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Elaine Cassidy (Part 2) Go back to Part 1 of this long interview
"Oh, that was cool, working with him again. We had a laugh. This time I learned from him, not how to act but how to avoid acting because he told me how you can get out of scenes by just saying, ‘My character wouldn’t have done this.’ Oh, that sounds pretty bad! We had a blast. I learned how to play kaluki, which is card game. We were in New Zealand for two months and we were the only two that didn’t have anyone come over and visit us so we were a little bit homesick by the end, him more than me because he’s got a family." On Lost World, how did you cope with the dinosaurs? Were you acting with stuff that wasn’t there? "Yes, we were doing blue screen and we were acting with the end of a pole with a flag at the end. Actually, the first day that I had to act with dinosaurs, the props guy very kindly made a little pretend mask of a dinosaur and put it on top of the pole. Which was more comical than anything! But it was fine. I didn't find it hard at all because when you’re acting, half the time when you’re doing a scene - it depends on the camera angle - sometimes the other actor can’t be there so they’d have to actually be the camera. So you look at a point on the camera and you pretend it’s them and you do the scene, but you’ve done the master shot so you know how they’re reacting to you and stuff. You can play off that. So sometimes you’re acting to a little mark on the camera, so it doesn’t make much difference if you’re acting to a bit of tape on a pole. You just have to think, ‘Right, there’s a dinosaur there. How would I react? I’d be pretty scared if I thought it was going to eat me." Your character’s not in the book, is she? "No, she’s not in the book. I was told actually there’s a black and white film which I still haven't seen. I’ve been trying to get my hands on it to watch it. She was introduced then. So I went to read the book, because it’s brilliant when you’re doing a project based on a book and it reads pretty similar to it because you can read that and it’s just like a bible. It gives you so much information. Even stupid things; like when I was in Felicia’s Journey I was highlighting things like what she cooked for breakfast. I know it sounds really finicky but it all really helps because you can make a little lining inside you: this is what her daily routine would be like. It builds up her character in your head, and her lifestyle and it all comes together then. I was reading The Lost World thinking, ‘She’s going to come in any minute. She’s going to come in any minute.’ Like she was going to come in halfway through. I kept waiting and waiting and she never came into the story. It was before I’d actually met the director. I’m still glad I read it anyway."
"Oh no, because she’s lived in the jungle all her life. So she’s not a wuss. She’s been shooting since the minute she could hold a gun. She’s not a girly-girl at all. In a way, she wants to be a girly-girl because she sees magazines from England and she sees all the dresses and stuff. Peter Falk plays a friend of her parents, who both died, and he’s a reverend. So she’s just been brought up in the ways of the tribe, but when all these explorers come over she tries to be as sophisticated as she can, like she thinks a lady would behave in her world. So she’s a bit of a tomboy. I get to hold a gun but I never get to fire it. It was still fun though." Did you have to do any stunts? "I did two, I think. I remember I had to walk across a 30-foot rope. I was standing on one rope and I was holding onto the other. It was a bit of an anticlimax, honestly. When I arrived I was e-mailing my friends: ‘I have to do my own stunts. Some of the others have to get stunt doubles but they’ve no stunt double for me.’ Then I went to do it and I was like, ‘Um...’ I was harnessed so I knew that if I fell nothing was going to happen, so there was no fear factor in it. So I had to make myself be scared. It was a bit of a let-down, I wanted to get my hands dirty; maybe next time." Do you still work in an office between acting roles? "I haven’t actually done that in a year. I did last summer, I did it for a month. Because The Others kept getting put back, so that’s why I was able to do it. So I worked for a month as a receptionist. Yes, I’m going to do a bit of temping, because otherwise you’d just go mad."
"I suppose by the end of it, they normally find out, but I don’t say it. At least one person in the office will know because I have to be able to get days off for auditions and stuff like that. So I can give them a reason. But I wouldn’t go in and go, ‘Hi, my name’s Elaine and I do this.’ If they ask, I’ll worm my way around not telling them, but if I have to tell, I will. Because it just sounds bizarre to say that I’m an actress. It just seems a bit surreal. It doesn’t feel like that’s my occupation. It’s strange but it’s fun." What’s the Irish film industry like to work in at the moment? "At the moment it’s really good. Three or four or even five years ago, it was really slow because the government raised the taxes or something. I can’t exactly remember, but there was no incentive to film in Ireland. But now it’s changed and there’s so many productions going on. Which is brilliant for crew, because they’re actually having to bring people in to work because there's not enough. So it’s good at the moment. It’s really buzzing." Do you think something like Disco Pigs could have got made without government subsidy? "I don't know about that. Because with Disco Pigs it was just that the right people read it and fell in love with it. When they were first trying to get the finance, when Kirsten was going over to get that, half the people were going, ‘But I don’t get it. What? I just don’t get it.’ Then other people completely got it. So that one, I don’t know. It’s completely strange. Thank God the right people got in touch with us. It was completely handled the right way. It’s not a commercial film, which is what makes me like it even more. The story is a bit more interesting that way. With most commercial films you know what’s going to happen at the end by the time the opening credits have finished. Though there are exceptions."
"Well, all the work this summer has gone. It’s been cast while I was in New Zealand, so I wasn't really up for any of that because I was working. So I’m trying to get some work for autumn. There is work that I could get but it’s just not very good. I’ve come this far, working with such amazing people, that I’m not going to settle for any less. Hopefully I’ll be able to work with people who still want me. I don’t know. There’s a few projects; the first three scripts that I read when I came back from New Zealand, I really liked two of them. And that’s really, really strange. That’s never happened to me. Normally it’s one or two a year that you really like, and this is two out of three in one week. So I’ll just have to wait and see what happens." Are you looking at trying to work in Hollywood eventually? "Well, I’ll basically do anything if it interests me. If it’s got a good script and a good director, you really can’t go wrong then. That’s what I want to do. I want to work with amazing people and learn from them, because I’m still completely learning. Also, another thing I want to do is workshops. I did a three-week workshop when I met Alejandro and I’d forgotten about that. I was thinking about it the other day, saying that I’d love to explore other areas. And even if I never use those skills, I have them just in case. It can’t do any harm. So at the moment I’m looking for a place with my sister, so that’s taking up my time, but when I get that sorted I’m going to check up websites and find out what workshops are going on. If they’re in New York, Paris, or any going on in Ireland, I’ll just go and do those. But as regards to America, yes if it’s good I’ll go to the Moon. I don't care where it is. But I can’t sell out. Sometimes it’s very flattering when you’re offered something and you just know it’s not for me. You have to say no.” Go back to Part 1 of this long interview where Alex Chandon discusses The Others and Felicia's Journey. | ||
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I understand you’ve been working with Bob Hoskins again on 
Does your character have any action or is she there to just scream and run away?
Do you tell the people you work with that you’re also an actress?
What are you working on now?