She’s adorable, she’s great at looking terrified in those trailers for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (sorry, too terrified to see it in the theater), and she’s been working on the pilot for Powers, which is based on the award-winning comic and graphic novel series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming.
Now she’s talking about Powers, and beyond the genuinely sweet 12-year-old vantage-point of the practicalities of the work, she has some encouraging things to say about the authenticity of the production.
First, here’s another quick reminder about the storyline of the potential series, from the FX press release:
Powers is a high concept crime procedural where the detectives police the brutal and sensational crimes surrounding super power beings, while illuminating the weaknesses and strengths of humanity in the process. Powers follows the life of “Christian Walker” (Jason Patric), a homicide detective devoted solely to cases that involve “powers” (people with superpowers). The pilot also stars Lucy Punch (Bad Teacher) as “Deena Pilgrim,” Walker’s partner; Charles S. Dutton (Roc) as Walker’s indefatigable boss, “Captain Cross”; and Bailee Madison (Just Go With It) as “Calista,” an acerbic 10-year-old girl drawn into Walker’s life.
She told Spinoff:
“I love Calista! When you first see her in the beginning of the show, there’s already kind of a thought, like there’s something different about her. She has a secret,” Madison explained. “The truth is that she does, and we don’t reveal it in the pilot.”
“If the show does get picked up, there are some really fun things that my character is able to do. She’s such a sweet girl, but in the same way she’ll kick some butt if she needs to. She’s kind of raising herself in a way and … she’s got such spunk, some kind of sarcastic energy, but in a cute way, in a fun way that’s appropriate.”
The young actress admitted she hadn’t read the comic before she landed the role. “They handed me the comic book when I auditioned for it. I always make that mistake, if I audition for a book series or anything like that, I always make the mistake of reading it [and then I don’t get it],” she said. “So I didn’t touch the comic book, I left it in the back seat of the car and when I finally got the part, I ran down to the car and got the comic book and was like ‘I’m in the comic book!’ So that was super-exciting.”
Madison couldn’t read the comic book as-is due to the language, so she needed to bring in some expert, outside help to do her research. “My solution is I take a Sharpie marker, I give it to my brother and he just goes over all the bad words. That way I can still read it!”
Madison described her costume as having a “layered Chinese look,” which she called “neat” because it makes her feel “separated from all of the other kids.” She said the treatment is spot-on, though, a faithful adaptation that fans of the comic should appreciate.
“It is so true to the comic,” she said. “It’s like you’re watching a comic book. Everybody looks the same [as they do on the page]. I had pitch-black bangs, I was wearing a wardrobe that you’d imagine her to have, and all the detailed sound and special effects are so realistic that I think when you see it, you’re just going to want to hit pause so you can look at all the details.”
The pilot of Powers is currently in production for FX.
