Natasha Negovanlis and Annie Briggs – CLAIREvoyant

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What I love in the brief glimpse of these characters you have given us is a lot of multi dimensions that are just touched upon briefly initially. Can you talk about how you all constructed these characters who have this quirky compelling balance?

Annie: So, I would say that the characters came about before the plotline or structure of the series pretty organically. After Natasha and I met on the set of “Carmilla,” we became friends and started hanging out socially. The characters just kind of emerged after some goofy lady time together. We sort of got hip-to-the-jive a little later and figured there might be some actual legs to what we had been playing with. Then, we just started mining ourselves and people we know as we took the characters further.

Natasha: Echoing what Annie said, it was a really organic process. The characters are very loosely based off ourselves and people that we know, or have interacted with, in the past. We took very particular qualities about our own personalities and put them in extreme circumstances. The name “Claire” actually came out of trying to find an appropriate title for the show and I’m a sucker for puns so we actually renamed her “Claire” after landing on the title Clairevoyant.

Q) We have been introduced to Nico, Claire’s crush, and seen how Claire is adorkably awkward with her. Does a little or a lot of you bleed into your characters?

Annie:  One of the primary things that tethers Ruby and I together, is also one of her core struggles as a character – we see her trying to tetris herself into society and the way it’s currently constructed, while still maintaining her personal integrity and values. There is a kind of discomfort in Ruby in terms of relating to our society and that’s one of the strongest things I related to. Sometimes I feel like I ought to be living in a hut in the woods and it’s all just too much.

Natasha: I would say it’s about 50/50. I try to put myself into every character that I play. A lot of people are saying Claire is so different from Carmilla and ask who I feel more attached to and who I am closer to in real life, but I would say there are aspects of both characters that I can relate to. In terms of Claire, I would say it’s her obsessive compulsive tendancies, and a lot of her neurosis… and just how terrible she is with flirting with women. I can totally relate to that as well! [laughs]

Q) There is this great mix of Lucy and Ethel, Laverne and Shirley, and Broad City vibes I was getting from your characters Ruby and Claire. Obviously, we have seen you in more serious roles, but you have this great comedic timing that really clicks between delivery and dialogue. Can you talk about playing off one another and was comedy something out of your comfort zone?

Annie: [laughs] I don’t think this is out of our comfort zones. I think Natasha and I were pretty excited to step into that dynamic with each other. You obviously don’t know how these things are going to go. We shot very quickly, which can often be difficult for comedy since there isn’t much space or room for the improv. We were both pretty stoked to get to play with each other in that way.

Natasha: Absolutely! I think this was in our comfort zone. As actors, it’s our job to tell different stories and portray a number of different characters. I think because of the way that I look, people have pegged me as a dramatic actor but comedy is totally my jam!

Q) Ruby has a wild streak in her, but we do see that she wants what is best for Claire and is kind of a mama bird giving her a push. Is this how she is with all interpersonal relationships? What will we see from her and boyfriend Xavier?

Annie: I don’t want to give too much away in terms of her and Xavier, but she is certainly a woman of action and this is demonstrated in all her relationships (romantic and otherwise). She takes agency in a really big way over the direction of the lives around her, perhaps (wink wink) in a bid to avoid taking any real direction in her own life. So, while she is an incredibly supportive friend in that way and very caring, it’s also probably a distraction technique from sorting out her own personal issues.

Q) What I have been enjoying about the series as well are the little touches and details too. There are small jars over the fridge, little signs like in the coffee shop, etc. Why were these essential for you when creating the set and atmosphere of the series?

Natasha: We got extremely lucky with our production team. When we first walked into the space we couldn’t believe how incredible it looked. It was like our dreams manifested before our eyes. As a first-time creator, something I learned was that when you write something in a script your prop team will take it very literally and we were just so taken aback by how detailed they were. Even as a viewer, I’m such a fan of little Easter eggs. We really wanted something people could watch numerous times and discover new things every time they watched it.

Annie: For sure! I think Natasha and I were both able to sneak some personal items from our lives on set. As an actor, that can help to ground the character in reality, but it’s also just kind of fun for us personally! Some of my mom’s artwork I was able to bring on set, perhaps you’ll spy a saucy nude… [laughs]

Q) The book of poetry that Claire is selling, is this an actual book of Natasha’s works or is it just a prop?

Natasha: The book in the show is just a prop, but the title “Skeletons and Suitcases” was a secret Tumblr of angsty poetry that I had in my early twenties. So, there are certainly things we took out of our real lives.

Q) I’d like to talk about your collaboration with Simone Stock as director. Obviously, Annie has directed before and I would love to hear about how you all worked in making this vision for the series stand out? We get these fantastic wide shots of the eclectic apartment and then cute coffee shop closeups.

Annie: We were fortunate enough to have Simone attached to the project early on. She came into pre-production so well versed with the scripts, characters, and material which was great. And through pre-production Natasha and I got to spend time with her, prior to waltzing on set. It was a very interesting hiring process because neither Natasha, myself, or Dylan (our other producer) knew Simone prior to meeting with her, but we all just fell in love with her. I remember after, we kind of looked at each other and said, “We need this lady to work on the series.” One of the things I loved about Simone was that she was really down to clown and eager to get into the nitty-gritty of the series. Also, she came with a different perspective than a lot of the people already on the creative team, which was really helpful. It’s nice to have different eyes and different brains looking at a piece. So, it was a unanimous decision. We were just so fortunate to have such a strong captain leading the ship.

Natasha: We met with so many wonderful women who would have been great to work with, but as soon as we found Simone it was really quite instantaneous. We also liked that she was kind of more mature than us and had this maternal “cool aunt” vibe to her. Having the perspective of a woman who has lived through different things than we have was really important as well. Another thing I loved about her previous work that attracted me to her was that she really pays attention to props, colour and detailing. We just thought this would be the right person to dive into this universe and make it really robust.

Q) Is there anything else you’d like to share about these fourteen episodes we will be seeing over the next couple of weeks?

Annie: Natasha and I are just super excited to have had this experience. It’s been a real learning curve in so many different ways and we are so thankful for the fan support! It really is a different experience creating something when you feel excitement and support already in place and cheering you on. That also raises the stakes for us to a certain extent, but we were just all really happy to be able to do it.

Natasha: Absolutely! We wouldn’t have been able to make this at all without the fans’ support. We are just so grateful. I’ve learned so much as a first-time creator and I’m so grateful to be expanding my skills both in front of, and behind, the camera. We wanted to create realistic female characters and I hope that we have. It’s exciting to see the feedback so far and how the series is resonating with people. I often laugh because I thought we wrote this absurdist show, but I keep seeing comments like, “This is too real” and “This is so relatable!” [laughs] It’s amazing and I love it!