Meet Fern Part 1: Bianca Melchior On Finding Fern, 1920s Magic, and Secrets in The Way Home Season 4
Joining an already established series in its final season is no small feat, but Bianca Melchior makes it look easy in The Way Home. As the younger version of Fern Landry in 1925, she adds a new layer of mystery, ambition, and heart to the show. In part one of our two-part interview for Pop Culture Planet, Melchior opens up about her whirlwind casting process, the magic behind the scenes, and finding her place in the Landry family.
Pop Culture Planet: You're joining the cast of The Way Home for the fourth and final season. What was it like stepping into this world that's already so established?
Bianca Melchior: Oh my god. It's been an absolute dream. This show is certainly one of the most treasured creative experiences that I have ever had in my life. From a creative standpoint, I'm so grateful to have been trusted with Fern. She's so, so special to me, and she's grown me as a person in so many ways. Even more from a human standpoint, the people that I have gotten to meet and work with and get to know are so important to me. I really feel like I have a found family in them. Everyone made me feel a part of that family really immediately. I remember, not even like a day or so maybe after I was cast, I had a call with our showrunners, the amazing Alexandra Clarke and Heather Conkie, and I just felt like I was on the phone with people that I had known for years. That ended up being the case for me with every person really that I had the privilege to work with on the show.
I also feel like I got to experience the best of both worlds because the show has been running successfully for four seasons now and it's a really well oiled machine. They really know what they're doing. We also have so many returning crew members from season one up until now. It really says a lot about the culture behind the scenes. That really comes from the top down with our creators Marly Reed and Heather and Alex. Heather and Alex, who are a mother-daughter duo. It's very nurturing and thoughtful and a very human-first environment to play in.
There's also the exciting part of this series, which is that every season we get introduced to a new era. So there's always something new for everyone to experience. The 1920s is just such an exciting time to play in. The attention to detail that was put into this era across all departments, from cameras to lighting to our amazing wardrobe team and hair and makeup, they just have really outdone themselves. I think it's incredibly meticulous and thoughtful and such a dream playground for an actor. I'm really proud of our collective work and so excited for it to be making its way into the world now.
PCP: You're playing the younger version of Grandma Fern in 1925. What was the audition process like for you? And then once you got the role, how did you prepare to step into her shoes? Especially because you're playing someone who we've already been introduced to in another time period.
BM: My casting process was a complete whirlwind. It happened in the span of three weeks and it was really just this perfect timeline that ended up working out so cosmically. I was in England, in London, at the time, working on another project that I happened to be wrapping about four days before The Way Home was starting to film. It was perfect timing.
Three weeks before that, I got a tape come through for Greta Smith, who I quickly learned was Miss Fern Landry. I just remember thinking when I sat down with the audition package how thoughtful it was. The character description, the storyline, the notes that they gave us. There was just no shadow of a doubt in my mind who this character was to me and how I would interpret her. That always feels so great. We don't have that much time as actors to turn around these auditions, you know? That was the theme of my casting experience, certainly. The category is: we have no time. So I really just dove in because there were a lot of technical elements too to consider. Originally I auditioned the character with a transatlantic accent so I walked around the house all day saying, “Oh, darling” to get myself into it, which we ended up scrapping. Then, of course, I needed to take a look at the amazing Jill Frappier's work in season 3, and I had to sing a song as well. I think I sang “Dream A Little Dream.” There was a lot to digest and to do. I sent it off and tried not to think too much about it, but this one was really sticky. I just felt so immediately connected to her when I first read the script. I just remember feeling this really distinct glimmer and just an attachment and a connection to her. Then maybe about a week and a half or so later, I got the call from my agent that I had a chemistry read with the team and with Chyler Leigh, who I love so, so much. I had already been very familiar with Chyler’s work prior to auditioning for the show and had such a deep admiration and respect for the way she offers her humanity through her craft. I remember just thinking to myself, “If this isn't meant to go my way, then at the very most I will have had a masterclass in acting getting to read opposite her. It was really such a treat and the whole chemistry read was wonderfully warm and felt like there was such a reciprocal sense of collaboration and respect and curiosity and creativity. It was just so much fun.
I waited over the weekend and I found out on Monday that I had got the role. The turnaround was crazy because I was wrapping up that project in the UK. So I think I shot like Wednesday, Thursday, flew out Friday, and was on set as Fern Landry on the Tuesday, which was wild. And then as far as […] prepping, the interesting thing about The Way Home is that we get access to the scripts as we go. So I never really knew what Fern's full arc was off of the top. I had some kind of an idea of it because I would talk to Alex and Heather, but there's lots of information that they keep from us intentionally. It’s a beautiful gift as an actor because you really get to live in the unknown of what the character truly doesn't know. So it was unfolding for me in real time and was just a really beautiful lesson in trusting my instincts and that glimmer that I felt initially. There was something within me that innately understood who this person is and trusting our incredible team who know where to steer the ship.
Then I guess just researching the 20s and imagining spending time. Just imagining what it would be like to live in that time and how Fern's personality type, who’s such a go-getter and such a very forward-facing person, would fit in that into that ecosystem. […] Like her favorite book is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos, so Alex gave me a copy of that. It was also important too to study Jill's work in season 3 because she's already beautifully established this character. There were certain mannerisms and things, like especially the way she says “Kitty Kat” that I really wanted to honor. It's been funny now, seeing the episodes come out, these sort of natural shared things that we've been doing without knowing. There's a a mirrored scene where we say “And when exactly are you from, deary” and there's a giggle that we both do, but that wasn't discussed or talked about. It just kind of happened. This show has so much magic to it, so none of that stuff really surprises us anymore. But [it’s] the most beautiful whirlwind ever. I'm so grateful.
PCP: We've just watched episode 2 where we really get to meet young Fern. She's a modern girl. She's more interested in the future than the past. It's interesting to think about how she hasn't time traveled like some of the other Landry’s have. If you were to have her jump in the pond and time travel to any timeline in the show, where do you think that she would go?
BM: Honestly, I think at this point in her journey, Fern is such a rule breaker. I feel like if anyone could convince the pond to let them go forward, it would be Fern Landry. I don't think she would go backwards at all. I think that she would want to go forwards. We see the beginnings of a beautiful friendship between Fern and Kitty Kat. I think she would want to go hang out in the present with Kitty Kat and learn about her life more viscerally the way Kat has been able to do that with her.
If I was choosing an era in the show, I think I would choose the 1800s. I think Fern and Susanna would get on well because I think they both have — I mean, so many of the Landry women have — that drive, that independence, and that ambition. I think they would get on well. I really like the idea of Susanna, Kitty Kat, and Fern getting up to no good in the 1800s.
PCP: Something that you mentioned that I think is so cool about this show is how much you see the women in the Landry family have in common. We get to see that Fern is a journalist just like Kat is. She's a performer, which is very on brand for the Landry family. I was wondering if you noticed any other parallels between Fern and the Landry women that maybe we haven't seen.
BM: Kat and Fern are both journalists and they have a beautiful shared sense of curiosity about the world and the people in it. [They have] a desire to amplify and preserve the stories and legacy of their family and their friends and people in the community and really put Port Haven on the map. I think another thing they all really share is that they're really deeply resilient women. There's a piece of that, for me, in their roots on the farm. It's a huge piece of their identity and it represents memory and roots and continuity. They're intimately familiar with the process of planting and tending and either enjoying the fruits of their labor or enduring through dry or difficult seasons. It builds a specific kind of sense of resiliency. These are women who walk through the world with soft hearts but really strong spines.
PCP: Like everyone in the Landry family, Fern is an incredible performer. So what was it like diving into that musical style of the 1920s?
BM: It was so fun. You’re right, the Landry family is no stranger to musical talent, for sure. It was so delightful. The style really fits like a glove to me. It feels really good in my voice. I enjoy singing it. All of our recording sessions were just so much fun. Our amazing showrunner Heather Conkie sits in on every one of our recording sessions and works with us and directs us. She's an incredibly talented vocalist and musician in and of itself. She's classically trained and has an incredible grip on style and texture and musicality and storytelling through song, so it was such a joy and we have an incredible musical team. Jen Pyken, our music supervisor, is a genius. And Keith Power, who does the score, is just so iconic and major. It was such a dream.
In episode [two], we get to experience Fern's first number “I'll See You In My Dreams.” […] Usually when you're doing music on a show, you'll do a recording session prior to filming and you have playback on the day and you lip-sync to it. I like to sing live because I think it's more authentic. It makes it read more authentically on screen. But we didn't have time. So I remember I had to do like a a recording on my phone. So it was kind of a backwards process of recording it roughly like that and then going into the studio and matching what we had done which was really cool.
PCP: I know people are dying for the music from this show. Do you have any hopes that maybe we'll get to see the music from all four seasons eventually out in the world where we can all listen to it?
BM: Yeah, I really do hope so because there are some gems throughout the season. Kat and Elliot (Evan Williams) do a cover of “Silver Springs” in like season [3]. It's so beautiful and Sadie [LaFlamme-Snow] has an incredible voice. Jordan [Doww]. I support the motion. This is my petition for Hallmark to feed the kids. Give them what they want.
PCP: There is a shocking engagement for Fern that I don't think any of us were expecting with Grayson Goodwin. But I also feel like there could be something brewing with this new temperance inspector Cliff Kane. What can you tease about the dynamic between the three of them?
BM: The stuff at Lingermore in this episode was some of the first stuff I actually shot. My first two days were all Lingermore stuff. […] I just have to say Dan Jeannotte, who plays Cliff Kane, and Gabe Hogan, who plays Grayson Goodwin, they're both just absolutely darlings to work with. Lots of laughs and good conversation behind the scenes and they're just such generous and thoughtful scene partners. I think Fern would be lucky to wind up with any one of them. I'm so excited for everyone to see them shine this season because they're truly amazing. The Way Home is certainly home to some love triangles. I think what's exciting about the 20s is that it'll give us an opportunity to explore a new angle on these founding families and their relationship to romantic love. I can't say much, but what I will say is that romantic love is one of our greatest teachers as humans. And to experience it deeply, I think really demands a level of presence and vulnerability that can only be theorized about on your own, but has to be really experienced in real time with someone. Romantic love really does become one of a few big drivers of Fern's evolution as a character. All of these characters are on their own unique journeys to find their way home. Finding Fern's way home through romantic love was a really beautiful and cathartic journey to go on as an actor and I'm excited for everyone to see how it unfolds.
PCP: One thing that I thought was really interesting is that when Fern first meets Kat, one of the things that she says is, "I don't think you're the one though. You're a girl after all." We've heard “The One” mentioned before by Fern in the 70s. Is there anything you can tease about what that could be referring to?
BM: Fern really loves her riddles and secrets. I can't say too much without spoiling the fun, but one of the things that I really love about the show is how it plays with perspective and surprises you. Fern is a part of the Landry family too. She's no stranger to the pond. She's been told stories of the magic of the pond since she was a little girl. What's interesting, especially this season, is how we get to explore the different ways in which different generations approach the pond and interpret the meaning of the pond, especially with the introduction of the 20s. People are always searching for answers and sometimes the past is asking just as many questions as the present. We'll be peeling back the onion to that deliciously slowly. I'm really excited for audiences to go on that journey this season ‘cause it's quite a ride.
PCP: Kat has come to the 1920s specifically on a mission. She's looking for Elliot's mom, Tessa Augustine. But I got to say at the end of this episode when she says Tessa's maiden named Cooper, I feel like Fern’s energy shifts. What can you tease? Does Fern know anything?
BM: I wish I could say more about that. What I'll say is sometimes moments like that are less about what someone knows and more about what they don't know.
New episodes of The Way Home season 4 air Sundays at 9pm on Hallmark Channel.
PCP: One thing that I thought was really interesting is that when Fern first meets Kat, one of the things that she says is, "I don't think you're the one though. You're a girl after all." We've heard “The One” mentioned before by Fern in the 70s. Is there anything you can tease about what that could be referring to?
BM: Fern really loves her riddles and secrets. I can't say too much without spoiling the fun, but one of the things that I really love about the show is how it plays with perspective and surprises you. Fern is a part of the Landry family too. She's no stranger to the pond. She's been told stories of the magic of the pond since she was a little girl. What's interesting, especially this season, is how we get to explore the different ways in which different generations approach the pond and interpret the meaning of the pond, especially with the introduction of the 20s. People are always searching for answers and sometimes the past is asking just as many questions as the present. We'll be peeling back the onion to that deliciously slowly. I'm really excited for audiences to go on that journey this season ‘cause it's quite a ride.
PCP: Kat has come to the 1920s specifically on a mission. She's looking for Elliot's mom, Tessa Augustine. But I got to say at the end of this episode when she says Tessa's maiden named Cooper, I feel like Fern’s energy shifts. What can you tease? Does Fern know anything?
BM: I wish I could say more about that. What I'll say is sometimes moments like that are less about what someone knows and more about what they don't know.
New episodes of The Way Home season 4 air Sundays at 9pm on Hallmark Channel.
