So, you’ve worked with Harlan Coben, the
creator of Safe, before?
Yes, I worked with Harlan, Danny Brocklehurst
and Nicola Schindler before on The Five,
which is an incredible team and something
that really attracted me to the role. Getting the
part on Safe was a real pinch-myself moment
– I got a call from my agent saying that Harlan
had written something and he’d written a part
for me, could I come and do it? Of course I
jumped at the chance; it was such a huge
compliment and such a great reaction from
the team I’d worked with for a part that I’d put
everything I possibly could into. It was such
a boost of confidence – sometimes in this
industry it’s easy to think you should be more
like this, or more like that, but when this kind
of thing happens, it’s absolute affirmation that
you should stay on your own track; the best
advice I can give to anyone is to be true to
who they are and stick to what they think they
should be doing.
What do you do to relax outside of work?
When I’m on set, I travel with my dog, which
is a total comfort to me. I don’t know how
people do it when they don’t have family close
by or some kind of companion with them. It’s
quite tough when you’re filming in an
unfamiliar city, so for me, chilling out with
my miniature Dachshund, Mouse, and taking
him for a long walk at the end of a busy day
is the best thing.
Do you have any pre-audition rituals?
I like to completely learn the part inside out,
so I don’t have to worry about the lines as I’m
auditioning and I can just go with the part
naturally. To do that, I write the lines out – I
have about 15 notebooks in my flat that are
full of lines that I’ve previously learnt – I write
each scene out at least 10 times and I
genuinely feel that the part then goes through
my hand and into my body. It works for me!
My dad always used to say to me as a kid
that if I do my very best then that’s all I can
do because then if something doesn’t go
your way, it’s out of your hands. I like to make
sure that when I go into an audition I’m as
prepared as I possibly can be – not to the point
of being exhausted by it, but to the point of
becoming it and also being able to take
direction and advice.
What’s in the pipeline for you?
I’m waiting to see what happens. I’m really
excited about Safe coming out this month
because I think it’s such a great piece of work
and I truly feel I’ve done the best work of my
career in it. I’m being quite choosy about what
I want to do next – on the one hand I’d love
to do a play, and on the other I want to make
sure that when Safe does come out, I’m open
to everything that could possibly come my
way because of it.
Harlan Coben’s Safe launches on Netflix
this month.
HannahArterton
HannahArtertonOnline
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