Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels art

‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ shifts the action from Victorian England to 1938 Los Angeles and focuses on (of all things) the building of the Arroyo Seco Parkway.  While the new series will address issues like “the worldwide resurgence of political extremism, atavistic nationalism, dangerous demagoguery, and the vehement racism and antisemitism,” it will still be a horror series, and bringing that aspect of the show to life will be Natalie Dormer, who plays shapeshifting demon, Magda.

Dormer calls Magda an “agent of chaos” who will “sow the seeds of disorder.”  As she stated, at its core, ‘City of Angels’ is about the “demonization of the other.”  Magda will have three different forms and as Dormer says:

“The audience will discover who those identities are as they continue to watch the show.”

As for portraying the character in her various forms, Dormer calls that a “delicious, multi­dimensional thrill… [and a] dream come true as an actor.”

“There was an opportunity to get in the dressing-up box and play a range of iterations. You have a number of characters all under the guise Magda morphs into for the price of one… every good protagonist needs an antagonist.

“We can heighten the life and death and the violence by using a supernatural figure within the storytelling. She brings the sauce, basically, is what I’m telling you.”

Get a load of Dormer bringing the sauce in these two pictures of her in costume, via EW:

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels – Natalie Dormer – PHOTO: JUSTIN LUBIN/SHOWTIME
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels – Natalie Dormer – PHOTO: JUSTIN LUBIN/SHOWTIME

Dormer went on to say:

“She’s fundamentally a skeptic of humanity. She says in the first episode, ‘I give human beings a choice, but they choose time and time again to be seduced by the more baser, selfish roles.’”

Magda’s foil will be her sister, Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), the Holy Angel of Death, who has faith in humanity.

“For all of us in the current climate, wanting to believe in humanity, it’s an interesting argument.”

Showtime has not announced when ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ will be released.  What do you think so far?