What can you tell me about Adelaide Kane, who plays Mary on “Reign.”
—Britney Sewell, Houston, Texas
Adelaide Kane, 23, hails from Clarement, Western Australia, where she began acting at age 6. Her first major role came 10 years later, while still in high school, when she entered a contest in “Dolly” magazine. The grand prize, which she won, was a three-month contract on the Australian soap “Neighbours.” Her parents supported her career and moved the family to Melbourne, where the show is filmed, for the duration.
Her career was launched, and was soon followed by roles on “Power Rangers RPM,” “Secrets of the Mountain” and the web series “Pretty Tough.”
But it was in November 2012 that Kane got her big break when she landed the recurring role of Cora on the American MTV series “Teen Wolf,” a role she won’t be able to return to now that she is the star of “Reign.”
Still, she knew that was a chance she was taking when she auditioned for several of the CW’s new fall series. Among them was “Reign,” the story of the young Mary, Queen of Scots, which held a special appeal for her.
“I’m half Scottish, and the tartan on my mother’s side is Royal Stuart, so I did have quite an emotional attachment to Mary and the whole story,” she says. “I requested the script, I read it and I really connected with Mary.”
Executive Producer Laurie McCarthy admits that when she heard there was an actress, who uttered the phrase, “the tartan on my mother’s side,” she had to meet with her. “I saw Adelaide Kane and we cast her. We didn’t audition a single person. I didn’t look at anyone else,” the producer says.
Even though, Kane, who also starred in this year’s sci-fi thriller “The Purge,” may have connected with Mary, she is very happy to be living in modern times. She says, “I very much enjoy being able to earn my own money, support myself, buy my own clothes and be independent.”
