Of follows a group of people who are trapped in a mysterious city that is taken over by murderous creatures every night, which really upped its game in season 3. These monsters are showing a more manipulative side, and on top of that, the town is starting to really reach out to its residents. The leader of the colony house, Donna (Elizabeth Saunders), is forced to make a painful decision regarding Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori) to protect the rest of her people.
Elizabeth Saunders is known for her work on Clarisse (2021), surreal state (2021), Girl (2020), THIS (2017), Black Orphan (2013), and The Boondock Saints (1999). She has played the role of Donna since the first episode of Ofwho takes care of everyone, but is not afraid to make the difficult decisions that need to be made. Of Season 3 releases new episodes on Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on MGM+
Screen speech interviewed Elizabeth Saunders about Of season 3. She looks at the difficult and heartbreaking decision her character was forced to make and how she thinks she would handle it alone if she were put in that situation. Saunders also details what makes these creatures so scary to her and what it’s like to see the actors with full prosthetics on set. She admits how she feels she would react if she were trapped in this town too.
Elizabeth Saunders thinks Donna struggled with her decision to kick Fatima out of season three
However, with so much going on, the decision had to be made quickly. Donna didn’t have time to consider this in detail.
Screen Rant: This week Donna made a difficult decision regarding Fatima. How do you think you would handle this situation, personally?
Elizabeth Saunders: It’s difficult. It is difficult. I would be confused if I loved anyone as much as Donna loves Fatima and Ellis. I think I would see what Donna sees. but Liz would say, “We can come to an agreement.” I guess my compromise could be: We’re going to find a way to keep them in the house, or we’re going to get them out of the house, but we’re going to make a place for them.
Screen Rant: Do you think Donna struggled with this decision?
Elizabeth Saunders: I think she totally fought it. Yes. There are many things going on to combat this. She’s not having much time. She can’t spend an afternoon thinking about a cup of tea.
The From Monsters are “a whole other level of unpredictability now”
“We have no idea how they will transform, how they could be anything.”
Screen Rant: What do you think about the city’s monsters that make them so terrifying?
Elizabeth Saunders: If they were unpredictable at the beginning, now they are on another level of unpredictability. And so we have no idea what they will turn into, how they could be anything. We’re in a city where we try to maintain rules that keep giving us a set of monsters that increasingly have no rules. Or if they have rules, they go crazy, how can you find out what it is?
Screen Rant: What’s it like seeing the actors with full prosthetics on set?
Elizabeth Saunders: They’re scary, but I will say I’m very fascinated. I don’t get to spend much time with them, but I see them around base camp and occasionally see a fictional version of one under a trailer. Surprise. But I’m so, so fascinated by the artwork that Patrick and Michael do and everyone on the team. Patrick Baxter leads and Michael is sort of the main man.
I think it’s so beautiful, not physically, but the art is beautifully done. It’s beautifully executed. I wish I could do that. I would go to the workshop with Patrick Baxter to learn how to make monsters. Maybe if we have a next season, we don’t know yet, but if we have a next season, I’ll ask if I can help by showing up and being part of a monster. It’s so cool. So this replaces that for me with goosebumps.
Elizabeth Saunders says she felt more alone as Donna on the season than ever before
“I don’t think she knows he’s her best friend, but from the outside, Liz kind of says, I think Donna just doesn’t know, but Boyd is her best friend.”
Screen Rant: What were you excited to explore with Donna in Of Season 3?
Elizabeth Saunders: Because it’s episode by episode, it’s hard for me to say what it would have been like because I never know what’s going to happen. So it kind of builds organically, but I think in hindsight, the breakdown of tension in trying to maintain is going.
And in some ways, I think I felt lonelier this season as Donna. I think in some ways Boyd is her best friend. I don’t think she knows that he’s her best friend, but from the outside, Liz kind of says, I think Donna just doesn’t know, but Boyd is her best friend.
Screen Rant: If you were stuck in this town, do you think you would take on a leadership role like Donna has?
Elizabeth Saunders: No, I would say, “What do you need to do?” And I would try to do that. I tend to be that person. And then I reflect on things and say, “Hey, here’s an idea.” But no, I don’t think I would go as far as taking on the role of Donna. It’s a lot. She has a lot of people and cares about everyone, but yes, I think she would be Donna’s right-hand man.
Screen Rant: What would you like to see for Donna in the future?
Elizabeth Saunders: I’d like to see Donna embark on a different kind of fight, like a different journey where she’s suddenly hit in the side and has to do something that we weren’t anticipating, and she wouldn’t be anticipating having to continue. Selfishly, Liz wants to go into the caves.
I was watching, looking at Henry and Victor in the caves, meeting Jasper, and I thought, I want to do this. But that’s me. In terms of narrative, I would just like to see her get involved in something she didn’t expect. And now she will have to deal with something completely different.
I really love watching it. There are all these visuals that even if you’re filming, you’re not necessarily timing it because you’re not playing with that thing.
Read more about the third season
Unravel the mystery of a nightmarish city that traps all who enter. As the reluctant residents struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they must also survive threats from the surrounding forest – including the terrifying creatures that emerge when the sun sets. After Season 2’s epic cliffhanger, escape will become a tantalizing and very real possibility as the true nature of the city comes into focus and the townspeople attack the myriad horrors that surround them.
Check out our previous Of season 3 interviews here:
Of Season 3 releases new episodes Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on MGM+.