Tell Me A Story Comes to The CW: Danielle Campbell Explains Her 'Sexy, Mysterious' Spin on Red Riding Hood
Former Originals star Danielle Campbell returns to The CW tonight (9/8c) with the network premiere of Tell Me a Story, which finds the former TV witch falling under someone else’s spell for a change.
Though Tell Me a Story already enjoyed a two-season lifespan on CBS All Access, Campbell says it makes “perfect sense” for The CW to give its viewers a chance to experience the “thrilling, sexy, mysterious” anthology series for the first time. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the fairytale-themed drama comes from the mind of Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries) and co-stars Paul Wesley, the man formerly known as Stefan Salvatore.
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When the series first premiered in 2018, “a lot of people were comparing it to Once Upon a Time [because of its fairytale themes],” Campbell says. “But it’s really fairytales reinvented. What’s unique about this show is that we’re retelling the stories in a modern-day setting without a lot of those fairytale elements. These things are happening to real people in the real world.”
The show’s first season finds Campbell playing a Little Red Riding Hood-inspired character named Kayla, a California girl who is forced to relocate to New York City with her dad after the death of her mom. “She doesn’t really know her grandmother [played by Kim Cattrall], so she isn’t happy about moving in with her,” Campbell says. “And she’s really angry with her dad. Basically, she’s mad at the world looking for any way to stir up trouble — and she finds it.”
Her trouble comes in the form of Nick (Billy Magnussen), a charmer with a dark side. “Not everybody is what they appear to be,” Campbell says of Kayla’s new man. We don’t think we need to spell out which character from Little Red Riding Hood served as the inspiration for Magnussen’s devilish character. (Grandmas, beware!)
The show’s first season — which includes elements from The Three Little Pigs and Hansel and Gretel — also stars Dania Ramirez, Davi Santos, Dorian Crossmond Missick, Michael Raymond-James, Sam Jaeger, James Wolk and Zabryna Guevara.
Hit PLAY on a video interview TVLine did with Williamson, Wesley and James Wolk (not a law firm!) at Comic-Con in 2018, then drop a comment with your thoughts below. Have you already seen Tell Me a Story? Are you planning on checking it out tonight?
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