Anthem Magazine

That does sound challenging, just holding that fear for such a long time. It’s not like you can yell, “Cut!” and get a sneeze in, either.

[Laughs] It was an exhausting shoot. But in hindsight, it was unbelievable.

Going back to your role in Martha Marcy May Marlene, it dawned on me pretty quickly while I was watching the film that it’d take a certain bold actress to really pull it off because it’s such an emotionally complicated character. There’s a lot of trauma brewing beneath the surface and you have to convey a lot without saying much due to the film’s sparse dialogue.

And the nudity!

Right. Were there any hesitations on your part in taking on this role?

Well, in terms of the subject matter, I find psychologically complex people really interesting. I’m interested in people who suffer from paranoia. I never felt more uncomfortable watching a movie than when I saw A Beautiful Mind. [Laughs] It’s so heart wrenching to see someone struggling with a mental illness like that. But I never really thought of my character as having a mental illness. I guess it’s more about questioning whether what you believe what you’re seeing, hearing, and thinking are the same for the people around you because if it’s not, that can be really humiliating and embarrassing—it’s the kind of stuff that makes people retreat into themselves. I just thought that was an amazing experience that I got to have.

In terms of the nudity, I do think that, as an actor, if it’s something that serves the film—I think you’ll agree that it’s really not gratuitous in this film and it does serve a huge purpose—I’m okay with it. It has a lot of impact that this character is devoid of an understanding of her sexuality, nudity, and things of that nature. As a person, I myself am quite reserved. I don’t think I’ve ever worn a push-up bra! [Laughs] I just considered myself an actor serving the intentions of the script.

And what did your parents make of all of this? Did they take the news well?

My dad actually wanted to visit the set while we were filming and I told him that he couldn’t. He was like, “Liz. Is there nudity?” I said, “Yes, Dad.” He asked me if this was a good idea, and I was like, “Yes, Dad.” [Laughs] He also asked me, “Can I not see this movie?” I told him, “Well, anytime that there’s any kissing going on, just close your eyes right then.” [Laughs] I don’t think any father wants their daughter to be nude under any circumstances! But he also doesn’t think of me as being this wild child, so I think he trusted that I was making the right decision.

What was your collaborative process like with Sean on this film?

I totally understood his intentions for the film and he totally trusted me with my intentions for the character. What he wrote on the page was exactly what I wanted to do. He said something like, “If something doesn’t feel right with the words, feel free to change it.” But I always felt like if I changed anything, it would sound stupid. The way that I asked him to treat me was to be straight-up front with me and tell me if I’m not being truthful to the character or if I had this bad habit or something. I just wanted him to be completely honest with me the whole time because that’s so much better than someone just trying to dance around the subject. Sean was incredibly straightforward with me because I asked him to be. In person, I’m not so sensitive so that helped a lot. At a certain point when we were at the lake house—I think it was a few days into the lake house shoot—we were talking about something, and he goes, “No, you just do it. I trust you. You know your character.” And he’s one of my good friends now. We were really on the same page with each other the whole time.

When films normally portray cults or cult members, they always turn out to be these horrible two-dimensional caricatures. Sean was able to paint these really honest portraits of human beings who just so happen to be in a cult.

Right, exactly.

One scene that still lingers in my mind is where you’re standing at the top of the stairs looking down at your pregnant sister, and you tell her, “You’re going to be a horrible mother.” I actually heard gasps in the theater when you said that. But even when you cross the line like that, we see it as a symptom of this trauma instead of judging you with anger. That was such a powerful moment.

[Laughs] That’s amazing! That was actually a really rough night of filming because it was so technical and we were just trying to figure out what the right tone would be as well. It was always a process. Even in rehearsals, we never tried to nail anything down because then that would be a waste of a shot, you know? So that night, we were just really trying to figure out what was happening in the scene. Another really difficult scene was the party scene where you have all of these extras that you don’t know. My character has this huge breakdown in that scene and these people were all strangers to me. They’re talking to you in-between takes and asking questions and it’s like, “I can’t talk you right now. I’m sorry!” [Laughs] But Sean really gave me space when I needed space and then he’d be like, “Lizzie, this is a five minute warning.” The whole thing was handled with care and we all took care of each other.

I noticed that you have extensive training in theatre as well. Do you prefer theatre over film or vice versa?

It’s so funny because in theatre, it’s all about instant gratification. You have so many chances in which to play things differently every night. So I try to create that same feeling in every single take, you know? In films, you just have to wait; you just wait and wait and it’s in someone else’s hands. Films are a director’s medium, but theatre is an actor’s medium. They’re just very different. I love them both.

With theatre, it does seems like actors might have a more direct relationship with the audience because you can see in real time where you’re connecting with them and where you’re not.

Exactly! And you can have transcending moments where you’re not even thinking about the next thing. In film, you have to think about your hand lifts; you have to think about lifting your hands at different angles. In theatre, you can be like, “I’m going to lift my hands wherever I want!” [Laughs]