#i thought they only reused nina's actress in season 2

[goodoldfashionednerd]

Why is no one talking about the fact that the actresses playing Maggie and Nina also played nuns in season 1? Did we just collectively agree that they both have a twin sister who happens to be a satanic nun who's terrible at her job?

[indigovigilance]

I was just reading through some of your meta, and was thinking about your one about Maggie being possessed by an angel. I was wondering if the fact that Nina is played by Nina Sosanya, who also played Sister Mary in season one, might be connected. I'm a bit late to the Good Omens series, has that ever been addressed? Seems odd to recast an actress as a different character in the same show, especially a show so detail orientated. Seeing as Maggie and Nina are mirrors for Aziraphale and Crowley, I'm idly wondering if they being secretly an angel, and former demon worshiper would simply would be to add an extra dimension, or if there is something more sneaky afoot. Like spies for each side watching the shop or some such.

Oh, my dear friend, it goes much deeper than that! Do not be bashful about arriving late to the game: I also did not watch S2 until about a month after it dropped, and didn't arrive on Tumblr until a month after that (literally made an account for the first time to join this fandom). The fact that I'm getting these asks at all is evidence enough that anyone can catch up. So here we go!

read on Ao3

(forgive the quality of some of these screengrabs, I'm having internet issues and Amazon is taking it out on the quality of my video)

Nina is played by Nina Sosanya, who in season 1 played Sister Mary Loquacious (I still love that name):

...and Maggie is played by Maggie Service, who in season 1 played a satanic nun as well, Sister Teresa Garrulous (inspired):

But the recycling of the first season's cast doesn't end there!

Shax is played by none other than the illustrious Miranda Richardson, returning after her delightful season 1 portrayal of Madame Tracy:

Reece Shearsmith plays Shakespeare in Season 1 and Furfur in Season 2:

Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss who plays Mr. Harmony, and Steve Pemberton who plays Mr. Glozier, the [zombie] Nazis in both seasons,

worked together on the award-winning show League of Gentlemen. An article about it even appears on David Tennant's website (which I just found today, doing research for this response!). It's a fun little read, I recommend it for anyone who's interested in "the making of" type stuff.

Gatiss was also involved in Doctor Who, which is of course was (per my humble opinion) the crowning glory of David Tennant's career until he stepped into the snakeskin boots. The article indicates that all these actors have prior relationships with David Tennant and Michael Sheen and were very pleased to be cast for this show.

But notably, only Nina and Maggie are named after their actors. Given that they also play out a whole slew of fanfiction tropes (I don't think this connection has ever been written out in meta format but it is alluded to in various YouTube clipshows) it seems to be a Doylian *Clue* that something is a little bit wrong about these characters and their alleged romance.

Other than that, I think the fact that cast is being reused only tells us two things: First, these are wonderful actors and why go looking for new talent when you already have the best? Second, they love this work and they love working together on it, and the actors wanted to return just as much as Neil wanted them to continue bringing his vision to life.

I'm glad you enjoyed Maggie is Possessed, one of my very first metas! I can see that you are going in order along my meta index. If you would like to keep reading on this topic, others have contributed their thoughts on the subject, and I've linked some choice readings below:

Can't You Hear Them? by @vidavalor The Grand Unified Theory by @noneorother which addresses the slew of purportedly human characters that have oddly angelic/demonic traits What's Up with Maggie? - a chain started by @iammyownproblematicfave that I and others have contributed to

I hope that this line of inquiry gets more attention in the future. If you haven't already, the docs below are great resources to bookmark as they are constantly being updated by teams of dedicated clue-searchers:

Good Omens Crackpotting Theory Tracker Hunting for Clues

~~~

I love getting asks like this, thanks for giving me something to do while I wait for my laundry to finish. I'm so so happy that more people are arriving in this cuddly communal crucible of creativity, it's been a great community for me and I hope you join us on this whirlwind adventure of piecing together the million-piece jigsaw puzzle that Neil left for us to play with as we await Season 3!