Playing Crazy
Amy Manson brings Maladie to life in HBO series ‘The Nevers’. She reveals what it takes to prepare yourself for a role of madness and insanity and why Scotland will always be the place to be for her.
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Hi Amy, thank you very much for taking the time today to chat with us. How have you been since our shoot?
Wonderful. I had such an amazing day, I really did. You are such a talented bunch of creatives and I always feel my best on days like that. Your business is very similar to mine in certain aspects, but also significantly different and I think that's what keeps my mind ticking and active. And it also keeps me creative – I had a really good day. I just came up here to Scotland. I was doing a TV show for BBC 3 and we just shot the pilot last week.
Most recently we have seen you as Maladie in 'The Nevers’. How did you get cast for the show and what intrigued about the role to say yes?
Yes, so it’s kind of like a similar process. Each time you go in for an audition, you normally get what they call ‘sights’, which are scenes you have to prepare. But with regards to Maladie, there was just one scene that I was given. I auditioned once and then went straight into meet Joss with the casting agent – on the second round, which is kind of unheard of. I found out after a few days that I got the role!
“If anybody understands Maladie then we haven't done our job. So it’s quite hard to play somebody like that.”
Did you do anything specific to prepare yourself?
I had a blurb as to who Maladie was, you know, predominantly what her mental state was at the time. And that's what I kind of tried to hone in on. She wasn't ‘normal’, whatever normal is these days but just to understand why she thought the way she thought. She speaks in these jibes and riddles and to understand why, initially, it wasn't clear as to how she was abused, mentally and physically. So I kind of had to prepare my own backstory as to as to why she did not make sense. That's the thing and that's what Joss said, from the offset. He said, if anybody understands Maladie then we haven't done our job. So it’s quite hard to play somebody like that. I had to put her in my body – literally say a sentence and quick turn and walk somewhere else. Just to have a feeling of understanding of that mental space that she is inhabiting.
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‘The Nevers’ was filmed before but also during the pandemic. Has this affected the production of the show from an actor’s point of view?
The world could have been introduced to Maladie two years ago, put it that way. And all the other more delicious characters within the show too and the storyline of empowerment.
With regards to filming day to day I would say yes. The film world is such a tactile collaborative effort and to not being able to feel that anymore was sad. Not being able to hug people like Chris Glendale, the makeup designer who's one of the first people I see every morning. Things like that. Everything just took a lot more time and time is precious for everyone but especially within the film world. I think that's the sadness of it. We couldn't have every department on set at one time so we had to have tag team teams.
You had many roles in TV series and films over the years. Is there one role which stood out particularly and why is that?
Hmm, apart from playing London’s deadliest maniac I really loved playing Lizzie Siddal in Desperate Romantics. Just because I've loved reading about her. And she was a muse to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and at the time I was getting into art. They were almost like a boyband of their time and it was nice to understand that context. You know, they were very well renowned and the art was up in some of the most prolific galleries in London and she was the muse for all of them. So it was about understanding her and her plight and her addiction to laudanum. It’s a sad story because she lost her life to laudanum in the end. I just love the 1890s in London, and which is very similar to The Nevers.
“It's about understanding all the tricks of the trade that I have learned in drama school and I am working with different practitioners again to find truth.”
Has your acting evolved over the years?
Definitely, I think more so now with Maladie. I'm using tools from my books and what I learned from drama school. I have gone full circle and gone back to using that because it's just so technical. You know, everything from her voice to sustaining that energy level. It's about understanding all the tricks of the trade that I have learned in drama school and I am working with different practitioners again to find truth. I went back to Stanislavski and we read his works. And also Meisner was another practitioner I loved at drama school, but I gave up on that for a while. Maladie is very much that – she cannot be in the moment, ever. You don't know what she's going to do on a dime and I tried so many things just to make sure that I could inhabit her. And being able to switch her on and off – I think that's the key to Maladie.
For instance, this TV show that I did last week, it was just so free and easy. And it's probably the first time I've had that amount of fun on set. There were no rules. And as much as there aren't any rules with Maladie, there's so much prep that goes into her to be able to make it look easy and fun. So I approached my drama school teacher to work with me on Maladie and to practice her stages and I think that really worked.
“Her defining feature is insanity but at the same time, I don't actually think she's mad. I think the world around her made her mad.”
And I would definitely do that again, going forward. She is so thrilling to play. It's just a joy every day. My Mondays feel like it's Friday when I'm working on her. I've been curious as to why she feels the way she does about certain people within this whole big mad world. And she's just a blessing in many, many disguises. Her defining feature is insanity but at the same time, I don't actually think she's mad. I think the world around her made her mad.
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Do you have a dream role you’d love to play or a director you always wanted to work with?
Well, I would love to film on this island, if you can call it that, that I'm on right now. I'd love to do more on the west coast of Scotland for sure. Steven Soderbergh is someone I am dying to work with. Guillermo del Toro as well – I would love to work with him. And role wise, on stage, Lady Macbeth has always been on my list from an early age. I mean, it's really it's hard to kind of think of anything other than what I've been gifted in with Maladie – it just like nurtures me and destroys me at the same time.
You mentioned the stage, is theatre something you've always been doing over the years?
Yes, definitely. I haven't over the past three years or so. But I made that point every couple of years to get my head in there. Because it's rare that you get that amount of time to explore a character. It's always been the National Theatre of Scotland and they rehearse for six weeks prior to the show. I know some shows in London, they only rehearse for three weeks. I just know I couldn't do it. That was the gift of Maladie – we had time to work on her and I think it shows and that's been a blessing.
It was recently revealed that you are playing Anne Boleyn in ‘Spencer’. What can you tell us about your role?
Pablo Larraín, the director, saw my audition tape and so did the producers and then I got the role. We filmed in a few locations in Germany. Some really beautiful, old castles – I mean, it's pure opulence and it will look stunning. He is visually one of the most stunning directors I've ever worked with. Then we came back here and filmed in Norfolk.
Had you met Kristen Stewart before filming together?
No, I haven’t but she was a dream. She was so focused on set and she was lovely. I couldn't have asked for a better scene partner. She is great.
What are your plans for the remainder of 2021?
We've got the review of Episode 7 for The Nevers tomorrow. We're supposed to start filming on Monday but we got shut down due to COVID for a few days. We'll see what happens but I guess that's going to take us up until the end of October, November. The filming of it, yes. So there's not much else I can fit in.
You mentioned that you really like the west of Scotland. Is that somewhere you always feel drawn back to?
Yes, I really do. It's just more so for my headspace. I just have to nurture myself. It’s something I understand I have to do that now. And especially from where I finished with Maladie last year – I was kind of running on empty. I need to protect myself more and this this is just the place to do that. You just switch off and kind of catch up on life.
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FAST ROUND
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Adventurous, fun loving, wild.
Are you superstitious?
Yes, I am actually. The number 44 is my lucky number. When I see it, it always shows me that I'm in the right place.
A place you really want to visit.
South America would definitely be a place that I'd like to see.
Your perfect pet?
We used to have a little West Highland terrier called Doodle.
Dream car or motorcycle?
My dad got me a Citroën 2CV for my 30th birthday. But he still hasn't let me drive it. I think he actually gave me some money and kind of bought it back.
What’s your motto?
There’s a quote by D.H. Lawrence that I love. I got it on a piece of driftwood. “I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.”
In times on my own I just need to remind myself that I've got everything I need within myself. I'm loved and I've got the best friends and family in the world. I just need to get on with it.
Guilty pleasure?
Massages – I love good Thai massage
You never leave the house without___
Water.
Next hairstyle?
Possibly for Maladie in Episode 7. I was just speaking to the new director today about this. I wanted something a bit crazy with her again. So we will see!
Thank you very much for your time.
It was great to speak to you today!
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