For most couples, navigating the complexities of marriage over several decades is challenging enough. In Eternally Yours, Liz and Charles have had 500 years to accumulate grievances, misunderstandings and shared memories, making their relationship both hilariously dysfunctional and surprisingly enduring.
For Allegra Edwards, who stars opposite Ed Weeks as Liz, the series offers an opportunity to explore the emotional contradictions of a centuries-old marriage while moving between different historical periods, shifting relationship dynamics and the everyday frustrations of family life.
One of the most appealing aspects of Eternally Yours for Edwards has been the opportunity to explore Liz at different points throughout her extraordinarily long life. The series frequently travels into the past, allowing viewers to see how Liz and Charles have evolved across centuries, from their earlier romantic years to their increasingly complicated present-day relationship.
"Oh, it's been the best part. That's my favorite part," Edwards said of filming the historical sequences. "If I could vision board a dream role, it would be an opportunity to dip my toe just for a day in little pieces and corners of history, try it on for size."
The flashbacks provide more than an opportunity to experiment with period costumes and dialects. They also reveal different emotional versions of the central couple, including times when their connection was considerably warmer.
"The fun part actually, I think, is having the opportunity to go back in time to an era where maybe Charles and Liz were a lot closer and where their love hadn't grown as cold," Edwards explained.
Their earlier lives also allowed the characters to embrace their vampire identities more fully, before centuries of adapting to human society began to distance them from their original instincts. Edwards has particularly enjoyed experimenting with Liz's changing accents, contrasting her character's willingness to adapt with Charles's determination to remain the same.
"One thing we do know for sure is that Charles is always Charles and that he holds on to his dialect over centuries and will not budge," she said, describing that consistency as emblematic of his resistance to change.
Although Liz and Charles frequently find themselves at odds, Edwards and Weeks were determined that their relationship should never feel entirely devoid of affection. From their earliest chemistry reads, both actors wanted audiences to recognize that the couple's commitment to each other remains genuine, even when their frustrations threaten to overwhelm them.
"It was very clear from the beginning that Ed and I have a shared desire that Liz and Charles have hope and that the audience can sense that there is a shared hope, loyalty, devotion between the two of them,"
For Charles, that devotion often manifests as a fierce determination to protect their vampire coven, even when his methods appear unnecessarily aggressive. For Liz, maintaining the family is equally important, particularly when considering the example she is setting for their daughter, Emma. Both characters are motivated by a desire to preserve something larger than their individual relationship. Yet their centuries together also create a bond that would be nearly impossible to replicate with another person.
"When you've lived that long with somebody, you do have a shared co-conspirator,"
She pointed to the extraordinary historical events the characters have witnessed together, from the sinking of the Titanic to the stock market crash of 1929, as experiences that fundamentally separate them from everyone else.
"You have your person that was your co-witness," she explained.
That accumulated history informs even the smallest moments between the characters. Edwards and Weeks frequently experiment with shared glances, familiar reactions and the sense that they have already experienced countless variations of the same argument.
"There have been a couple takes where I've literally mouthed his lines as he's saying them because I like the idea that Liz has heard his response to any request,"
The result is a marriage in which the characters can simultaneously anticipate each other's worst habits and recognize the comfort of knowing someone more intimately than anyone else ever could.
While Eternally Yours approaches its supernatural premise through comedy, Edwards sees Liz's immortality as the source of a much deeper internal conflict. Unlike several other members of the coven, Liz actively chose to become a vampire. She was so certain of her decision that she begged Charles to turn her. Centuries later, however, she is beginning to question whether she fully understood what that decision would mean.
"To me that's the heart of Liz, right? Is the regret of what is the life I could have lived if I didn't sign up for this in the heat of passion,"
Importantly, Liz does not necessarily regret becoming a vampire. Instead, she struggles with the knowledge that she made an irreversible choice without understanding all its consequences. Because she insisted upon her transformation, Edwards believes Liz feels an additional responsibility to defend that decision.
The arrival of Max, whose relationship with Emma introduces another perspective on immortality, forces Liz to confront questions she has spent centuries avoiding. Seeing someone else grapple with the possibility of becoming a vampire reminds her of the uncertainty she once faced and the alternative life she sacrificed.
"What is the path that I didn't choose?" Edwards asked.
Those questions also extend to Liz's desire to build a family. Edwards is particularly interested in exploring why Liz wanted to adopt Emma and whether that decision reflects a longing for elements of the human life she left behind.
"Did she always want that happy family picture? Does she miss her parents?" Edwards wondered.
For the actor, these unanswered questions offer opportunities to discover a more vulnerable side of a character who has spent centuries attempting to project complete confidence.
Ultimately, Eternally Yours uses the absurdity of a 500-year marriage to examine familiar questions about commitment, personal growth and the sacrifices people make for those they love.
