Mayko Nguyen Talks Killjoys, Slasher, and Far Cry 5 [Exclusive] 

As we found out tonight, nobody around Aneela is safe, whether it’s by her own hand or someone she trusts, and Delle Sayah had her morning after go very, very wrong. I chatted with Mayko Nguyen last week about Delle Saya’s new relationship, whether we’d see her character again, and what went into the new look she’s been rocking this season.

Nguyen says the relationship with Aneela is as much as a surprise to Delle Sayah as it was to us. “I think Delle Sayah has been caught off guard. With Dutch, there’s always been this sexual tension. With Aneela, it’s important to me that it’s not just about lusting for her,” she says. “There’s a kinship. They’re both lonely women. They have a lot of power, and they’re very similar. I think she’s very much drawn to her in an emotional way. They don’t have friends. They find a friend in each other.”

“Aneela feels so different from Dutch. With Dutch it was a sexual tension born out of the cattiness between them. I think Aneela has swept me up in a way I was not anticipating. This relationship with Aneela feels much deeper. She sees herself in Aneela. That’s not what she has with Dutch. Dutch is an adversary in a cat and mouse game. [That said, she’s] not lost [her] opportunism, and I think she’s definitely looking to where she can rise to power [with Aneela].”

With the reveal that Gander was manipulating Aneela, it raises the question of who saved Delle Sayah last season, and Nguyen says definitively that it was the Hullen Queen. “Aneela calls all the shots,” she says. “It was definitely Aneela who got me.”

That scene at the end was actually Nguyen, who was pregnant during the third season shoot, and despite the apparent manhandling in the scene with Gander, she says body doubles were used where needed, and the cast and crew took great care with her. “We never did anything where I felt uncomfortable,” she explains. “Michelle [Lovretta] and all the producers were always very good about asking me what was okay.”

Delle Sayah’s softer look and flowing robes were actually in place before Nguyen told the team why it was a personal plus for her, but she welcomed the comfortable change. “They had established that new look before they even knew I was pregnant. That was just kismet,” she recalls.

“Changing from the tight [wardrobe]…former Delle Sayah always had these massive cinched belts that were very uncomfortable. Michelle [came up with] this new look that was more flowy, less makeup, less harsh before they knew I was pregnant. It all worked out really well for me.”

Another bonus was that the season ended up being a baby book of sorts. “We have the whole season to document the pregnancy,” she points out. “That’s pretty cool.”

We couldn’t dive too deep into what’s next–and I genuinely couldn’t poke around because I haven’t seen past next week’s episode, but Nguyen says her arc isn’t done. “We’re not done with Delle Sayah. I don’t think I’m giving too much away if I say that,” she teases. “I think it would be awful if they end Episode 6 with a reveal of being pregnant and we don’t see her again for the rest of the season. There’s more coming up with that.”

You might recognize Nguyen from last year’s Chiller and Netflix horror series Slasher, which was one of my 2016 favorites, and she said it was great fun to film it even though that’s not her usual fare as a viewer. “I’d never done horror anything. It’s not my genre. I never watch them. Being on the other side of it is a lot of fun,” she says. “And it helps [now when I watch them]. It’s nice to [remember], ‘Oh, this is all just make believe.’ I usually have to get the blow by blow from the person I’m watching it with. I’m a scaredy cat.”

Slasher [spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen it] was block shot, with the scripts doled out as required and the killer’s identity kept concealed, but because Nguyen’s character is killed, she found out as her character’s death arrived. “I suspected I was going to die. I just didn’t know when it as going to happen. I found out very quickly. I didn’t know who the killer was [until he killed me],” she remembers.

“I never suspected [Cam] at all. It’s a testament to Aaron [Martin]’s writing. I was so caught up reading those scripts. I had no idea. I definitely did not suspect Steve [Byers]’ character. He was not obviously not the one. He was always around. He was a nice guy, but he wasn’t too nice. I never considered it. I think I thought it was Brandon [Jay McLaren]‘s character.”

Nguyen has also been at work on 2018’s Far Cry 5 video game. In a funny coincidence, her husband in the game is played by Byers. When I interviewed him for The Televixen , he said he was thrilled she was on board. She enjoyed working with him again, too, this time under less murderous circumstances.

“It was fun because I’d never done motion capture before or a video game. Technically, there’s so much going on. It’s really impressive. It blows my mind,” she shares. “I play a pregnant woman in that, as well. In some parts, there’s a lot of screaming and yelling and going into labor. At one point I was nervous because I was far enough along, that I thought, ‘I don’t know…’ It’s so new to me, and for that alone, it’s fun.”

Killjoys airs Fridays at 8/7c on Syfy in the US and Space in Canada. Slasher is available on Netflix. Far Cry 5 will be available on February 27, 2018.