Emily Rose
Posted: August 9, 2011
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Lilja: Emily gets the phone from Lucas Bryant after I have talked to him. Emily is in her trailer having lunch but she has kindly accepted to let me interrupt her for a short interview.So, you’re out shooting season 2 of Haven?
Emily Rose: Yeah, it's fantastic so far. It's very cold all the time though. We're on episode 8 right now and I can't believe that we are already mid season, it's crazy.
Lilja: And everything is going well?
Emily Rose: Yeah, so far so good.
Lilja: How did you end up getting the role of Audrey? Did you audition or where you offered the role?
Emily Rose: I auditioned for it. I ended up getting married in December and came back to hit pilot season hard and it was the second audition I got on at the beginning of the season. My manager had seen the role and thought of me when she saw it and sent me in and I kept auditioning and I really connected with who Audrey was and I really liked the writing in the pilot and was really excited about her. I like to play really tough leading parts where the leading lady isn't that corky and I really like that about Audrey.
Lilja: Had you read the book, The Colorado Kid by Stephen King, before you got the part?
Emily Rose: I did read it before we ended up shooting and it’s one of those reads... I say that I throwed it across the room and was very much like ”I can't believe it's going to end this way, there's no resolve” and then pick it up again and he [King] kind of nurses you back and says ”It's OK, it's the whole point of me writing this novel.” To talk of the evil mystery and what it does to a town when a mystery is unresolved. And I really enjoyed it.
Lilja: What was your feeling when you read the script for the TV series? It's quite different from the book.
Emily Rose: Yeah, I know. I read the script first so obviously I wasn't comparing it to the book. I know when I read it that it was never meant to be a direct depiction of what happens in that story and that it's mainly a setting for our environment and setting up a couple of the characters. The two newspaper guys and because the leading role, in TV series, the networks don't usually go for reporters in those roles because they think they are kind of hard to follow so they prefer a more active investigator that is similar to that of being a cop so they just kind of swapped Stephanie out in that way and beet up the fact with this mythology and this eerie place so for me it was all about setting up this ecosystem or the environment by which the show would spin of. I think that if anyone would try to do a direct spin of them sitting around, like an art house film, it would just be them sitting around and talking. So we just kind of going and taking a sidespin of what that photo is and who that guy is and what could have happened. And kind of address how was he in two places at the same time and how did he get there so quickly and use that as a kind of base to get into Audrey’s history of it.
Lilja: What kind of reaction have you gotten from the fans? Are they satisfied with the difference or are they unhappy with them?
Emily Rose: I don't know, are you satisfied with them?
Lilja: Yes, I'm satisfied.
Emily Rose: That is fantastic!
Lilja: At first I was surprised and thought it would be more like the book but actually the characters won me over. And it works on its own if you see it as its own and don’t compare it to the book.
Emily Rose: Yeah, and usually I think, you know having read the book, a lot of people asking me that question haven't read the book or read it after they have seen our show and they're kinda dubious but I think people appreciate storytelling and appreciate the theme and tone of Stephen King's work and that is what I think Eric Cayla our WP does such a good job of setting up this eerie tone in this eerie Maine setting and he does a great job at that and I think the reaction we've gotten from the fans are twofold. The really cool thing is that we have gotten a lot of people that didn't read Stephen King or wasn't really interested in it or didn't know they were interested in it. Like me, I love The Shawshank Redemption, I love Stand by Me, I love Misery, I love these things but I didn't really put two and two together, oh my gosh, all of that is Stephen King's work and there are so much more out there. So hopefully what we're doing for him and all the people that love him so much is bringing more people that would maybe be too afraid, when they hear Stephen King, to pick up a novel. But if they are like ”Oh, he writes other stuff where he explore other themes” we might expose people to his work and hopefully do him justice.
Emily Rose: So I think we have gotten great reactions. Off course we get once where die-hard Stephen King fans wants to see his books on television but I wonder if they really want to see that because that is always the great thing about literature. It allows our imagination to be the filmmakers in our minds and I think that every time we try to do depictions of novels that very rarely it hits it out of the park from what we've read. So it's been mixed reactions but overall good.
Lilja: You are pretty active on Twitter and interacting with the fans. Is this something you enjoy? Has it gotten more now since Haven or have you always been this active on Twitter?
Emily Rose: No, I haven't always been active on Twitter. I was kind of a guest twitter at the beginning but I'm a huge technology person and I love it. I love the Internet and I love graphic design and I love filmmaking and computers in general. I love my iPhone but I never kinda understood twitter and was kinda like ”why does everyone wants to know what everybody is doing” but then my friend said that ”with Haven you should really think about getting on Twitter” and I was like ”No” and she said she would set me up with an account and I said OK to that. Then I realized that I could follow a lot of other people and kinda hear their insight on stuff and keep up on what they were doing. Then I thought about the people that watch Haven and fans that are involved with Uncharted, which is a really big videogame that I'm involved with, and I though what a really cool way to keep in touch with people and when you have feature projects that they are interested in or if they are interested in the stories you'd like to tell, what a great way to communicate with people but still have your privacy. To me that was much better than facebook because with facebook I didn't feel I was able to keep the two different worlds. I wasn't able to keep my family informed. It was always this crossing. With Twitter I feel it's very much so and I really enjoy talking to people and have that dialog and have that feedback and still feel like I'm able to have my private life. So I really enjoyed it and I like it a lot.
Lilja: Season 2 of Haven is on its way and season 1 ended with a real cliffhanger. Are we going to see the conclusion of that this season?
Emily Rose: Well, we'll touch on it. When we come back on season 2 we pick up where we left of in season 1 and will people get more answers? Definitely not. Because Audrey doesn’t have those answers, she is still trying to figger it out. But there is going to be a few interesting episodes where she is trying to wrestling it out and navigate to who she really is and what that mean. And bring closing to that even because that was a big event. It's one thing acting someone that you know where she came from but with a character that every time you think you got a grip on it they rip it out from under you, like no, that's not the case anymore, that's a very disoriented place to be.
Lilja: Do you know much in advance what is going to happen to Audrey or are you as much in the dark as the rest of us?
Emily Rose: I'm very much in the dark. They give me abstract scenes about what to interact with and plan for but I'm pretty much in the dark about her. Last year that worked out really well because it allowed me to play out that moment of surprise where I discover there was another Audrey. It played out more authentically, I wasn't able to lay that in ahead of time. And this year them not telling me a lot I feel ad to her confusion, what does it all means and her being so desperate to know something.
Lilja: I'm glad there is a season 2 because it would have been terrible to have been left hanging with the ending of season 1.
Emily Rose: Yeah, that would have been really hard for sure.
Lilja: I understand that there are quite a lot of special effects in the series where you might have to play against things that aren't really there. Is that hard or are you getting used to it?
Emily Rose: Well, it's scary sometimes because you don't know what's going to be in there. And it's so much about trusting the other person, trusting the director, trusting the whole creative team behind what you're doing. I do a lot of imagining and a lot of acting with stuff that isn't there in the videogame I'm in, called Uncharted, so when I get to Haven I feel that about 90% of what I'm doing is there so it's easier. And we're very much talking it through. What are we acting against, where is it coming and what are we looking at. And then sometimes you feel ridiculous but the more you play into it the less ridiculous do you feel.
Lilja: And this season you have two interesting guest actors; Jason Priestly and Edge. How was it to work with them?
Emily Rose: It was really great. Jason is fantastic and he is actually prepping to directing the episode that's coming up next. He could not be sweeter and Edge, I had no clue when they said a wrestler was going to star in our show and he is just so sweet and fantastic and I really like the idea behind his character so I think that is going to be really interesting for our show. An additional aspect to the trouble and what happens in a town when there is constant catastrophe. How he plays the role takes care of that and both guys are really great. Jason has already been with us for a while, three or four episodes already, and I feel he's already part of the family and it's really great when we get guest people coming in and I really enjoy when we have such a great time together.
Lilja: As you mentioned Jason is also directing some episodes. Is that something you'd like to do in the future?
Emily Rose: Oh, I'd love to but there is always all this technical stuff that has to happen and I know that Lucas could definitely direct because he's Canadian but I would somehow have to become Canadian if I wanted to direct but I'm really hoping there is a way I can make that happen. I have been on the show a while and I would definitely like to get the opportunity to get to do that. We'll se.
Lilja: I guess it's hard to both star and direct in the same episode when you end up directing yourself?
Emily Rose: We'll people do it all the time and you get to watch playbacks, you can see how things are going and you can really work on the in the team. I have actually never worked on a set with someone who has both acted in and directed an episode so this will be a first.
Lilja: Speaking of the cast, do you feel you are tighter now? That it’s getting easier to work with each other now that you have one season done and going on the second?
Emily Rose: Yeah, I think we have always been very blessed. We really got each other really early on so we have never really had a hard time getting along so I feel that this season is just us feeling better about the show and we're growing closer as time goes on but the other side to that is that we all have to overcome that we all really like each other when we do scenes where we don't like each other so much.
Lilja: OK, thanks for taking the time do to this interview I’m very grateful!
Emily Rose: Thank you.
