Anna Silk talks about the fifth and final season of Lost Girl

The fifth and final season of Showcase’s hit series Lost Girl kicked off on Sunday with Bo, played by Anna Silk, trying to find out what happened to her dear friend Kenzi (Ksenia Solo), after the season four finale where Kenzi sacrificed herself to close a portal to the afterlife.

Bo’s search will take her to Hel and back again as she tries to save the people she cares about, but there will be consequences and decisions for all of Bo’s friends to make as the series draws to a close.

Last week I spoke to Lost Girl star Anna Silk about season five, what it was like filming the final season, and filming the last episode in particular. Here’s what she had to say about the experience, including a few thoughts on how the series will end, and which season she wishes she could experience again. Plus, at the end of the article, you can listen to a clip from the interview.

The fifth season of Lost Girl airs Sundays at 9:00 PM (ET/PT), starting on December 7, on Showcase in Canada. Season 5 will debut on SyFy in the United States in 2015.

Question: With Bo missing her heart, how different is she?

Anna Silk: “I feel like the heartbreak that happens at the end of season 4–you know, it’s just tremendous loss for Bo and for everybody–and we lose Hale, and of course what happens to Kenzi in the last episode, it really sort of shakes Bo’s world. And I think that Bo feels tremendously responsible obviously, for those losses. So, she’s certainly heartbroken, but also has this new sort of drive in her, and is on a mission very much at the beginning of season 5 to right those wrongs and get answers, and get them quickly. So, we go into season 5 with a lot of that kind of energy and force from Bo, so it’s a very high-energy first episode.”

Q: There is a vision of the afterlife in the first episode of season 5. Considering Bo’s life, actually visiting the afterlife seems like a funny place to be, but it makes a lot of sense at the same time. How do you think Bo takes being there?

Silk: “Well, you know, in the Fae world, nothing’s a tremendous surprise. Although she always does seem a little surprised. I think that she kind of learned to kind of take things as they come, and I feel like her drive to find the answers by far supersedes where she is. But, I do think there’s a new caution to where she is too because, you know, when Bo started out in season one, it was just like, ‘Okay, I’m Fae. Okay, I’m a succubus and I’m Fae. Okay, there’s light and dark–okay, I got it.’ You know? But it was so much more than that, and continues to be, so I think this is a perfect example of just how vast the world is, which is why I think we have the best playground to play in on Lost Girl, because creatively they’ve taken the show into so many different directions, and this is a perfect example of that.”

Q: You speaking about light and dark, there’s the suggestion already that she’s tied to the dark, but do you think there’s one side that maybe is more appropriate for Bo?

Silk: “I just feel like the very fabric of her being is that she’s unaligned–that she stays true to that. I mean, yes, she does have more light friends [laughs], but as we’ve learned as the seasons went on, light doesn’t mean good, and dark doesn’t necessarily mean pure evil. There’s many shades of grey to each character, and so, Bo is that too.”

“Bo is so pure, in terms of her beliefs and her hopefulness. I feel like Bo’s always been–there’s a naivete about Bo that liked because she’s still kind of new in the Fae world, but as we get to the closing in season five, you can see that she’s a lot more seasoned now.”

Q: Even the first episode, we see that right away.

Silk: “Exactly, yeah. I actually saw the screener last night as well, since I hadn’t seen it yet, and it was great to see an episode that looked as great as it felt to shoot.”

Q: On a more personal front, I wanted to ask if you becoming a parent has changed the way you look at the character or the show?

Silk: “Yeah, definitely. I mean, and I had heard other mothers say this before, and parents really, but particularly mothers because they usually ask this question of actresses–and having child really opens up your heart in a big way. It’s this new love that you’ve never experienced before.”

“I feel like when you have that kind of love, you have a greater understanding of heartbreak, because you can understand what it would be like if that were ever taken away, for whatever reason. So, I feel like, emotionally, maybe things are more accessible in a different way, I guess–in a new way. Not necessarily in a better way, but just in a new way.”

“In terms of actually working, you know, as a lead in a show and having a child, it makes you razor focused on what you’re doing because you don’t have a moment to waste. I think, ‘What did I do with all my time before,’ you know? ‘What was I doing?’ I should have been doing so much more. [laughs] Or sleeping or something.”

“But when I was on-set I was so focused on the scenes at hand because–and preparation for those scenes, and learning lines, and I was so focused–because when I was not doing that, I was a mom, so I had to be very focused on my son and present for him. So it definitely changes the focus level, and it makes you want to be better at what you do, so there were a lot of amazing changes.”

Q: I know what you’re saying because I have a 16-month-old, so I know exactly where you’re coming from, and you can’t believe how you had so much time before.

Silk: “Yeah, I know. I know. [Laughs]”

“But, you know, before my son was born, I got a really great piece of advice, because I remember saying, ‘How am I going to fit a child into this crazy life,’ and they were like, ‘You don’t do that, you fit your life around your child,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. You’re right.’ It’s a total shift in focus and you do–you manage to do it, you know? And maybe you do it even better.”

Q: So then, in terms of the show, you’ve obviously shot the final episode, what does that feel like now? It seems hard to imagine how you would approach that.

Silk: “We knew relatively early on in the season that it was going to be our last season, so we kind of got used to that idea–it took a little bit of an adjustment, and I think we approached it–I know I approached it–just with a lot of joy and being very present because we knew it was the last one, and we knew it would be the last time that, you know–Bo looked at Lauren, or Dyson hugged Bo, or whatever it is. You know, I’m just making things up really, but we knew it would be those last moments that were so special.”

“But I feel like we were all generally very good about recognizing where we were at every step of the way. So, apart from that last season, and certainly the last episode, we just wanted to make sure that we did justice to what Michael Grassi, our showrunner for this year, created, and what our creative producers and everybody involved with the show–we wanted to leave a legacy that was true to what we started, and I feel like we did that–really well.”

Q: Now that it’s all behind you, are there any particular season or moments that you wish you could relive because maybe you didn’t realize at the time how great they were?

Silk: “I think season one, I would love to do again–not that I would love to do it again–like, film it–because we’ve done that, but the experience of it. We just didn’t know where we were at, at that point, but that’s part of the reason it was special.”

“I feel like every season had its own special things that happened on screen and off screen, and it just evolved exactly how it was meant to–it just felt exactly right. And season five is really–maybe it’s because we just filmed it–but I think it’s my favorite season, just because of the direction we go [in] and the ending we tell.”

Q: That brings me to my next question: is this the kind of show that ends on a positive note, or is there a bit of doom and gloom at the end, or how could you hint toward the ending?

Silk: “The only thing I can really say is that we all can’t forget that we’re in a Fae world that has tremendous consequences. So, I don’t think that Lost Girl should end wrapped in a little red bow, and, the last few episodes–it has a very fierce ending.”

“Just as each character has brought so much intensity to the show, I feel like they all end with the same kind of intensity. It’s so hard to talk about without being vague, but there’s big consequences, there’s big decisions that are made, and there’s a lot of love to share as well. These people mean a lot to each other.”

Q: What was the ending like to you all as actors? What were the last couple of days like on set?

Silk: “A couple of weeks before we finished, people were starting to kind of worry about the ending and I guess what it means for all of us–we’re all actors who worry about our next job, I guess [Laughs]. But, I remember having conversations sort of collectively and saying that we can’t let our fear about what’s next ruin what’s happening right now, and we have to just really be present for this. And, we were. I was bound and determined to be, and I was bound and determined to create an environment where we all were. And I feel like we all were.”

“The very last scene was hard to film. We filmed the last scene of the actual episode last. It was tough because it was the last time we were going to hear action in that environment, and then all those sets would be gone, but I feel like we walked away so proud and so filled with so much, you know, pride and joy for what we did that that was the experience. It felt like we just grabbed it by the horns and said let’s do this, let’s end this the right way.”

Q: So what comes next for you? Are you taking a break, or what do you want to do now?

Silk: “I am, yes. My plan is to take a break and be a mom and spend some real quality time with the fam, and I have been, which has been really nice.”

“I’ve been reading other projects and that kind of thing, but really my intention is to take a break and recharge a bit as well.”

Q: Well, thank-you very much and I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks of the new episodes and the final season as well.

Silk: “Me too! Thank-you Andrew, and thanks so much for all the support over the seasons. You’ve been really great to us.”