Exclusive: Rosamund Pike on The Wheel of Time Season 3, being back with a vengeance, and the secret sequel she’s already planning

If you like your fantasy high, your drama cinematic, and your dragons reborn, it’s time to get excited, because The Wheel of Time is back. The critically acclaimed fantasy epic Prime Video TV show returns for a third season, and this time, it’s bigger, bolder, and more ambitious than ever.

Based on the New York Times best-selling novels by Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time is a sweeping, magic-fuelled saga set in a world where time is cyclical, prophecies shape destiny, and powerful forces clash to either save or shatter existence. At its heart is Moiraine Damodred, a formidable member of the Aes Seda - an all-female order of magic wielders - who embarks on a dangerous quest to find the Dragon Reborn, the prophesied figure who could either break the world or save it.

Still not caught up? Now’s your chance to binge the first two seasons on Prime Video before the much-anticipated new season drops.

Someone who won’t be binge-watching it - or anything, for that matter - is The Wheel of Time’s star, Rosamund Pike. As she reveals to Shortlist when we sit down for an exclusive chat, she’s never binge-watched a series in her life. Ever.

Here, as well as that frankly shocking confession, the prolific British actress shares what playing Moiraine has taught her, why this season raises the stakes, and the secret sequel she’s already planning to one of her most iconic roles. You heard it here first. The Wheel of Time premieres this March - binge-watching optional.

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Shortlist: The Wheel of Time is back for a third season on Prime Video soon! What can we expect?

Rosamund Pike: Season three is where we get our wings. We're a show that everybody has agreed got better in season two, and I think we've made a third season that knocks season two out of the park. We've moved to a more cinematic scope, with a wider screen and a bigger lens on this world. We travel to other amazing locations. We explore the Aiel Waste, which is in the books, and is this incredible desert landscape where this hardened warrior culture lives, who are very suspicious of outsiders. They've got their own law; they've got their own rituals and codes of conduct and it’s where Rand comes from - who we now know is the Dragon Reborn, the man who will either break or save the world. It's beautiful, it's emotional, and a season full of political intrigue and drama.

SL: You’re returning as Moiraine for a third season. What do you love about playing her?

RP: I love her steadfastness, her loyalty; her single-mindedness. I like her code of honour. I think we live in a very selfish world where everyone's so self-centered, and I like Moiraine's self sacrifice for her cause; it's a cause for which she's prepared to die. She's enigmatic and intriguing. She's always got plans within a plan. If she was in our world, she’d be a brilliant spy, so it's fun for me to play that. And she's got sorceress-like powers, which were taken from me in season two, and are now back with a vengeance - and I'm going to use them. I said to our showrunner, ‘I want Moiraine to really experiment with the limits of her power in this season,’ and he really delivered on that score for me.

SL: She’s got quite a stoic, unflappable exterior. Have you found yourself taking any of that discipline into your everyday life?

RP: No. I'm much more flappable. But, I do tend to put others first in life in general, sometimes at a cost to myself, so maybe I've taken that on from her. I love her relationships. I think Moiraine is sort of unreadable in a crowd, but when she's one-on-one, you get such interesting textures and revelations from her. I think she's quite funny, but she's just so dry that people miss it. And, she’s made me a much better horse rider through four years and three seasons on the Wheel of Time.

SL: ‘Strong female character,’ is a phrase we hear all the time, buy Moiraine really is one. Have you noticed a shift towards more of these kinds of roles - and do you think that’s something Hollywood needs more of?

RP: I think they need multi-dimensional female characters. We always need women who interest us, women who excite us, inspire us. That doesn't have to be because they're good. It can be because they're bad. It is getting a bit tedious, isn't it, ‘strong female character,’ as a phrase? We've got to unpack it more deeply. But the interesting thing about the Wheel of Time is that it's a feminine strength. It's not made in the model of a man. It's a very feminine world, and feminine looks different. It's not one thing. We've got such a diverse cast of women, and everyone's strong, but in entirely different ways.

SL: Lots of fans are going to be binge-watching the new series when it lands in March - but what do you like to binge watch?

RP: I don't binge watch. Is that a terrible confession? I don't watch television that way. I have never done it. Is that shocking? I've never watched a show from beginning to end in one sitting. Maybe just two episodes in a row.

SL: You’ve got more willpower than us. What shows are you a big fan of?

RP: I adored Succession. I've recently been watching a great kids show called Home Before Dark with my children, which is on Apple TV. Slow Horses. Nobody Wants This, the romantic comedy on Netflix. What I feel like watching is usually the antidote to my day. I watch something that takes me out of where I've been. During filming Wheel of Time, I watched a lot of Beef - a modern comedy set in Los Angeles couldn't be further from the Aiel Waste.

SL: After season three comes out, of course, we’ll be looking ahead to The Wheel of Time season four. What are you most excited about for that?

RP: I can't really say anything without giving anything away, but I am excited for the potential of a season four. This story is taking flight in a major way, and we need to complete the story. I think you'll find that we are going to leave people wanting more at the end of this season - so I'll say no more!

SL: You’ve got such a varied back catalogue of roles, including iconic turns in everything from Gone Girl to Saltburn. What dream role is left that you’d still like to take on? What role are you still itching to explore?

RP: I've always wanted to do a romantic comedy, which is what I have just done - I've just finished a film on Friday with Sasha Baron Cohen for Netflix. Moraine, I love her, but she is quite serious. I find her wit, but others might struggle to, and I do love to laugh, so I would like to do more comedy. So that's really my focus for a while.

SL: If you could choose one of your previous roles to revisit for a sequel, what would it be?

RP: Well, it might be Marla Grayson, in ‘I Care A Lot,’ because I actually have an idea for a sequel: If that gunshot at the end of the film didn't kill her, but certainly enraged her, what would she come back as?

The Wheel of Time season three premieres 13th March, 2025 on Prime Video.