Interview: Chatting With Cast & Crew of Tales From Woodcreek

Posted in: Dungeons & Dragons, Games, Interview, Role Playing Games, Tabletop | Tagged: Anjali Bhimani, Deborah Ann Woll, ed gass donnelly, Tales From Woodcreek

Deborah Ann Woll, Anjali Bhimani, and Ed Gass-Donnelly chatted with us about the first season of their D&D show Tales From Woodcreek

One of the highlights for Dungeons & Dragons fans at the tail end of 2025 was seeing a brand new liveplay series come to life called Tales From Woodcreek. Bringing in a greater production value by having much of the game be played in real world locations that added an extra bit of haunting and creep to the horror-infused show, we got eight thrilling episodes hosted by Deborah Ann Woll (Daredevil: Born Again), featuring Anjali Bhimani (Ms Marvel), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist), Shaun Majumder (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Monty Martin, Kelly McLaughlin, Iman Vellani (Ms Marvel), and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation). We got a chance to chat with Deborah and Anjali, as well as series director Ed Gass-Donnelly, about the show’s creation and gameplay, as well as producing this kind of content and more.

BC: Hey, everyone! First off, how’s everyone doing as we exit 2025?

Ed: Busy, but very good!

Anjali: A combination of utterly wiped out and proud…so much we all did, so much we all went through, and we’re still here. And as usual, I’m just wildly grateful for the people in my life and the chances I had this year to spend time with more of them, thanks to work like Woodcreek.

Deb: Great! Chaos as usual!

Aside from the show, what projects have you all worked on this year?

Ed: In addition to Tales From Woodcreek, Deborah and I shot a movie together this Fall called Ugly that I wrote and directed, and she starred in. It’s a bonkers little zombies, forgiveness, and toxic masculinity! Deb is incredible in it!

Anjali: Oh boy… um… I had eight video games of mine come out, loads of really fun characters I’m happy are out in the world, started working on a few more and finishing up a few that I’m excited to see in 2026, publishing my first adventure with D&D Beyond called the Malady of Minarrh, did another year of the Puppy Roll, this time in memoriam of our sweet boy Charley that we lost this year. A ton of conventions and live actual plays, guest starred in the Twenty-Sided Tavern off-Broadway and fell so in love with the show and the cast that I came on as a co-producer for the first national tour and continued to guest-star on and off throughout the U.S. until the end of its run here in Los Angeles.

Deb: A movie with Ed, lots of writing D&D and otherwise, a super-secret awesome amazing project I can’t talk about, and of course, Daredevil Born Again.

Ed and Deborah, how did the idea for this particular D&D show come about?

Ed: Deb and I met because we were both repped at the same agency, and I was a fan of her previous D&D series, Relics and Rarities. We’ve been developing a scripted TV show together for a couple of years now, and at some point in the process, we were chatting about D&D, and I said, “I bet I could find some money for us to make a D&D series… a kind of spiritual successor to Relics.” So we just started jamming out ideas on what we’d want to do, and then a year later, we were making it!

Deb: Ed thought he could get grant money for a D&D show, and I’ve always wanted to do a spiritual successor to my Geek & Sundry show, Relics and Rarities. So we talked about doing something that utilized my love of physical props and immersive storytelling. Once Ed found Blackcreek Village, we knew we were onto something.

Knowing how much horror there is within D&D, what kind of challenge was it to create a premise that felt original for the season?

Ed: I don’t think we felt pressure for the premise to feel original so much as the way we told the story. Folk horror fairy tales were definitely the vibe, so that inherently means working with some genre tropes, but once we discovered Black Creek Pioneer Village and realized we could get the cast up on their feet and exploring a real, physical world, that’s when we got excited and felt like we were onto something. Those buildings at night have such a natural creep factor; we keep exploring new ideas on how to use them to our advantage!

Deb: I’m not sure I ever shoot for original. I’d much rather shoot for authentic. Stories that feel grounded first of all, so that almost always leads me to using folklore as inspiration. And second of all, authentic to me. I’m a firm believer that the best story one can tell is a story you love telling. So, I just try to put my favorite things into it wherever I can.

What was it like going through and selecting the primary cast for the show?

Ed: We knew very early on that we wanted to partner with Monty & Kelly from the Dungeon Dudes, and they and Deb were also close with Anjali, so it quickly came together as a natural evolution.

Deb: Easy. Dungeon Dudes were in from almost the beginning as a Toronto-based channel that created cool and welcoming D&D content. And Anjali has been a friend and inspiration for a long time. I’ve just been waiting to find the right thing for us to work on together. I’m so glad this was it.

Anjali, what was it like to receive the call to join the show? What was it like for you to make your character?

Anjali: I mean, it’s always fun to get a message from a friend saying, “Hey, I’m doing something new, wanna be a part of it?” And when it’s Deborah Ann Woll, if you’re me, you say yes before you really know what you’re getting into because I’m just excited to hang out with her. Plus, when she mentioned it was her and the Dudes, I didn’t really care WHAT it was going to be; if I could make the scheduling work, it would be a yes. So naturally, when it turned out to be one of the coolest concepts I’ve ever gotten to be a part of, it was an even better surprise.

Creating Vix was a fun challenge because, based on the simplicity of what I thought the story was going to be, I wanted her to be a little more average than most of the characters I’ve created before… I did want to explore playing a warlock, and it played great into the storyline, but I also wanted her to be someone who wasn’t familiar with the powers she had, nor fully comfortable with them…. and who definitely wasn’t comfortable with where she thought they came from. I didn’t want to min-max so much as choose spells and skills that made sense for the story, knowing she would be questioning all along what it would cost her in the future to have them, which I think fit well not only in this story but in how I think of warlock pacts in general. They aren’t the most powerful class, but the pact magic makes for a great story.

How did the first episode filming go, and when did you know this was something special compared to previous liveplay shows?

Anjali: Due to some travel snafus, I ended up flying in a little late and racing to set to get filming, and as soon as I arrived, I realized I may have underestimated the complexity of what was about to happen. I genuinely had it in my head that we were just going to be playing D&D in these cool historic buildings, but the level of interactivity and how much we were up on our feet was something I wasn’t prepared for. That said, as soon as I understood this was what we were doing, my excitement kicked into high gear, and even though I had flown through the night and hadn’t slept, by the end of the first day, I was definitely ready to keep going.

Deb: For Ed and I, it was a whirlwind from start to finish. Last-minute fixes and glitches right up until camera. We started every episode with our fingers crossed, I’d say. But when we took a break halfway through the first adventure and the players were gushing and so excited by the experience, we knew it would likely reach viewers in a similar way.

What made you guys decide to have a new guest player per episode? And how was it choosing who would be coming into play?

Ed: Have a new player each episode makes it more accessible to a broader audience. Even if viewers don’t know how to play D&D, they get to experience the joy of discovery vicariously through the player. In terms of the cast, we just started asking people, and to our joy and surprise, a bunch of amazing folks said yes!

Deb: It’s a fairly common construct. But primarily, I like bringing in new players and surrounding them with experienced ambassadors. It lowers the barriers for entry to the hobby that I think scares off interested folks. It did for me for many years. I want to create content where new players feel welcomed. The guests were wish list folks who we admire and felt had the right childlike wonder about them. I think we hit home runs with all four.

What’s it been like seeing the fan reaction to every episode as they’ve rolled out?

Ed: Really great. Deb and I spent hundreds of hours making this show, so it is really rewarding to see fans loving it.

Anjali: It’s been wonderful hearing from people that they’ve been able to share the show with their friends and family who don’t actually play, and they’ve been equally entertained and engaged. I think making this kind of storytelling and gameplay as accessible as possible to people who don’t actually play is a wonderful way to be able to share the experience with more of our loved ones. There’s a LOT to watch out there, and I know my quality time with my family is very limited, so if we are going to watch something, it’s gotta be something everyone can get into. From what I’ve heard from viewers, Woodcreek pulls that off really well. Plus, I’m so happy it’s making D&D more accessible to people, so they feel safer jumping in and trying it out!

Deb: I steer clear of fan reaction because I am too Insecure. Haha! But from conventions and Ed sharing, it sounds like folks are enjoying it. I just want to bring fun, inclusive, and welcoming content to the world. So even if only 100 people watch, I’m happy if they’re happy.

Even though the haunting season is over, people can still check out the show. Do you recommend binging them back-to-back, or one at a time to let them sink in?

Ed: Every other episode ends with a cliffhanger, so it is pretty bingeable. That said, we start each episode with a brief recap to bring you up to speed in case it’s been a week or two between episodes!

Anjali: I’m always a fan of a good binge watch, especially over the holidays, but these are so bite-sized I think savoring each of them is also a great way to make the series last a little longer.

Deb: Binge away!! It’s not long, and each couplet is a “day” for our players. So you could even take four days and experience it with them.

Without breaking any NDAs, what have you all got coming up in 2026?

Ed: We just announced a Kickstarter for Season 2 of Tales from Woodcreek, which we are hoping to shoot next Fall. If folks want to follow the campaign and show their support, they can find it at TalesFromWoodcreek.com.

Anjali: Ahaha, if it’s without breaking any NDAs, then I am gonna have to sound like I’m doing a whole lot of nothing. We do have plans for the Puppy Roll that I’m really excited about, continuing Charley’s legacy of love through supporting great causes, and I can say that I have some exciting new stories I’m developing with different companies to bring to the world. Plus, I’m HOPING 2026 brings a little more sleep than 2025 (but I’m not holding my breath).

Deb: We definitely want to do a Season 2. How we do that is the question. It was a lot of work for Ed and I with little compensation, so we’d like to figure out how to do it with real time and a budget. But we’ve already got some wicked ideas for the next site we’d like to explore. Hope you’ll tune in again!

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