Dynasty's Liz Gillies on Playing 'Bad Girl' Fallon Carrington and Why the Reboot Is 'Not Your Mother's Dynasty'
The Carringtons are back, and the drama looks juicier than ever.
Ahead of the premiere of The CW’s Dynasty remake, PEOPLE Now caught up with actress Liz Gillies, who plays Fallon Carrington in the revival of the ’80s classic primetime soap opera chronicling the ongoing feud between two wealthy families, the Carringtons and the Colbys.
Executive-produced by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (who helmed Gossip Girl and The O.C.), the revival is somewhat of a departure from the original — which Gillies, 24, applauds.
“Our cast is super diverse, which is a big change from the original Dynasty,” she said. “Our [Krystle] is Latina, also we’ve changed Heather Locklear‘s character Sammy Jo into a man, who is dating Steven, my brother, who is now out and proud, as opposed to the whole struggle with his sexuality that they had on the original.”
“It’s 2017,” Gillies continued. “We don’t need to beat around the bush — everyone is confident in who they are and our cast is diverse, so we’ve made a lot of necessary improvements. And even though it’s not your mother’s Dynasty, your mother will enjoy it very much. I think that this generation will have the same feel.”
What she can confirm, however, is that her version of Fallon is “very different” than original actress Pamela Sue Martin’s. (Martin left the show in 1984 and Fallon was recast with Emma Samms.)
“Pamela Sue Martin was so effortlessly of that world,” Gillies said. “She floated in and out of scenes with grace and this aloofness that you could just tell she’s used to this life and she grew up having a lot of money.”
“Her remarks were kind of … not few and far between — she didn’t like Krystle, but my Fallon definitely takes after her mother a lot more,” Gillies continued. “She’s got a lot more gusto, much more bite and she’s very emotional. She’s wild. She’s got a lot of different sides to her.”
And Gillies, who starred on Nickelodeon’s Victorious and the FX’s Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, enjoys playing “the bad girl.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever played the good girl,” she said with a laugh. “What I like about all the ‘bad girls’ I play is they’re not just bad girls. They’re human characters and they’re very flawed, and that’s what I like about them. They have lots of layers and so it makes it fun — it’s more than just, you know, the mean girl.”
Dynasty premieres Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
