'Strange Angel' star Amara Zaragoza sang a cappella naked in public to get over stage fright
After an impressive first season, 'Strange Angel' premiered June 13 with its second season and saw the return of some of the stars who contributed to make the first season a success. One of the stars who returns after playing an integral role in season 1 is Amara Zaragoza.
Zaragoza garnered positive acclaim for her role in the 2006 horror drama, 'Hatchet'. She also boasts of an accomplished CV in TV shows. In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), the 38-year-old spoke about her recurring role as Joan in 'Strange Angel', the challenges of playing her character, and her working relationship with the cast
'Strange Angel' is an American historical period drama based on the biography 'Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons' by George Pendle and was created by Mark Heyman. According to Zaragoza, her character Joan is more involved in life in the new season. "Joan gets down off the Altar and is more involved in life. She’s teaching naked yoga, she’s going to work and she’s handing out drugs. She’s a more complete person," Zaragoza explained.
Her character Joan is one of the characters who is part of the rituals in the mysterious world that includes sex magic rituals at night. When asked about why she would find Joan fascinating, Zaragoza said that she had been interested in playing such a role for a long time. "That was such an interesting time period (the 1930s) to be so outside the box. There’s a movie called Inauguration Of The Pleasure Dome by Kenneth Anger that was an example I was drawing from for this character," she added.
She was all praise for her co-star, Rupert Friend, who played Ernest Donovan, the protagonist, Jack Parsons' (Jack Reynor) friend in the series. "I loved Rupert's character, and it was fun to watch him cracking jokes one minute and then being such a deep character the next," Zaragoza remarked. She also showered praise on her co-stars: "The cult members got close very fast. We’re all Strangels. We had fun getting weird and laughing."
"The costume designer, JR was super inspirational and involved in the characters, I love her! Greg Wise, the High Priest, made the really uncomfortable sex scenes much more bearable by being so professional and safe...literally supporting my injured leg during a scene. Everyone seemed so happy to be doing something a little strange," the actor added.
Zaragoza has played vivid roles throughout her TV career and confessed that she would usually play sexy characters. But 'Strange Angel', she says was a lot more challenging. "For this role, I got to learn, research, and stretch. I had power. I had a scene where I am chanting naked. In real life, I’m a musician but I had stage fright with singing. So, the first time I ever sang in public was a cappella and naked! The perfect way to get over fear," she signed off.
Season 2 of 'Strange Angel” is streaming now on CBS All Access.
