Tessa Noël
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Highlander character | |
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| Race | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Hair color | Dark Blonde |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Age | 35 (at time of death) |
| Born in | August 24, 1958, Lille, France |
| Affiliations | Duncan MacLeod, Richie Ryan |
| Status | Deceased (October 23, 1993) |
| Killed by | Mark Roszca |
| Portrayed by | Alexandra Vandernoot |
| First appearance | The Gathering |
| Seasons | 1, 2, 4, 6 |
Tessa Noël is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by Belgian actress Alexandra Vandernoot.
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[edit] History
Tessa was a sculptor and part-owner of an antique shop called MacLeod & Noël Antiques located in Seacouver, Washington. Her longtime boyfriend Duncan MacLeod was also the owner of the shop. Duncan was an Immortal who had lived over 400 years, a fact well-known to Tessa. She also knew that there were many such Immortals in the world.
She first met Duncan MacLeod in Paris when he was running away from another Immortal Christoph Kuyler, who was trying to kill him. Duncan jumped on the tour boat she was working on as a guide, giving Seine tours. For the next 12 years she was the love of Duncan MacLeod's life. She learned about his immortality in 1983 soon after they began dating. To show her he couldn't die, Duncan made her shoot him in the chest. Tessa was in shock, but she also had a sudden realization that Duncan must be incredibly lonely with his Immortal life. This realization proved how remarkably astute and loving Tessa was. She truly cared for Duncan, immortality and all, but it took her many years to accept The Game of Immortals.
One day Connor came to Duncan to ask him to return to the Game so as to help "good win over evil." Tessa was aghast and disagreed with the immortals' life, and argued openly with Connor about it. Duncan was torn between Tessa's and Connor's points of view. Slan Quince, an evil Immortal, challenged Duncan to a duel; because Slan Quince threatened Tessa's life Duncan accepted his challenge and killed him. After defeating Quince Duncan was clearly caught up in the Game again. Duncan wanted to remain lovers with Tessa, but he could not ask her to stay now that he was back in The Game. Tessa, however, loved Duncan enough that she willingly chose to remain with him. Over time she proved herself capable of surviving encounters with other Immortals who tried to use her to get to Duncan MacLeod. Tessa could not fight with a sword, but she could use her head. She proved to be incredibly sharp and incredibly wise.
Tessa also welcomed small-time crook Richie Ryan when he moved in with her and Duncan. She established herself as an older sister or surrogate mother figure to him. Richie also new about Duncan's immortality, and like Tessa, he became part of his life.
Duncan and Richie followed Tessa to Paris when she was invited to work as curator of a traveling collection for the Paris Bureau of Arts & Monuments. Duncan bought a barge on the Seine river, and they lived there. After some months, following the death of Duncan's Immortal mentor, Darius, at the hands of The Hunters, they returned to Seacouver.
Tessa died tragically after being shot by a small-time drug addict Mark Roszca. The day before Duncan had proposed marriage to her, and she had accepted. Her death had actually been predicted by a local fortune teller, named Greta.
[edit] Fake Tessa
Renegade Watcher and leader of The Hunters James Horton wanted to kill Duncan MacLeod. He knew that Duncan was still in love with Tessa after her death. He wanted to use Duncan's weakness for his dead fiancé by using a female serial killer named Lisa Halle who underwent plastic surgery to resemble Tessa. Duncan was smitten and slept with Lisa because of her likeness to Tessa despite knowing that Horton was playing dirty by using Tessa's memory against him, and finally faced Horton. Lisa was also killed by Horton when she tried to save Duncan. Duncan had to let go of "Tessa" once and for all.
[edit] Alternative Tessa
In an alternative universe where Duncan was never born, Tessa was alive but led an unhappy married life. She had an affair with Duncan, but still felt miserable. In the end, Duncan decided to accept her death.
[edit] Characteristics
In Highlander: The Series, Tessa is portrayed as a tall, thin woman with blond hair and blue eyes. The script of "The Gathering" describes her as "a beautiful, elegantly casual woman".[1]
She was beautiful, strong, loving, intelligent, loyal, and an independent woman. She also wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Although not an immortal herself, and lacking knowledge in any martial arts, she proved herself capable of defending herself quite well, even against immortals. She was Duncan's equal in many ways. Perhaps that is why he loved her so deeply.
[edit] Concept and evolution
[edit] Development
Because Highlander: The Series was a syndicated show including France's Gaumont Television, the cast had to include a French actor. Producer Gary Goodman explains, "We had to find a French actress that would be appealing on a television screen. Not appealing physically, but appealing in the sense that you were comfortable with her accent and her character." About their choice of Alexandra Vandernoot as Tessa, he states that she "was able to be exotic, pretty and not so unfamiliar to an American audience that she was accepted."[2]
At the Wolfcon359 The Legacy 1999 Convention, Alexandra Vandernoot recounted how she had been chosen to play Tessa and "said that she had been for a casting call in April 1992, then heard nothing for two months. Then she got a call on a Monday to say that she was leaving from Vancouver on the Friday for two months. She said that it took so long because there were so many co-producers on the first season, all of whom had to have their say in the casting."[3] She further said that "she knew that Tessa had to be European, but she could have been Italian or German as equally as French."[3]
Producer Barry Rosen remarks, "We were very lucky that Alexandra [Vandernoot] and [fellow actor] Stan [Kirsch] were so human-grounded, so we could really play off of them and the way they looked at things that [lead actor] Adrian [Paul] went through. They were also able to get into real-life situations, romances, getting in trouble, jealousies and so on."[4]
About her character, Vandernoot stated that "she really liked the equality in the relationship between Duncan and Tess and the fact that they were on the same level.[3] Moreover, "she felt that Tessa had a grown-up relationship with Duncan and was perhaps the only one who understood him so well."[3] Commenting on Tessa's personality, "she said Tessa was very generous and understanding, more than she felt she would be, citing her reaction to Grace Chandel in "Saving Grace" as an example where Tessa was more than human."[3] About Tessa living a dangerous life among Immortals, "[Vandernoot] agreed that it was something that we had never seen if Duncan ever taught Tessa any self-defence techniques. [Vandernoot] had never thought of it and assumed that Duncan trusted Tessa enough to get herself out of trouble."[5]
Regarding her work with fellow actor Adrian Paul (Duncan MacLeod), Vandernoot "said that she found a natural chemistry with Adrian [Paul] and felt that the fact that they were comfortable working together showed on screen."[3] Creative Consultant David Abramovitz enthusiastically comments on this, "Alexandra Vandernoot, who plays Tessa, was the goddess. And when I saw her and Adrian together, I thought that if I died, and there was a Mount Olympus, that the two of them would be standing together with thunderbolts around them. They were god-like. They were so beautiful and had such presence. She was great."[6] Adrian Paul thinks, "I was pretty detached from the real relationship between MacLeod and Tessa on screen. Looking back at it, it was a good relationship. Looking at the first year again about a year and a half later, I was sad to see it go."[7]
Tessa's artistic and French background meant sophisticated set and clothes design. Tessa's clothes came from Paris. According to Alexandra Vandernoot, "the wardrobe mistress in Vancouver had let it be known that she was having problems finding suitable clothes for Tessa before Alexandra [Vandernoot] left for Canada. To sort this minor problem out, [Vandernoot] went shopping with the producer’s wife and the producer’s credit card in Paris for two days."[3] Production Designer Steve Geaghan explains the look of Tessa's apartment and antique store, "Quite decidedly in year one, we wanted to have a very Philippe Stark look for Tessa's apartment. It was extremely European. We were dealing with a French woman and a Scotsman. She was an artist. (...) The look in the antique store that year was very reconstructivist. I used metal bridges running across diagonally, insinuated into deteriorated brick walls with frescoes painted on them. The whole feel of the place was decidedly Old World in a New World environment. Basically, we kept it very rich and extremely textured."[8]
[edit] Death
Tessa died as a result of Vandernoot's decision to leave the show. According to Retrovision.com, she "decided that she was not enjoying the series grind and did not want to spend so much time each year in Canada, [and] asked for, and was granted, release from her contract." As a further explanation, Vandernoot "said she would have liked Tessa to be more involved in the action, not being the one who always stayed at home and worried. When she found she couldn't find a new way to say, 'Duncan, be careful', she knew it was time to move on."[3] Consequently, the staff had to find a way to write Tessa out of the show, but they had limited possibilities, due to the strong relationship she had with Duncan. Associate Creative Consultant Gillian Horvath explains, "There was no way (...) to have a scene where she said, 'Okay, I'm going to go to Paris without you. Nice knowing you, MacLeod.'"[9]
So the decision was made to kill Tessa, which caused particular shock to the audience. Creative Consultant David Abramovitz comments, "Did I get letters from this one; people hated me for killing her."[10] Adrian Paul understands the reaction of the public, but explains, "A lot of people said that a major character being killed off like that was horrible. (...) Well, yes and no, because the idea was that it was supposed to shock. (...) That's the kind of impact it was supposed to have. Obviously it did have that impact."[7] Tessa's death was particularly resented because it appeared sudden and pointless. Gillian Horvath explains, "The thing about Tessa's death, having her killed by a regular, mortal punk in a regular carjacking having nothing to do with MacLeod's immortality or the Game, was to try and bring it to a level of 'this could happen to you.' (...) You're at the end of the show, she's been rescued and then she gets killed. Dramatically, it fits no formula. That's not how stories are told."[9]
Gillian Horvath comments on the consequences of Tessa's death for the future of the series, "It changed the tone of the show. It made Highlander the show where you couldn't be positive that the characters were safe because they were in the credits."[9]
[edit] Appearances
Episodes - The Gathering, Family Tree, The Road Not Taken, Innocent Man, Free Fall, Bad Day in Building A, Mountain Men, Deadly Medicine, The Sea Witch, Revenge is Sweet, See No Evil, Eyewitness, Band of Brothers, For Evil's Sake, For Tomorrow We Die, The Beast Below, Saving Grace, Lady and the Tiger, Eye of the Beholder, Avenging Angel, Nowhere to Run, The Hunters, The Watchers, Studies In Light,Turnabout, The Darkness, Counterfeit Part 2, Leader of the Pack, To Be, Not To Be
[edit] Trivia
- She graduated from the Sorbonne, in Paris, majoring in sculpture.
- She drove a white four-door Mercedes convertible in Seacouver.
- After her character's death in "The Darkness", Alexandra Vandernoot appeared in five more episodes of the series: she appeared at the end of "Counterfeit" playing Lisa Halle, the "Fake Tessa", a role that would continue in "Counterfeit Part 2"; in that episode she would also played Tessa in a flashback scene; in "Leader of the Pack" an extended scene of her death was shown with unseen footage of Tessa after her death; finally, in the series double episode series finale ("To Be" and "Not To Be") she played Tessa in an alternative life where Duncan was never born.
[edit] Quotes
- "Please ! Don't say anything in front of the lady ! Let me just go in the next room and crochet, while you have cigars and brandy and talk about beheadings !"
- "And you didn't think it was important enough to mention."
- "I'm an artist. I'm supposed to have this tremendous imagination. But who could imagine this ?"
- "Richie ! The whole world cannot revolve around your hormone level !"
[edit] References
- ^ Episode "The Gathering", Final shooting script, p. 1, in Highlander: The Series (season 1) (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions, Inc., 2001), disc 1.
- ^ Gary Goodman, at Retrovision.com, archived on February 14, 2005 by the Internet Archive, last accessed March 23, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g h Alexandra Vandernoot, Wolfcon359 The Legacy 1999 Convention, Unofficial report, last accessed March 6, 2007
- ^ Barry Rosen, at Retrovision.com, archived on February 14, 2005 by the Internet Archive, last accessed March 23, 2007
- ^ Alexandra Vandernoot, Wolfcon359 The Legacy 1999 Convention, Unofficial report, last accessed March 6, 2007
- ^ David Abramovitz, in Maureen Russell, Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide, Warner Books, 1998, p. 13, ISBN 0-446-67435-4.
- ^ a b Adrian Paul, at Retrovision.com, archieved on February 14, 2005 by the Internet Archive, last accessed March 23, 2007
- ^ Steve Geaghan, in Maureen Russell, Highlander: The Complete Watcher's Guide, Warner Books, 1998, p. 61, ISBN 0-446-67435-4.
- ^ a b c Gillian Horvath, at Retrovision.com, archieved on February 14, 2005 by the Internet Archive, last accessed March 23, 2007
- ^ David Abramovitz, at Highlander: The Official Site, archived on August 31, 2003 by the Internet Archive, last accessed February 1, 2007
