We have a different, I don't know,
access to knowledge and to other people's stories,
which I feel like allows us to connect to people a lot easier
and to have possibly even more empathy than older generations.
I just wanted to start off by saying
I really loved your performance in the film.
I thought it was really raw and captivating.
Obviously I know this was your first feature film, as it was Sidney's,
and your characters in the film have this really amazing bond.
So I was just wondering what you did off-screen
to try and support and build that relationship?
Yeah, that was our biggest, I guess, aspect of the rehearsal process
was to, kind of, bond me and Sidney together and to create
a friendship that was apparent off-screen as well as on-screen.
And Eliza had a couple of, like, ice-breaker type things
to help us get to know each other.
We'd do things like do each other's makeup while running lines.
She also gave us these journals in which she added these writing prompts
that had these three very-, kind of personal questions about ourselves,
and left us alone to write our answers
and share them with each other, and it kind of helped us
create this little, like, secret history.
I've never really gotten to know someone that quickly in my life.
I think because Sidney and I were both willing to open up to each other
and wanted to form a relationship,
that's kind of what made that all possible,
but it was a really interesting experience and I'm so grateful
because I came out of the whole thing with a new friend.
Who came with you today?
My cousin.
Do you have a place to stay tonight? I know you came from far away.
I'll figure it out.
- This area's closed, you cannot sleep here.
Where's the rest of the money?
So another thing that I found really stuck out to me from this film
was that it was so different in the sense that
there was so little dialogue,
and I think that really helped to add depth to it.
So what was it like to try and create drama
but without being able to use a lot of dialogue?
In a lot of those high-stakes situations
that you experience with other women,
there really isn't a need for talking in a lot of those moments
because there's just, kind of, that universal understanding
of female pain and suffering
that Eliza definitely explores in the film,
and it was definitely easy to draw from
because it's something that I have experienced a lot
in the past couple of years growing up
and I think, like you said,
it is a relatable feeling for a lot of young women.
Definitely, and I think, as much as it taught me things,
it also made a wider audience aware.
So I definitely was enlightened by the obstacles
that young women in America face,
because obviously it's a little bit different over here,
but what was something that you learnt?
- Where are you from? - England.
Oh cool, where in England?
Manchester, near Manchester.
Oh, cool.
Yeah, do you know it?
Picturing a map in my head, I've been to London before,
but I would love to go back one day.
Oh cool, definitely you should.
So I think part of the power in the film
was that it was so believable,
and it was as if I totally believed I was watching a true story unfold.
It was as if sometimes it felt less like a film
and more of a documentary based on a true story.
So how did you, kind of, create that sense of realism in your character?
For me personally, I just drew from my own personal experiences.
I think it helped maybe that I had never acted before
because then I wasn't really, like-, I don't know,
I think it helped me not really overthink everything so much,
and I think I had more organic responses to the situations,
because I was just kind of coming from a place of what I know.
Completely.
I just drew from things that have happened to me
and that I've watched happen to other women I know.
I think one of the things that really gave it that documentary feel
was Hélène's, kind of, film style she did.
And I don't think-, I think I would have,
even if it wasn't shot in the way it was,
I think I still would have taken the same approach to the character
and made those same choices.
So I watched Never Rarely Sometimes Always last week
and I have to say, as serious a film as it was and as important as it was,
it was a great distraction from everything
that's going on in the world at the minute.
Have you been using film to try and escape from these uncertain times?
I've been trying to keep track,
I've watched almost 50 movies now in quarantine.
- Wow. - I've watched so many movies, yeah.
I'm pretty bad at keeping up with new movies.
I'm trying.
I finally recently watched Moonlight by Barry Jenkins
which was really good,
so that's the newest thing I've actually watched.
I've been rewatching old shows like, I don't know,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and stuff
because, you know, with everything going on, for me it's like
I have my comfort shows so I've returned to those a little bit.
But I think there's definitely a lot of good new movies
that I still need to see. - Yeah, definitely.
I think that's the best way to go about it.
So just to finish, I noticed Autumn in the film
never once questioned her decision to get an abortion.
Do you think that young people need to, kind of,
be trusted more and valued and their opinions need to be listened to?
Oh, certainly,
you know, and I think especially even someone that's Autumn's age
I think is more-,
you know, it never made sense to me that they shouldn't be given a choice
because I'm like, if they're not mature enough to make this decision,
what makes you think they're mature enough to raise a child?
Like, bodily autonomy shouldn't really have an age limit.
It's just so weird to me that between seventeen and eighteen,
the laws are completely different
when it's just a couple of months' difference,
and that people don't see that.
It kind of baffles me.
Do you think that young people these days
feel more isolated from older generations?
I mean, there's definitely a disconnect,
I feel like, to older generations.
We're growing up in a time where communicating is really, really easy.
I mean, you're in England and I'm over here and we're talking on video,
and that's something that they didn't have when they were our age.
So we have a different, I don't know,
access to knowledge and to other people's stories,
which I feel like allows us to connect to people a lot easier
and to have possibly even more empathy than older generations,
because they haven't had the experience
of hearing people's stories like we have,
and first-hand getting to talk to people like we do.