Haley Strode – The Astronaut Wives Club

By: Lisa Steinberg

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

A) I have been pretty busy lately. I just wrapped a month ago a short film for Bad Robot, JJ Abrams’ company. It is called Full Moon Club, which was directed by an up and coming director named Boa Wang. He was the winner of several short film festivals and caught JJ’s attention about a year or so ago. He really wanted to produce his project and it was a lot of fun. It is about a group of werewolf hunters.

Q) How was your character, Jane Conrad, on “Astronaut Wives Club” originally described to you?

A) That is the great thing that I loved about the casting. Our casting director kind of laid out Jane Conrad to me as an incredibly classy woman. She was very grateful for all the blessings she had in her life. Because of that, the impression that you got of Jane was that she would be a good friend. She would be a kind, generous and giving person. What I read about Jane was that she came from a family that was very much like that and I think the book talks about how Jane embraced that mentality. When she met Pete, she was attending Bryn Mawr College and he caught her attention because he was not a typical Ivy League student. He was a Naval pilot, but was very much known as a renegade in the most cool way. He was not your typical preppy guy. He was a bit of a cowboy, in a way, and similar to her father.

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

A) It was every aspect to Jane. Honestly, truth be told, all of the women described in Lily Koppel’s book and the way that she had interviewed them to get the behind the scenes information were incredibly captivating. I related a lot to Jane in terms of how she didn’t want to please a lot of people (not in a negative way). She just seems to be a really nice, warm, down to earth girl from Texas who was kind of thrown into the space program, much like the other wives and military wives. She became a part of this “royal” family, in a way. I think my main goal with Jane, when I was cast in the role, was to honor who she was and the struggles that she went through being an astronaut’s wife. I’m sure if you’ve read the book or seen the show, you see the behind the scenes and that the certain liberties taken with these stories were similar to what happened during the time. The women were expected to be the perfect housewife for America. It wasn’t just for their families, but also for America. That is the way NASA put it. It was a really big job and I think it was just an exciting thing to be a part of. It was an exciting project to be a part of because these women’s stories were not told and I was honored to be a part of telling them, honoring them and all of the sacrifices they made for their husbands, NASA and their country.

Q) What did you find challenging about your role?

A) I identified with certain things about Jane, but also just imagining what they must have been going through with their best friends and husbands passing away. There is a scene I shot when Marilyn See’s husband passes away where I was just imagining the situation. Just hearing the stories are enough to make you want to cry hearing someone has lost their husband. It was an easy thing because it is a dramatic circumstance.

Q) Was there instant chemistry when you began working with the other actresses or did you spend some time to bond?

A) It’s funny because our very first day was such an exciting day. It was the day that Jane Conrad and Susan Borman (the two Gemini wives) meet the rest of The Mercury 7 in Houston at a pool. That was the very first scene we shot and it was a little nerve wracking because it is your first day and we were all in swimsuits. You feel vulnerable as a woman on set in a swimsuit and everyone, I have to say, was absolutely wonderful and welcoming. All of the seven that had been there for months were incredibly welcoming. I know myself and Antonia [Bernath], who plays Susan, were really appreciative of that and so happy to have gotten there and realize we were amongst a wonderful group of powerful, talented and exceptionally funny ladies. We had a really great time together and I made some really great times while I was there.

Q) What were some of your most memorable moments from filming?

A) Episode seven was my most memorable day, but I can’t share details since the episode has not aired yet. The launch parties were a complete blast and so much fun. Honestly, I think it was my first day that was my most memorable day. We spent the entire day shooting different scenes around the pool. Those are the scenes where Jane and Susan meet the other Mercury 7 members. It was an interesting dynamic. Stephanie Savage spoke to us about what she wanted to shoot for with those particular scenes. She didn’t want it to be contentious between the Mercury 7 wives and the new Gemini wives, but a little bit threatening because the Mercury 7 wives were having their first moments in Houston and were getting used to being uprooted and moved to Houston. They were kind of on this rollercoaster that NASA was taking them on and the Gemini wives had already seen the Life Magazine spreads and the way the other wives’ lives were depicted. There were lots of early on impressions before they met one another. I think it was because of the way that Life Magazine portrayed them that their lives seemed much more fabulous and lavish than they actually were. You didn’t see the hardship in those magazine spreads. You just saw certain recipes the wives would make and what they would do in their downtime with their husbands. That’s how they wanted us to be introduced to the Mercury 7 wives, with that in mind. It was that these Gemini wives had a certain impression about them and you see that immediately in the scene. There is a little bit of that ribbing nature and then later you see the comradery that is built. They recognize right away that everything they saw in Life Magazine was not exactly the truth. That scene was such a fun day and it was so nice to meet everyone. Like I said, they were all really awesome.

Q) What do you think it is about “Astronaut Wives Club” that has captured so many viewers?

A) I think it is a number of things. I think the main reason being is that this is based on a true story and one that wasn’t too far off in history. It’s a heart wrenching story in many ways, in terms of the astronauts that were lost during the space program. Also, it is a new perspective to the public that a lot of the people who were alive during that time have never seen before. They have never seen the side of the wives and the things they went through and the sacrifices they made. Obviously, that was the point of Lily’s book and definitely the coolest part of the series. The second reason is that it is a really cool sixties period piece. A lot of people really enjoy that. My parents have mentioned it is a really cool thing to watch just to see the set pieces, the furniture and the detail that went into each frame, set and costume piece. Eric Daman, our wardrobe designer, is absolutely brilliant. He was the wardrobe designer for “Gossip Girl.” He did an amazing job and every episode was so fun to see what everyone was wearing – the ball gowns, swimsuits, etc. It  was so fun! I definitely think that was one of the other main appeals to the show.

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you enjoyed the instant fan feedback you have been receiving?

A) I do! I love that! It’s always so exciting to see that people are watching and falling in love with the characters and the people I worked with. I got to work with them and saw what they were doing. It is just nice to see it all come together and see people responding in a really positive way.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure fans know about the show?

A) Honestly, I just say in general that I encourage people to keep watching because some people know the history that are watching the show and some people don’t know the history that are watching the show. They are waiting for it to unfold, but the series only gets better. I worked on four of the ten episodes and every new episode that we got was more and more exciting to work on as an actor. I just wanted to respect and honor these women to the best of my ability. It was a really nice time for women’s rights and women movements. Right now, it’s so nice to be a part of something that is so female driven and to have so many females involved working together to talk about the strength of women that were a part of that time period in the sixties. It is a really cool thing and been an absolute honor.