Interview: Emily Piggford

We had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Piggford who can currently be seen playing Wendy on the CW show Warigami.

Wendy Ohata has just made three startling realizations. One, she has a twin brother. Two, she’s a kami-jin — a descendent of an ancient Japanese people who can turn paper into deadly weapons. And three, there’s a kami-jin warrior named Sadako hunting her down for reasons she doesn’t understand.

Check out the show here and keep reading to hear all about her role.

What can you tell us about your character Wendy in Warigami?
Wendy is a warrior and a planner; ferocious, courageous and studios. She’s skilled in martial arts and also has the magic ability to turn paper into weapons– a power she shares with her twin brother, Vincent (Kai Bradbury.) She and Vincent were orphaned and separated as toddlers and almost forgot the other existed. The series starts with the siblings reuniting, joined by Vincent’s brother-by-choice, Mark (Akiel Julien). Together they find themselves facing down a secret and ominous Japanese organization who possess the same superpower.

What drew you to the role?
Not to be cheeky, but truly: see above! I got so pumped up reading Wendy’s character description and by the fact that in addition to all of her incredible qualities and abilities, she was also specifically of Japanese descent and in a lead role. I was so excited by the prospect of getting to train in martial arts and perform stunts and fight choreography and be in a fantastical action series with aspects inspired by Japanese culture! The fangirl in me was also very excited by this “origami weapon” concept, wondering how we’d manage that behind the scenes and how it would look onscreen after VFX etc were done. I was hooked on multiple fronts.

Did you have a favorite scene (that you can talk about) filming?
I loved filming the katana fight, I loved filming everything that happens in the main hall of the library, but one of my favourite scenes was actually a conversation between Wendy and Sadako (played by Miho Suzuki). We were generally working at high energy for the shoot– fight scenes, quick dialogue, comedy… This was a simple moment of private conversation where the dynamic between the characters shifts. I really enjoy doing intimate scenes like that and Miho is so wonderful to work with! It was satisfying and refreshing in a way to just turn down the volume and dial in with her, especially since Wendy and Sadako are usually trying to attack or intimidate each other haha, which was also fun.

Did you have any martial arts experience before this?
I did karate when I was about… five? Haha, that was it for martial arts training for me before studying taekwondo for the shoot! I’ve studied dance in various styles since I was four and have experience in dramatic combat (hand-to-hand, sword, rapier-dagger), but I deeply thank our stunt coordinator Master Chang for his guidance and for granting us access to his taekwondo academy, Black Belt World, to begin training.

Actors tend to be multi-hyphenate these days– do you want to direct as well as act?
Yes I do. As well as acting, I would love to direct and write. In terms of writing, I feel I’ve been percolating for about the past ten years and am now feeling the stories forming. In terms of directing, whenever I have the opportunity, I love to observe the workings of a set, of pre and post-production, to better understand what goes into making a show come to life and, specifically, what the responsibilities of a director are. As an actor, I have the opportunity to experience firsthand the ways and actor-director relationship can form and the various methods of communication there are to reach the desired performance. To me, directing is truly such a combination of technical understanding and specificity, vast amounts of imagination, and decisiveness as well as empathy. And the ability to communicate in all these areas! Huge respect for directors and much gratitude for all the wonderful ones I’ve gotten to work with. (Shoutout to Warigami director, Jason Lapeyre!)