BBC Cult - Printer Friendly Version
Mercedes McNab - Interviewed at Starfury Bad Girls, November 2001

Something for everyone
  What makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer appeal to such a wide age range?(from Rachel)

I think it�s because it�s young people but dealing with adult matters. Children can relate to the action sequences, and [the themes of] the young girl in college or high school and the group that doesn�t like her and the group that does. Anyone can relate to that because everyone�s been in school.

The older groups can relate to Buffy on perhaps a deeper level. She has to deal with being kind of an outcast and not having much of a youth because she�s given such a hard thing to deal with, [that is] being a Slayer. And there�s the sexuality in the show that adults can deal with.

Won�t get beat again.
  Do you think Harmony will get tougher as her character develops? (from Shona R)

She�s getting tougher since she became a vampire. She did take up learning how to fight, and she�s reading books. She�s learning how to stand up for herself and I think she�s grown a lot of strength in the last two years, especially standing up to Spike and finally deciding to leave him. She has been getting stronger as she goes, so hopefully it will continue.

LA reunion
  Do you prefer playing Harmony on Buffy or on Angel? (from Tim Gautier)

I like Harmony on Buffy better because she gets to work with Spike, and I personally love working with Spike all the time.

But I think Harmony�s character can do well on either show because she has Charisma to work with on Angel and that�s fun because it�s kind of her reunion of High School. On Buffy she gets to experience new things with her relationship with Spike.

Being Buffy or beating Buffy?
  You originally auditioned for the part of Buffy. Are you happy with how things worked out?

Well I wouldn�t be complaining if I�d got to be Buffy, I�ll tell you that now, but I can�t complain that I get to play Harmony either.

I love my character, I think I�ve grown into her as the years have gone by. She�s expanded and I never perceived in the beginning that Harmony would be the character that she is today, so I can�t complain.

Evil allies
  If you could choose any evil being for Harmony to join forces with in an attempt to kill the Slayer who would you choose and why? (from Lizzie)

Anything in the world, oh gosh. I think what would help Harmony a lot is somebody invisible. That would be interesting. Buffy�s never really had to deal with an invisible being so that might work, if we actually got that together.

Snogging Spike
  What was it like to snog James Masters? (from Tanya)

It was fab, let me tell you.

It is embarrassing to kiss someone with people five feet away. There�s about fifty people and there�s people fixing your make-up and all of that sort of thing. So it�s a little unnerving but it�s fun. We just laugh about it and make fun of one another and give each other breath mints as a joke. It�s fun, he�s a good kisser.

Mean makeup
  How difficult is the process of being made up into a vampire?

The make-up now used to take three hours to do but now it only takes approximately an hour and a half. Then the contacts and the teeth [take] another five minutes, say. I don�t mind the make-up at all, you barely even notice it when it�s on your face. Sometimes when you frown you can feel it moving but I don�t mind it at all.

My friends get really scared when they see me in the make-up. It�s fun, I like it, it�s cool to see yourself in a different perspective.

A successful after-life
  Do you think you�d still be appearing on the show if your character hadn�t been made into a vampire? (from Lisa)

I don�t think so because there weren�t a lot of things for my character to expand upon.

Personally I thought she was a little stale and boring but now she�s a vampire there are so many different facets to her personality. Like the strength that she�s acquired through being a vampire. That�s a totally different facet of her personality that I don�t think you would ever have been able to experience had she not been turned into a vampire.

Alter-ego
  If you could be any other character on Buffy or Angel, who would you like to play? (from Nichole McNab)

Spike. (Laughs) I know that sounds crazy but I think it would be a lot of fun to play him. He gets to do all the fun stuff, the fighting, and singing in the last episode. His character is really funny. And he gets all the ladies too, so he�s the man about town.

Girl-fight fun
  Tell us about your fantastic fight sequence with Xander which took in hair pulling and slapping.

Yeah, and shin kicking. That was actually one of my favourite on-scene fights.

I like to appear tough but that one was a lot of fun because I�ve never actually been in a girl fight so I think that�s probably the closest to it I�ll ever come. It was really funny, in slow motion with hair pulling. I think I got kicked in the shins, and we wore knee pads or shine guards for this which was kind of ridiculous seeing it was just such a cheesy fight.

Did you have a hair pulling stunt double for that or was it all your own work?

No it was all me, I did all my work. It was really tough. I had a lot of bruises when I was done (laughs).

Fan-tastic
  What does it feel like to have loads of fans from all over the world? (from Darren)

Oh gosh, I don�t know if I have loads of fans.

I read all my fan mail and I try to respond to everything, and l like to hear what people have to say. I think it�s really encouraging to know that there are people out therethat like my work. It gives you reason to keep going.

Born actress
  What advice would you give to young aspiring actresses?

There are always stories about people being discovered just walking down the street, and I�m sure that happens all the time, but I personally have known since the day I was born this is what I wanted to do.

I still love it to this day and I know I wouldn�t do it if it wasn�t something that I was so passionate about, because it�s so hard to get into, it�s a struggle. And to continue working successfully is also a struggle so if I didn�t love every second of it I would find something else to do.

Evil, but harmless
  Why do you think Harmony�s lasted so long? (from Emma the Vampire Slayer)

I think her character�s really funny. It�s comic relief for the show, because it deals with so many heavy issues and there�s so many ghouls that are actually really evil.

Harmony�s evil but she�s not really a threat to anybody so she�s just funny. She makes everyone laugh at the audacity of her character.

You don�t think she could be Buffy�s arch nemesis then?

Not yet. Hopefully she�ll continue to grow stronger and keep learning how to fight and maybe one of these days she�ll get at least one good punch in.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
  If you, like Harmony, couldn�t see your reflection, would it drive you crazy?(from James Verdegem)

I don�t know how I�d get ready in the morning if I couldn�t see what I looked like.

In one way I think it would be kind of liberating because you wouldn�t always have to be so concerned with how you looked and if your make-up was on straight and what not. At the same time I�d be a little scared to walk out in public not knowing what I was looking like. So I don�t know, I don�t think I�d do too well without being able to see myself in the mirror once in a while.

Trend setter
  When you were at school yourself, were you the leader of the pack or did you follow someone else�s fashion?

Just looking in fashion magazines is where I get inspiration but I always think I�m ahead of the curve with my fashion sense. I try to be anyway. I think I�m a leader as opposed to a follower.

Should I stay or should I go?
  What�s your current ambition - a larger part on Buffy or moving into other projects? (from Angel)

I enjoy film a lot so I�d like to branch out and do more film. But I always want to continue on Buffy because Joss and all the writers have been so loyal to me that I can only return the favour and be loyal to them. I love my character and I hope she continues to grow and expand over the next couple of years.