SDCC 2016: ‘The 100’ Star Lindsey Morgan Feels “Very Proud of Raven” After Season 3
Nora Dominick ’17/ Emertainment Monthly Co-Executive Stage Editor
Over the course of The 100, Raven Reyes has arguably gone through the most hardship. In three seasons, Raven survived crash landing on Earth, watching her only family die in front of her and has endured an injury leaving her handicapped. Raven’s strength and determination is a driving force on The 100 and a lot of that is thanks to Lindsey Morgan, who brings Raven to life.
At SDCC 2016, Lindsey Morgan sits down and talks about Raven’s season three storyline involving A.L.I.E, what it was like to perform Raven’s possession storyline and Raven’s character arc as a whole.
Whenever going into a new season of The 100, the question always remains, “Will Raven finally catch a break?” Although, Lindsey Morgan can’t guarantee that Raven will have an easier time in season 4, she does feel that Raven will be a different person when we see her again. Morgan says, “I think after season 3 we really touched on it in the finale, but we are really going to see what happens next and how the A.L.I.E possession and basically the A.L.I.E upgrade unfolds for Raven.”
If fans thought Raven would simply be fine after A.L.I.E took over her mind, they were wrong. Morgan says, “When Raven fought off A.L.I.E and forced her out, A.L.I.E wasn’t willing to go, so she left a little bit of A.L.I.E behind.” She continues saying, “That made her smarter than ever. Just her mind is in 5th gear now. She can code and she can understand this new technology and Becca’s work that no one else can.”
When fans catch up with Raven in season 4 of The 100, Morgan thinks they will see a different, even stronger, side to her. She says, “She’s smarter than ever and I think everything she also went through physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, you know she went to hell and back and she made it! I think just the human spirit, when it’s truly tested and even broken, but it comes back from that. It comes back stronger. It feels like the human bones. When they mend, they are stronger than ever.” Morgan continues saying, “She’s been through so much. Raven’s just evolved. She’s in a whole other place now. Raven’s done it all. She’s like, ‘I’ve been to hell and back and frankly it was kind of boring. What else do you got?'”
In season three of The 100 alone, Raven had to endure one of the most heartbreaking storylines. After succumbing to A.L.I.E and Jaha (Isaiah Washington) and taking the City of Light chip, A.L.I.E controlled Raven for most of the season. We asked Morgan what it was like to film those scenes where Raven was controlled by A.L.I.E. She says, “I’m always like ‘What are they gonna do now? We’ve done it all!’ Then when I saw that I was like, ‘What? I have to do what?’ And Jason’s [Rothenberg] like, ‘Yeah, yeah. It’s cool, it’s cool. It shoots tomorrow.’ I thought that was really, really fun.”
Morgan says the storyline brought something unique to the season and kept fans on their toes. She says, “When you’re on a show, especially a long term show, you’re so used to a certain character. So, getting a chance to, literally, be another character was just really fun.” She continues saying, “It was tough, but it was just exciting, as an acting challenge. It was such a cool thing to do with going in and out and having that captured or convey that different mind sleeping and swapping. So, I just thought it was super cool and super fun. It made me feel a little psycho, like schizo, but I was like, ‘Cool! Let’s do it!'”
As previously mentioned, Raven has undergone a significant character arc over the last three seasons of The 100. Major changes, both physically and emotionally, happen to Raven quite often. Morgan says she’s been in love with the character since the very beginning. She discusses Raven’s journey on The 100 and she says one thing remains the same: “She’s such a badass and so strong. Knifing Bellamy, which I love. Kickass girl. I love it. Then when she started getting beat down, after beat down, beat down and she’s trying and trying it gets heavy and it gets hard.”
Morgan reflects on playing Raven during season three saying it was very hard, emotionally, for her. She reminisces saying, “Last season was the darkest for her and just me as a person, it was probably one of my darkest moments for personal reasons. So, it sucked. It weighs heavy on your heart.” Morgan continues saying, “There’s so much trauma Raven goes through. I’m kind of method in a sense where I trick my body into trauma because your body doesn’t know it’s not in trauma. If you start breathing hard, your body with react. So my body was like, ‘What’s happening?'”
Although both Raven and Lindsey Morgan struggled last season, both have come out stronger than ever. “After coming out of it and seeing it all, I feel very proud of my work and I feel very proud of Raven and proud to be challenged. I feel a little evolved.” Morgan says. She reflects saying, “Like wow, I went through some sh*t and I didn’t die, like Raven. I get her on a whole new level now. I’m grateful versus stressed out.”