5 Questions With Taylor Hickson of ‘Motherland: Fort Salem’

Taylor Hickson from 'Motherland: Fort Salem' Freeform/David Bukach

The new season of Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem promises to take off running from Day 1 this season, with its premiere airing tonight. As Taylor Hickson previews, who plays Raelle: “It’s full throttle. It’s very, very emotional in comparison to last season — which I know might be difficult to believe considering last season was so intense, but there’s no breaks.”

Her character is processing what it’s like to suddenly have this new capability. “Abigail [Ashley Nicole Williams] and Raelle are still navigating what their newfound power means and what it means for their relationship.” As the intense season begins, we asked Hickson our “5 Questions.”

1. What TV shows have you been watching lately?
I don’t watch TV! I’m a fraud! I read books. I watch Disney movies. I watch a lot of Ice Age. Sometimes when I’m sad I watch New Girl. I like that show a lot; it makes me laugh.

2. What are three things do you need to have in your fridge or pantry?
My rule is when you walk into someone’s house, you know if they can cook if they keep garlic, onion, lemon, limes and some kind of chili flakes or something like that, like spices. I feel that’s how you know if someone understands tastes. Those are the handful of things I must keep. I also really like cilantro, which I know 50% of people think tastes like soap, but the other 50%, you have taste. That’s all I have to say.

3. What movie can you watch over and over?
Oh my goodness. Tarzan. I’m in love with Tarzan. Hercules. I love Mulan. It’s a lot of Disney stuff. [Also] Napoleon Dynamite or those really raunchy comedies. I love those.

4. Have you ever been starstruck?
Yes, I was so annoying as a little kid. I got the chance to be an extra on this movie called Ramona and Beezus, based off of a book that I loved when I was a little girl. I got to meet Selena Gomez. She was probably between 14 and 16 at the time; she was really young. At the time I think she had just started dating Justin Bieber or something. I remember I wanted to ask her about Justin Bieber. I was so starstruck. I was following her around and there’s crowds of people. I was just asking her questions. She was like, “Why are you following me? Who are you, little girl?” I was allowed on the set so I was just following her around. Then I ended up eating lunch with her and she’s really sweet, really cool.

5. What other jobs have you worked besides being an actor?
Me and Drake both started from the bottom — we both worked at Shoppers Drug Mart. I’m going to tell you a secret, I actually got fired from that job because in all the movies, you know how there’s a friends and family discount? The one time I ever used my discount, I gave it to my friend so he got like $2 off of a $50 thing or something, and yeah, I got fired for it. I think I was like 15 years old at the time. Then I also worked at Canadian Tire for a few months. Then I quit because I wanted to go busk on the streets, and I ended up playing guitar. It was money.