Devon Sawa Says His Young ‘Coven Academy’ Co-Stars Have “Grown Some Thick Skin” Navigating Fame In An Era of Social Media: “I Don’t Know How I’d Do It”
When it came to the experience of working together on Coven Academy, the cast insists it was all treats and no tricks.
The new supernatural Disney series from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series creator Tim Federle unites ’90s icons like former Casper breakout Devon Sawa and Saved by the Bell alum Tiffani Thiessen with rising stars such as Malina Pauli Weissman, Malachi Barton, Jordan Leftwich, and Ora Duplass. While the young crop of talent’s characters are learning from Sawa and Thiessen’s Mr. Cole and Miss Graves onscreen at Crescent Veil Academy, where the two serve as a professor and the principal, respectively, Sawa told DECIDER during a recent visit to our studio that he really enjoyed observing the “process” that each young actor embraced on set.
“It’s really a lot of fun to watch their process, because every actor has a different process,” he explained. “And Jordan—who’s brand new, who killed it on the series—is very serious. She reminds me a lot of the way Jessica Alba was on Idle Hands. She’s very serious, very focused, wants to do this thing. And Malina’s been doing this for a billion years, and you can tell. It was just a lot of fun to watch the whole process of these kids.”
The 48-year-old actor teased that as the “old dog on set,” he became “more aware” of his behavior and set out to be “a good example” for his younger co-stars by ensuring that his lines were learned and he was on time. Sawa also acknowledged that the young actors have “grown some thick skin” from navigating fame in an age of social media.
“I would do Now and Then, for instance, and then I would go back home for a year and do school and whatnot,” he recalled. “And there was no social media. Nobody could get ahold of me. My agents and managers at the time would send me only good reviews in, like, a FedEx box. I’d get a box of just good reviews. So everything I got was positive. But now, you see fans have such access to them. They can drop into their DMs, they can write comments under their posts. I don’t know how I’d do it.”
Fortunately, Sawa’s work made a great impression on Weissman, Leftwich, and Duplass, who had nothing but praise for him during a separate chat with DECIDER. Though the three actresses—who play witches-in-training Briar, Sasha, and Tegan—did not share “too many scenes” with Sawa’s Peter Cole, Weissman described him as “such a grounded, chill guy” who she feels like she “really got to know post-filming.”
“When we did get our first scene with him, I was so excited,” she added. “He’s just such a great actor and such a great person to collaborate with in a scene.”
Duplass gleefully recalled the “really funny” Sawa making things “super light” while shooting an “intense” scene in the finale, and Leftwich teased that she even got the chance to chat about “relationship problems” in the green room with Sawa, Thiessen, and BJ Harrison (who plays Agnes), who were all “so nice.”
“Everyone was just like, ‘So Jordan, what’s up? What’s going on?’ And you know, it was really nice!” she shared.
Weissman chimed in, “‘Who are you dating?’”
“Seriously!” Leftwich added, before turning toward the camera and adding, “No one. But it was nice!”
However, the bond that the three young actresses appear to have formed with each other might be the most special of all, especially since they didn’t know each other prior to filming.
“I just went into it with an open mind and heart saying, ‘Okay, these are going to be my new sisters/friends. And we’re going to go into this series and hopefully have an amazing time,’” Leftwich recalled.
Duplass commended Federle for his “specific” casting, noting that their trio “really balances each other out in this really beautiful way.”
“Casting was long to try and find these three characters,” she continued. “So we didn’t have to try hard to click, as well, because that magic was already kind of there. We formed something so beautiful onscreen, but I think offscreen, as well, was just really beautiful.”
Weissman added, “They’re all so different, too—I think in real life, and our characters—we’re all so different, but come together in a really great way.”
You can be the judge of that when Coven Academy premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform. The entire season will be available to stream on Friday, Oct. 2 on Disney+ and Hulu.
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