Interview by Jaimie Kourt
You grew up in the UK, Northumberland. Can you describe it a little bit? Its landscape, its people, what it’s known for… What is the accent like? You are up North, does it resemble the Scot’s?
It’s really an interesting place and landscape; the terrain is rugged and silvery. Right on the boarder of Scotland. It’s a bit like Detroit on the water , a historical industrial city. It has loads of beautiful historic architecture. Not sure what to say about the accent ; it’s very lyrical and warm.
Where do you call home right now? Where would you like to call home if you could live anywhere and merely teleport to work?
Rome or Paris and quite a few places in Africa. I now call Los Angeles home. As I shoot in such cold climates, traveling so much for work to chase the winter or to chase the summer locations. It’s taken 10 years to settle in here, but I feel settled and find it uplifting to return to Los Angeles and know the weather is good.
Dress by Marni, boots by Vetements available at Mona Moore
On this topic, your episode of Black Mirror, “Crocodile” must be brought up. Wow. Shot in Iceland. What time of year was that filmed? It was so bleak and majestic at the same time. Does location inform your work, your characters in different ways?
Yes, I think so absolutely. I literally finished filming Nancy and went straight into prep for Black Mirror. Due to a frustrating schedule change we shot Nancy upstate New York in the bleak of winter – mid January. With the challenges of a low budget film and lack of large budget comfort it was really fucking hard. The great gift of this location and its challenges was the production value shooting in a magical and incredible winter landscape. There’s a scene by a lake that is the icing on the cake, with the beautiful cold reflective light. And from there I went straight to Iceland to shoot Black Mirror; which was dark and cold. But what I liked about that was my character was an architect and clearly inspired by this. There was an iciness and cleanliness to maintain her very successful and simple life. I really liked shooting in Iceland as it has such clarity in the light. You can’t hide from the light in Iceland and I felt as though you saw people in the purist light.
Not to give anything away, but your character “Mia” is a relatively normal career woman and mother thrust into extraordinary circumstances. In stories that investigate these types of circumstances, I think the audience often asks, “Why didn’t she just…do this…instead of that”? Do you think people in real life do fall down these terrible rabbit holes of happenstance?
I don’t know I’ve not been in that situation, I’d just be speculating. It’s so easy to think that as an observer – it’s really a judgment question. I don’t think any of us in the fright and flight or freeze mode know what exactly we are going to do.
But we all do have the ability to act outside the realms of our usual behavior. When we are in that very feral and animalistic response mode. But not having been in that situation I wouldn’t really know nor could I judge.
Going into a character’s mind, how do you prepare yourself for the role? Do you have to like the people you portray?
Yes very much, I think liking them or not liking them isn’t the issue. I think the worst thing you can do is judge the character when reading a script. I try not to judge. Instead, I’m interested in the motivation of what they are going through. If any of it resonates in any way from there I’m interested in exploring that .
In the film — which premiered at Sundance earlier this year — you play a very different woman, yet one afflicted with getting herself self-imposed predicaments. Why do you think you these two roles were presented to you at this time and why were you attracted to them?
I feel there is a lot more pressure for female characters to be shown in purity in films , her character was raw with a lot of back story. When I read the script for Nancy, I felt the character had something quite valuable .
Part of her great strength is her imagination, in which she allows herself to transport herself into a situation is in. Although I think she has a conscious awareness, there is a lack of truth to the web in which she has weaved.
I think she genuinely and deeply hoped it was true, that everything that’s going in her imagination is true. And perhaps the reality she is living in, she isn’t comfortable in her own skin. She perhaps feels that way because she belongs to another family. Nancy adapts this sort of phycology that she is pregnant and she has lost her baby, when in fact she hasn’t. Obviously that is a huge thing to get wrong or misinterpret.
I also think there is something to be identified with, that you can be a woman and so desperately aspire to be what society expects if you and be unable to do it due to circumstances. She doesn’t meet anyone as she is so isolated where she lives and how she lives. She wants to be submissive and wants to be accepted and again I think that is something every human can relate to.
Jacket by Maison Margiela available at Mona Moore, leggings by Umberto Foddis, heels by Zvelle
I don’t know why, but your films seem to conjure the word “mindset” to me. The two described above and also in the miniseries Waco about David Koresh and his followers. One mindset for sure is survival. Do you think these women are victims of their minds, are they in control of them, or does instinct just carry them through?
I’m interested to know if I’d be referred to in the same way if I were a male actor? This is not to undermine the question, the reason I’m saying this is because we so rarely hear actors like Mark Wahlberg being questioned about the psychology of a character and what do all these men have in common? I think we now we are just seeing great female characters coming to the forefront of film. This is not new, in the past directors like Antonioni and Goddard were female centric even though produced through the male lens.
But I do think the question is very interesting to me. To answer there is no through line or one mindset that I’m drawn to one more than the other. That’s not why I gravitate towards a character. Sometimes a character is wonderfully well penned by a woman.
Dress and boots by Maison Margiela, jeans by Levi’s Re-Done available at Mona Moore, bra by H&M
In the case of Mia in Waco, my character was a very interesting man. I asked them to change the name to Mia and not rewrite, they did. It made for a very interesting dynamic between women . To see what one woman would do to another , because it reduces us to human beings and surpasses gender. Or what would one animal do to another to survive and protect their family? That’s a universal nothing to do with gender.
While we were shooting Waco it was a very difficult experience, we did feel deeply unsatisfied in which I’m sure fed into the performances. We had little to talk about other than the low supply of milk and what the men were doing. Just a difficult overall experience.
And depressing as well in the light of the fact that white males were not the center of the story , that then became the focus. When in fact women were actually the majority of actual characters. There was also a plethora of different ethnicities in David Koresh’s following that wasn’t explored in this series.
What was your first job in acting?
I was nine years old and played the part of Celia Finnes Riding England Sidesaddle by Christopher Goulding, which premiered at the People’s Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne
She was the first woman to ride side saddle. I studied classical dance and played a lot of different characters in front of the mirror and would get this great rush from it. I went in and out of being a shy kid, so acting wasn’t a conscious choice. I was a very private person. It all just trickled together. In fact I was asked to audition for my first acting role and I was embarrassed and embarrassed they even asked. I can’t explain it. I didn’t feel comfortable. I think I thought about it for a while then auditioned and landed the part
I was able to gather all my classical theatre acting experience at the People’s Theatre. I learned so much from the adult actors , listening to them dissect their Shakespeare characters and having interesting, valuable conversations about it. As I came from a family that did not focus on art , my parents were intensely involved and focused on their careers.
At the the age of 19 I attended RADA in London, with some breaks in between to be and 14 year old things like drinking on the park bench etc. It was such a gift being at the People’s Theatre in which I’m so thankful for.
You have been speaking a lot about equal rights for women lately and the TIMES UP movement. How have you committed yourself personally to make an impact? Have you ever been vilified for your outspokenness? How do you overcome negativity? Women have been fighting this since the beginning of time. Are you optimistic things can ever change irrevocably?
This last year in which I’m actually optimistic, I think we are finally ready to stop enabling the power imbalance. And that’s not to say we have control over it. It’s going to be very difficult to achieve until we are in a place in which women earn the same as men. And when women aren’t doing 66 percent of the worlds work and earn 10 percent of the worlds earnings . We can then change the conversation about equality, as we are so far from that , it makes it difficult to have the conversation.
Dress by Zaid Affas
In terms of what I can do is to employ women which is simple and what I do. And every chance I get to chat with young women and encourage them to take the initiative to ask for equality. With so many different communities, for example the trans community. They have had such a difficult time being marginalized and under represented in my industry. And I refer to my industry as that is where I can reference. We have a lot of work to do in terms of female and LGBT characters to get up on billboards and highlight.
Accurately representing the current demographics of the worlds population is the responsibility that comes along with the privilege of affluence. It’s easy to write off that responsibility in the interest of commerce. America’s a perfect grapple of capitalistic mentality “as long as you’re trying to make your own way in the world , it’s ok to do anything“. The reality is it’s not, because along with privilege comes power and with power comes responsibility. The American film industry I think has the responsibility to help those who aren’t in the industry see themselves as themselves. And not to reflect a small portion of the worlds population.
Is there a figure historical, modern day, real-life or fictional person you are passionate to play someday?
To play? No. But I’m really into the late Elizabeth Catlett at the minute, I’m also in complete disbelief on what a cover up her body of work is in America. And I’m very interested in one of my favorite musicians who passed in 2012; Eugene McDaniels and again in total disbelief in his total lack of representation in the main stream. These are two people I certainly look up to.
PHOTOGRAPHER: TANER TUMKAYA AT THE ONLY AGENCY
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: DEBORAH FERGUSON
LAYOUT ART DIRECTOR: CHARLOTTE LETHBRIDGE
HAIR + MAKE UP: TORSTEN WITTE
LOCATION THANKS TO EMILY LUNTZ OF BEV
