Melanie Scrofano is both blessed and cursed… in the best ways possible.
As the titular character in the TV series “Wynonna Earp”, she’s gotten a raw deal. The 38-year-old Canadian actress portrays Wynonna, the great-great-granddaughter of the legendary gunslinger, Wyatt Earp. The rub? The Earp family curse resurrects all outlaws killed by the famed lawman as demons. The Earp heir, in this case, Wynonna, must send them packing back to Hell, using her supernatural gun dubbed “Peacemaker”.
On the blessed side, Scrofano considers “Wynonna Earp” a career-defining role. In addition, the show has achieved cult status. But Scrofano knew she had that rare diamond in the rough on her hands even before cameras ever began rolling.
“It was the moment I met showrunner Emily Andras,” Scrofano says over the phone from the series’ Calgary set. “We did a screen test in Los Angeles. And just the way the production team talking about the show and were like, ‘Hopefully, 15 years from now and we’re still doing the show…’ They already felt so strongly about it. And the way that they interacted with one another, you could feel it was not just another job to them. In that room, I felt this could be something special.”
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“Wynonna Earp”’s current fourth season almost didn’t transpire. The season-three finale dropped on Sept. 28, 2018 and even though the series was renewed, financial woes from production company IDW Entertainment jeopardized its future. However, Scrofano remained optimistic as the show lingered in limbo.
“For the most part, I knew the show was too special to just go away,” Scrofano reflects. “Listen. From behind the scenes, I see how much love there is for the show from the network level to the production level. I know the people working on it. They weren’t going to be like, ‘Oh, that’s a shame. Moving on.’ They love the show too much. I had faith even though others didn’t.”
Wynonna Earp’s passionate fandom wasn’t about to let the series die, either. They launched save-the-show campaigns and purchased a billboard in Times Square. Well, all that noise paid off because… here they are. Understandably, Scrofano couldn’t be more grateful for those devoted fans.
“This is something I should talk to my therapist about but, for me, why would anyone care about something I am in?” she says. “Still to this day, sometimes it’s really frightening. On the other hand, we have such a unique voice on this show, and such a unique sense of humour and aesthetic. When you are so specific, it becomes something that people really gravitate to. It feels more real. I think the fact that we found fans that can see themselves in it and relate to it… In that sense, it’s not surprising. But I never thought it would be a show that I was on that would connect so deeply.”
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This season has revolved around Wynonna rescuing her angelic sister Waverly and vampire beau Doc from the Garden of Eden. It has also focused on the escalating feud between the Earps and the Clantons.
In the jaw-dropping mid-season finale, Wynonna did the unthinkable. During a standoff with Wynonna, Sheriff Holt Clanton decided it was time to make peace and bury the hatchet. He lowered his gun…and guard… and turned around to grab a drink with Doc. That’s when Wynonna shot him in the back. Audiences were shocked by the development… and Scrofano was equally caught off guard. Ironically, Scrofano doesn’t love guns to begin with.
“Watching it was weird,” Scrofano reports. “I live in Canada. We don’t really do guns here the way it is portrayed in the show. Wynonna has become desensitized and is so used to having to do this. She sees an opportunity, in her mind, to have some peace at last and stop the war. If she has to do it through shady means, she is still saving a lot of lives. That’s how she justifies it.”
“I don’t even think she justified it,” Scrofano continues. “To her, it’s like ‘I’m literally saving lives right now. Yeah, he seems like a nice guy. But, he’s right. This is never going to stop unless I stop it.’ Then, when Doc looks at her and goes, ‘You’ve lost your way here. You’ve lost your soul a little bit,’ that’s the moment when she starts reflecting on it. He’s been her ally until now. For him to see it differently is the thing that will make her actually take it seriously, as a thought to consider.”
“It was hard to watch, honestly,” she adds. “Shooting it, literally and figuratively, was like, ‘She’s just doing her job.’ But watching it from a fan perspective, and seeing how much Wynonna has lost her humanity, was hard. I actually wrote to Josh [Van Houdt] at the network and was like, ‘Oh my God. This was really intense.’”
At the time of this interview, Scrofano was close to completing the fourth season. Normally, filming would have wrapped months ago, but the pandemic hit. As a result, the Sci-Fi Western’s production was postponed and only resumed in July.
“It’s been challenging,” Scrofano says. “I think all of us are grateful. We would wear full hazmat suits if it means we get to go back to work. The cast and crew, we feel this is such a nice place to play and to escape reality a bit. Whatever measures have had to be taken, I think we are all game if it means we get to keep telling this story. It’s been hard, for sure.”
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No return date has been announced for the second half of the season, however, Scrofano promises plenty of drama and fallout from Wynonna’s actions.
“There’s a lot of growth that happens with the characters,” she explains. “Difficult choices continue to be made. At the end of the day, Wynonna is still cursed, and she still has the burden of the curse. She will still have to make difficult decisions, but Doc’s talk will have a lasting impact on her.”
This year also marked Scrofano’s directorial debut. She stepped behind the camera for the third episode, “Look at Them Beans.” Scrofano consequently acknowledges that she’s caught the directing bug.
“It’s a real thing,” Scrofano concludes with a giggle. “Going into Season four, I think as a title character, it’s important to keep the passion alive for the story you are telling. It’s been a fear of mine since Season one. ‘If we do go for a long time, what am I going to do to make sure that I don’t lose passion or enthusiasm.’ It happens. With any relationship, you go through a honeymoon period. For me, directing was a way to stay passionate about the story and get involved in a way that filled my creative lull. My God, did it ever work.”
