Dimension 20 is jumping back into the world of Calorum with The Ravening War. This prequel to A Crown of Candy, which is described as Candyland meets Game of Thrones, will take place twenty years earlier during one of Calorum’s bloodiest eras. The Ravening War follows an eclectic group of food-based characters, some royals while others are not, as they try to navigate the deadly politics of Calorum during a time of war.
Dimension 20 is an anthology TTRPG series, with each season telling an original story with new characters. Matt Mercer (Critical Role) joins the table as Game Master. Long-time Dimension 20 stars Brennan Lee Mulligan, Lou Wilson, Zac Oyama, and Aabria Iyengar serve as players, along with Dimension 20 newcomer Anjali Bhimani (Critical Role EXU).
Screen Rant spoke with Anjali Bhimani about joining Dimension 20 for The Ravening War. She revealed exciting details about her character, Lady Amangeaux, including a connection to Mulligan’s character, Bishop Raphaniel Charlock. Bhimani also teased connections to A Crown of Candy that will excite fans and discusses working on Critical Role: EXU.
Anjali Bhimani on Dimension 20: The Ravening War
Screen Rant: Anjali, I am such a big fan. Obviously, I loved you in EXU and I am so excited to see you in The Ravening War!
Anjali Bhimani: I’m excited and scared, but the right kind of excited, that nervousness and excitement are just the same thing. So I’m really excited.
Can you talk to me a little bit about your character and the inspiration you took when doing the character creation? Because I’m not gonna lie, “Jessica Rabbit as a mango,” is probably the best description I’ve ever heard in my life.
Anjali Bhimani: I was very proud of that one because that’s the only way I could think of to describe her. There’s two different parts, there’s the actual character, and then there is the food inspiration. The food inspiration is just a) I love spicy mango, but also I really love that this incredibly sweet fruit can be made so much more complex, when you put a little spice to it. When you put a little oomph to it and Lady Amangeaux is very much that way.
She is not your most proper person. In terms of she’s gonna speak her mind. And as far as her her being is concerned, historically, with Fy’ra Rai [in EXU], with Miriam in UnDeadwood, and Stingray in We’re Alive: Frontier, I’ve created characters that were very capable. They have flaws that they had to work against, but they were very capable. They could handle themselves in the situations that they were put in. That was never a problem. I wanted to explore what would happen if I created a character who thought they were very capable, but then were put into a set of circumstances where that capability was no longer in play.
So I worked with Matt to put together her story and because she is royalty, but she is mourning the death of her husband, the king. She is about to be thrown into a situation that is very different than the life that she has been leading. That to me was very exciting. What do you do when when you’re so used to being high status, not just in terms of royalty, but high status in terms of capability and then all of a sudden all of the skills that you have don’t mean anything? What do you do when youve got nothing but your brain?
That to me was very exciting and especially in this particular world because I watched A Crown of Candy and watched all of the characters. All of them were really good at the things that they did. And so to see what would happen with people who were more average, even though she’s not average in any way in terms of her stature in terms of your status.
What if you’re not great at everything? What do you have to do to make this work? And who do you have to befriend? Who do you have to look out for? There’s so much complexity to navigating that world. I feel like that’s a little more realistic because I am by no means as capable as any of the [characters] that I have played before. I am in small ways, but not the ways they are. So this felt a little bit more my lane.
Pardon the pun, but that storyline sounds so juicy.
Anjali Bhimani: [Laughs] It is. It’s very juicy. I probably ate like 10 pounds of spicy mango during the shooting too. Just stress ate it as a snack. It was something
A Crown of Candy, for me, because I started watching it when the trailer dropped for The Ravening War. And I was like “Game of Thrones Candyland. This will be fun. This will be a parody.” No!
Anjali Bhimani: Right? Yeah, surprise. I think a lot of people had that experience. I was going into watching it without having anybody talking about it because I was going in before people were bringing it back up. I only knew that it had been a very popular series when it first came out. At the start of the game, you are aware that we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto. This is gonna go dark. And I love that.
I love that about TTRPGs in general, that much like life you have to traverse the waters of laughing your ass off and then suddenly having to cry about something. Something tragic happening, but somehow you’re laughing in the room about something else. That’s life. I really think that’s the mark of a good story. When you have all of that in there. No one’s trying to play comedy or trying to play tragedy. We’re just playing truth.
That is one of my favorite parts of watching actual plays. That really messy balance works so well. Can you talk to me a little bit about the dynamic of this table? Because you have Brennan, who literally created this world; Aabria, who you’ve played with as a DM; then Matt, who you played with as a player.
Anjali Bhimani: The dynamic at the table, look at the people who are at the table. These are people who are not just great at what they do, but great at collaborating. No matter what they’ve done before they understand that we are all there to serve the story. Especially having had the experience of EXU where Abria had to step into a world that Matt had created while Matt was a player. I was like, “Oh, well, this is this is normal. This is totally normal, because this is exactly what happened before.” And Brendan had just done Calamity. So I had seen that happen. So I was like, “Wow, no big deal.”
I will say there was definitely a sense of responsibility and a sense of respect. That’s why I devoured, no pun intended, A Crown of Candy series because I wanted to make sure that I was living in the same world and that whatever storytelling I provided along with everyone else, it would make it make sense that this was the world that would go on to become the world [of A Crown of Candy]. It was pretty magnificent.
I always start an RPG with a little bit of, it’s not even nervousness, it’s just having to give over to the fact that no, you don’t know what you’re doing and you have no idea what’s going to come. But the good news is D&D is not about winning. This is not a game where you win or lose. This is a game where you play. And that’s it. I always have to remind myself that it’s not about doing it right. It’s not even about getting the rules right really. I understand that there will be people, if there is something that we’ve messed up, I understand people will see that.
Ultimately, I think, and I hope a lot of people understand, that the story is so much more important. Even in your home games, especially in your home games, the story is so much more important. And the creators of the fifth edition will absolutely agree with you on that. The story and the enjoyment of your players is the most important thing.
Completely agree. And then what was it about this season of Dimension 20 that really got you interested versus wanting to maybe come in a different season?
Anjali Bhimani: It wasn’t necessarily a choice. I don’t want people to think that I could have been like, “Oh, I want to go into that season and that season.” I wish I had that power. I would be in every season of every show that’s out there. The first thing that brought me into this was Matt hitting me up and saying, “Hey, I’m doing this thing and no pressure, but I need to know tonight.” And I was like, “Yeah, it’s you. Of course I’ll do it. I don’t know what it is, but yes.” And then finding out what it was and who it was with, then it was just an embarrassment of riches.
I fell into something that is exactly the kind of stuff I love to do. Which is, we’ve talked about here already, something that looks on the surface like it might be light, but there’s so much more depth. There’s nothing more fun in a story than being underestimated. There’s nothing more fun than people thinking that “Oh, this is going to be nothing no big deal.” And then all of a sudden they’re like [sitting up staring] at theirs. Waiting for the next. I love that.
I love it in life when people underestimate me, and I’m like, “Oh, okay, this is gonna be fun for you.” Sorry, we’re gonna go on this ride real quick. I love the world. I’m so glad that this is the world that I got to jump into. And they have so many great ones. God knows, I would love to jump into others as well. But there’s just a limited number of people at the table.
I love that you come into these mini-campaigns. This is a prequel, and we have EXU, which is just chaotic nonsense in the best way.
Anjali Bhimani: And especially because all of the characters, it seems like other than Orym really, their moral compass or they’re just all over the place. I think they sort of want to do what’s honorable, but does it matter as much as having a good time? With EXU because I came in a few episodes in. So I didn’t know where I was going to come in and even on the day, I was sitting there, but I didn’t know when I was going to come in. I just had to be ready to jump in.
I hadn’t gotten that vibe because I hadn’t been there yet. So I just like Fy’ra Rai didn’t know, or sort of knew but didn’t know, who these people were. I came in with my energy as my character being very serious and very, everything that she is, and it just became more and more apparent that “Oh, wow, I’m the straight man to these brilliant comedians right now.” And even Fy’ra Rai got to have her comic moments, which I appreciate.
I also loved when you got to be in the talent show, though.
Anjali Bhimani: I forgot about that. Abria, what a brilliant thing to come up with. What a wonderful thing to come up with. Oh, you’re not gonna participate? Fy’ra Rai’s not gonna participate? Great. You’re gonna have to do this, so smart. I’m trying not to spoil anything for people as we talk about this, while also getting them excited to potentially watch it.
What was it like playing with [Aabria] as a player versus a DM?
Anjali Bhimani: It was bliss. She’s just joy personified every time I see her. When I first met her on Zoom for EXU when we were doing a character creation setting and she put me so at ease, not just about what we were doing, but about life. here was just so like, “Everything’s gonna be fine. And everything’s awesome. And we’re excited and everything’s exciting.” She just has this zest about her. That is incredibly comforting, knowing full well you don’t eff with Aabria.
She will take you out on the street if someone were to come after her. But that’s one small side of her. And thank God, I only get to see that in game, which is a really fun part of her to play with. But she is just so magnificent. She’s so joyful. She’s so smart. She pivots just like poof, she’s so fast. And the character that she has created. Oh, I love it. I love it so much. So, so cool.
One of the things that’s so cool about the original Crown of Candy is it’s the royal family that we’re following. Where this feels very different. It feels like they’re not as connected as that. So what’s the dynamic little bit between the characters?
Anjali Bhimani: I can certainly tell you part of it. It varies, their level of status, but overall I can say that all of them are being taken out of their comfort zone for different reasons. Whether people who are more living in the world of the normal folks or the people who are royalty and they’re all being brought here in the middle which is very cool.
Going into it I knew that Brennan’s [character] and my character had a pre-existing connection. So that was very helpful. Especially since it Brennan and I was like, “If I can’t come up with anything that guy will.” Not that I had to lean on him. All of them just serve things up that are just so ready to hit the ball.
Collaborating with great storytellers is unlike anything. The joy of it. Where you’re just like, “Oh, I know what to do because you said this thing and I just got an idea. And your thing was so brilliant. So now I can see this thing.” It’s just such a joy. It’s going to be very interesting for people to see more regular people going through extraordinary circumstances in this.
This is a little more contained. It’s six episodes versus a longer form. Does that impact how you approach your character’s arc?
Anjali Bhimani: My character’s arc, no. If anything, it just makes me sadder when we get to the last episode. I start to feel it within the episode, and I try not to, but I know myself well enough to know that, that just starts to happen, and I have to fight it off. It’s like closing night of a play. You might have done in 365 shows, but on that 365th show you’re like, “We didn’t do it enough. You want to go back.” You know the story needs to be compressed, but I also just trust my DM that they are going to make that happen. So I will just stick to what we’re doing. I don’t think I have if I come up with something, though I’ll hit you up.
Great. And then what was your favorite part of playing with Matt as a DM versus [as a player]? I can’t get over his EXU character.
Anjali Bhimani: Dariax is so freaking fantastic. It’s not the first time that I played with Matt as a DM because I played with him [in] the Doom one-shot that I did for Critical Role. I had seen enough of his DMing as well, catching up on previous games and stuff. It’s just implicit trust. I 100% know that person not only knows what they’re doing, but it’s not going to leave me hanging. So I can play.
No one at that table is going to leave me hanging because every single person is there to lift up each other, lift up the story, and have a great time. So not just in terms of Matt as the DM, but the whole table. It was just this fantastic feeling of, “Cool, I don’t need a safety net because I’ve got this team.”
Being a part of these TTRPGs, how has it influenced you as an actor with scripted projects?
Anjali Bhimani: It’s funny, I don’t know that it has. It has just confirmed to me what I know to be true, that nothing is more important than the story. On television sets or on film sets it’s very easy to think that you are an isolated part or that you and the cast are an isolated part and then and then and then there’s the crew, but it’s not that way. Everybody is contributing to the story. Every single person is vital to what’s going on in this machine. And I think TTRPGs are sort of, they’re what I want the world of storytelling to be, because we’re literally all in it together.
Shifting a little bit to your scripted stuff. What was it like to join the MCU in Ms. Marvel?
Anjali Bhimani: It was crazy! It was insane. It was awesome. What made it probably a little less intimidating than it might have been was the fact that there were no big stars, no big names in our cast. So we were all kind of coming in it together like as this force. And coming to the MCU with a show that was so fun, but also committed to sharing and normalizing a culture that a lot of people didn’t know about. That was really, really special.
So coming to work every day was great because not only did I know it was a labor of love for everyone. Everyone was so committed to wanting to do it well and right and do right by the people who are watching it. But also we were there to have a good time. So it was it was just bliss. I loved working on it.
I love it. Ms. Marvel is one of my favorites. What was it like working with Iman and seeing her growth over the course of the series now going into The Marvels?
Anjali Bhimani: It’s extraordinary. She was already such an impressive human when I first met her. She’s very, very level headed. Very smart. Cares so much about the MCU, these stories, and knew so much about it. I was just enjoying watching her step into this because Ms. Marvel is all about someone stepping into their power and she had already stepped into a good portion of her power before she got there. This was just another step along the way.
I love the fact that she’s not even on social media. She has said this before that she was like, “Yeah, I don’t think this is necessarily good for me at this point.” And that she had the wherewithal to do that. So that she could actually have a normal life instead of only being involved with people talking to her as Ms. Marvel. It was great. I love that girl. I just am so happy that the world gets to watch her for so long, because she started at this age.
Back to A Crown of Candy and The Ravening War. What should Crown of Candy fans be most excited about? Because we’re exploring this very, very important historical moment for this world.
Anjali Bhimani: Such a good question. There’s so many things to be excited about, but that I can’t tell you about. They’re just things that are going to be exciting in the moment. I think much like all of the the prequels that we’ve seen recently or any prequels, that moment of recognition. Where you’re starting to put the puzzle together and seeing where things are going to come into play later.
I think that is a very satisfying thing and a very exciting thing. To figure out the mystery of, how on earth are they going to make this fit into that world? And how is this lore going to connect to that lore? I hope that people are excited about that because even I in the game was blown away by how that happened.
I’m very excited about it. I’m hoping that we’re gonna see some characters we may have met or heard of in A Crowd of Candy. Maybe?
Anjali Bhimani: You’re gonna have to watch to find out! No hints on that one. Although I did sound like that one character from A Crowd of Candy. I don’t remember what his name was, but he always talked like this. Saccharina’s little…
The little crazy gingerbread man.
Anjali Bhimani: Yeah. What was his name? He was crazy. I don’t remember what it was, but I do remember his voice and it creeped me out every time Brennan did it.
That was the most terrifying yet hilarious thing.
Anjali Bhimani: A death obsessed gingerbread man. The mind of Brennan Lee Mulligan ladies and gentlemen. The mind of Brennan Lee Mulligan. Oh, to be back at that table right now. What a joy.
Is there any chance we’ll see Fy’ra Rai make a return in Critical Role?
Anjali Bhimani: I wish I knew and if I knew I wouldn’t be able to tell you. You’ll just have to keep watching the campaign to find out.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I’m such a big fan and I can’t wait to see what you do with Lady Amangeaux because like I said, the second I heard Jessica Rabbit as a mango. That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.
Anjali Bhimani: I was very happy with the art that came out right after that. I’m thrilled. I’m quite thrilled.
Dimension 20 for me has always been kind of the silly one that I can jump into for a little bit lighter. Crown of Candy just punched you in the face with no that’s not what’s happening.
Anjali Bhimani: There’s some hilarious stuff don’t get me wrong. You will absolutely laugh, but yeah, you’re gonna get quite the ride.
Dimension 20 The Ravening War
A prequel to Dimension 20’s wildly popular fifth season A Crown of Candy. The new season takes place 20 years before the events of A Crown of Candy during one of the most bloody eras in Calorum’s history, The Ravening War.
Check out our other Dimension 20 interview about The Ravening War with Matt Mercer.
The Ravening War debuts on Dropout TV on May 10.
