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EXCLUSIVE | 'The Alienist: Angel of Darkness' star Brittany Batchelder loves Joanna's role, says 'she a heavy hitter'

Ahead of the season premiere, MEA WorldWide caught up with Batchelder and the actress weighed in on the latest installment, her role and what's in store for the audience this season
PUBLISHED JUL 20, 2020
(TNT)
(TNT)

Brittany Marie Batchelder's Joanna Crawford was an impactful character in 'The Alienist'. She was introduced in the opening season as the niece of Cyrus Montrose (Robert Wisdom) and is all set to play a recurring role in 'Angel of Darkness'. Known for her no-nonsense attitude and investigative journalism skills, Joanna is all set to play a pivotal role in the current season. Ahead of the season premiere, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) caught up with Batchelder and the actress weighed in on the latest installment, her role and what's in store for the audience this season.

How does it feel to be back for a new season?

It feels amazing. I'm really excited to get back in the groove of this show and to be able to portray the character that I'm playing and tell her story and go deeper and develop it in a deeper manner. I'm honored. Honestly, it feels like we time travel and it's honestly a dream.

What made you say yes to playing Joanna?

I immediately connected with the writing. I always know when I really love a character because I'm preparing for the role. It's always like, it just clicks and falls right into place. And that's how it was when I was first reading the script for Joanna...she's such a strong character, she has so many strong views, she's independent and she's always impeccably dressed. And personally, related to all of those qualities so much because in real life I'm always dressed to the night.

I have a lot of strong views. I have my own business and company for artists that I do here in LA. So there were just a lot of connections and similarities when I first read for her, but it was so easy to connect to the dialogue because I am a pretty strong individual. It was very easy to connect and I saw so many similarities, so it made it so much easier to go out there and kill it at the audition. She's my favorite character by far that I've played.

She has some breakthroughs that are kind of unheard of for a woman of color at that time.(TNT)

Can you take us through the research and preparation you went through to play Joanna?

I researched quite a bit first season and the second season I dived into it a lot more because they added a lot more layers to my character this season. And I kind of work with the guy that plays my uncle, Cyrus (Rob wisdom). I partnered with him a little bit with my research because his character is based on a real person in New York. I don't want to give too much. I'm not gonna give it away, but his character is based on it. A real character in New York who was very progressive at that time.

And he would just share articles with me, share some stuff that made it a little bit easier to get some inspiration, because I do believe they got this character, Joanna from someone real in history. A lot of my inspiration came from Michelle Obama and just some very powerful female icons who have inspired me in my real journey and going back in history and just doing some research there.

So it wasn't too challenging as I was able to bounce ideas off of my uncle because we had to also develop our backstory and our chemistry. So that made it a bit easier. It was a very collaborative experience even with our showrunner and everyone involved and that made it a little easier to kind of tap into that world in that time period.

What's in store for Joanna this season?

This season she's still pursuing her career as a writer and a journalist. So she's still trying to navigate that pursuit but she's also just graduated college. She's coming out of college and just trying to find her way in the world. Her uncle Cyrus is her only family and they have some really great stuff going on this season. She and her uncle have progressed a lot since the first season. I think a lot of the viewers will be surprised by just their way of life this season.

And she also gets some great opportunities this season that you'll see...she has some breakthroughs that are kind of unheard of for a woman of color at that time. She also gets her hands dirty and ends up kind of becoming a part of a team while they investigate.

There's a lot of women this season on the show more so than the first season. So I think the viewers are gonna get a whole different dose of energy  (Credit: Tijana Vukovic)

The audience called you an impact character in season 1

She does come in and she really makes Dr Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl)  switch the way he treats his workers and the people that are surrounded by him and his household from the conversation I have with him. And I just love how they wrote it. I loved it. It was so polite, but it was still very powerful.

She wanted to make sure he understood what she was saying because it's been going on clearly for so long that she had had enough. I just loved that she came in and she was a heavy hitter. She really was. And I connected with that on so many levels. I'm excited to see that the viewers definitely noticed that as well. That makes me so happy.

What can the audience expect from 'The Alienist: Angel of Darkness'?

I think that this season you're gonna see a lot of similarities to what's going on in our world right now, which is so interesting. We're kind of retelling history on the show, but a lot of it is actually happening right now. So I think people will be shocked to see we're not too far off, unfortunately from what we're actually showing in the show this season.

There's a lot of women this season on the show more so than the first season. So I think the viewers are gonna get a whole different dose of energy as far as the women who are coming in this season. And I just think it is definitely going to keep you on your toes. It's going to keep you on the edge of your seat just like the first season, but they shift gears this season. So I think people are going to be in for a surprise.

'The Alienist: Angel of Darkness' airs Sundays 9 pm ET on TNT. 

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