In the psychological thrillerLavender, a woman named Jane (Abbie Cornish) suffers severe memory loss after a traumatic car accident, and strange clues quickly start appearing amongst some photographs she’s taken that suggest she may be responsible for the deaths of family members she never knew she had. As she struggles to recover lost memories, she also begins to wonder whether she’d be better off never learning the truth.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, actress Abbie Cornish talked about whyLavenderappealed to her, never having done a thriller before, what a surprisingly fun time she had during the shoot, trying to freak herself out during the shoot by watching ghost movies and scary movies, and the great experience she had working with the kids. She also talked about what attracted her to theJack RyanTV series for Amazon, what she enjoys about her character, and whyJohn Krasinskiis the perfect actor to play the character that’s become famous through the series of books and movies that have come before.
Collider: How didLavendercome your way?
ABBIE CORNISH: (Director/Co-Writer) Ed [Gass-Donnelly] sent me the script forLavender, and I’d never done a scary movie before. I’ve never done a thriller, or a psychological horror thriller, or a ghost movie before, so for me, it was like going into a whole new territory. I’d seen Ed’s work before, and I thought his work was interesting and different. I thought he had a grasp on that kind of tension, and a way of telling a story that is supernatural, but in a way that is realistic. It was just a really interesting character, and I wondered what it would be like to be scared out of my brain for three months because I had never done that before.
Is this one of those scripts where you were able to get the tone and the vibe from reading the script, or did you need to talk to the director to understand exactly what he was going for?
CORNISH: I think the script told a story of the fact that this could be a movie that was very ominous and that it would create tension. It’s not an action movie. It’s a thriller. That was in the script. And then, when I spoke to Ed, he described it by saying that she was haunted by these guys in something of a parallel universe, where they’re real, but they’re not real. For me, that was really, really interesting. It’s so different from that genre.
Was this also a script where, while you were reading it, you kept trying to guess where it would go next, or have you read enough scripts that you can see where things are going more than the average audience can?
CORNISH: I feel like I knew what was going to happen, at certain points, but I was reading it from the point of view of the character, which is different from how other people would experience it.
There are other actors who come in and out of scenes with you and that you interact with, but so much of the emotion and intensity of this film relies entirely on you. How challenging was this shoot for you, and what were the biggest challenges?
CORNISH: I was surprised because I felt like the shoot was much easier than what I had expected. Part of me thought that I was going to film at night and be scared and not want to turn the lights off. I thought I would be haunted by this film, but it was the exact opposite. It was such an easy shoot. We had so much fun. Justin [Long] is hilarious. He’d come on set, and he was so much fun to have on set. The kids were so beautiful, so full of life and so amazing. The shoot was really, really easy. Ed is such a great director because he knows what he wants to do and he knows how to achieve it, and he’s got a really good crew, and he’s really funny. He’s a humorous guy. I was like, “I’m doing a really scary movie and I’m meant to be totally freaked out, but I’m going home happy and relaxed.” It was really weird. I tried to freak myself out by watching ghost movies and scary movies.
With the kids around on set, you’d want to keep them distracted from all of the darkness, anyway.
CORNISH: I was surprised by the kids. We’d come on set and part of me would think, “Oh, gosh, this subject matter is so dark and twisted, and they’re so young. I wonder how much they’re thinking about this and how they feel about this.” We had a child psychologist on set, 24/7, but we didn’t really need it. The kids were totally fine. That made it more fun, too.
In going through an experience like this, where so much of the film depends on you and how you’re conveying everything, did you feel a great sense of satisfaction when you got to the end of the shoot, or are you your own worst critic, when it comes to your performance?
CORNISH: I think I felt really good about it. The footage was great, and I watched a lot of what we shot. I knew we had a nice film, and I knew that it was different and that there was integrity to it. I loved our D.P., Brendan Steacy. So, I felt really good about it.
What was it about the Jack Ryan TV show that appealed to you and made you want to sign on for what could be a few seasons?
CORNISH: For me, what appealed to me about Jack Ryan is the fact that it’s a franchise and it’s been around forever. There are so many people who have read the books and seen the movies. And I love John Krasinski and the team behind it, including Paramount, Platinum Dunes and Amazon. I think Amazon are doing some really, really interesting television. They’ve gotMozart in the Jungle, and then they’ve got this new show coming out, calledI Love Dick, that’s really experimental and artistic. It just feel like Amazon is doing really interesting things. For them to have this blockbuster series that’s very mainstream and commercial, and to have Paramount and Platinum Dunes behind it, and all of these amazing people, I just thought it could be really fun. And Dr. Cathy Mueller is an interesting character. She’s smart and intelligent. My research on infectious diseases has been so fulfilling. There’s just so much information and it’s so nerdy. I love that! It’s so much fun. For me, it was just a no-brainer.
What do you think makes John Krasinski the actor who’s best suited to play the character, at this point in his life?
CORNISH: I think he’s an all-American guy. He’s tall, he’s handsome, he’s athletic, he’s capable, he’s intelligent, he’s funny and he’s charming. I think he’s got everything the character needs to be taken from the CIA, all the way to the President of the United States of America, which I don’t think will happen in the series, but that happened in the books. That’s after 10 or 20 years of life, so we would never get that far in the series, but John has the potential for all of that. He can fall in love, be clumsy, make mistakes and save the world. He’s very endearing and all-American.
When it comes to your own TV viewing habits, are you a binge-watcher, or do you prefer to savor episodes?
CORNISH: I’m more of a binge-watcher, I would say. I didn’t really grow up with television. I grew up on a farm in the country in Australia, so television was not my go-to. My go-to is a good book, or just being in nature. Television is something that I knew very little about, but when I do watch it, I love it. I watched Season 3 ofMozart in the Jungle, back to back, in two days. That’s such an incredible show, and it was so much fun. So, I don’t really watch TV that often, but when I do, I’m a binge-watcher.
Lavenderis in theaters and on VOD on March 3rd.
