Perhaps the most popular pairing on Wynonna Earp is WayHaught, the portmanteau for the relationship between Waverly Earp and Nicole Haught. So far Wynonna Earp‘s second season has been a bumpy ride for our favorite Purgatory power couple. They’ve had to deal with Wynonna’s surprise pregnancy, demon possession, and Waverly’s fear that she’s not really an Earp.
Clearly, things haven’t been smooth sailing. As a more established couple, Nicole and Waverly are now facing new and different challenges. And for their part, actresses Dominique Provost-Chalkley and Katherine Barrell have been loving the ride. The two actresses not only love WayHaught, they take their roles representing the LGBT community very seriously.
We sat down with Provost-Chalkley and Barrell at San Diego Comic Con to find out what it was like playing “Gooverly,” how they react to the fan support for their characters’ relationship, and what’s next for WayHaught.
A More Established Relationship Brings New Challenges
The WayHaught relationship is more settled in season two, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t have it’s share of ups and downs. Both Provost-Chalkley and Barrell appreciate that WayHaught can be both sweet and angsty.
“They’re settled, they’re more established. But with that comes different challenges,” Provost-Chalkley said.
“And great challenges. It’s exactly what any new relationship has to go through,” Barrell agreed. “It’s real.”
The actresses think that season two has allowed the show to go to deeper and more unexpected places.
“This season feels much more real. In season one you’re setting up so much, you really have to establish who these characters are,” Provost-Chalkley said. “And then going into the second season you can really expand on what you’ve built. So you’ll see different sides of people and you can go deeper. Every single relationship, including the WayHaught relationship, just goes deeper. We go into that next level.”
One big surprise for all the characters was Wynonna’s pregnancy. Wynonna’s growing baby bump has a ripple effect on all the characters in season two, WayHaught included.
“I think now we’ve shifted our focus onto the baby and the baby becomes very central moving forward with how we’re going to manage and take care of this new child,” Barrell said. “I think it’s a really beautiful thing for everyone. It takes the focus off of themselves as characters and puts it onto the protection of this child, which is quite beautiful I think.”
Don’t Touch the Goo!
While dealing with new challenges is definitely part of any new relationship, hopefully dealing with demonic possession isn’t. One of WayHaught’s big challenges early in the season was the “Gooverly” of it all.
“I think it was tough with the Gooverly thing,” Barrel joked. “That was a really hard thing to navigate.”
Gooverly, a nickname for the possessed version of Waverly after she touched some demon goo at the end of season one, definitely was a lot of fun for Provost-Chalkley to play.
“I had the most fun ever! It was a bit ridiculous. It truly was the icing on the cake for me, being able to explore that role,” Provost-Chalkley enthused. “It’s complete opposites, which makes it even more exciting, because Waverly is always positive and striving for positivity. Whereas this was like she was fighting something that was the complete reverse, which was a cool dynamic to play with.”
Of course not everything was fun and games for Provost-Chalkley when playing the demonically possessed version of Waverly. Unfortunately, Gooverly had quite the interesting dietary needs. While possessed, Gooverly ate one of Waverly’s lipsticks and, most disgusting of all, a giant spider. But apparently noshing on that spider could have been worse.
“The spider was originally written as raw chicken,” Provost-Chalkley shuddered. “I would take a spider over raw chicken. I’m a vegan. So I was very happy it ended up being a spider.”
Of course, eating a giant, sticky spider was also no walk in the park.
“It was covered in the most sticky goo. So I put it in my mouth and it would congeal around the sides of my mouth,” Provost-Chalkley explained. “The only way to get it off was salt water, so then I’d have to scrub my face with salt water. It was sexy.”
On Representing the LGBT Community
One thing that both Provost-Chalkley and Barrell take very seriously are their roles as positive representation for the LGBT community. With LGBT characters still very likely to end up killed off on television shows and movies, Wynonna Earp‘s dedication to positive portrayals (and bulletproof vests) is appreciated by fans just looking to see themselves depicted on screen.
“I think it’s an honor. It’s a privilege. I think WayHaught came around at a time when, especially in the LGBT community, they were really desperately needing that representation. It was like a beacon of positive light,” Barrell said. “2016 was a really bad year for LGBT characters and I consider it quite an honor to be a part of WayHaught. And I think WayHaught also includes all of our writers and the whole show, all of us on Wynonna Earp. It’s a show that is a champion for this amazing community. It’s kind of a badge of honor.”
Provost-Chalkley is amazed by how many people from the LGBT community thank her for her portrayal of Waverly. She said she always wants to thank the fans for being so accepting of them and of the show, understanding what showrunner Emily Andras is trying to do, and for giving their hearts.
“And their trust too,” Barrell agreed. “Because I think it was a big thing for that community to trust and feel free to put their love into another relationship.”
Easter Eggs for the Earpers
The relationship between the show and the fans (called Earpers) is so positive and inclusive. It’s obvious talking with the whole cast how much they love their fans and how they credit the fans with the continued survival of the show. This love for the Wynonna Earp fandom often creeps its way into the show in ways that Earpers can recognize.
“Emily is a genius and I think part of the reason why season two has stepped it up is that she saw the fanbase and what the fans like and she writes for the fans as well as the characters,” Provost-Chalkley said. “You see it in so many different things like “Don’t touch the goo!” These lines that the fans started, she’ll write them in as a little nod to the fans. I just think that’s incredible, because she cares so much about the fanbase and she’s always thinking about them.”
One example of a fun Easter egg for the fans was when Waverly had to fake a British accent while sneaking into Black Badge. Apparently there was another idea for how to work Provost-Chalkley’s real-life British accent into the show that didn’t pan out.
“Originally the idea was that whenever I’d be evil I’d be British,” Provost-Chalkley laughed. “So whenever I’d be Gooverly I’d be British.”
Watch the full San Diego Comic Con interview with Dominique Provost-Chalkley and Katherine Barrell below:
What do you think of WayHaught in Wynonna Earp‘s second season? What do you want to see next for the WayHaught relationship? Sound off in the comments!
Wynonna Earp airs Fridays at 10/9c on SyFy. Follow BuddyTV on Facebook to stay updated on the latest TV news.
(Images courtesy of Sarah Boyce, video courtesy of Morgan Glennon)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
