It must be difficult to play a sword-wielding heroine in the post-Game of Thrones era, when the shadow of Arya Stark and her Needle will forever linger. Such a feat awaits us on the front of Katherine Langford's new show, Cursed. The fantasy show, premiering today on Netflix, is based on the 2019 book of the same name and reimagines the Arthurian legend through the perspective of Nimue (or, as she is more commonly known, the Lady of the Lake).

Langford, the star of the film, seems acutely aware that GoT and Arya's legacy (open in new tab) loom large over the fantasy genre. But that does not mean she is willing to succumb to comparison.

"It's kind of sad that in this genre, the epicenter of the genre, we see so few women fighting or holding swords.

In fact, Arya and Nimue have little in common except that they both hold swords in their hands. Nimue, a young woman who bears extraordinary magical powers and must travel to protect her people and serve her family, is more aptly compared to Mulan, Katniss Everdeen, or Harry Potter. Also, given that Nimue is regularly given designations such as demon or "wolfblood witch," a more fitting comparison for GoT might be Daenerys Targaryen.

Langford continues: thanks to "Game of Thrones" and "The Lord of the Rings," the fantasy genre has been able to reach a large mainstream audience. These fantasy films stand out because they put their own stamp on the genre. We know what "Game of Thrones" is about (opens in new tab) and we know what "The Lord of the Rings" is about. As we filmed, we explored what makes this 'The Damned' and what our unique identity is"

. [The legends that inspire the show feel like an afterthought, and the fantastical elements are pushed into what would have been a much better coming-of-age story, but Langford manages to captivate. Her Nimue is vulnerable. Clever. You want to root for her.

That initial vulnerability is what drew Langford to the character. 'At the beginning of the season she was a really breathless young woman. She has buck teeth. She's an adult, but she's not 100 percent yet. She is not yet in her element as a woman. She is ostracized because she has a mysterious curse that she does not understand and that others do not understand. It was the initial adversity of her upbringing that made me really curious about her."

For those who have followed the 24-year-old's career, her standout performance will come as no surprise. She won over critics with "13 Reasons Why," gained a cult following with "Love, Simon," and held her own against big names like Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans in 2019's "Knives Out."

Langford signed on to the Netflix show before seeing the script. She explained that she was a "big fan of fantasy" (Mars Attacks was her favorite movie as a child) and the work of Frank Miller (he illustrated the book and worked on the show). She had only read Tom Wheeler's manuscript before accepting the role. (Wheeler is also the show's executive producer, writer, and showrunner.) She credits Nimue's "honest" storyline to Wheeler's help with the character's journey.

"Part of Nimue's story as a woman is that she's told she can't be in a position of power. So when she was told that she had a sword and that it belonged to the 'true king,' it never occurred to her that she could use this sword. But one moment, her thoughts changed. During the rewrite, that moment disappeared. So I went to Tom and said, 'This is really important. Nimue needs this moment.' From that conversation, he wrote this really beautiful (scene). "

Such emotional awakenings constitute the show's (only) memorable moments. It is such moments, not her sword, that position Nimue as a legendary figure like Arya, Mulan, or Frodo Baggins.

"When it comes to these hero genres and hero stories, it's not just about putting women in men's shoes and telling hero stories with women at the center," she says; Cursed is not only a retelling of Excalibur and Arthurian legend, but also a heroine's It is also an opportunity to tell the story of the heroine and all the obstacles unique to women on that journey."

While the show's quieter moments are its strong points, Langford also does commendable action scenes that put her contemporaries' fantasy productions to shame. She learned swordplay and horseback riding in just four weeks, and as a former athlete, she says she enjoyed the physicality of it all. She shares a particularly gruesome story of wearing three sets of armor during wasp season and rolling around in 111-degree heat in mud and fake blood made from sugar syrup while filming the show's pinnacle fight scenes.

"One of the things I'm really proud of about 'Cursed' is the way the girls are written to highlight their abilities. For Nimue, I put a lot of effort into making sure she didn't come off as a damsel in distress. For example, let's say Nimue was running and fell. It's about respecting someone's abilities and acknowledging the obstacles they have to overcome."

Both literally and figuratively, Langford proved that Nimue is a fantasy character to be reckoned with. But if it must be compared to "Thrones" (open in new tab), "Cursed" is perhaps best compared to Arya's "House of Black and White" storyline, which appeared in the show's fifth season. But anyway, Arya will forever be remembered as the one who defeated the Night King. And likewise, thanks to Langford, Nimue's legacy, despite the show's shortcomings, will take its rightful place in Arthurian legend.

"We were always heroes as women," Langford says. I think [this show] is a small step in that direction."

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