Carrie-Anne Moss had been thinking about Baba Yaga just a week before the script for Yaga arrived. The actress, known for The Matrix and Jessica Jones, says the timing felt like one of those little nods from the ether she takes seriously. «I loved the fact that this had the lore of Baba Yaga,» Moss says. «I'm someone who has always been interested in that story.»
Yaga, premiering October 23 on AMC+, offers a modern twist on the classic Slavic folklore figure. Based on Kat Sandler's play, the series follows private investigator Rapp (Noah Reid) as he arrives in the small coastal town of Whittock to investigate the disappearance of a young heir to a powerful fishery, Henry Park (Hudson Williams). He clashes with local detective Carson (Clark Backo), a charismatic university professor named Katherine (Moss), and a web of suspects, secret lives, and ancient magic.
Moss's fascination with Baba Yaga goes back decades. She first encountered the story in her twenties through the book Women Who Run With the Wolves. «There's so many different ways that that story has been told,» she says. «Our version is inspired by Kat's play.» Fans of John Wick know Baba Yaga as the nickname of Keanu Reeves's assassin character, and Yaga includes a moment where Moss's Katherine deadpans «What's John Wick?» when the franchise is mentioned. Moss calls it a throwaway line. «I'm a huge fan of John Wick,» she says. «When I read that line, I'm always hesitant to put a nod towards that kind of thing. It's not my thing.» She shot it a few different ways and ultimately accepted its inclusion. «I understand why it was there, and I'm okay with it being in there, but it's a throwaway line.»
The actress embraced Katherine's unbothered nature, especially in intimate scenes with younger men, including Hudson Williams. «My sons are close in age to Hudson,» Moss says. «You're comfortable with that, but at the same time I was respectful of that too. I could be his mom. You're keeping your own energy, your own distance, because you don't want to suddenly be their mom.»
Moss says Yaga filmed at a breakneck pace, which she prefers to more drawn-out shoots. «I think I was there for three weeks,» she says. «I have never ever experienced that where it was really fast. Normally you'll have a lot of lull time between takes, which is actually exhausting. On this show, there was no lull.» She credits co-stars Noah Reid and Clark Backo with keeping spirits high. «They were like a little team the whole time and made me laugh so hard. When I laugh from my belly, I almost feel like it's a year's worth of therapy.»
Despite her roles in major franchises, Moss says she doesn't nerd out over any particular IP. But she remembers being a kid in the '70s and '80s and returning to theaters repeatedly. «I went to see movies that I loved as an 11, 12-year-old girl 17 times. Grease. Rocky. Bad News Bears.» That same excitement now applies to discovering a show. «My husband and I have this little routine. I love the feeling of 'I can't wait to see the next episode.' I hope that the people that watch Yaga feel that way.»