Interviews

Evanna Lynch – Addiction: A 60’s Love Story

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By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I have a movie coming out in the Spring called My Name Is Emily that is particularly special to me. It’s a beautiful coming of age story about a teenage girl who goes on a mission to break her father out of a mental home and on the way discovers how fallible her dad really is. It’s about loss and love, coping with sadness and saying goodbye to old treasured times and learning a more mature, less stubborn kind of love. I relished that project. It taught me a lot about myself and I hope it gets attention for the delicate issues it addresses. Other than that, there is Addiction of course, now in theatres. And I am currently working on my own writing projects. I like to write short fictional stories, I just haven’t succeeded in finishing one yet…

Q) Please tell us the premise behind the film Addiction: A 60’s Love Story and about your character Theresa.

A) It’s a true story about a young man who has the world at his feet, but then loses himself to a devastating drug addiction. And I think it’s about the conflicting feelings of invincibility and aimlessness we feel when we’re young and finally have the freedom and responsibility to do whatever the hell we want with our lives. It is almost too much to handle – leaving home, assuming the role of an adult and feeling you are the author of your destiny and it all goes to Max’s (Ian Harding) head. Instead of staring that freedom in the face and realizing that it’s totally up to him to decide what he can do with his life, he chooses to numb the feelings with substance abuse and quick-fix pleasure trips. He numbs himself so much to the real world that he almost loses everything. I play his wife, Theresa. They marry as love struck teenagers and that turns about to be the last decision they make together for years to come. Theresa devotes herself entirely to Max and her kids and fights fiercely to keep them together. I don’t think she’s oblivious to what’s going on with Max, but more like she chooses not to see and hopes it will play itself out because she is holding on to this vision of a happy, supportive family. It takes a lot for her to say “no” to Max and to learn to express what she needs as a person and not just as a wife and mother. I so admire what Theresa does, I don’t think I’ve ever played anyone so selfless. I certainly could not postpone my happiness and sacrifice so much for someone else. It takes a very centered, kind-hearted and mature woman to be able to do that.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the movie?

A) I guess, initially, I was attracted to the grittiness. I spent much of my teen years playing a unique character who was wise beyond her years and as a result always maintained a very zen outlook on life. Nothing derailed Luna Lovegood and that was what was so special about her. But it was also very quiet and after that I wanted some chaos and grit. I personally don’t handle my emotions so gracefully as Luna does and once I left her I had a certain yearning to be in stories where traumatic things happen to characters and they have to wrestle with those painful emotions. The scene where Theresa flips her lid at Max really appealed to me as I read it. I felt I’d understood that kind of loneliness and rejection and playing that role would give me a channel to express it. Sometimes characters are the only safe place to express those uncomfortable feelings. 


Q) Was there anything you added to your role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) Hmm, I don’t know if that is really for me to identify! I didn’t meet Theresa in real life until after the shoot so it wasn’t as though I was trying to embody her and I can’t really say what I added or what I changed. I was left to explore how she’d feel going through those experiences. I suppose, in retrospect, I possess a lot of naivety that comes across in the film and that wasn’t something that was scripted or that I intended. She is a woman who tries her hardest, but is in way over her head and she doesn’t realize it. I feel that way a lot of the time. My mum always says I am naive while I’d prefer to say I’m a dreamer, but while working on Dynamite I started to notice that everyone seemed a bit more worldly, a bit more street-wise and I began to see what my mum was referring to. I know absolutely nothing about drugs, about that underworld. I don’t see it so I assume it’s not there, but I’ve learned that’s only because I don’t know what to look for. I try to combat the naivety by reading as much as I can and being curious, but I always feel a few steps behind everyone else – like I am missing some inside-joke or that I was elsewhere while everyone else was in a secret class learning about the things in life you’re not supposed to know about. 

Q) Was there instant chemistry when you and Ian Harding began working together or did you spend some time to bond?

A) Again, I’m not sure that’s something I can objectively comment on. We met the day before filming and chatted about the crazy project we were about to embark on. I would say I instantly felt I trusted him. He’s very kind and witty and he knows how to put people at ease. On set I tend to go into a corner and psyche myself up (or out of it sometimes, unfortunately) for the scene, whereas Ian engages with all the cast and crew around him and creates a good energy going into the scene. He can switch it on so easily. And I think he sensed I was nervous and made an effort to chat on and off set so that I would get out of my head and be present. He’s just an all around generous actor and person.


Q) What were some of your most memorable moments from filming?
A) I remember Tate [Steinsiek] the director and Mandy from costume telling me about this man who used to eat children. I can’t remember his name, I blocked it out. And I know that has nothing to do with the film, but it’s an onset moment that stood out vividly to me! I read the letters the guy wrote and aged about five years overnight from the horror of it. I think that’s how the conversation started: there are a lot of really grisly, nasty bits in Addiction that unsettled my stomach. And I remember looking at Tate and thinking him so sweet and sensitive and wondering where all this grotesque imagery comes from. I asked him, in fact, and I’ll never forget his answer. He said it’s not that he’s numb to all the horror, it’s the opposite in fact. It’s that it freaks him out so much that creating it and putting it all together gives him a sense of control over it and an understanding that makes it ok. That explanation is the only rational defense I’ve ever heard for horror movies. And that conversation just descended into some of the most unsettling stories and what really gave them the creeps. I think that’s when the child-eating man came up and my innocence was ruined irrevocably. 

In terms of an actual moment from filming, it would have been the scene on the couch where Theresa is just thinking about life and looking at her children and what has become of her dream of a happy family. That was in the first week and it was probably when I finally surrendered to the process of telling such an emotional story. The Director of Photography (“DP”) on set didn’t have much time for me up until that point, which is not a good position for the actor to be in. On an indie film set, time is your most valuable commodity and that “one extra take” the crew allows you can make your performance. The DP being so impatient with me was frustrating and uncomfortable. But in that scene I gained my own trust and I gained his and it was a turning point during filming Addiction for me. I think now I give less of a damn about the dozens of people on set having faith in me. But at the time it was a small, private triumph for me.

Q) What do you hope people take away from watching Addiction?

A) I hope it makes them think about what they’re hiding from and why. I hope it will challenge young people’s views on drugs as something cool that makes them appear older. I know I sound eighty years old right now, but I’ve thought about this! All while growing up we’re told drink and drugs are for when you’re an adult. We’re not even allowed to know about things like drugs, porn and getting wasted. And then you turn eighteen years old (or twenty-one in America I guess…) and you feel like a phony adult and it’s awkward and embarrassing. So you take drugs and alcohol to, hopefully, lend some legitimacy to your flimsy new adult persona. You do a lot of stupid, impulsive things to quickly gain experience and seem like a connoisseur of all these super-cool, forbidden adult things when really all you’re doing is hiding from uncomfortable feelings, numbing your fear. It is cowardice, not badassery – cowering from strange feelings behind a substance addiction the way you used to hide from strange people behind your mother’s skirt. Hiding from scary situations is what children do. So, I hope people who watch Addiction will feel compelled to call out their fear-based behaviors, stop hiding from life and actually own up to the mistakes they’ve made, like a grown-ass adult.

Q) You are very active with World Animal Protection (MoveTheWorld is their social media handle). Why is that such an important cause for you?

A) I believe it’s wrong to take away another living being’s freedom and fundamentally wrong to take someone else’s life. It’s one thing to hurt another conscious human, but to hurt an innocent, defenseless, harmless, fearful animal that has no idea why you are hurting it has to be the most heartless thing. But the thing is that we are so disconnected from the suffering our lifestyles cause animals. I am too, even though I know the facts. I will look at the leather designer handbag I bought when I was a teen and it’s unfathomable that it was once a part of someone’s flesh. But it was. I do understand that it’s not that people are heartless, it’s that we’re simply removed from it and conditioned by society not to think about it. I love World Animal Protection because I feel they are bridging the gap between humans and animals. They don’t shame or denounce people for their previous behaviors, they just compassionately try to enlighten and teach them empathy for animals and a better way to do things. They are tireless in their efforts to free wild animals and to secure better animal welfare practices and they are realistic in their approach to communicating these messages to people from all walks of life. There are a lot of animal welfare organizations, whose philosophy I strongly agree with, but whose practices alienate many kind people/potential animal advocates. World Animal Protection strikes the perfect balance between compassion towards people and animals.


Q) How can people get involved in working with World Animal Protection to help protect animals
A) Thank you for asking! You can follow them on their social media accounts @MoveTheWorld and sign up to their mailing list! Just talk to them, they’re very eager for people to join their work! And sometimes simply sharing their work via a tweet or a Facebook post is the best way to help them. These causes need exposure more than anything. Their social media accounts are where I get most of my news and updates on their campaigns. They work in pretty much every sector of animal welfare so there is something for everyone to get involved in. And, of course, they always, always need donations to fund their incredible work for animals all over the world. They have offices all over the world so the chances are they can tell you about more local causes where you can do hands-on work to directly help animals.

Q) People still recognize you for your work on Harry Potter. What does the franchise mean to you?

A) You know when you do something crazy and impulsive and you start to doubt yourself, but then you think of your mum and dad and warm hugs and suddenly you feel emboldened and that it’s ok to take risks? You feel you are invincible because there are always those warm hugs to run back to when you falter. That’s what Harry Potter is to me. I fell in love with the books when I was eight years old and then at fourteen years old it turned into a job, which turned into a career and those stories guided me through that whirlwind of growing up and being in the spotlight. It anchored me throughout the chaos. And when I wasn’t comfortable with who I was Luna was gracious enough to let me hide behind her. The series’ influence is less profound on my daily life now as I’m branching out exploring other passions. But I know it is always there, my inner Luna and my wonderful Potter family and having that backup is the greatest comfort. 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I don’t think of it as a way to connect with my fans. There’s no strategy to it. I have a bit of a problem with referring to followers as “my fans” because it makes our connection totally centered around me and that makes me miss out on the person who is awesome in their own right. It makes my world very small. I call myself a “fan” of many awesome people, but I’d be hurt if I met them and they overlooked my inner awesomeness because I’m “just a fan.” Actually, I have been hurt on several such occasions by people I looked up to being dismissive of me simply because I told them I was a fan of their work. Fans are always passionate people and to me there’s nothing more beautiful and intoxicating than passion! So, I see social media as a way to connect with the rest of the world. I’m glad I can share love and light with people who’ve shared it with me. But I’m not there to receive accolades and I will quickly mute anyone who goes overboard with the idol-worshipping tweets. That stuff is cringe worthy and bad for you. I more use it as a way to talk about the things I believe in, such as animal welfare, self love and to find kindred spirits who like to discuss these things, too. All I want is to be inspired, surprised, amused and made to stop and think by other people and social media is one place to do that.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thank you for your support, kindness and love! Thank you for reminding me that I have something to contribute to the world and for getting me to leave my house to do that! Thank you for sharing your light and talent. And stay weird!

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