The Big Picture

Ayoola Smart, who plays Aiel warrior Aviendha in The Wheel of Time, initially read the first three books in the series while filming Season 2, but decided to read alongside the scripts for Season 3 to let the story unfold. Smart underwent two weeks of stunt training for her first fight scene in Season 2 and had to film it over three months due to COVID and injuries. Smart also discusses the importance of inclusivity in the fantasy genre and the process behind the creation of the Aiel’s handtalk language.

We’re further out now from The Wheel of Time’s Season 2 finale, but given everything that goes down in that epic episode, we knew we needed the help of some of the show’s cast to wrap our heads around it all. While Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski) finally accepts his role as the prophesied Dragon Reborn (with the help of some channeling from Rosamund Pike’s Moiraine), the original Two Rivers bunch finally reunites in full, looking out on the city of Falme in the wake of an epic battle between Seanchan, Whitecloaks, Aiel, and… wait, there’s yet another Forsaken (Laia Costa) lurking softly, softly from the shadows?

Although Prime Video hasn’t confirmed a release date for the much-anticipated third season, that only means we have plenty of time to keep breaking down Season 2’s biggest moments — and now, we still have a few more of The Wheel of Time’s newest additions and most recognizable faces offering their perspectives on what their characters faced (as well as hint at what we can look forward to). Collider recently had the opportunity to sit down with Ayoola Smart, who joined the cast this season as the Aiel warrior Aviendha, for a spoiler-filled conversation. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Smart discusses how many of the Wheel of Time books she’s cracked open so far, some of the ways she personally identifies with her character, how long that initial fight sequence took to film, the importance of more inclusivity in the fantasy genre, and more.

The Wheel of Time Set in a high fantasy world where magic exists, but only some can access it, a woman named Moiraine crosses paths with five young men and women. This sparks a dangerous, world-spanning journey. Based on the book series by Robert Jordan. Release Date November 19, 2021 Creator Rafe Judkins Main Genre Fantasy Genres Fantasy , Sci-Fi Rating TV-14 Seasons 3 Streaming Service(s) Prime Video

COLLIDER: Ever since I saw Aviendha show up in Season 2, I feel like I’ve become obsessed with her. I think she’s someone fans were really excited to see, and she has this great journey through the books. How many of the books did you read after you were cast? Or did you not want to know too much about what happens beyond where you’re currently playing her?

AYOOLA SMART: A bit of both. I did go in hard when I first got cast. I think I read the first three books within the first month of being out there, which was great. I was actually listening to them on audiobook on 1.5 or something, and just eating them. Then I made the decision where I wanted to read as we go along, so I don’t want to go too far ahead — to let it unfold, even though I do know largely where she goes as a character. So at the moment for Season 3, I’m reading as we go along. I’ve decided to do it that way so that I’m not too far ahead, but also I can use them as a kind of accompaniment.

Ayoola Smart’s First Aiel Fight Scene Took Three Months to Film
Image via Prime Video

We’ve seen the Aiel before at the end of Season 1, especially, the flashback with Rand’s mom. It’s the first sense that we get of how the Aiel fight, but then we don’t see them again until Aviendha shows up in Season 2, and you get to have that cool sequence with the Whitecloaks. How much stunt training did you have to do for it?

SMART: It was so much fun to film. The first part of my shooting was kind of chronological, so I wasn’t cast that far before I went out and started. I had two weeks, I think, of stunt training before we started shooting that fight. I did the whole fight, but I also did not do the whole fight. [Laughs] I had my wonderful stunt double Jade, and also one of the other incredible stunt doubles, Alice. There are actually three of us who are doing that fight on screen. But Jade also had an injury, and we had loads of issues with COVID, so we had to split up the filming with that over… we started shooting it in November, and we didn’t finish shooting it until the end of January. Yeah, I did do it all, but in the years to come I hope to be able to do a lot more than I could during that time.

As a character, Aviendha’s strong and fierce. A part of it is because of the culture that she grew up in. The Aiel have a very direct way of getting to the point. They don’t cut corners, which is somewhat refreshing in this world filled with so much scheming. Do you feel like there are any similarities between yourself and the character, or anything that you latched onto? Or is she a change of pace to play just because of that directness?

SMART: Both, actually. One of the things that really excited me about her as a character was that she’s not a character that I’ve played before. There were parts of her, like her directness and her at-ease confidence and straightforward way of approaching life, that I was really drawn to and excited to play, but also found a little intimidating because there were parts that I would be stretched to inhabit. There are a lot of things about Aviendha, particularly as her journey progresses, that I identified with — which I can’t really talk about, but will reveal itself in due course. It was a nice balance of things that I hadn’t played before. A challenge in certain areas, but also enough that I could identify with that I felt like I could play her truthfully.

The Aiel culture is a challenge for the characters, too. We see the Two Rivers group — not just on the show, but in the books too, struggle to wrap their heads around things like the concept of ji’e’toh. Was there anything, through reading the books or the scripts, that you were just really excited to get to dig into and explore in terms of the Aiel?

SMART: Definitely. A lot of it was [about] the honor structure that they have in their lives, just the in-built sense of loyalty and dedication to their people and to preserving their culture and their way of life, and how that then interacts with the outside world. Having Aviendha step out of that space and into this whole new world in so many different ways with so many different kinds of people, I was quite excited to get into that.

Ayoola Smart Had Entire Handtalk Conversations With the Other Aiel Actors
Image via Prime Video

One of the more visual aspects of the Aiel culture in the show is the handtalk between Aviendha and the other Maidens. That’s something I know that was created in the show, but how much of it was inspired by real sign language and then adapted? Did you find yourself practicing it even when you weren’t on-set with Ragga [Ragnars] and Maja [Simonsen]?

SMART: Definitely. There was a point towards the end of filming when we were in Morocco where we were able to have conversations with each other on set or wherever that nobody could understand — and that was very, very fun. We spent a lot of time together practicing and a lot of time with Naomi [Joy Todd] and Gavin [Lilley] and [interpreter] Tim getting comfortable enough that it feels like second nature.

In terms of the sign language, it was very intentional. Gavin and Naomi, who worked together, and Tim, they wanted to create something that was… it is recognizable as sign, but it is also very much its own separate thing. You won’t see literal sign words or things that translate, but stuff that is similar or embodies something. One of the most interesting things about sign language and working with Gavin over this time was how you had to embody and learn how to speak without words and learn how to communicate without words in a different way. There’s also a definite military sign language influence. But there were days where, in the space, we would discover a new word, or they would send over something, like, “Oh, we’ve now got this in our bank,” and the vocabulary was expanding, and that was really brilliant.

I think it was really important to have that kind of inclusivity on screen. Even though it’s not like BSL, it is a nonverbal way of communicating — and having that visibility, particularly in the fantasy world, and expanding the idea of diversity to be fully inclusive, it’s really important, and I think the handtalk is a really brilliant way of doing that.

We get to see Aviendha meet Perrin first, which is a change from the books, but he’s also her way into eventually meeting the rest of the characters. I know you cannot spoil anything about Season 3, so without doing that, which characters are you personally excited for Aviendha to get to meet down the road?

SMART: This may be a cop-out answer, but because her interactions in Season 2 are very limited to Perrin and the girls, and the little interaction with Loial, just in general, I want to say everyone — in that sense of where this journey will take her next and how these other characters can inform her. From the books and, obviously, the sense of female friendships that are running themes throughout, that excitement about how she’s going to interact with the other female characters, I’m looking forward to that.

Both seasons of The Wheel of Time are available to stream on Prime Video.

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