Jessica Green joins the reboot of 'The Librarians', where time, mystery and action collide

Who remembers “The Librarians” with Noah Wyle, Rebecca Romijn, Christian Kane, Lindy Booth, John Harlan Kim and John Larroquette?

Adventure fantasy aficionados eagerly consumed the film franchise's four-season spinoff until it ended in 2018. 

Now, “The Librarians: The Next Chaper reboot has hit the small screen with Callum McGowan (Vikram Chamberlain), Jessica Green (Charlie Cornwall), Olivia Morris (Dr Lysa Pascal), Bluey Robinson (Connor Green) and Caroline Loncq (Elaine Astolat) at the helm. 

As a fan of the original series, I couldn’t skip past the reboot.

The series offers a swashbuckling action-adventure feel, but with a fresh twist: the characters navigate various time dimensions, each presenting them with unique challenges and backgrounds.

I recently interviewed Green, whose character strongly reminds me of Rebecca Romijn’s Colonel Eve Baird. Charlie has a tough exterior, is fiercely loyal and uncompromising.

Protecting Vikram, Lysa and Connor is her second chance to do right by Jacob Stone (Kane) - and it’s a task she doesn’t take lightly.

Of course, fans of “The Outpost” will remember the 32-year-old Australian actress, who played Talon. 

“When I first got given the audition, I was stoked. I mean, I obviously have worked with Dean (Devlin, the showrunner) before, and he's incredible. He's so talented, and you can learn so much from him and being given the chance to have the opportunity to maybe work with him again, I jumped at it.”

She continued: “Plus, the show is so much fun. I watched a few episodes of the previous season and film. And who wouldn't want to be a part of the show like this? It's fun, fantasy, adventure; every week, there's something new, and especially as an actor, when you work on a series for a long amount of time, it's really nice to have a completely new story every episode just to keep things interesting and to keep you on your toes.

"I got to dance ballet, which I'd never done in my life before, and, all of a sudden, Charlie is apparently an amazing ballerina, so I got to take lessons, and that was one week. The next week, I'm chasing cars on a bike…”

Green admitted, with some regret, that he used a stunt double for the show's physically demanding scenes due to safety concerns.

“I love, love action, and I'm very physical myself. I've grown up doing mixed martial arts, a bit of boxing, a bit of Muay Thai, and jujitsu. I used to play rugby back in the day,” she explained.

“When I originally got the audition, it says, you know, the roles are very physically demanding and having worked with Dean before, I knew that he was going to put me to the test. 

“I got to train with amazing stunt coordinators, and I have an amazing stunt double who does all the incredible stunts that I'm not allowed to do; otherwise, if they let me, I would jump at the chance of doing them, but obviously, you can't hurt yourself.”

Beneath Charlie's tough facade are inner demons that subtly surface throughout the storyline, so don't let her exterior fool you.

Green added: She's very, very determined. She obviously has a military background, and her dream was to always. become a guardian, and she thinks that she failed. This is her second chance to prove herself, make her dream come true and show everyone that she is capable of being a guardian. 

“Even though she puts up this really hard exterior, which I'm sure you see in the first few episodes, she's not here to muck around where everyone else is kind of here to have a little bit of fun; she takes it very seriously because her life is on the line. 

“She's actually a little bit insecure and quite vulnerable because she doesn't actually believe in herself, even though she puts out this kind of hard exterior.”

Of course, with a new cast and the fresh characters, it comes with an adjustment for fans of the original. 

But I think, after an episode or two, viewers will warm up to them.

Last, but certainly not least, I asked Green about the projects she’s eyeing going forward. 

“I feel like I'm still very much at the beginning of my career, but there are so many different avenues I want to go down. Obviously, I love my action. So typically, I'm going to continue that.  I mean, the dream would be to one day be able to audition for a role like ‘Wonder Woman’ or something like that.

"I feel that would be so much fun, but also I love comedy, I love drama, and I would very much love to be on a show like ‘How I Met Your Mother’ or something like that.”

In the meantime, fans of the genre can enjoy the heart-stopping action and soaring emotions in every episode. 

∎ “The Librarian: The Next Chapter” airs on Universal TV (DStv channel 117) on Sundays at 6.20pm. It is also available on DStv Catch Up.

Rating: *** solid and enjoyable, though not groundbreaking.