You probably know today’s guest blogger, Phoebe Tonkin, best as bitch witch Faye on The CW’s “Secret Circle.” Which flick gets Phoebe’s blood racing? “Child’s Play”!

My favorite scary movie is “Child’s Play.” I know it’s not that scary anymore, but Chucky gave me nightmares when I was a kid. His laugh is terrifying. My mom owned a toy store and whenever we would go and play in the back room of the store after school, I was always scared of the dolls coming to life. I know I was probably too young when I saw it, but my best friend had an older sister who would babysit us, and one night she was watching it, so my friend and I hid behind the couch and watched it too. I guess I didn’t expect a movie about a doll to be so terrifying. I still like watching it now because it’s so dark and twisted. I like the sequels too, but nothing beats the original. “Bride of Chucky” is pretty good. I plan on re-watching it this year for Halloween! Actually, “Bride of Chucky” would make a great Halloween costume! (Source)

Let it be known that The Secret Circle is not the kind of witch show where people conjure up kittens and new hair styles. Last week’s episode took the show to a far darker place with talk of demons and a possessed woman terrorizing the Circle members. This descent into darkness will be a running theme going forward.

During a recent visit to the Vancouver set of The Secret Circle, we had the opportunity to speak with four of the main cast – Thomas Dekker (Adam), Britt Robertson (Cassie), Shelley Hennig (Diana) and Phoebe Tonkin (Faye) – who all hinted that last week’s episode was a turning point for the good versus evil debate. Dekker warned that “the [episodes] that follow…it’s a very dark show”.

Readers of the book series will know about Cassie’s lineage, at least in terms of her father. I don’t want to spoil the fans who haven’t read the books, but let’s just say that there’s some darkness in Cassie’s history. Robertson isn’t sure yet when that specific aspect will be addressed on the show, but “they’ve [already] started incorporating a lot of the darker world into the episodes”.

Dekker hinted that episode 9 may be where they really start delving into Cassie’s history. While there have been hints about it so far, episode 9 is where “that train really gets off into motion.”

As for Cassie and the Circle members specifically going dark-side, Robertson said “at this point they’re playing with the idea that these six kids aren’t just all good. There are other sides of magic, which is why, ultimately, Cassie’s mom left [Chance Harbor]. She fled town because of darker reasons that weren’t necessarily a health environment for her to be bringing [Cassie] up in. You’ll get to see more of that world…the darker world.”

Tonkin also weighed in on the discussion of whether specific Circle members might dabble in the dark arts: “Everyone’s got different intentions and everyone wants to use this magic for different things. Everyone is going to start swapping sides and people who want to use it for good can see they can start using it for evil and to better themselves. There’s going to be a lot of switching intentions in the Circle”. Hennig added that “it’s going be good versus evil. Some of us want to do magic for good and some of us want to do magic for ‘evil’. Nothing is black and white, especially with this show, which makes it so fun and ‘on the edge of your seat’ every week.”

While there’s a possibility of darkness coming, none of the characters are prepared to back down. Robertson explained that last week’s episode was a turning point for Cassie in particular. She’s taking charge more and her power is constantly growing and evolving. Within the Circle itself, she’s becoming more and more powerful. (Source)

The Secret Circle | Reaching into the reader mailbag, Lindsay beckons, “Can you please do The Secret Circle on Inside Line?! Please?” OK, I’m in. During a recent chat with Phoebe Tonkin, we asked if Faye will remain resolved to unbinding the Circle — and from the sound of it, the Resident Bad Girl may not be rarin’ to go solo much longer. “Even though she likes to be in control, she doesn’t like the consequences of what happens when the circle is not bound,” says the actress. “And she’ll also starts realizing how much they could be in danger if they don’t all get together and do magic spells together.” (Source)

Wetpaint Entertainment: It seems like Faye is starting to get annoyed with certain situations?
Phoebe Tonkin: She’s starting to get a little frustrated. She can see that Cassie is starting to slowly take away everything that’s important to Faye and she also feels like she’s always had Melissa to depend on and boss around, and Melissa is finding her feet. Faye’s starting to feel a bit lonely and she doesn’t have people to rely on. She’s paranoid that people are starting to turn against her and she just always likes to be in control and feels like that control is being taken away from her.

How does Faye react to control slipping away from her?
She kind of starts lashing out a little bit. She feels threatened by Cassie and she just starts questioning herself and going a little mad.

We heard we’re going to get more back-story on Faye, what can you tease about that?
I think we’re going to start seeing a lot of what happened to Faye when she was younger — when she was much younger, like, a 5-year-old, and also when she was in her early teens. She had a few bad boyfriends and she’s had her heart broken. I think a lot of her behavior is driven by her having her heart broken. Not just by guys, but by situations that have happened to her in her childhood.

Read the full interview here.

Now that The Secret Circle’s coven has forged a semi-united front, the group’s members will face new challenges as they struggle to understand their powers and whether to use them for good or evil, all while Cassie (Britt Robertson) tries to uncover the mysteries of their parents’ coven.

In last week’s episode, Cassie learned that her mother may not have been an innocent witch, as an old friend of her mother’s revealed that Amelia Blake had done something far worse than kill their former best friend, Heather (Camille Sullivan). In locating Heather, the CW series will take a seriously dark turn that will include at least one death. (Watch the trailer.)

“Not only is it when I think the show really finds its footing in what it is, it also is the episode when we tip off in the dark side,” Thomas Dekker says. “The show gets darker and darker and heavier and more frightening and this is the episode where that really begins.”

Heather, who’d actually be better off dead, has been in a catatonic state since the mysterious fire 16 years ago that claimed most of the new coven’s parents. Cassie will enlist the help of Faye (Phoebe Tonkin) — and she’ll need it when Heather becomes possessed.

“This is the first episode where you get to see Cassie wanting to learn more about magic and wanting to really discover what happened with her mom with the rest of the adults 16 years ago when her mom fled and why her mom fled,” Robertson says.

Though Faye is known for taking magic too far, even she will be terrified by what’s in store for them. “Faye is a very controlling person, she likes to be the one that’s creating these situations and when it’s coming from somewhere else, it’s just terrifying,” Tonkin says.

Enlisting an enemy for help may not be the smartest idea, but it does showcase a vulnerable side of Faye. “Cassie is slowly trying to take everything away from her,” Tonkin says. “She’s starting to feel pretty threatened by Cassie.” Adds Robertson: “The whole episode they spend together and they’re stuck in this house and they basically have to save each other from various different situations. You get to see their relationship in a completely different light.”

This is one of many incidents that will set off a power struggle within the coven. “Everyone’s got different intentions and everyone wants to use this magic for different things,” Tonkin says. “Everyone’s going to start swapping sides, and people that want to use it for good are going to start seeing that they can use it for evil and that they can better themselves. There’s going to be a lot of switching intentions in the circle.”

Look for Cassie to test being a leader in the coven as well. “As Diana has always been the leader for them, Cassie has a better understanding, along with the rest of the group, of who they are and what they can control and what they can take on,” Robertson teases.

The Secret Circle airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW. (Source)

Zap2it: Okay, so we’re all calling Faye the bad girl and the mean girl. How bad is Faye, really? Are we talking obnoxious high-school girl bad, or is she seriously dangerous?
Tonkin: The thing about Faye is that she does things without considering consequences. She’s never looking to hurt anyone or to cause any kind of mass destruction, she just doesn’t know what the line is that she can’t cross. What I think brings her down to a human level is that when she does do these bad things, when things get out of control, she genuinely does feel awful about it. I think that’s what’s going to be interesting for the viewers is that she’s not just a two-dimensional bad character. She just makes a lot of mistakes. She’s learning, though, and she’s either got to lose the guilty conscience or she’s got to stop acting this way and start pulling it back.

Zap2it: Are we going to see a softer side of Faye?
Tonkin: I think we’ll get to the heart of her. She’s so misguided; she’s got this mother who’s the only parent figure she’s ever had, and her mom is worse than Faye. She’s evil. So she doesn’t have anyone to look up to. She doesn’t have a father, and since her mom’s the principal, she’s never gotten in trouble because she can get away with anything at school and her mom will let it slide. Her mom doesn’t want to look bad, doesn’t want to have a daughter in detention.

Read the full interview here.

Based on the books by LJ Smith, the show is about a group of students descendant from witches. Tonkin plays Faye Chamberlain, the daughter of Principal Chamberlain, and the dangerous one of the group.

“She’s not really evil,” she said. “She’s just misguided and pushes people to their limits without realising what the consequences would be. And she’s not trying to hurt anyone – she’s bored, and she likes doing magic.”

Tonkin added that Faye does not understand the view of the other witches in the circle, saying: “All of the other characters are concerned with the power and responsibilities and Faye can’t understand why no-one else realizes that we’re these 16-year-old kids with witch powers. How is that not the coolest thing in the world?” (Source)

The Secret Circle’s Faye may be labeled the show’s resident bad girl, but star Phoebe Tonkin insists that’s she just misunderstood. “She’s not really evil; she’s just misguided and pushes people to their limits without realizing what the consequences would be,” Tonkin tells TVGuide.com. “And she’s not trying to hurt anyone; she’s bored, and she likes doing magic.”

The Secret Circle, which debuted on Sept. 15 to 3 million viewers, introduced us to a secret coven of young witches that includes Faye, Adam (Thomas Dekker), Diana (Shelly Henig), Melissa (Jessica Parker Kennedy), Nick (Louis Hunter) and new girl Cassie (Britt Robertson). Together they’ve joined forces as they discover newfound — and apparently hereditary — powers. Faye’s mom Dawn (Natasha Henstridge) is the main reason Faye struggles with morality.

“Faye’s mother is not the most ‘good’ character on the show, and that’s the only kind of mentor that she’s had growing up,” Tonkin says. “There’s a bit of a power struggle between the two of them when Faye starts realizing her mom isn’t who she seems. There’s going to be a bit of a moral dilemma and she’ll either rebel or join forces with her.”

Tonkin says that Faye has very different relationships with each of the literally powerful young women on the show. “Melissa is her sidekick,” Tonkin says. “She’s very used to bossing Melissa around and doing what she tells her, but as we delve into the series, Melissa is going to start getting a bit more confident.” Tonkin calls Diana, who Faye has known since they were toddlers, the complete opposite of her and labels her the “goody-goody” of the group. “All of the other characters are concerned with the power and responsibilities and Faye can’t understand why no one else realizes that we’re these 16-year-old kids with witch powers. How is that not the coolest thing in the world?”

While the initial episodes focus on the witches fine-tuning their capabilities, Tonkin says the series will eventually delve into the circle’s connections to the past. “There are people that want this power stripped from us and we’ll see what the older generation of witches’ intentions are. There’s a whole backstory about what happened to the parents who died when we were really young,” she says. “Everyone’s going to change sides. The characters you think are good may end up being bad and the bad may turn good.”

The Secret Circle airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CW. (Source)