One of the stars of the new Edgar Wright psychological horror film, ‘Last Night In Soho’, Thomasin McKenzie, who stars opposite Anya Taylor-Joy, has spoken about the lessons she learned on set about acting.
While talking to Collider about her role in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’, 21-year-old Thomasin said she felt it necessary to distinguish herself from the character she plays in Wright’s new film.
“I think a big thing is to be able to separate yourself from your character. I wouldn’t say I’m a method actress because I think that can be quite dangerous personally, at least for me,” she said.
She explained that she felt she needed to make a distinction between herself and the character she was portraying, particularly when tackling the dark subject matter of the film.
“So I think that is it, just to be able to return to myself at the end of the day and to spend time with family and friends and to do things that I enjoy, and not to feel as if I always need to be in that character’s headspace.”
Thomasin’s character in ‘Last Night in Soho’ finds herself caught up in the dark side of 1960s London and she felt that she should be suffering in the same manner as her character – but soon realised that the approach to performing didn’t suit her.
The actor, who has also starred in M Night Shyalaman’s ‘Old’, Taika Waititi’s ‘Jojo Rabbit’, and Debra Granik’s ‘Leave No Trace’, said that while filming ‘Last Night In Soho’, she thought that to give a good performance, she ought to be suffering as much as her character, Ellie, but quickly found that was not true.
“I do a better job when I’m actually happy because then I’m not constantly second-guessing myself and I’m able to be proud of myself. I’m able to be proud of my work. So that’s really important as well, just to take care of yourself,” Thomasin said.
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