INTERVIEW: Shannon Berry on the Amazon Original Series ‘The Wilds,’ Strong Female Characters, Fan Theories, Social Isolation, and Self-Love

Shannon Berry leads as Dot in the hit Amazon Original Series, The Wilds, and we spoke to the actress all about the first season and her role.

The Wilds is a dystopic survival teen drama series that follows a group of girls who get stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. Now, they must all work together to survive and make it off the island. Dot is a strong Texan teen who tackles the leader role and takes care of those around her. She is no stranger to responsibility, despite her age. She’s a take-charge kind of girl and doesn’t back down from a challenge.

Glitter spoke exclusively with Shannon Berry all about the success of the series, her reaction to The Wilds being renewed, representation, the positive fan response, and the character of Dot. Read below to find out more.

GLITTER: The Wilds is such a different series from what is currently on TV; what attracted you to the project?
SHANNON: Oh, what attracted me initially was just absolutely Sarah Streicher’s writing, and I think it is just so unique to be able to pick up a script and say, not only is this incredibly raw and just completely real and grounded in reality, but it’s about the female teenage experience, which I think a lot of the time is written off, or it’s not explored to be the important thing that it is. I think it was just– Sarah has this like magnetic energy in her writing that just makes you sit up, listen, and be so interested. Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that I did a really awesome teenage show and role before I don’t look like a teenager anymore.

GLITTER: Do you share any qualities with Dot, and what was your favorite part of exploring her character?
SHANNON: I think the qualities that I share are we are definitely both fixers. We both really jump at the opportunity when problems arise to kind of work them out and sort them out. I feel like we’ve both put other people before ourselves in most situations. And something that I was really excited to explore with her was just this unapologetic nature that she holds herself with, and she is so genuinely herself and just does not care what other people think about her because she doesn’t have time for it. I think it was really amazing to explore that confidence and be able to step into that role and just be able to do whatever I wanted and not feel embarrassed.

GLITTER: Originally, I think a lot of us thought that Dot was working with Gretchen from that end scene of them talking in episode three. Did you ever think that was going to be the case, or did you know who the operatives were early on?
SHANNON: Yeah, we knew. Towards the end of the pilot, we all found out who the other operative was. But I remember getting the first two scripts, episodes two and three, before we went back. And I remember reading that end scene and then being like, “Ah– what– is it me, too? Am I the operative? Did I hear wrong?” It really confused me as well. I was like, “Oh my God, am I like in on this?” But no, it’s fine. I was like, “Oh no, I didn’t.” I mean, something happened there, and I’m still not quite sure what kind of deal they made, if any. However, yeah, she does not know.

GLITTER: Dot, in a lot of ways, was a big leader when it came to the island; do you think that came from her having to act like an adult very early on due to her father’s illness?
SHANNON: Yeah, all of her life– well, most of– all of, her teenage life, Dot has only known responsibility, dedication, and caring for other people. It was this beautiful parallel that Streicher had wrote that Dot was this responsible caretaker in her real life, that she found herself having to slip back into that role on this island when really she thought she was going to be going to Hawaii and taking her father’s words into account and maybe finally start living for herself and discovering who she is outside of that role. But, yeah, it’s definitely just this natural instinct of hers to kind of bottle everything in and just get it done. And that’s why I found that monologue in episode seven really, really interesting because usually, she doesn’t really have a lot to say. When things are going wrong, she just gets it done. But here she was kind of breaking down and being like, “Here’s the situation, and we can’t lose our sh*t right now; otherwise, we have nothing.”

GLITTER: Do you have any theories about what happened between the last scene on the island that we saw and them getting off the island?
SHANNON: Yeah, not really many theories on that. However, I’ve seen this theory floating around that Gretchen is actually Dot’s Mom. I’ve been seeing that, and I was like, “Oh my God.” I was like– I mean, I’d be really sick if it was true. But like, I have no idea. Sarah Streicher was like, “Some of those theories are actually spot on,” and I was like, “Is it the mom thing? Is she my mother? Please tell me.” That would be wack. Yeah, that was crazy. I was– and they were like detailing it out, and they were like, “What if Gretchen adopted her? Like, that was the catch. She had to adopt her so she could stay out of the system. And now, she’s her adoptive mom, or she was her birth mom, and that’s how she knew her dad and convinced him to let her go on the trip.” And I was like, “Oh my God.” Oh, people are saying that Mateo is actually working for Gretchen too. Like that’s nuts, some of these theories are so– I’m reading them like, “Oh my God.”

It reminds me of– cause I remember being in high school, and I think Lost was still coming out a little bit, and people were just talking about it, as well as like Game of Thrones would come out every week, and people would be talking about what happens next. It’s really fun to see people talking about the mystery of our show. It’s really fun that they’ve created this community. And I get to kind of sit back and just kind of watch it unfold and be like, “I have no idea if you’re correct. But it’d be really cool if that was real.”

GLITTER: What was your reaction when you found out that the series was renewed for season two?
SHANNON: It was so funny because I found out at 3 AM. I was asleep, and Sarah Pidgeon called me in the middle of the night. I remember looking at my phone and seeing that she was calling me, and usually, I’d pick up when she calls because I know it’s always important. But I was like, so tired. I sent her a text back and was like, “I’m so sorry babe, it’s like 3 AM. I’m sleeping.” And she was like, “Answer your phone because we’ve been picked up for season two, you dumb*ss.” So it was amazing. So I had a little cry. It was super exciting, and it was just such a breath of relief. And I’m just so happy that, you know, Amazon loved the show, and everyone loves the show. I just couldn’t ask for a better support team around it.

GLITTER: What do you think being on the island taught Dot?
SHANNON: I think it taught Dot how to– not only how to live and how to let go, but how to heal from this devastating loss of her father, and I think she learned what family can be. I think she found a family in these girls because she’s never had any friends before. And that’s something that I find really interesting, is that Fatin is Dot’s first-ever best friend. I think she’s just found community, and she’s found friendship and people who were going to support her, which she feels like she’s never really had. She doesn’t have to go through things alone anymore. I think that’s what she learned.

GLITTER: Any dream storylines for Dot?
SHANNON: You know what’d be really funny? This is kind of a silly one; if Dot had a dream like Martha did; you know how Martha had that whole “Cake By the Ocean” dream? Dot has a dream that she was like going on survival with Bear Grylls, and there was some kind of musical number. Bear Grylls was there because meeting those men in real life would just be an absolute blessing. I mean, if he told me to eat a bug, I’d eat a bug. Like, I’m doing whatever he says. Something like that would be really, really funny. But that’s a really silly answer. A musical number with Bear Grylls, dreamscapes, great. So hope Sarah Streicher is listening.

GLITTER: If you were stuck on a deserted island, who would you want to be stuck with you, and what item would you bring with you?
SHANNON: I reckon I definitely want to be stuck with Sarah because we’d probably just laugh and muck about until we eventually perish. And I think what I would bring with me is probably Uno. I’d just play Uno until I run out of water. I think that’s a really good way to go.

GLITTER: What has the positive response from fans of the series meant to you? 
SHANNON: Oh God, it’s meant a lot. I think it’s so incredibly surreal and beautiful to just see people’s messages and their tweets and their post about how seen they feel. That has just been something that I really cherish; going into this, I wanted to make sure that in telling Dot’s story, I would make it as realistic as possible. But luckily, I haven’t gone through anything like Dot has. But I thought to myself, for the people watching who have been through this, I want to make sure that I do them justice and I do the story justice so that they don’t watch this and they don’t feel seen. And it’s been amazing to read people’s stories and just see how incredibly strong people are in their real lives, and hearing that people have actually gone through that is just so incredibly powerful to hear that they’ve come out on the other side of it.

GLITTER: What message do you hope this series sends to female viewers?
SHANNON: I think it’s just to not only own your power because you are enough but also to know that you will always come out on the other side of whatever you’re going through, and things will always get better. And I think it’s just– yeah, just knowing that you are enough and you are so powerful for being yourself.

GLITTER: You all seem like a very close cast, was there an instant bond when you all started filming?
SHANNON: We are close, very scary. I think the instant bond came from coming back to do the season. I think during the pilot, we were all like very nervous just because it was a pilot. And we’re like, “oh, we really love it, but we can’t love it too much because what if by some chance we don’t get picked up?” Like that would suck. But I think coming back to do the season, there was just this like reignited energy between all of us and just this feeling of like we did it, and we’re about to do this incredible show, and we’re all back here together. It was just amazing, and we would just spend all of our free time together; we would spend a week on the beach and then spend our weekends together. It was nuts. Sarah and I used to go home in the car together and be like, “Do you wanna just, like, hang out at my room for the next couple of hours? Even though we’ve just worked together all day. Do you wanna go do that? I’ll make you Fairy bread.” An Australian delicacy.

GLITTER: Representation is important, and this show hit the nail on the head when it comes to that. How did you feel working on a project that celebrated that?
SHANNON: It was so– not only am I so incredibly grateful because it’s so rare to be able to work with a crew and a cast who are so incredibly lovely, and having diversity in your crews and your casts are so important. And also, just working with so many female directors, I have never seen so many female directors at one point in my time ever. It was so incredible to just be able to take it all in and just kind of bask in it and learn from it, and I was just grateful to have been there.

GLITTER: Strong female leads in the industry are sometimes a rarity; what do you think is the importance of ensuring that series and films have them? 
SHANNON: I think it’s so incredibly important, but I think the most important thing is don’t just write your female characters to aid men. You don’t just write your female characters to serve the men’s storyline. I think that’s really the secret to writing strong female characters; if you’re struggling to write for a female, write a man and then change the name and change the gender. So you can just learn because it’s the exact same. For some reason, sometimes they’re like, “Oh, I can’t write for women. It’s just a little bit too hard.” And I’m like, “Learn. Talk to other women, like experience it.” Like please, listen and open yourself, and be open to educating and learning. I think it’s just when you write female characters– please, please, please, please do not make their only storyline a service to the men. I think that’s how you get strong females.

GLITTER: Did you learn anything about yourself during quarantine?
SHANNON: Well, we had a really long quarantine here in Melbourne; we had a good like seven, eight months in quarantine. I think I’ve learned how to just– I learned how to be comfortable in myself in my own time. Because that’s something that I struggle with sometimes is being comfortable being by myself and just finding comfort in my own company. And I think that’s something I really learned how to embrace. And also, I learned how much TV I can watch at one time. It was insane; it was awful.

GLITTER: Last show you binge-watched?
SHANNON: Well, I’m actually– what I’m watching right now is Schitt’s Creek. I’ve never seen it, and I am loving it. David is, absolutely, just– he is just my soul and my heart and is incredible. Yeah, I binged New Girl. There’s amazing teenage series called My Mad Fat Diary that I watch all the time. Rewatch it all the time. So, people who are looking for a hole to fill until season two comes out, it’s a really good British series with Jodie Comer and Sharon Rooney in it. It’s amazing.

GLITTER: Favorite movie you watched over quarantine? 
SHANNON: Oh, really good question. What movies did I watch? Favorite movie over quarantine… oh, look, I watched Swiss Army Man again, that’s like one of my comfort zones and The Truman Show. I just watched those, like, over and over again. I love The Truman Show. It’s my favorite film, and Swiss Army Man is just so funny. I love Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe to pieces, and Daniel Radcliffe plays a great dead body.

GLITTER: What is one album that you can listen to on repeat?
SHANNON: Wham!, I can just listen to The Best of Wham! album, all day, every day. I love Wham!, I’m obsessed with Wham!. When I was seven, I used to watch their music video DVD on repeat; drove my mother crazy. I love Wham!.

GLITTER: Are there any specific genres that you hope to try in the future?
SHANNON: Oh, I would love to do like a horror movie. My dream– it’s not really a genre, but I would love to be in an A24 film. I love A24; I breathe A24. I would just love to do– if I had to do a genre, maybe a horror movie would be really fun? I want to do one with Johnny, who plays Quinn. He’s obsessed with horror, and he’s really cool. I joke all the time; I’m like, “We’re going to be in a horror movie together, bro. When are we writing it? When are we doing it?”

GLITTER: Glitter has a celebrity #SelfLoveCampaign. What does self-love mean to you?
SHANNON: Self-love means to me, listening to yourself and what you need, and being kind. I think just having a lot of kindness for yourself, even if you don’t feel like being kind. I think just saying one kind thing about yourself to yourself in the mirror can make all the difference.

GLITTER: Do you have any new projects coming up that you can share?
SHANNON: My best friend in Melbourne– he is making an Australian independent feature film. It’s called Slant, and we’re hoping that the times line up with The Wilds, so I’m able to film it. But basically, I’ll have a small role that was written for me in his film. That would be amazing to support Australian independent features. Yes, by Michael Nikou, and it’s called Slant. So that’ll be coming out soon. It’s gonna be great; I get to do interesting things.

GLITTER: What are the best social media platforms for fans to follow you?
SHANNON: Probably my Instagram. I have Instagram and Twitter; I forget Twitter exists a lot, so I will only jump on and tweet things like, “I just moved house, and I forgot my whole fridge, haha.” But yeah, probably Instagram and Twitter. That’s about it. If you want to, go ahead; there it is!