Alexandra Daddario on wild Mayfair Witches finale and why Ciprien can't compare to Lasher

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Mayfair Witches season 1, episode 8.

After a season of discovery, dysfunctional family dynamics, and a bit of debauchery, Dr. Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario) is finally ready to focus on herself. Daddario told EW that after tonight's action packed finale of Mayfair Witches, Rowan now "fully knows who she is." And all it took was bringing a child (a.k.a. portal) into the world, discovering that Cortland Mayfair (Harry Hamlin) is her real father, and embracing her demon lover, Lasher (Jack Huston).

The actress exclusively told EW about why she thinks Rowan chose Lasher over Ciprien (Tongayi Chirisa) in the finale, her reaction to the shocking Cortland reveal, and what fans can look forward to in season 2. "I think it can only get more chaotic from here," she teases.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What made you excited to play Rowan when you first got the role?

Anne was a really fascinating human being and I am always intrigued by this idea of what someone with her mind and her perception of the world around her has to say about what it means to be a woman. No matter how strong you are or how much power you have, you still have to contend with your place in the world, the discrimination that comes with being a woman. She puts it in these fantastical extreme stories where you have a woman who's trying to get power, and no matter what she's doing she's being told no by a lot of the men around her. How she deals with that in this huge way with magical powers, it's a really fun and interesting metaphor for being a woman, I think.

Besides the source material, were there any other witches from pop culture that you took inspiration from when playing Rowan?

I didn't think specifically of one witch, but I was obsessed growing up with Sabrina the Teenage Witch and then you had more evil versions of witches. I think that's one of the really interesting things about witchcraft in America, it takes on so many different incarnations, from being really harmless and sort of a beautiful thing to being something really vicious and evil. And I think that that has more to do with human nature and our fears. Are we good? Are we evil? What do you do with power? How do you contend with having powers?

Do you have a moment from the finale that stands out to you most, whether it was filming it or something you're most excited for fans to see?

I loved working with Jack. Every time Rowan's with Lasher, she's kind of like, "Oh eff it, I like him. I don't care what else is going on." As the season went on, you're embracing this other world where you get to just be completely out there and there's something really fun about that. And there's something fun about Rowan finally being thrown into this situation and being afraid [and] just going, "I don't care. This feels good and it's so ridiculous and crazy, I'm just going to embrace it." Of course then she becomes terrified, which is a whole other world I get to dive into where it's just these crazy performances. But that's fun because as an actress, I just got to be like, oh eff it, I'm gonna try something really wild.

Do you think that Rowan loves both Ciprien and Lasher, neither of them, or one or the other?

I think she loves them each at certain times, you know? I'm sure we've all been in that situation where you're not sure. I think Rowan's main thing in this season is herself. She cares about other people, of course, she's a doctor, she wants to help other people. But I think when you're under really intense emotional or physical circumstances, you're kind of on alert just trying to survive. So I think she likes them both depending on what suits her better in the moment. And she has her own reasons for being angry at Cip and she believes them. I think that both those things can exist at the same time. But she's overtaken by something so powerful, this demon, you can't win, it's just not gonna happen. So she's overtaken by that and she likes that better. She likes the excitement of this otherworldly creature. Cip can't compare.

How did you react when you read in the script that Cortland is Rowan's father?

I think I knew that that was coming. I think in the book it's obviously dealt with more, and there's very taboo topics dealt with in the books. If someone saw what I was reading over my shoulder, it deals with very, very taboo subjects. I think we definitely had to modernize them. So I wasn't that surprised, but it's one of the more shocking things for sure. They're a very complicated family, the Mayfairs.

The show is renewed for season 2. What can fans look forward to seeing in the upcoming season?

Well, there's no scripts written. I know we're gonna dive more into the Scottish beginnings, her ancestors' beginnings and really get to explore a different world outside of New Orleans, which is very exciting. I think things just get turned up a notch, where you really get to see Rowan fully in this world. The first season is a lot of setting up where she is, who she is, and how she gets these powers. Now she fully knows who she is, so I think it can only get more chaotic from here.

The Mayfair family is vast, and the members of the family are only touched on this season. Are there any Mayfairs from the book that you're hoping we get to learn in depth about in the show?

I really love the scenes where we're all together and sort of a dysfunctional family. There's Mona and then in the second book, the relationship that she has with her child, what that really looks like and what that looks like with the other members of the family. I don't know if they're gonna dive into that or how they're going to interpret all of this, but I'd be really curious to see it now that the portal is here. This child is born [and] how do these family members react to all of this? I just loved all the women and men who played my family members. I'd love for them all to come back and really get a higher sense of dysfunction.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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