“Servant” was a very contained setting, not in terms of the story but in terms of you’re mostly in one location. Then you go to “Yellowjackets,” which is this big, sprawling world. What was it like going from one to the other, especially after playing Dorothy for four seasons?
It is something that I marveled at, at the time because, as you said, yes, our show [Servant] was very much a little play on one set—for the most part—with four characters. We worked through COVID together and lived and worked in a bubble literally at times to get the show made. We were such a tiny show that we were one of the first to be able to go back, it was so contained they were able to figure out a way for us to do that, but it involved us all working and living together. It was insane but also miraculous that we were able to work. Even the crew was many of the same people for the four seasons. Then to go into “Yellowjackets,” which is seriously like “Aida”—it’s the most massive scope of any story imaginable. I don’t know how they’re doing it—all of the storylines—everyone has something interesting to do. They have so many plates spinning, so many sets, so much woven together. I think that’s the beautiful miracle of that show, and why it’s so engaging is because there’s so much. I watched the first season as a fan, loved it, and then was able to go on it, which was also a unique experience for me.
When did you first meet Liv [Hewson], and what were the conversations with them like?
I’m such a fan of the very beautiful character Liv created that wasn’t even really necessarily supposed to stick around, but as a testament to their performance and the beautiful, open, joy, and protector. I had the whole first season to watch and study a bit. Then I asked the editors to give me a few key Van/Taissa scenes, and they sent me every single scene linked together like a film, and that was an amazing thing to have and watch. It was really helpful. And yes, speaking to Liv. I didn’t want to mimic Liv in any way but also try to feel the essence of the character.
For me, it’s striking that the character’s a protector and such a survivor, surviving continuously these near-death brushes, constantly skirting death—barely. Even the very first moment you meet the character, she’s waking up her drunken mother completely on her own, surviving that, and a protector of the mother, as well. So that was something we chatted about. I tried to bring forth how all of the trauma of what they went through—which is what the show explores in all of the characters—and how you see these women when they’re adults. But also the cost of what it was to be the protector role for all those years and to still see yourself that way.
What was it like shooting the scenes with the six of you? Particularly when you are getting into this truth-telling, pulling back the layers of repressed secrets.
I was so looking forward to meeting all of these actors; it’s a miraculous thing. We sit in this green room often where we’re filming in crazy locations—you can’t really go back to trailers. That’s a lot of years of showbusiness represented in that green room and to be with those women who I’ve admired their work, and it’s all this mutual admiration going on. Also, being able to discuss what we’ve garnered, what we’ve learned over all these years, and how everybody works differently, but it all links together in a great way. It was amazing to finally have all of these women come together.
I love the way Van still uses pop culture from the time of her trauma, but there’s something comforting in it. Is that something that you’ve thought about at all in terms of the character and how she uses those elements as a shield?
Yeah, I think that’s one of the ways these years have worked on Van, kind of stuck in a time, and I mean, obviously stuck: she is working in a video store, which is not going to be financially viable. Wrapped herself in the comforts of the time before the trauma, before the accident, before they were trapped out there. I thought of it that she wants to put that in a box and put it away and say okay, ‘that was crazy, we all lost our minds,” and it’s not even worth looking at because it was such an extreme thing, and we’re gonna pretend that didn’t happen or live in a way to not have to deal with it. Although, I love that the character has to wear the scars of it on the outside as a constant reminder. That’s obviously great as an actor.
How long does that prosthetic process take?
Not too long. They’re really good at it. Every department on that show is incredible. From the makeup, the special effects, the costumes, and all the sets and everything. Everybody’s so great at their job. I think I think what’s interesting about Van now is catching her at this moment where she’s being forced by the arrival of Taissa and being pulled back into this group. She’s going to see how that facade she’s created, how it might crack open.
One other thing that connects Van and Dorothy is repressed memory and how they deal with trauma. To switch gears to “Servant,” I wanted to talk to you about this moment where Dorothy discovers the truth about what happened to her baby, Jericho. It’s in this intense storm, and everything’s going to hell. What were your feelings about finally getting to this point in the story and shooting that scene?
Great! That was a great relief. [M.] Night was directing, so that’s fun because he’s so specific, and he works in a very particular way. We felt like, ‘Oh wow, we’re really getting to it,’ as a company, as the actors in the room—or in the car—I guess. We had a little bit, ‘Oh, God, how we’re gonna do this? This is crazy.’ Between the cue up the wind, cue up the rain, this “King Lear” storm happening, but then Toby [Kebbell] and Rupert [Grint] were so beautiful in the scene. Night had all of these fabulous shots planned out, so it was great. It felt like an emergency, and it felt great to finally get to this place where we were relieved to be finally wrapping up the story. I think initially; they were talking about the character waking up at the end of Season 1 or the beginning of Season 2— that could have been a very different story. It was like this going along of always being in the dark of my own trauma. It’s good to get to the part where she finally faces it.
Then you have this fantastic scene on the roof with Leanne – with Nell Tiger Free. We still don’t know whether it’s supernatural, which I feel like it’s very “Yellowjackets.” You’ve got this mixture of real grounded things with fantastical. What was it like shooting that scene and Leanne and Dorothy having this moment of closure?
I wish I could give you some deep thematic insights, but really as the actors we were, it was literally an emergency. We were outside, on a roof that they built, and there were green screens. There were huge wind turbines the size of a house blowing the wind and water at us. We could barely speak for the water, and again, it was like, ‘How on earth are we going to do this?’ But, you look into the other actor’s eyes and figure it out. There did end up being some very lovely moments, even though it seemed like, ‘Oh my god, do they even have a usable take?’ Because it was so difficult to even speak.
It was so nice to be doing it and surreal after so much time together as a group and so much time working on the show, working through COVID, working through everything to be reaching the final closing lines of the book.
The last thing before I say farewell I wanted to mention the costumes that Caroline Duncan did on Servant. I write about costumes a lot, and these are some of the best on TV in the last few years.
I agree too, and I will say I feel like her costumes—really, every department on that show did beautiful work—but her costumes were such a huge part of my character. There are times when I literally don’t know what I’m doing in the scene, then I would put on a costume and be like, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll figure it out from here.’ How she helped create Dorothy’s mask, which was as an actor so interesting to me. How she created this ambitious Type A lady, created this shatterproof mask, and then sometimes it cracks, and you see through. Part of that very much was Caroline’s beautiful work. There were all these little secrets we had between the fabric and what the fabric story was telling. If it was a flower, if the flowers are open or closed or whatever it was; the duck under the water—the feet under the water. So that’s really special and then to go to the costumes of Van. I feel like, frankly, those two such diametrically opposed characters: Van is so closed, and Dorothy’s so big and out. That’s been a great opportunity and challenge as an actor to get to mess around with wildly different personalities.
