Hi I'm Maiah Stewardson and I play Grace in My First Summer. Hi I'm Markella
Kavanagh and I play Claudia in My First Summer. And you can find My First Summer
on DVD from Peccadillo Pictures or these platforms. These platforms? THESE platforms!
I love it.
Grace as a character I think will always have a very very special place in my heart. I think
the first time reading her on paper was one of the first times I ever felt really really
seen by material that had come my way. And certainly there are elements of Grace that
are so brazen and unafraid and grounded that are quite inspiring to me and possibly not exactly
the qualities that I had when I was Grace's age. I think in a lot of ways informing Grace
as a character I started creating the version of myself that I wished that I had been able to be,
and there are moments in my everyday life where I have a thought and I go: "Okay I just need
to like, bring a little bit of Grace into this moment!" and have her courage and her curiosity.
So yeah, I really resonated with her truth and her experience of also kind of feeling like you
don't quite fit, but then imagined a lot of the kind of person I would have really liked to be.
What about you with Claudia? I always get so wrapped up in Maiah's answer! The main
thing with Claudia that stood out for me is that she's a very deeply lonely person,
and someone who craves connection, and has just a natural curiosity for the world and
for what exists beyond - yes the home that she's only ever known - but also what exists
beyond kind of surface level interactions with people and interactions with material,
whether that be books and films and... I sort of imagined kind of myself being in a place where I
couldn't reach out to people that I needed to at certain times in my life. It kind of granted me
a new found gratitude for being able to tell her story and I felt really fortunate to be able to
explore the relationship with Grace and see that naturally how - not only just in a romantic
sense - but from a support network level, having a group around you that are constantly connecting
with you and making sure that you feel as as encouraged to be kind of your truest self at
any given moment, and that you can feel kind of in the depths of despair but then also celebrate
you at your highest and at your best. Being able to relate to her in that way and then adding the
given circumstances that were quite particular and specific to her situation with her mum,
exploring that from a more psychological perspective as well, of trauma and attachment,
a kind of insecure attachment, anxious attachment, and seeing how they all kind
of intertwine and feed each other and hopefully play out truthfully on screen
Lucky charm! You can have it.
Can I still eat it? [Music]
Feel lucky? Yeah...
[Music]