Australian actor Teresa Palmer wears the hat of writer, model too. Best known for her roles in Warm Bodies, Lights Out, Berlin Syndrome and Hacksaw Ridge, the 33-year-old, who co-wrote and co-produced The Ever After with her husband, Mark Webber, is now the star of the hit British drama, A Discovery of Witches. On the show, Palmer plays Diana Bishop, a witch and tenured historian at Yale, studying alchemy and science at Oxford. We caught up with the actress for a quick chat on her character, doing her own stunts, and her favourite location to film in. Excerpts:
What do you admire about your character?
I’ve fallen in love with Diana, she’s such a dynamic, hyper-intellectual woman, an academic, a historian and an incredibly powerful witch, and when we first meet her she is running away from her true self. As the series progresses, you see her start to embrace and embody her own spirit.
What was it like stepping on the set for the first time?
When I first walked into the Bodleian Library set, it took my breath away. The attention to detail that our designer James North has is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on a production. I remember trying to hush people when we were in there before I thought, ‘Oh yeah, this isn’t an actual library!’
Do you enjoy doing stunts?
I have been in a lot of action films, so I’ve done a lot of stunts in the past. I was in a film called Number Four where I was either flipping upside down on wires or training with a stunt team for three months.
What was your favourite location to film in?
The house, that is Matthew Clairmont’s (a vampire Bioche-mistry professor, played by Matthew Goode) home is this beautiful place called The Old Lodge. They had peacocks walking in the front yard and a big fireplace as you walked in. It was just kooky. Streams on Sony Liv.
On her role
“Diana’s dynamic, hyper-intellectual and an incredibly powerful witch.”