Horror has long been driven by the performances of brilliant women and the love of passionate female fans. The raw emotional connection and often uncomfortable vulnerability is something that has always drawn Elizabeth Moss to unconventional and uncompromising roles. When IGN sat down with the Handmaid’s Tale star and a small group of journalists on the set of The Invisible Man last year, the actress opened up about what draws her to these kinds of characters.
“I can only speak for myself but I do, I think, benefit from being able to exercise emotions when I’m working and to have an outlet and to have a place to put things and to explore things through acting. I think that it probably helps me to not explore things in real life, but it is something that I think has been helpful for me. But I don’t know if I’m one of those people that’s like, ‘Oh, I learned something from this, you know, it’s changed me as a person.'”
Moss’ candor about her process was refreshing, as the actress shared how what appealed to her about The Invisible Man wasn’t just her interest in genre filmmaking and horror but also her desire to challenge herself and find a space where she can push her boundaries as an actor.
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“That, to me, is the most interesting thing as an actor. As a person, I love the genre and just enjoy doing that kind of thing. But as an actor trying to challenge myself constantly, it’s getting harder. So I have to find new things that I haven’t done. And this was so extreme, in terms of her descent, and I was very intrigued by the idea of somebody who 100% believes in something that is absolutely impossible and everyone thinks that she’s crazy.”
It’s that exploration that is already making The Invisible Man stand apart a month before release. In Whannell’s reimagining, the titular character isn’t a hero or even an anti-hero. He’s a true villain, a self-made tech billionaire who, from what we can gather, will utilize his money, resources, and tech to torment his abused ex-partner after apparently killing himself. This timely topic was another reason that Moss was excited to take on the unconventional horror project.
“I just think that the concept of gaslighting and the concept of toxic relationships, I just think that’s really interesting. And there was just this descent into madness that has been done so well by certain actresses, I’ve always admired it, and it’s not easy to do. So for me, it was definitely something it was going to be challenging. And then getting here, it was so much harder than I thought it was going to be. To be scared all the time is hard. It’s actually hard.”
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From speaking to Moss it’s clear that she drew from her recent work on The Handmaid’s Tale as well as the current conversation around sexual harassment and the Me Too movement, both of which opened up the doors to have deeper conversations around often hard to talk about topics.
“I mean, for me, obviously, I’ve explored a lot in my recent work, abuse and sexual assault and relationships. I think that’s obviously something that’s very present in our consciousness right now. There’s a heightened awareness of things, thank God. So how can it not be important to have a look at something that nobody wants to look at? How can it not be important to put something on the table, whatever it is, whether it is a woman who’s in an abusive relationship, or whatever it is that we’re exploring? That’s what’s kind of cool about what we get to do is we get to actually shed light on something that is hard to talk about.”
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Whilst we were on set, we saw Moss shooting a moment that would end up in the much talked about trailer. As she sits in an empty room, she insists that someone–possibly her ex–is actually sitting on the chair in front of her. It was a powerful piece of performance that showcased how minimal the production was when it came to what was important: actors getting to be raw and emotional whilst much of supernatural and science is left to the imagination. The cast and crew were understandably tight-lipped about the plot but Moss did tease the originality of her role.
“I can tell you where she is at the beginning but not at the end, unfortunately, because that wouldn’t be very fun. But I will say that I have found that we have found an unusual way for her to have a journey through this. It’s not expected and I don’t think it’s something that you’re going to be like, ‘Oh, right. Right, of course.’ I do think we found a cool new way to do it.”
The Invisible Man hits screens on February 28th in the US and UK and on February 27th in Australia.
Source: IGN.com The Invisible Man Star Elizabeth Moss On Why She's Drawn to Horror