- 6 hours ago
"Our crew was sleeping in parents' houses and sofas to help us, so we really appreciate that," Dormer told The Hollywood Reporter on her small-budget film 'In the Darkness.'
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00:00I'm Oliver Trevina in studio for The Hollywood Reporter with the lovely Natalie Dormer.
00:07Hello. How are you? I'm good. We were just talking about British lingo. We were. Yeah,
00:11what was it you just said? You were talking about swear words. Yeah, no,
00:15you said fibbing. Oh, I said fibbing. Which is lying. Lying, fibbing. Yeah. You were telling
00:19me something truthful and she pointed out the fact that she wasn't fibbing. So anyone watching,
00:23there's a bit of British lingo. We might pepper this conversation with a few British words. What
00:28else you got? What else comes to mind? I said wanky yesterday. Wanky. Yeah. And the interviewer
00:34needed to check what I was saying. Okay. I know what you're saying. Let's hope this interview
00:39isn't very wanky. It's going to be good. It's not going to be indulgent. It's not going to be
00:42indulgent. Yeah, there you go. It's good. It's good. I miss it. I miss it. I miss words like
00:45that. So it's nice to have it back for a minute. No one knows what we're saying. We'll move on.
00:49We better move on. We'll move on. To important stuff. I mean, you're always busy, but extremely
00:54busy because this project, In Darkness, co-wrote, produced, starring in. Yes. That's a handful.
01:00That is a handful. Was it a handful? It was a handful. Was it more of a handful than you expected
01:04going into it? It was a huge handful, but it was a wonderful experience and I'm really,
01:10really glad I did it. I learned a lot. I was going to say, I'm sure there were a few lessons in there.
01:14Yeah. No, there really were. It's a different skill set, writing, taking notes, being a writer,
01:21but it's a beautiful thing then to, you know, get a project together, find producers, find
01:28talent, find yourself on set, then do the post-production of it as well. Because an actor normally just
01:34turns up, does their bit and, you know, see you at the premiere. Right. Nice. Nice.
01:38A bit of PR. Yeah. But, no, it was great to do it from start to finish. It was kind of,
01:43you know, it was kind of my baby. Okay. And going back a bit, because knowing the movie,
01:47it definitely wasn't, you know, you didn't write this from personal experience. No.
01:52Like, we can establish that. No. That much. Um. Uh, I think, you know, Anthony and I wanted
01:56to write a movie, the kind of movies that we like watching and we really like, um, where
02:02he's, it was his suggestion of the, the genre actually. Anthony Byrne is the director of
02:06In Darkness, um, who I co-wrote it with and he, we love thrillers. We watch, we watch lots
02:12of Hitchcock movies and we watch sort of, you know, um, all those Scandi, um, like thriller
02:17shows and everything. We love all that stuff. And from the 70s, some of your viewers might
02:21know, um, movies like Clute or The Conversation. And so this is all the stuff we, we like to
02:27watch and we were like, wouldn't it be great to do a contained contemporary thriller in London,
02:33our home. Right, right, right. Um, cause you know, cause when you see London on camera,
02:37you can either, you normally, we were like, you normally ever, normally see like a council
02:41estate, like, like the projects as you guys would call it or you see like, you know, Downton
02:45Abbey. Right. It's like candy box kind of, you know, period London. Right, right. And
02:50we were like, we want to make sort of a film that's a bit of a love letter also to the London
02:54that we know. Just, just London, contemporary London. Right, right. And set a cool, slick,
02:59intelligent thriller within that. It is, it's very edgy you see. It's, it's the whole
03:04way through you kind of like, go on, go on. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. I hope so. It is, it is.
03:09Yeah. And Sophia, I mean, she's got a lot, there's a lot going on with Sophia as well.
03:12Yeah. She's not exactly what she presents herself to be. No. Yeah. That's, we can't
03:18tell too much. No, we can't tell too much. We can't give it away. But there's a lot there.
03:21Yeah. Yeah. Well you think she, uh, she's a blind pianist who hears a murder in the apartment
03:25above her. And so she gets sort of pulled into sort of the underworld of London, but then
03:31you realize that she's got her own agenda. And I mean, I wanted to write, I wanted to
03:37explore the idea of about a human being being defined by their pain and that their entire
03:42identity has been amassed around a particular want or need and anger. And then what that
03:50does to an individual. So without being too wanky. No. The script is, uh, I was listening
03:56at no point that you were being wanky. I wasn't being wanky. Uh, um, the, without being wanky,
04:00the script is kind of about revenge, forgiveness, um, sort of redemption, facing your inner, your
04:07inner self and let, and letting go ultimately, I suppose. Right. And Sophia's blind. She
04:12is. So how was like going into that? Hard. Right. No, it was a great challenge, physical challenge.
04:18Um, we had a lot of help from the, um, Royal National Institute of the, of blind people
04:23in London. Um, I had some, you know, cane lessons and we, I talked and met to a lot of people
04:29that have, are partially sighted and blind. And like, that was, um, a real, that was a
04:35very healthy learning experience for me to have to talk to people that live with that
04:38on a day to day basis. Um, really sort of taking certain things for granted. Yeah. I was
04:44going to say after doing a day on set, being in that. Yeah. And it, you know, like,
04:49Yeah. No, you don't. It's, I mean, that's the whole point of being an actor, right? Right.
04:52Right. Right. Right. Right. It's meant to broaden your perspective about life. But, um,
04:56I mean, the, I met some really extraordinary people through this institution, through the
05:00RNIB who, uh, you know, like a charity institution that tries to help people who are losing their
05:05sight or lost their sight when they were younger to, you know, navigate the world. Right.
05:11I don't really know how else to say it. Right. And, um, it debunked a lot of my theories.
05:16Like, you know, people might be watching the film and like, well, why does a blind person
05:19turn a light on? And actually a lot of blind people are light sensitive and they turn lights
05:23on for either security reasons or just like reassurance or stuff like that. And, uh, I met
05:30partially sighted and blind women that did their own makeup. Like that was fascinating as well.
05:35They still take this pride in styling themselves, hair and makeup and talking to them about that.
05:40So I really healthily had, and I met, you know, some lovely guide dogs as well.
05:43Right. Guide dogs.
05:45No. So you really learn a lot. It's safe to say. Yeah.
05:48I did. No, I did. I did. I did learn a lot, you know, in front and behind camera.
05:52Yeah. And you, well, behind camera. So you mentioned the casting process as well.
05:54Yeah. Emily Ratatowski and Ed. Yeah.
05:57Very ugly, very ugly cast by the way. Very ugly cast.
05:59Yeah. Very ugly cast. Extremely ugly. Yeah.
06:01Yeah. And the wonderful Neil Maskell and James Cosmo and, uh, you know, um, Jolie Richardson. Um, really great cast. And they all like did it for out of the passion.
06:11Right. Okay. It was a small budget. So I'm very-
06:13Right. You've been kind of touched base on that before the interview.
06:15I'm very, I'm very grateful.
06:16Right. People sleeping on sofas and parents' house and yeah, yeah.
06:19Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Our crew, like, were sleeping in parents' houses and sofas, uh, to help us. And so I really appreciate that. And Ed, I mean, I don't know what I would have done without Ed, because there was never a plan B in my head. It was like, I want this role to be Ed Skrine. And if it's not Ed Skrine, then I'm in trouble.
06:35Right. Thankfully he said yes, Ed.
06:37Thankfully he said yes.
06:38Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Um, let's talk about another project. Another very happy project.
06:43Yeah. Yeah, there's a theme here.
06:44There's a theme.
06:45I picked light, light, light material.
06:46Light material.
06:47Yeah, it's good to smile.
06:48Actually, you do say that, but actually Picnic at Hanging Rock is quite funny in places.
06:51Right.
06:52It is laugh out loud funny in places that people might find peculiar, but there's some real good dark...
06:55I feel like that might just be you, though.
06:57I feel like you're the kind of person that does laugh at those really, like, dark, weird moments.
07:02Dark, wry, wry jokes.
07:03Yeah.
07:04No, uh, there's a lot of, uh, comedy comes from Yale Stone that people will know from Orange is the New Black.
07:09She's, uh, her character can be extremely amusing at times and a very, an up and coming, um, incredible young Australian actress called Ruby Reese.
07:17Okay.
07:18Also adds a lot of levity and a few laughs to the process.
07:21But no, other than that, it's kind of another thriller, gothic, surreal.
07:25Girls go to a picnic.
07:26Right.
07:27Three girls go missing and a teacher and the ramifications of that.
07:31What happens to the school that, this is all the 1900 Victorian Australia.
07:36Um, so what happens to the community and the school as when these girls disappear?
07:42Are they murdered?
07:43And you're the headmistress.
07:44And I'm the headmistress.
07:45Mrs. Appleyard.
07:46I am.
07:47Yeah.
07:48She's kind of, she's a bit of a bully.
07:49So I'm playing against type there.
07:50Totally.
07:51Yeah.
07:52I could see you as the headmistress.
07:53I don't know why.
07:54I'm just like...
07:55I'm not bossy.
07:56No?
07:57Okay.
07:58Okay.
07:59Okay.
08:00How was your headmistress at school?
08:01Or did you have a headmaster?
08:02No, I had a headmistress.
08:03Headmistress.
08:04Okay.
08:05Yeah.
08:06Like Appleyard, a bit repressed.
08:07Okay.
08:08A bit, you know, a bit tight.
08:09So that helped.
08:10A bit closed.
08:11Okay.
08:12What about you?
08:13Headmaster or headmistress?
08:14Headmaster.
08:15Headmaster.
08:16Very angry man.
08:17Very angry man.
08:18Yeah.
08:19Used to hit the desk.
08:20I'm bringing stuff back now.
08:21I'm getting anxious.
08:22He didn't used to just hit the desk.
08:23No, I'm kidding.
08:24Terrible joke.
08:25Did you have to go delve into that a lot?
08:26I didn't know the famous Joan Lindsay novel from the 60s.
08:30No, I didn't.
08:31I was aware of the Peter Weir film that was made in the 70s, because obviously it's kind
08:35of, you know, a milestone for a lot of cinephiles.
08:37But when I read the novel, I was amazed at actually, there's so much subtext.
08:44There's Bea Christian, the writer of our show, she was really able to flesh it out,
08:48because there's kind of a nod and a wink to lots of things, but the book doesn't go
08:51there.
08:52And there's so many characters, there's so much opportunity for back storylines, and
08:57Hester's been case in point.
08:59This sort of, you know, she's had some, she knows she's not quite telling the truth about
09:02who she is.
09:03She's traveled to the other side of the world to Australia in the late 1800s to reinvent
09:09herself.
09:10And it's funny, as you go into those six hours, you see more flashbacks, and you see
09:16who this woman really is, and she's definitely selling herself as something more than she
09:22once was.
09:23Yeah.
09:24Which I can just see in your eyes, you loved playing it.
09:25I did.
09:26You loved it.
09:27I did.
09:28The director really wanted you for the part, right?
09:29Yeah.
09:30She actually wrote your personalized note.
09:31Is this true?
09:32She did.
09:33She wrote me this long-ass letter saying...
09:35I said personalized note.
09:36She said long-ass letter.
09:38No, very, very well written.
09:41Lots of good words.
09:42Right, right.
09:43And basically, she was just like, no one can play this other than you.
09:47It's got to be you.
09:48And I was like, oh, I don't want to get in a corset again.
09:50It's too soon.
09:51And then I talked with her on Facebook, and I just loved her so much.
09:54And, you know, when you start watching Picnic, you'll see how surreal it is, the supernatural
10:00elements to it, the fun she has with lights and crystals and water with the lens.
10:04And I was like, this woman's got a vision.
10:07Right, right, right.
10:08And when you know your director's got a vision, then I'm like...
10:10That's always good going into it.
10:11All in.
10:12Right, right.
10:13And it was quite collaborative, right?
10:14Didn't she let you...
10:15I might be wrong, but she gave wine for anyone that came up with good ideas?
10:17Yeah, you've heard the story.
10:18I've heard the story, yeah.
10:19Yeah.
10:20She's very...
10:21She's like...
10:22There's no prejudice.
10:23Anyone can have a good idea.
10:24You know, cameraman, grip, catering, you know, head of makeup or whoever.
10:29So, she set the bar early on by going, anyone who comes up for a good idea that gets used
10:34on camera, that actually gets shot, gets a bottle of wine.
10:37Brilliant.
10:38I mean, you're in Australia, so it's a good place to be like throwing wine around.
10:40Right, right, right.
10:41It's good.
10:42Yeah, she shouldn't have said that.
10:43She gave a lot of wine.
10:44Everyone was hammered.
10:45No, actually, if you watch the show very carefully, people are walking a little bit off.
10:47Yeah, that's why the camera's dutched.
10:48It's a little bit off balance.
10:49Yeah, yeah.
10:50Yeah, exactly.
10:51Talking about corsets, we can't not touch base on it, but Game of Thrones.
10:53Sure.
10:54Who's your money on?
10:55How's it going to end?
10:56Give us something.
10:57I can't.
10:58You can't?
10:59I knew that was going to be our answer, but I have to say it.
11:00I know, but I don't know.
11:01You might be able to give us something.
11:03I'm really excited to see the next season.
11:05I'm on the edge of my seat like everybody else is.
11:08Right.
11:09I can't wait.
11:10I know A to B. I know what B is.
11:14Oh, you don't know how it gets there.
11:15I don't know how they get to B.
11:16Okay, but you do know B.
11:17I do know B.
11:18B.
11:19Got you.
11:20Hmm.
11:21Okay.
11:22That's all we're going to get.
11:24Nothing.
11:25Nothing.
11:26I'll give up there.
11:27We're going to wrap this up in the THR's top five.
11:28Five easy questions.
11:30Movie you watched as a kid that you wish you were in.
11:33Oh, that's great.
11:35I don't know.
11:38Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
11:39Oh, that's a good one.
11:41Okay.
11:42If you could turn any TV show into a movie, what would it be?
11:45Any TV show into a movie?
11:47Any movie into a TV show?
11:49Any movie into a TV show.
11:50Let's reverse it.
11:51Let's reverse it.
11:52Can we come back to that?
11:53That's a really important question.
11:54Well, we can come back to it, of course.
11:56Have a think.
11:57We'll come back to it.
11:58We're taking this very seriously.
11:59You're not going to win anything, just so you know.
12:01There's no prizes.
12:02It's a very wanky quiz.
12:03I don't want to get a bottle of wine.
12:04No, you don't.
12:05Stop thinking about alcohol.
12:07It's an interview.
12:08It's professional.
12:09I'm British.
12:10I know.
12:11It's not going to happen.
12:12Describe your journey as an actress so far in one word.
12:15And no, you can't say that's a tough one.
12:17Can we come back to that?
12:18You have to answer.
12:19But you can think.
12:21Uh, multi-faceted.
12:24There's a hyphen in there, but it's still one word.
12:26It's still one word.
12:27We'll let you take it.
12:28I might know the answer to this.
12:30If you weren't an actress, you would be?
12:33Uh, well, when I was a little girl, I wanted to be an air hostess.
12:36Yeah, that's what it was, right?
12:37Okay, good.
12:38Yeah.
12:39But then when I was in my teens, I wanted to present Time Team.
12:41Okay.
12:42I wanted to.
12:43It's a history show.
12:44Yeah, yeah.
12:45It's probably on some random channel.
12:46Yeah.
12:47You can find it online.
12:48Find it online.
12:49Find it online.
12:50Do you, when you're flying, because you fly a lot obviously now.
12:51Yeah.
12:52Do you imagine it from time to time?
12:54I'm really glad I didn't do it.
12:55Okay, got it.
12:56It's a tough job.
12:57Um, one random fact that we don't know about you, that comes to mind.
13:00One random fact.
13:01One random fact?
13:03Uh, one random.
13:06We didn't even know that you love wine after this interview.
13:08Well, that's not really a random fact, is it?
13:11Um, what's a random fact?
13:13Um, I was obsessed to dancing to Madonna and Michael Jackson in my bedroom when I was a
13:17little girl.
13:18Me too.
13:19Oh, yeah.
13:20Now I'm going to ask you.
13:21Now I'm going to ask you.
13:22No, it's not.
13:23We just get back to this.
13:24We're asking at the very end.
13:26What, what TV show, what movie do you wish you could turn into a TV show?
13:29What movie do I wish I could turn into a TV show?
13:32Uh, one of the old classics.
13:34Like, one of those, like, uh, I don't know, like, uh, I was talking about His Girl Friday
13:40the other day.
13:41It was about a newspaper, uh, you know, a newspaper in New York in the 40s.
13:45Or Philadelphia Story.
13:47Okay.
13:48Or one of those great, I love that era.
13:49And I love, like, Katherine Hepburn.
13:50Well, because you could do this now.
13:51Russell and Russell.
13:52I love those women.
13:53So grab one of those, like, those 1940s fun.
13:57I need to do some comedy, don't I?
13:58Yeah.
13:59Right?
14:00So, one of those sort of, like...
14:01Well, I'm thinking about you.
14:02Yeah, I need to do...
14:03It's a very dark place if you could carry on doing...
14:04Yeah, I need to do one of those light, like, Philadelphia's, like, something along the
14:06lines of a light, like, 40s, like, funny drama get made into a TV show.
14:11Okay.
14:12I love that.
14:13Well, now you're producing.
14:14Yeah.
14:15You can do that.
14:16Okay.
14:17It's next up.
14:18Find someone, yeah.
14:19I'll start pitching.
14:20I'm gonna start pitching.
14:21Yeah, go ask all your friends again.
14:22Right now.
14:23I'm sure they'll be like, yes, we'll definitely do it without bugging.
14:24Check her out.
14:25Natalie Dormer.
14:26Such a pleasure.
14:27We could just go on and on.
14:28But we're not allowed.
14:29Okay.
14:30They won't let us.
14:31Bye.
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