Filed in BrainDead Interviews

Mary Reveals How Past Roles Have Prepared her for ‘BrainDead’

Mary recently did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and discussed how in her career, from battling aliens in 10 Cloverfield Lane and death in Final Destination 3, has prepared her for the craziness in her latest role on BrainDead. Be sure to read the full interview to read on how she hopes to do plays and having more Gareth/Laurel scenes on the show:

“I’ve done so much of all of the show’s genres — sci-fi, comedy, drama, and particularly horror — now that I know what that needs to feel like for the audience. It needs to feel real. If you’re not committed to it, what’s the point? The story’s so absurd that as an actor, you have to really believe it in order for the audience to care. I’ve done enough of it to know to not be scared to really believe it, play it straight, and go for it in that way.”

Mary also revealed how working on Cloverfield Lane helped her react to strange things with CGI and how all her past roles have helped her in preparing for BrainDead:

“I feel especially lucky because I’ve been able to play a lot of complex central protagonists — whether that means they’re strong in the sense that they’re physically capable or they’re falling apart, but they pick themselves back up and they figure out how to kind of move on,” Winstead says. “Laurel encompasses all of those things: She’s very real, she’s not perfect, she’s got a lot of flaws, and she’s kind of goofy at times. I love the fact that there’s a comedic sensibility, but at the same time, there’s this real kind of strong, dramatic, and sometimes even action-oriented side to her as well. I really get to run the gamut of things that I can do, and I never know what to expect. I’m really happy that I’ve found a role like this that could take me to places that I can’t even imagine yet.”

Additionally, Mary revealed she’d also like to branch out and do plays:

“I would love to continue to balance TV and film, but I do feel like television, on the whole, has more opportunity for really in-depth female leads and complex female leads. So that’s kind of what I’m drawn to and I’m very open to whatever medium that’s going to be in, whether it’s TV or film or theater, which hopefully next I will tackle one day. I think a play or musical would be really fun. I’m trying not to think too much about the medium and just think more about the characters and trying to just follow that.”
Winstead notes that she’s been surrounded by talented theater actors on both BrainDead and Mercy Street, which has her itching to get onstage. “I auditioned for one or two plays and a couple of them have gone pretty far down the process of almost happening,” she reveals. “Ideally, if it could be something like Aaron [Tveit] got to do in Les Mis, that’s the dream. I did audition for that and was obsessed, obsessed with the idea of doing that. [Singing] is just a skill I could have in my back pocket if anybody wants me to do a little song and dance. I can do it but it’s not at the forefront in my mind.”

 

Share