Editor’s note: The below interview contains major spoilers for Wynonna Earp: Vengeance.When Wynonna Earp first ended three years ago, it felt about as perfect as a conclusion could be for a show that may not have expected to go for as long as it did. After four seasons, some wins and losses, and one incredibly touching WayHaught wedding, the SYFY series seemed to close the book on Wynonna Earp (Melanie Scrofano) and all her team’s wacky, demon-hunting shenanigans. This year, however, Wynonna‘s return became official when Tubi commissioned a 90-minute special, titled Wynonna Earp: Vengeance, which reunited much of the main cast — and a few surprise cameos! — for an adventure that felt like we’d never left the town of Purgatory in the first place.
While Vengeance was a feel-good return, it didn’t mean the stakes weren’t high for Wynonna and her beau Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon) in returning to the town they’d left in the rearview mirror at the end of Season 4. Back in Purgatory, Wynonna’s sister Waverly (Dom Provost-Chalkley) and newly-appointed Sheriff Nicole Haught (Kat Barrell) may have settled into newlywed bliss together, but when a new evil rises, it means Team Earp has to join forces once again to take on one of the biggest threats they’ve ever faced. Ahead of the premiere of Wynonna Earp: Vengeance, Collider caught up with Provost-Chalkley and Barrell to talk about returning to this world and their characters. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, the two discuss when they found out there’d be more Earp, how this project was so collaborative between the returning cast and crew, why they think WayHaught is still going strong after Waverly’s big career move, and more.
Dom Provost-Chalkley and Kat Barrell Reveal When They Found Out About ‘Wynonna Earp’s Return
COLLIDER: Going back to Emily [Andras]’ announcement, the big video reveal with everybody on Zoom, and getting the official word that this was happening — was that the first time both of you knew that we were getting any kind of return with Wynonna? Or had you heard little rumblings here and there?
DOM PROVOST-CHALKLEY: On the grapevine?
KAT BARRELL: We had heard the rumblings, but this show has gone through so many periods of “Yes,” “No,” “Maybe,” “We don’t know,” “Yes, we’re definitely going,” “No, hold on.” I feel like we’re at a place where we know better to than to get too excited until we’re doing the thing.
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: That video announcement felt very much like the official, once you’re totally down, you —
BARRELL: You can’t take it back.
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: No. So definitely it felt like a marking point. I’m notoriously bad with timelines, but I feel like we had known for a couple of months before that it was going to happen. I don’t know about you, Kat, but having the call from Jordy [Randall] was a really big moment for me. He called me and was like, “So Dom, can you believe that we’re …” All of us are in disbelief, I think, that we got to continue this adventure because we wrapped it up so beautifully. So it feels amazing to be able to unpack a little bit and continue.
You get the greenlight, but did either of you have a moment of, “I’m back in this character, I’m back in this world.” Was it reading the script? Was it putting the costume on? Was it being back on set for filming? When did it really hit you that this was officially happening?
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: For me, it was the first day that we filmed the scene with Kat and Mel and I. It’s actually at the end of the movie, and we were out on a lake, and it was the most beautiful day and the mountains were just so spectacular. I was just looking at Kat and Mel and just really seeing the journey that we’ve been on to get to this point, and it felt like such a homecoming — just seeing the crew members and being so excited and then suddenly seeing somebody in the background pop up and wave from afar and be like, “Oh my God, how are you? It’s been so long.” That continuous stream of joyful moments of connection that happened that very first day on set felt like a big moment for me. How about you, Kat?
BARRELL: We had Jennifer Haffenden, our amazing costume designer, come to Toronto to do some fittings with a few of us. I walked into the hotel room, and she had all my hats lined up. I get a new Stetson in the special, and then I had my toque, my baseball hat. There was something about seeing those hats all lined up. For me, it’s such a Nicole thing that that was a real moment. It was almost like a series of little moments — and then flying into Calgary, and seeing the flight path that we’ve taken so many times, and watching the topography on the ground start to change. It’s little things like this, where you’re easing through the portal, almost.
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: We were also lucky enough, Kat and I, to have quite a lot of beautiful car journeys together this time going to set. Driving towards the mountains, that journey we’ve done so many times, but as the sun’s coming up over the mountains, these really tangible smells and views bring us right back to all of the other times we’ve been then.
BARRELL: Oh gosh. Yeah. It’s such a ritual. It’s become such a ritual. There is a clear entrance into the world, and so many little things make that.
Kat, when I saw you post that you dyed your hair for the special, I was like, “Oh, it’s starting.” The progression of becoming Haught again, slowly but surely.
BARRELL: You know what’s really interesting? The first scene we shot back, Dom and I, it wasn’t Mel’s first scene, but the first scene that Dom and I shot back actually isn’t in the movie. We reshot it — and the reason we reshot it is because I originally was in a wig, and it just didn’t look good. So the hair dye was actually… we had already started shooting, which is crazy.
Dom Provost-Chalkley Explains Waverly’s New Look in ‘Wynonna Earp: Vengeance’
So many things have happened behind-the-scenes or off-camera for you all as actors that have informed the story of Wynonna Earp — Melanie’s pregnancy and things like that. Were there any conversations you had about establishing what your characters have been up to, or the changes that they’ve been going through since we last saw them? Whose idea was it to have Waverly really big into crafting?
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: As you say, one of the most beautiful aspects of this adventure is the fact that Emily really embraces the people behind the characters. She does such an amazing job at staying really true to the characters whilst also bringing you into the conversation. I think we’re both on the same page, that Waverly is going to be the most crafty human ever. That just felt really clear. I think that was how the character was written.
But I can speak to my own personal journey with my gender nonconformity and my evolution into my queerness. We had that conversation. “Do you think that Waverly has also gone through this journey? Do you think that she’s non-binary?” What a blessing to be able to have those kinds of conversations on set. Like you said, it’s not every show that shows a pregnancy and embraces these very real lived experiences into the fantasy world of television.
I felt so lucky to be able to have those conversations — and both of us agreed that, no, Waverly isn’t non-binary. I think she’s still very much a badass, powerful woman and is really embracing her queerness. And so the balance was, okay, we can maybe still rock the short hair, and that Waverly can be a different representation of a queer woman on-screen. There’s those elements that have been incorporated, which is just so amazing, and I feel so lucky that we have such an embracing team behind us.
Kat, this special has a lot of big physical moments for Nicole. How many of those stunts did you try to do yourself?
BARRELL: I had an amazing photo double who was there every single day, bless her. Janine is her name, and we never ended up using her — not in any bad way, she was standing by, and she was always ready to help, and she was so amazing. But I wanted to do everything I could do, and the only stuff I didn’t do was stuff that Lindsay, my stunt double did, but that she would’ve done regardless of my pregnancy. Steve, our stunt coordinator, and Paolo, our director, and Emily, the whole team was just… I felt so cared for. The poor costume department who had to let my pants out every four days because I was literally just ballooning.
I felt very taken care of. Everyone, from putting sound blankets over my belly so the baby didn’t hear gunshots. It felt like such a holistic process, which often you don’t get in this industry because it’s just like, “Hurry up, go, go, go, who cares?” This industry can be really bad sometimes, for losing the human. We’re just so product-driven that you can really lose sense of the fact that we’re all people, and we’re a team, and we’re working crazy hours under crazy conditions, but this production in particular never loses the people who are making the show, and I really felt that this time around. But I would say it was some of my most active [scenes] as Nicole, and I would be lying to you if I didn’t say I was sore at the end of those days, but I never did anything I didn’t feel comfortable with, and I was never made to feel like I had to do anything I wasn’t comfortable with.
Getting into other specific moments, I wanted to ask about Wynonna and Waverly getting drunk at, essentially, the wake and Nicole having to come in and literally lead them out by their ears. Dom, for Waverly, how much of that do you feel is “Wynonna’s back, so we can cut loose” and how much of it is the fact that Waverly’s been kind of waiting for the excuse to get a little wild?
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: 100%. I think it’s both. We find WayHaught in a very sort of comfortable, routine place and Waverly’s essence is so… she’s such a little firecracker, and she needs adventure, and she’s been craving it. Wynonna’s return is a release in many ways, and an excuse for her to just get a little wild, and that’s what they do so well together. The giddiness on top of everything else shows that Waverly’s been really dreaming of this moment for a while, and it’s definitely come at the right time, shall we say.
Kat Barrell Shares Her Thoughts on a Potential ‘Wynonna Earp: Vengeance’ Sequel
Kat, Nicole and Wynonna’s friendship has always been full of ups and downs. These two are such an odd couple, but they really seem to reach a new understanding of each other in this special. I don’t think Wynonna would’ve agreed to be Haught’s deputy before now. It feels like this is sort of a natural progression of their friendship. What are your thoughts on a potential buddy-cop sequel?
BARRELL: Seeing elements of Wynonna and Haught trying to work together is always fun. Those two characters just have that Thelma and Louise, good cop/bad cop dynamic. It’s a timeless, perfect comedy kind of duo. I have so enjoyed playing those moments in the past that I would be totally down for a few of those moments in maybe another special in the future. I think it would be definitely a storyline that would be super entertaining.
Things end with your characters deciding to do it long-distance for a little while. Waverly’s taking a job overseas, which is a big move for her — something that is exciting but also has its own complications. My question, though, is: how many times a day do you think WayHaught is calling, texting each other, trying to keep the romance alive? Did you two ever have any conversations about how they’re doing after this?
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: Beautiful question. What do you think, Kat?
BARRELL: We never really talked about it. Maybe that’s for the next special. That’ll be our discussion of what they did long-distance. But I think Nicole would fight the urge to over-text and overcommunicate because she really wants Waverly to have this solo adventure. She knows how much Waverly needs it and that … I feel like Nicole would sort of follow Waverly’s lead and be like, “I’m here. I’m always thinking about you, but I want to give you your space to have this time for yourself, and don’t feel like you need to be calling me five times a day.”
PROVOST-CHALKLEY: Waverly would definitely have those moments where she would be calling a lot. I so love that answer, because one of the things that’s so beautiful about this special is the fact that we showcase a couple that are supportive of one another’s need for doing their own things, and that’s such a strength in a relationship that doesn’t have to be this codependent, consistent, right next to each other all the time for it to be really powerful, true love.
To continue off of that, knowing the need for that solo time and that sense of adventure, but also being that rock to come back to and that touchpoint when Waverly is feeling a little bit like, “This is a lot.” She knows that she can always reach out to Nicole, and I think Nicole probably knows the same — but if there’s anything that Nicole ever needs, Waves is going to make herself available, no matter what’s going on.
BARRELL: Knowing Jeremy’s there definitely helps. Maybe a little bit.
Wynonna Earp: Vengeance is currently available to stream on Tubi.
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