From season 4 has slowly but surely laid the groundwork for the horror show’s epic conclusion in season 5, and the events of “Best Laid Plans” and “Heavy is the Head” suggest that the townspeople finally have a weapon against the creatures. Fatima Hassan (Pegah Ghafoori) may have been given the ability to control the monsters that terrorize the protagonists every night, but it comes with a high physical price.
After her traumatic pregnancy resulted in the rebirth of the monster known as Smiley, Fatima felt a strange connection to her “son”, which allowed her to save Kenny from him in episode 7. But since nothing comes in easily Fromresident medical experts Kristi and Marielle discovered that Fatima has not only developed varicose veins all over her stomach, but her heart rate has also dropped drastically – to the point where she shouldn’t even be alive.
Instead of inhibiting her possible destiny, however, Fatima is ready to make use of her new abilities regardless of the consequences in From season 4. Ghafoori is just as prepared, and she explained why in a new interview with ScreenRant, where she also waxed poetic about the importance of Ellis and Fatima’s steady romance amid the chaos.
How From has prepared Fatima for her terrifying situation
ScreenRant: What does Fatima understand about what’s happening to her right now? In episode 8, she says she doesn’t care what her connection to Smiley does to her as long as she’s in control and can help, but how true is that? Is she processing it as well as she seems to be?
Pegah Ghafoori: She knows a lot more about what’s happening to her now. I don’t know if she understands the gravity of what is happening to her or how far she is now capable of going, but I think she knows what her purpose is. She knows what it means to her and what it means to her future.
In season 1, she already knows that she is no longer who she was. Even though she got to go home, her life as she knew it is over and she has the mindset to step back and look at things from a bird’s eye view. She knows things are different now, so the question becomes, “What do we do about it?”
Since then, she’s had three seasons of preparation to really come to terms with, “I’m never going to be who I used to be, and that’s okay. How can I make the best of who I’m becoming?” So I think she is well prepared.
ScreenRant: What is the process of stepping into the physical signs of Fatima’s transformation, such as the marks on her stomach, just like on stage?
Pegah Ghafoori: Yes, they experimented a bit with what would be on my stomach. At first it was prosthetics that could be raised a little bit, but they didn’t like that, so they ended up just hand painting every vein and every color on my stomach. It’s all paint, can you believe it?
And as soon as there are visual signals for something, I’m there right away. As soon as I saw those veins, I thought, “Oh, I don’t feel so good. I don’t like what’s happening to me!” It was just paint, but they are good at their jobs so it feels so real.
Why Ellis & Fatima’s relationship is important from Season 4
ScreenRant: Ellis and Fatima have had a very stable relationship relationship over 4 seasons of Fromwhich feels very rare in television. Why do you think it’s important to highlight the support and mutual affection in their relationship amid the horror, rather than potential drama?
Pegah Ghafoori: I think they have enough drama as it is! They don’t need any more of that. The only people in this town need more than an exit sign is love and hope, and it’s these two. As much as Fatima is hope, Ellis is love, and these two together do a lot more for this city than people give them credit for.
I think when we get to Season 5, you’ll realize how much we’ve needed them all along. I can’t wait for myself, as well as the audience, to find out what that means.
ScreenRant: Speaking of people who have done a lot for this town, how would you describe the evolution of Fatima’s connection to Boyd, as well as your own working relationship with Harold Perrineau?
Pegah Ghafoori: It has grown immensely. He was someone who barely made it to Colony House because of the rocky relationship he had with his son – but Fatima, having lost her own father, always saw him as a father figure. Now he really is her father-in-law! They have become much closer and they are real family now.
Harold Perrineau is just as incredible, if not more, than Boyd Stevens. I always learn from him and he is so easy to be around on set. All the good things you’ve ever heard about Harold Perrineau are true, so being guided by Boyd on the show and by Harold off the show has been an experience that I will carry with me very far in my life.
Pegah Ghafoori wants 1 from questions answered by season 5
ScreenRant: Given that Season 5 is the final season, is there a question that you personally still want to see answered or something that you hope to portray for Fatima, whether in a flashback or in the future?
Pegah Ghafoori: Fatima-wise, I always want there to be a spin-off of her life before she ended here because they’ve given us so little and yet so much about her. She’s a character who’s already been through hell and back, so I think Fatima before and after From could be her own show!
Otherwise, I really want to know what happened to Abby. We’ve gotten glimpses somehow, but the Abby storyline still bothers me. It’s just this open question. I’m so close to her family members now that I think more than anything I want them to get some closure.
New episodes of From season 4 drop Sundays on MGM and MGM+.
See our previous interviews here:
- Publication date
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20 February 2022
- Network
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Epix, MGM+
- Directors
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Jack Bender, Brad Turner, Alexandra La Roche, Bruce McDonald, Jeff Renfroe
- Authors
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Vivian Lee, Kristen Layden, Brigitte Hales, Jeff Pinkner, John Griffin
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Harold Perrineau
Boyd Stevens
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Catalina Sandino Moreno
Tabitha Matthews
