Meet Morgan Asarligt
Morgan Asarligt wears a kind of armor that looks like eyeliner, a sharp tongue, and hair that falls exactly the way she likes it—daring you to say something about it. All edges on the outside, with something so soft underneath that she'd rather you never find it.
If Brigid is Amberlight Valley's wonder, Morgan is its mask.
And I mean that with so much tenderness, because masking is something I understand deeply.
Jayde Martinez as Morgan Asarligt in The Christmas Witch.
Morgan hides behind her snark, her aesthetic, and the reputation she's built like a wall around a basement bedroom nobody bothers to knock on. She would rather be seen as strong than risk being seen as soft. But underneath all the fashion and precisely delivered sarcasm is a girl who feels everything—someone who is, at her core, incredibly sensitive. That contrast is one of the reasons I had so much fun writing her.
She starts the trilogy as Brigid's rival: the bully at the top of the social order, the girl with everything to prove and nothing to lose. Regina George, anyone? But the thing about rivals in a town like Amberlight Valley is that they're rarely just rivals for long.
Jayde Martinez as Morgan Asarligt in The Christmas Witch.
What begins as jealousy and cold shoulders slowly, stubbornly, becomes something else: a friendship neither girl asked for, but both girls need. Watching Morgan let Brigid in, one guarded inch at a time, is one of my favorite threads in the entire series. Found family doesn't always begin with warmth. Sometimes it begins with two people standing on opposite sides of the same wound, slowly realizing they aren't actually enemies at all.
One of my favorite things about Morgan—something small, but something that tells you almost everything about who she is—is the way she insists on knowing all the details. She wants the whole picture. Every time. And Befana almost never gives it to her. Just enough substance to move forward. Never enough to feel settled. Morgan pushes back against that every single time because, to a girl who's had to piece together her own sense of safety, not knowing feels like danger.
Jocelyn Newhall as Jenn, Jayde Martinez as Morgan Asarligt, Zuri Miles as Stella in The Christmas Witch.
There's something so grounded and human about that response to growing up in a house full of secrets—magickal or otherwise. That's something I really want to come through in the film. Not just the magick of it, but the reality underneath it.
Bringing Morgan to the Screen
Jayde Martinez as Morgan Asarligt in The Christmas Witch.
When it came time to cast Morgan, I knew I needed someone who could hold that contradiction: the sharpness and the softness, the wall and the girl behind it, without ever tipping too far in either direction. Jayde is a fantastic actress, and I am so grateful she auditioned. I knew almost immediately that she was our Morgan.
Jayde really leaned into studying her character, and it comes through so beautifully in everything from her wardrobe, hair, and makeup to the little choices she makes on screen.
Lux Wolett as Mary Lassner, Jayde Martinez as Morgan Asarligt, Brooklyn Summer as Brigid Baelfyre, and James Kirkland as Nick L. Klaus in The Christmas Witch.
The eye-rolls. The expressions. The perfectly Morgan reactions. And then there are the silly smiles between takes and the banter between Jayde and Brooklyn, both in and out of character. Watching the two of them bring Brigid and Morgan from the page into the real world has been one of those surreal filmmaking experiences I don't think I'll ever get tired of. These two young women really brought the magick of their characters to life, and I am so proud of them.
During Phase Four filming, I even got to teach Jayde a sword-spinning combination on set—one of those unexpected, delighted little moments where the story and the real world blur together for a second.
Morgan would have approved, honestly. Although… she'd probably want to know why it took me so long to teach her.
This Is Only the Beginning
Morgan's journey doesn't end where this post does.
Lost in Time and The Secrets of Starlight Lake take her somewhere I'm definitely not ready to spoil yet. But I will say this: Keep watching the girl who insists on knowing everything. She's about to learn more about herself than she ever bargained for.
Dalea Faulkner is an author, filmmaker, and creative living in the White Mountains of Arizona. Her Amberlight Valley trilogy is available now. Her world is always, in some way, the mountains.
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