Haley Lu Richardson Discusses 'The Chaperone,' Working With First-Time Filmmakers, Her Love Of Dance & More [Interview]

While her last film “Five Feet Apart” didn’t do much to thrill us, there’s no denying that in the brief moments the film worked, it worked because of the performance Haley Lu Richardson turned in. Not new to the screen, Richardson first stole focus in the phenomenal coming of age flick “Edge of Seventeen” and managed to make an afterthought of a character be presented with agency in the surprisingly decent “Split.” However, it was with her role in “Columbus,” and then, a scene-stealing role in last year’s underseen “Support the Girls” that allowed her to fully come into her own and declare herself one of the most versatile new talents on the scene.

Richardson’s range is daunting, always managing to bring a level of humanism to her characters that allows our hearts to ache for her in the lowest moments or soar throughout her triumphs. She’s an exciting talent and, for her latest venture in “The Chaperone,” she was given the chance to explore a different side of the acting spectrum by playing a character based on a real person, the iconic, flapper icon Louise Brooks.

READ MORE: ‘The Chaperone’ Trailer: Haley Lu Richardson Stars In New Film From The Writer & The Director Of ‘Downton Abbey’

I recently spoke with Richardson about “The Chaperone,” portraying a real person, and working with first-time filmmakers.

What initially drew you to the film and how aware were you of Louise Brooks?

Well, my answers kind of contradict each other in a way, because what drew me to the film was getting to play Louise Brooks and getting to play a real, iconic person and explore what that’s like and to research her and get as in-depth as I could. Then, on the other hand, I really didn’t really know much about Louise Brooks other than that her name sounded familiar and when I Googled her I was like, “Oh, I’ve seen that haircut before!” Knowing that she was a person that had these ideas that were so ahead of her time and to be able to learn about that and play it was what drew me in.

Even while researching the film I read about Brooks and had the same thought of, ‘Well, I recognize her but I don’t know if I’ve seen her in any films before.’

I hadn’t seen any of her films!  

Did you get around to any after the shoot?

So here’s the thing that kind of sucks. If I ever get to play a real person again and put the research and time into watching them and learning about them, which I would love to do because this story is so much inspired by the book, which obviously has her and the real things she did but was surrounded by so much that was made up and fictional that, that I would just love to get to really dive into the singular story of one person.

I came into this movie at the last minute and I had to make a decision and go out to New York in a matter of weeks and be ready, so I didn’t watch anything. I had to sit down and decide if this was something I could realistically do and do well, so I really had to prioritize how I was going to learn as much as I could about her without getting distracted by all the different avenues there are to go down with –  which I absolutely would have done if I had months and months to prepare. I decided not to watch any of her films but I did watch clips and read parts of some books on her. The things I got the most out of were direct quotes from her, things she said looking back at her life or things she learned all helped me get into her headspace and what was important to her and how the things she had been through shaped her. From what I’ve gathered, she didn’t really show her pain and masked it with an ‘I don’t give a fuck, sexy woman’ attitude, which was awesome but also a way of coping with her past.

Is there something in particular about playing a character based on a real person that appeals to you?

It just feels like a different type of acting or a different kind of challenge. With [‘The Chaperone’], I wasn’t playing her in her prime as a movie star or at the time at her life when everyone knew her. I was playing her when she was 15. So, there wasn’t much there to go deep into what she was like at that time in her life so a lot of it was. Any time I watch something like “My Week with Marilyn” or “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the idea that you can play someone who has made that much of an impact on the world at pivotal moments in history is so interesting to me, to figure out how to not do an imitation but to really connect with the things about them that people idolize about them also being able to tap into that yourself and be able to connect with that and make it a “you but them kind of thing.” I think that would be such an interesting dynamic as an actor because most of the time you are making things up!