"After their successful Canadian Premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, we were able to sit down with the Canadian Born directors the Soska Sisters, aka the Twisted Twins, to discuss their latest offering, the dark and twisted American Mary."Jen and I had the opportunity to talk to the Examiner's Kirk Haviland about AMERICAN MARY, body modification, Katharine Isabelle, and Betty Boop.
"Katharine Isabelle is breathtaking in this film, a stellar performance, was she always your first choice? And how was she as a collaborator on set?
S: The character was written for Katie. We have been big fans of her work for years, but hadn't seen her in roles that reflected the caliber of actress that she is. By the time we sent the script to her and she was coming to meet us for the first time, I loved Mary so much, I was terrified that we wouldn't mesh or that she wouldn't live up to my exceedingly high expectations of her.
She actually surpassed my expectations. Katie is just brilliant. She gave everything to the role, she had a definitive idea of Mary and wasn't afraid to take strong choices with her. I loved collaborating with her - I tell her she looks most stunning when she is crying and covered in blood, yet somehow she and I remain very close friends.
J: We rarely write a character for a particular actor. We usually prefer to write a character and then compile a list of possible actors who could fit that role. Katie was the exception. We knew we wanted her from the beginning. She has this immense depth to her and she can pull off so much with such subtlety that so few actors can. She's brilliant and she is such a professional to work with. You write a character that you love and of course your ultimate hope is that you find an actor that can not only bring that character to life, but bring even more to the character than you expected. Katie was very into Mary and she really thoughtfully developed and brought her to life that truly exceeded our already sky high expectations.
Sometimes a really talented actor will hit the Canadian glass ceiling and people don't realize how truly amazing they are. It can be like if you're not in LA, you don't exist. Katie is just phenomenal and I think this role beautifully displays her maturity, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and charisma."
READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE!!
-Sylv