Why Warigami star Emily Piggford loved Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake
Emily Piggford stars as Wendy Ohata in the new CBC Gem series Warigami. The contemporary samurai saga follows Wendy, the descendent of an ancient group of Japanese people with the ability to use paper as weapons, who is being hunted by a kami-jin warrior. The 10-episode series, made with U.S.-based television network the CW, is available on CBC Gem as of July 12, 2019.
With the digital launch of the series, Piggford shares why she loves Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.
"Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood, is a door into a possible (if not upsettingly present) reality where humans pillage and unbalance the planet to the point of an apocalyptic event being inevitable (in fact, deemed necessary by some.) The story weaves between pre- and post-apocalypse, following Snowman (known in the past as Jimmy) as he navigates the 'new world' with difficulty and dark humour, and takes us through his memories, wondering how it all happened.
"From my first read in high school (thank you Ms. Pekter), I was both delighted and disturbed by the particularities of the world Atwood created and its parallels to ours. I was fascinated by the dynamic between Jimmy and Crake and the unfolding mystery of how together they inch towards the apocalypse.
"I was motivated to live mindfully and be proactive with environmentalism, activism and general 'apocalypse prevention,' including being creative. Another key aspect of the book's significance for me was meeting Oryx, which felt like meeting myself in a dream. (And I did dream of playing her on-screen one day. However likely, it was a source of joyful inspiration.)
"I recommend the full MaddAddam trilogy, of which Oryx and Crake is the first book, but Oryx and Crake in particular, as my gateway to so many things. The novel sits lovingly dog-eared on my shelf feeling like a piece of me. It's one of the few books I've read multiple times and I look forward to my next read to see how it resonates then…"