Fiona Vroom – Snowpiercer

By starrymag | May 17, 2020

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) We will be seeing you in the show “Snowpiercer” this Sunday and you play the character Miss Gillies.  How was the character originally broken down and described to you?

 

A)  Miss Gillies is a schoolteacher.  She’s from the second-class car, so she’s prim and proper and well educated.  She was first described to me as she was going to be part of a revolution that happens on the train, but we don’t really know what side she is going to be on.  She could be good; she could be bad.  That’s a continuing theme throughout the show with a lot of characters.  Everyone has a secret and it’s like who do we trust and who not to trust and who you create your alliances with because it’s really important.

 

Q) It’s interesting you say that. Teachers are figureheads who are supposed to protect and have a moral compass.  Miss Gillies is an adult and, like you said, part of the second-class system at the same time.  Is there something beneath the surface she may be shielding either from the children for particular reasons or for herself or both?

 

A) Well, definitely.  I think on a train like Snowpiercer and in this world where people are still feeling a lot of pain from the world freezing over, it’s only been seven years since they have been living on this train together. So, I think keeping your cards close to your chest and not trusting people is something that everyone feels communally together on this train.  It comes from a place of loss and a place of devastation to the world and I think that that is something we are feeling communally right now as a society.

Yeah, we look up to our teachers and we go to them for guidance.  So, being a strong person, a strong character on the train, really appealed to me.

 

Q) I am sure getting to portray these different layers and nuances when it comes to who she is with the children and who she is outside of her classroom care was really rich for you.

 

A) That’s a very fun line to play.  You’ll see it more in season two actually, you’ll see Miss Gillies true colors come out without the children.

 

Q) Talk about how the dynamics shift just as fast as the train moves.  Most settings aren’t always one specific location, and obviously there are different compartments and levels within the train itself, but the specific train is really the kind of core and driving force in many ways. It’s really like a metaphor.

 

A) Totally.  That’s a great way of looking at it.  In season one it’s going to be so exciting because what happens is (this isn’t a spoiler alert or anything) it’s about a man from the tail end of the train that comes up and sees the rest of the train for the first time.  So, the “tailies” have been living without windows in the back end of the train.  For seven years they haven’t seen sunlight.  When Layton, Daveed Diggs’ character, gets to move up train for the first time it’s like we are all experiencing that with him.  Every time a door opens to a new part of the train, every single car is like a really huge surprise for him.  Our sets on “Snowpierecer” were incredible!  They were all built to size so that you feel like you are on a train.  They move and bump and you feel like you are really are along for the ride.

 

Q) How did you go about your portrayal of Miss Gillies with having to pretend on this hugely driving moving train while tending to children.

 

A The challenge is what I feel like we are facing now, how are people dealing with their children being at home in this world of crisis really and keep a positive attitude and keep going, right?

 

Q) We overlook giving a lot of respect and gratitude to teachers who don’t receive it as often as they should for the jobs that they do taking care of children every day.  When we are forced to be the teacher ourselves and feel the same enclosed circumstances, it’s a whole different perspective on things.

 

A)  I hope that people wake up to the fact that without teachers and without school that the economy will have a very hard time running.  That’s how important teachers are.  I hope that there is a little bit of light that has shown on that through our circumstances that we are dealing with right now in society.

 

Q) I know that you have played teachers before, but not quite like this.  Is there anything in that regard that you made different choices or a different aspect of who this character is that you tried to reinforce or bring varied nuance to?

 

A) When I was working on my character Miss Gillies, I wanted to make her a ray of shining light.  Everyone on the train has their own obstacles to deal with and, like I mentioned before, we are all grieving the world that has frozen over.  Because Miss Gillies is working with children, I wanted her to be a positive ray of light.  I think she shines through in the series with moments of lightness, but also keeping in mind that she has a secret and a dark side.

 

Q) I wanted to talk about how the train really represents a character in its own, and how we see that portrayed throughout the series.  The train has a dark side, a light side, an evil side; it has a lot of dimensions much as the core characters do.

 

A) I think it’s very much its own character as it has a heartbeat, it has a pulse, and it is keeping everyone alive.  It’s also that the train has to work in perfect balance, that’s how it’s been designed.  So, if you take a person out of the tail and remove them and you put them in first class, it’s all of a sudden out of balance.  This whole journey through season one is really finding its balance that had been working for seven years; but can’t keep continuing the way that it is. The tailies can’t live like that forever.  They are coming up with a plan to burst through the doors and the train plays a part.  The train is almost acting a little bit like Mother Earth right now.  Something has got to break.  And as soon as you take it out of balance, what’s going to happen.

 

Q) You get to work with some really amazing heavy hitters in the series.  You mentioned Daveed Diggs and, of course, there is Jennifer Connelly and Alison Wright.  Is there anyone you wish you had more scenes with or someone you enjoyed working with the most?

 

A) It’s an amazing cast and I always learn the most from watching real pros like Jennifer Connelly work.  She’s so meticulous and specific in her work.  She was such a joy to work with.  She asked a lot of questions.  She was a real boss, a real force to be reckoned with.  Daveed was super chill and awesome and charismatic and funny and nice.  I really think their dynamic both on and off screen is going to work really well.  They were both a total pleasure.

I loved working with Mickey Sumner, too. She plays Bess Till.  She’s just a sweetheart. We got along great.

 

Q We talk about your character being this ray of sunshine and you talk about Jennifer Connelly herself being a boss.  We also see so many other multi dynamic females within the series.  What does strong female character mean to you?

 

A) There are many women in this industry that I have admired for years.  I think I just constantly thank them, and I try to lead by example myself.  Like Lucille Ball, she was such an icon in the film industry for women.  She really changed the industry for women.  Jennifer Connelly is that strong leading force too, I think.  Being a number one on a show really can change things.  It can go from bad to worse very quickly if you have a greedy actor or a diva in that position.  As the number one it is really important.  I thought Jennifer did a lovely job of leading the cast and being a strong female and someone to look up to.  She had her child on set many days as well.  I think her child is like six or seven years old.  That was an inspiration for me as a female actor as well. Watching a woman really be a mom, jump on stage and be a character and jump back and be a mom.  As women we do always have to wear more hats, I feel.  I just admire her power and femininity and grace in it all.

 

Q) Are there any other projects beyond “Snowpiercer” that we will get to see you featured in or you have been working on?

 

A) Right before the quarantine happened, I was working on a show for Global called “Family Law.”  It’s a local production. It’s a Canadian production, so I am hoping that it will actually be able to get up and running again maybe soon.  Like before Hollywood.  I think the Canadian industry will be up before American, but who knows what could happen.  I am on a show called “Family Law” coming out.  I am also a writer/producer, so I have currently been working on a feature film script just developing it and working on that.  That’s been keeping me going, thank God.  Something to work on, something to focus on, something to set little goals and reach them.  Even though it’s baby steps right now.  That has really helped me get through these days, to sit down and do some writing and at least feel a little creative and normal.

 

Q) Is there anything we didn’t touch on that you would like to mention and share?

 

A) One last thing I would like to add is that even though the world is dealing with this coronavirus crisis right now, this pandemic, it is important not to forget about the big climate crisis that we are facing all of the time.  The show “Snowpierecer,” I think, is really going to highlight that.  I hope it makes people think.  I hope it makes people reflect on what is important and how we are treating the Earth and how we can be better to the Earth so that we can have a better future.  The show “Snowpiercer” is basically about scientists who contrive to cool down the earth and it’s a science experiment that goes wrong and they end up freezing the earth.

I hope that in this time where we are all slowing down and reflecting that we remember how important our Earth is, we only get one, and what we can do to change and make it a better future.  So, don’t forget about climate change.