they were like, here's your own show, go wild.
Katy Townsend: Well, do you know what? As you said that there, I was reminded of the original when I told you I met the writer-producer, Amanda Overton, the script that I originally did the reading for when her, you know, I did a sort of live reading of a screenplay she wrote that never got made. It was this amazingly brilliant, sort of like queer Thelma and Louise story. I would love a spin-off like that but with Maddie and Cait. Do you know what I mean?... I feel like Vi would have to be involved in some way [ as well].
... I love Vi. Vi is actually one of my favorite characters in the show, and I've fallen more deeply in love with her in the second season. I loved her in the first season, but seeing her emerge on screen again in the second season, I was filled with like feelings, like it was an old friend or an old lover. You know when you feel that way about a character in your way. And so I feel very attached to VI.
Recording Arcane Season 2 During Covid
"The Promise of Doing Another Session for Arcane Became a Blazing Torch..."
- The Direct: "That you were recording this four years ago is insane."
Katy Townsend: It's funny, because I think, obviously, having all of us experienced the pandemic, and that was obviously such a tough time for all of us, that the weight of all of that, for me, is so enmeshed as well in my experience of working on 'Arcane' because there was sort of stretches of months at a time that were really depressing, and I wasn't seeing my family, and it was like the promise of doing another session for 'Arcane' became a blazing torch...
hat was one of the few positive constants for me throughout that time. So I have a real, I sort of very deep-rooted affection for the project on so many different levels. You know, not just because of my connection originally with Amanda and how that came about, but you know, how the stakes were high in real life while this was all going on, and, of course, seeing it all come to fruition now into the masterpiece that is unfolding...
Katy Townsend Hypes Up the Arcane Season 2 Finale
"It's One of the Best Episodes of TV I've Seen."
- The Direct: "[There's] a lot of pressure for those last three episodes... Have you seen them?"
Katy Townsend: I've seen the finale. I went to a screening of the finale, and it is one of the best––Riot won't hype it up, [but] I'll hype it up. It's one of the best episodes of TV I've seen. I think it's a masterpiece. So I'm really excited for all of you to experience that.
I haven't seen the other two, and actually, I hadn't gotten screeners ahead of time for episodes four to six and hadn't watched them. I had been very restrained and disciplined and then it got released at midnight the other day.
I didn't watch it either because I did a live reaction to Episode Four with Amanda Overton on our YouTube channel. We reacted to that together, although she'd already seen it, but for me, I hadn't seen it yet... I think, potentially, I'm gonna do a live reaction again, to the other to the other episodes. But I haven't seen seven or eight, and I'm very excited for the big finale and everything.
Arcane Season 2 Act 3 debuts on Netflix on Saturday, November 23.
