Interview with ‘The Wheel of Time’ Season 3 Actors Priyanka Bose & Taylor Napier

WotSeries had the opportunity to interview Priyanka Bose (Alanna) and Taylor Napier (Maksim) about Season 3 of The Wheel of Time, which was released on Prime Video on March 13, 2025.

Read more to hear about training, grief, Warder calendars, and more. If you missed them, be sure to check out our other Season 3 interviews.

Both interviews were recorded before episode 7 aired.

Cait: I have just absolutely loved watching you bring Alanna to life these last three seasons. And thank you for everything you’ve done for our fandom and with this character. And I especially love the combat and acrobatics that Alanna gets to show off in episode one. I even made a GIF of the running flip that you can use online. Can you tell me a little bit about that rehearsal process for those things? 

Priyanka Bose: I mean, I rehearsed for two weeks, but at the end of the day, I’m just very glad my awesome stuntie did it because she just makes it look so effortless and I look like I’m flying, but it’s been amazing. Like everything else, obviously the whole aspect of rehearsal is that you bring in everything you’ve got so that your character just like shines on screen because they’ve been doing this for a while. So you can’t just look like, ah, you know, I just woke up today. We kind of look like that. So yeah, so we just all look so fierce, but because of the time we’ve had, honestly, yeah, so that’s what it is. 

Cait: Thank you. I used to be a teacher and in episode six, when you are almost dying, but get the moment to teach the Cauthon girls

Priyanka Bose: Why not?

Cait:…about how to channel is a favorite moment. Do you have a favorite moment from this season? 

Priyanka Bose: You know, I actually enjoyed doing the dying scene a lot with the girls. I love working with very receptive children. They’re really amazing to work with. Their instincts are so, like, fresh. So everything, I mean, just before doing the dying scene, I had psyched myself out so much that my blood pressure became really low. So just like, you know, actors are really weird. Like, we just do funny things. But at the end of the day, like, you know, just being in that room, making it into a hotbox, even though some of the lines were so cheeky and the fact that she’s actually teaching while she’s dying. I mean, it’s hilarious. But it’s so typical that you get to know so much about the character just with that scene, I feel. And even the dynamic and the cheekiness between Maksim and her about him saying, “You love being thanked. Look, they have come to thank you!”

Cait: The I told you so is so perfect. 

Priyanka Bose: It is so like, you know, we play with the cliches, but the cliches work for a certain reason. I enjoy doing the scene a lot. Yeah. 

Cait: I think I only have one minute left, so I’m going to ask two really quick questions. Of all of the possible ways Alanna’s plot can change in future seasons, do you have a plot you’re looking forward to?

Priyanka Bose: Yeah, I’m looking for the same plot that the audience is looking for, especially the book fans. So you know what I’m talking about.

Cait: I do. 

Priyanka Bose: I love it because it’s very big and I hope they write it really well. I would love to do justice to it. 

Cait: I think you will. And if there were any props or costumes that whether they’re Alanna’s or not that you wish you could take home with you, what would you? 

Priyanka Bose: The ring, the ring, the ring. 

Cait: They should give you one. I think that should be a part of the deal.

Priyanka Bose: I think so too.

Cait: Well, thank you so much. I’m sorry we only had such a short time, but hopefully we’ll chat again. 

Priyanka Bose: Yeah, thank you. 

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Cait: It’s exciting to meet you and thank you for all your work as Maksim. I, for one, have loved the story that you and Alanna, you and Priyanka have portrayed for us. Thank you. 

Taylor Napier: It’s hard to, I always get them confused. They’re almost one in the same. 

Cait: I feel like that seems true in some of your Instagram posts for sure, too. So this season, your depiction of Maksim and the balance of grief and humor has been fantastic. And what that’s brought to the relationship with Alanna, I think, has been really interesting. And I’m wondering how you, Priyanka, and the team worked through the depiction of polyamory, as well as how grief impacts that relationship. 

Taylor Napier: Yeah. I mean, it’s something we talked about a lot, actually, and something that I think is super interesting. You know, you’ve, there have been some polyamorous couples, or trios, or however many people are in a polyamorous relationship, and that specific one on screen before. But I think we dive into it in a different way. And I specifically am not sure, and I haven’t seen every television show, so I might have missed it, I’ve seen this particular version of the storyline before, and this grief and dealing with, you know, what happens when three becomes two? How, you know, she says it in episode three, but, you know, who owns the grief? And is there a specific way that one is supposed to grieve? You know, I’ve lost people in my life, and many, most people have. And I think that every time I’ve lost someone, my version of grief has to change based off of the people who are around me grieving, because one person can’t, everyone can’t be a puddle on the floor. Someone has to, even if they’re feeling the same thing that everyone else is, has to pick everyone up and be like, all right, guys, we got to, you know, even if they’re hiding their own grief, and everyone deals with it, you know. Sometimes when someone dies, you want to immediately go back to work, like Alanna does. Sometimes you want to sit at home and eat ice cream and sob, which is probably what Maksim wants to do. And so, and so kind of navigating that and making sure those, the ways that we were handling the grief felt true to the characters, but also felt true to this world. And also an informed the mission that they’re on, you know, as well, and the dynamic between the two of them. 

Cait: Oh, well I think you’ve done an excellent, excellent job with that. So thank you. Some of the scenes coming up and some of the ones you’ve already done, your fight scenes are amazing. Can you tell me a little bit about the training? I’ve seen some videos, but what are, what’s been your favorite part of training for those final scenes? 

Taylor Napier: Honestly, just getting better at them. I feel like when season one came around, I was so nervous because I knew the character would obviously, he’s a Warder, he would obviously have some fight sequences.Hopefully, hopefully we got to do enough of the show. And so, you know, it’s been a real joy to get to work through that and to learn about it. I mean, you know, some of it going in, I’ve done fight stuff before in different projects or even in drama school, but not to the extent of what we’re doing on Wheel and getting to learn from like some real professionals and, you know, getting pushed. It’s so nice to develop a new skill and get good at stuff. That’s a very simple kind of basically answering that question, but it’s been a real joy. And I feel great about the progress that I’ve made. 

Cait: I mean, it looks fantastic. I’ve never been in a fight before. Part of me wants to learn, so maybe one day. 

Taylor Napier: No it’s really, it’s empowering. I mean, I wouldn’t say that I’m probably great in a fight still but I’m great in a fight if someone’s choreographed it and someone shows me exactly what to do to get out of that fight and win it or lose it.

Cait: Well, I think I have time for one more and I’ll give you kind of a silly one. So if there were a Warder of the Month calendar, what month would you be and why? 

Taylor Napier: Ooh, December, because I would want that to be your last image for the year, I would want me to be the thing you take from that year. 

Cait: Okay. Well, it would be the, you know, the Christmas gift though. 

Taylor Napier: It would be, there you go! Why? Yeah, I want to give that Christmas gift to everyone. 

Cai: That’s how I’ll write it in the article, don’t worry. 

Taylor Napier: Please make me sound so much better and funnier than I actually am. I would appreciate that. 

Cait: Thank you so much. It was a joy getting to meet you. Hopefully we’ll get to chat again in future seasons.

Taylor Napier: Love that. Fingers crossed, yeah. 

 

The third season of The Wheel of Time, based on Robert Jordan’s fantasy book series, premiered on Prime Video on March 13, 2025. All episodes of the first three seasons of The Wheel of Time are now available on Prime Video. The series is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios.

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Editorial note: For clarity and readability, we’ve made minor edits to this interview, such as removing filler words and repetitions. The responses remain true to the original recorded conversation.