Madeleine Martin – My Daughter Must Live

Q) How did you become involved with the movie My Daughter Must Live?

A) I was a big fan of Joelle Carter from “Justified.” I really wanted to play her daughter. I thought that would be really fun. Also, I’m Canadian and we shot in Toronto. I had never worked there before and I thought that would be interesting because my parents met there. They went to the University of Toronto.

Q) Please tell us the premise for the film and about your role as Katie.

A) She is a hip-hop dancer who has unexpected liver failure. She discovers that her father is not a match for her to get a liver. The movie is Joelle’s character searching for help for Katie. It’s how far she’ll go to save her.

Q) You mentioned you play a hip-hop dancer. What kind of dance background do you have?

A) I went to The School of American Ballet for six years. I have been dancing since I was seven years old. I started doing hip-hop when I was fifteen years old. So, I do have a strong dance background and that was one of the things I was excited about working on this. For a lot of the time when you work on a project you are playing a character that will have some skill and you have to learn the skill to work on the project. Normally, it’s a skill that you don’t have. For once, this is something I’m actually good at in real life. I didn’t have to do anything, which was fun.

Q) What did you find challenging about the role?

A) Maybe it was researching how someone is behaving when they have liver failure, all the mood swings and what goes into how they are behaving.

Q) What was it like starring alongside Joelle Carter?

A) We had a lot of fun! We both in Toronto for the first time so we were exploring it with our days off. Getting to know each other was nice because when you are on location you usually don’t know anybody. You hang out with the cast and those people become your peeps. We have definitely stayed in touch and I’ll be seeing her when I’m in Los Angeles.

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

A) In the script, she is supposed to be a good dancer. When you see her dancing, she’s not doing a very good job because she’s sick. I kept trying to make her a really good dancer and they kept telling me, “You’re not supposed to be good! Just turn it down.” That was upsetting. I wanted to be an amazing dancer. I wanted to be Step Up.

Q) The film is directed by John L’Ecuyer. What was it like working with him and what kind of advice and guidance did he provide?

A) He’s great! He’s such a cool guy from Montreal and he speaks French. He’s so cool. It was a pleasure to work with him on this. He was just great at letting me play and try out different things. He really encouraged that, which is always fun when you have enough time to play around.

Q) Lifetime is really great with social media and when it comes to participating during movie airings. Is that something you are looking forward to?

A) I don’t have social media. I think about getting Instagram or Facebook, but I feel like I would just be consumed by it. It would be something to consider, for sure.

Q) Is there anything else you would like to tease fans about the film?

A) It’s a great family movie, but I think anyone who’s had a loved one or family member with a serious illness will really relate to the movie and the struggles of family.