Kate Mara Interview
This was a really interesting story that kept me guessing. Did it keep you guessing when you first read the script?
Kate Mara: "Oh yes, completely. Yes, completely. I didn’t really know where my character was going or where any of them were going but, you know, obviously I was reading it for my particular character and it totally kept me guessing - even up to the very end, which was awesome. That's really refreshing to not have any idea of what's going to happen."
Did the script play out exactly on the screen how you thought it would? Were there changes made while you were filming?
Kate Mara: "I mean, for me it’s hard. I didn’t see any dailies or anything. I had no clue visually what it was going to be like, you know? I didn’t have any sort of idea of what it was going to look like or anything, so for me it was kind of nice because I felt like I was watching it really like for the first time. I felt like I could actually watch it and not sort of judge it. Because usually when you're in something it’s hard, it’s truly hard to watch for the first time and not expect certain things. So, yes, obviously you have a vision of it when you're reading the script and I was really excited about it after I saw it for the first time."
Do you normally watch dailies when you're working on films?
Kate Mara: "No, I don’t. But every once in a while they’ll want to show you a scene that they love, like the director or another actor wants to see something. Or sometimes like if you're doing a scene that comes after another scene that you shot a long time ago, you have to sort of watch the previous scene just to remind yourself where you were at that moment. And yes, that’s rare. I personally don’t like to watch them because it makes me a little self-conscious. But every once in a while it doesn't bother me and it’s easy. But generally speaking, I don’t tend to see anything until the film’s over with."
We know a little bit about your character's troubled past, but did you flesh out her backstory?
Kate Mara: "No, because a lot of the reasons why she's doing the things that she's doing has to do with her past and where she wants to be in the future. And so, you know, you make little things up or whatever. I talked to Brad [Anderson] about stuff and about why she’s on this journey with this older guy. You always kind of have to keep that kind of thing in mind, especially with this specific story because a lot of her stuff is internal anyway, you know?"
As I was watching the movie I was thinking that we learn so much about your character simply through how your eyes react to what's going on around you in the film. You don't have a lot of dialogue compared to the other actors, so was it a little different for you in that so much of what you're experiencing has to be come through just by way of your facial expressions?
Kate Mara: "Yes. That was one of the things that I liked, that I responded to in the script. I liked the fact that she’s a really important part of the story but she doesn’t give a lot away. She’s very internal and is very understated. Most of her interactions with people are very kind of short, you know? Her dialogue…there's not a lot there but that’s what I liked about it. And I liked sort of how you weren’t sure what her deal was. I just love that kind of a role. And it was actually a lot harder than I thought. You don’t necessarily think it’s hard but it’s definitely not easier when you don’t have lines. Sometimes you think, 'Oh, it’ll be easy. I've got nothing to say today.' But then it’s almost harder because you have to make sure you're not just sitting there. You know what I mean?"
Yes, exactly.
Kate Mara: "When you're in a scene with three other people and everybody's interacting and stuff, you can't just sit there. You have to figure out what you're thinking and why you're not speaking. There's a lot of reasons to not say anything."
I also found the choice to emphasize your eyes with heavy makeup an interesting one. Was that your decision?
Kate Mara: "No, no, that was in the script. That was another thing… I love that about Brad, he’s so specific. So, yes, that was something that was in the script already, which I loved because a lot of times you don’t know sort of what you're going to look like or what you're supposed to look like. And with this, while I was reading it I could picture exactly what that was supposed to be. It was refreshing to have a director who really cares about exactly what you're wearing and stuff. That's rare."
"It was really fun because I wore black the entire time and it was very layered. My costumes were all specifically layered – not because it was cold, but because my character, she doesn't really shed the layers in the skin or whatever until, or maybe not even the end but. It was just really specific. And I felt really covered up, which is exactly what my character was supposed to feel like and look like. So that was a really fun thing to have to do. It was already in the script and then on set we just had to figure out how much she used."
Page 2: On Working with Brad Anderson and Shooting in Lithuania
