Abigail Cowen Channeled Post Malone And Teenage Angst In Fate: The Winx Saga

By Emlyn Travis


It’s challenging, actress Abigail Cowen explains, to remember a time once efficiency wasn’t segment of her life. Raised with an insatiable love of the arts, she started piano lessons at age six and recalls holding frequent solo, living-room concerts for family member members. Her passion for the spotlight only grew stronger once, at age nine, she begged her mother to let her sign up for acting classes. To Cowen, it felt much less like a decision and more like a calling; a heavy, knowing feeling that radiated from within and instructed her no career would ever bring her as much joy or personalized fulfillment.


“It was a feeling of I need to do this or I'll not be happy with my life,” the 22-year-old tells MTV News over the phone from her house in Orlando, Florida. “It literally feels like a weight in your gut of having to do this thing that you love. It takes over your life in the ideal way possible. That was once it really hit me and I begged my mom day-to-day to let me take acting classes.”


Growing up in Gainesville, Florida, yet, meant that acting roles weren’t habitually commonplace or conveniently obtainable, so Cowen leaned heavily in the direction of sports as a substitute opposed to acting while in her high school years. It wasn’t up until she turned 18 and moved across the nation to Los Angeles that she started to earnestly chase down her childhood dream. Right after stints on Stranger Things and The Fosters, her break came in 2018 once she landed the role of Dorcas Night in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, one of the show’s dazzlingly deadly Weird Sisters. Right now, Cowen steps into her first major leading role because the fire fairy Bloom in Fate: The Winx Saga, out today. A live-action adaptation of Iginio Straffi’s beloved mid-aughts cartoon The Winx Club, she plays a 16-year-old who transfers to Alfea, a mystical boarding school, soon after discovering her true magical identity. There, she learns about friendship, romance, and, ultimately, self-acceptance.


“Playing Bloom was interesting. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself because I knew that so several folks are fans of the original Winx. It was a nerve-wracking nevertheless exhilarating and exciting experience,” she mentioned on Instagram Live. “I felt like a fish out of water because I had never been in a role like this before, however so was Bloom.” Channeling that pressure into her scenes, Cowen brought much of herself to the role — her high school struggles, her evergreen insecurities — as if she was intended for it all her life. Ahead of the Winx premiere, she speaks with MTV News about seeing her teenage self in the role of Bloom, the songs that helped her tap into her character, and why she’s learned to embrace her own unique superpowers.


MTV News: What was your experience auditioning for the role of Bloom?


Cowen: The day of my audition I was going to Vancouver to shoot The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and my audition was about two hours prior to my flight, so I was in a rush. I was leaving for three or four months so I had this giant suitcase. I literally stumbled into the casting office with the huge thing and each person was scared of me. However once you’re in the casting office, you can’t really talk, so I couldn’t explain myself. It was so awkward and embarrassing, and I was convinced I would never be invited back because they probably thought I was some actor attempting to bring a prop or something, like Bloom arriving in Alfea with her suitcase. I did get invited back, I was shocked, and did two other auditions. On my third, I met with showrunner Brian Young and Lisa James Larsson, our director, and we read through some stuff and so they gave me notes on what to improve on. It was number of a day or two later While I noticed out I got the role and then had to fly out within two weeks to Ireland for the next four months.


MTV News: What was that experience like, hearing that you got the role, and then having two weeks to absorb that knowledge before stepping headfirst into a leading role?


Cowen: I was terrified. I didn’t know what I had just gotten myself into because I had never had a role of that caliber before, so I began to second-guess myself — you know, impostor syndrome sets in. So I was terrified. Although the aesthetics of our industry is that it’s so last-minute. It’s so stressful because it is last-minute, yet then so exhilarating, also, like finding out a week before that I’m about to basically move to Ireland for the next four months. It was very exhilarating although very scary. I personally love that element of it; you’re constantly living on the edge.


MTV News: How do you personally work to combat impostor syndrome within your own career?


Cowen: I’ve discussed to a lot of actors of all different ages and, even later in their careers, it’s something they still battle. I think, as an artist, it’s about recognizing that no art is brilliant. It’s not supposed to be brilliant and that’s why it’s art. It’s supposed to be your interpretation of things, so I think reminding yourself of that accommodates combat the feeling. All impostor syndrome is the idea that someone is going to find out that I’m not good enough and I’m not supposed to be here, nevertheless you are. And it’s recognizing that in this industry, we’re all in this with each other. Art is a teamwork and as long as you’re prepared to collaborate and trust yourself, then you are meant to be there. There really are going to be times where you fall flat on your face and that’s OK.


MTV News: As both an actor and a musician, what songs do you suggest could be on Bloom’s playlist?


Cowen: That’s funny because I actually compiled a playlist for Bloom. I didn’t put also several songs on there, nevertheless they’re very random. I have a very random taste in music. How several do you want me to give?


MTV News: As several as you’d like!


Cowen: I wanted some hyping up songs for as soon as she is getting mad and getting intense for her powers. I have “High” by Slow Pulp, “TRNDSTTR (Lucian Remix)” by Black Coast, “Out of My Mind,” by B.O.B (ft. Nicki Minaj), “Take A Chance” by Flume, “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons, “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar, “Go Flex” by Post Malone, “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike, “Classic” by MKTO, “Guardians of the Gate” by audiomachine — a lot of different types of songs. Mumford & Sons because we were in the pretty plains of Ireland, so I felt like that sort of matched the scenery. Blink-182 is wonderful as well because it sort of brings out the teenage angst in Bloom.


MTV News: Did you listen to this playlist prior to shooting certain scenes?


Cowen: Yeah, I would put my headphones in and listen to these songs before I would shoot certain scenes. Actually, Danny Griffin, who plays Sky, would show me songs and I would show him songs, and then we would listen to them both with each other on speakers and act out what would happen in those moments. We would speak through those songs, like this is where they would fight! It was so dorky, however music was a very big segment of discovering Bloom for sure.


MTV News: Fate: The Winx Saga has a much darker storyline than its predecessor, not unlike your work on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. What is it about these fantasy worlds that inspires you?


Cowen: These types of assignments are just fun because there really are no limits. You’ll read a script one day and one thing will be happening, and you'll get the next script and something totally absurd and crazy will be happening although it's allowed to happen because you’re in a fantasy world. You’re allowed to really use your imagination and that’s really fun for me because I certainly have an enormous imagination. I also feel like, with fantasy, it’s a nice escape from reality for a lot of people. It’s fun to dive into another world just for a little and do not consider the world that we’re in. I think there’s routinely room for fantasy and for these types of shows because it gives people a break from life, good or bad.


MTV News: What do you hope fans of the original Winx Club series take away from the new, live-action version of the show? 


Cowen: I’d first like to mention that the Winx audience grew up and thus did we; that sort of sums up what Fate is now. I hope that they can find something within these characters — whatever character it can be — that they can relate to and then love themselves for. I hope that they appreciate it as much as we enjoyed filming it and that it accommodates them in dealing with the general uncertainty of teenage years, or whichever they’re going through right now outdoors of their teenage years, just by being able to relate to what these characters are dealing with. Although they have magical powers and there really is a magical element to it, there’s a very real element to Fate also. It deals with very real-life problems.


MTV News: Brian Young, the showrunner of Fate: The Winx Saga, mentioned in a interview that one of his preference things about his work on The Vampire Diaries was that it was “a vampire show that really was just a grounded teen show.” I feel like that aspect carried over in Fate also — yes, there’s a magical element to it, however journeys every one of the five main characters embark on while in the show are very much human.


Cowen: I think Brian does such a fantastic job of mixing the two and keeping it real. In the event you look at these five females in the Winx suite, you could relate to at least one of these at that age or perhaps right now. Their problems are real — in friendships, in love, in life, and in discovering yourself. We don’t shy away from that in the show; we tell it how it is.


MTV News: In what ways do you relate to Bloom and her journey?


Cowen: In a lot of ways, actually. I visualize a lot of my younger self in her. I certainly understand, at that age, being 15 or 16 and attempting to identify who you are while also thinking you have a lot of the answers to the world’s problems. She’s very stubborn and hard-headed, and I was the same way — I am the same way. That can bring a lot of issues into your life yet can also help you along as a person. She’s attempting to find that balance. She’s also dealing with normal teenage issues, which I feel anyone can really relate to: attempting to calculate who you are, deal with your insecurities, and find your place in the world.


MTV News: To me, Bloom’s journey is one of self-acceptance. From her family member history to her fairy identity, her perception of herself and why she fits in between these two worlds is put to the test during the full show. Did any of it reflect your own path growing up?


Cowen: At that age or perhaps a little bit younger, I was going through a really hard time with bullying from age 11. I was homeschooled my eighth-grade year because I was bullied for having red hair, which was just essentially because I was different and I looked different than each person else. Although at that age you don’t desire to feel different; you wish to fit in and find your place in the world, and that place is where each person else is. That forced me to either sink within myself or have this radical self-acceptance, and I chose self-acceptance. It certainly was a journey. It took a very long time and some days I still deal with it to this day, nevertheless I think that the same goes with Bloom. She’s not being bullied for having red hair, although she’s certainly dealing with accepting who she is and this insane power that she has.


MTV News: That reminds me of a particular scene between Bloom and Sky that really stuck with me where she tells him that she’s someone who “doesn’t need to be fixed,” and he replies that “we’re all damaged, although there’s a charm in that too.” 


Cowen: I feel like once we begin accepting ourselves for who we are and what makes us different, we notice that it’s also what makes us special, cute, and powerful. Any time we do that for ourselves, then we can do that for other people. We can just construct a higher end world where we can accept ourselves and accept others. I like to mention that whichever your insecurity is, whichever makes you different, is your superpower. That’s what I had to come to terms with and that was certainly a turning point for me.