ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Woman of the Hour stars Nicolette Robinson, Autumn Best, and Kathryn Gallagher about Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut. The trio discussed working with Daniel Zovatto, the responsibility of playing real-life figures, and more. Based on a true story, it is now streaming on Netflix.
“The stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actress in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a yearslong murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Nicolette, I thought Laura’s storyline was just so heartbreaking because it really shows that a major aspect of why these murders are so prevalent was that women weren’t being taken seriously with their accusations and just how the culture was then. How was it portraying that within the film? Because it really struck a chord.
Nicolette Robinson: Oh, thank you. Yeah, it was intense. It’s hard to separate yourself from something like that because I think each of us have experienced much smaller versions, hopefully, but you just care so deeply about these characters and what’s gonna happen to them. I definitely had to have some balance while shooting this film because most of the time I’m either in a desperate need to get something done or also grieving and just trying to represent all these people that have had these experiences as best as I possibly could. So I just took that very seriously.
Autumn, you’re playing such a heroic character that’s based on a real-life figure. Was there a gravitas around your role? Just knowing that this situation really happened and she really did just survive, barely through circumstance. It is just such a crazy situation.
Autumn Best: In doing research about her, I learned a lot about what happened after the case. She left the country, and she really did not wanna participate in a lot of the legal proceedings that happened after. So I tried really hard to make sure that I wasn’t overstepping. That I was respecting her boundaries and her need for safety and privacy. I just ended up doing a lot of my research on the similarities that I had with the character on the page and pulling from my own life experiences.
I did feel a lot of responsibility, especially playing someone that young, to make sure that I was protecting myself emotionally and protecting the people who are gonna watch it and making sure that everything that we were doing the best that we could to remove [and] be one step away from what actually happened in real life, if that makes sense.
Kathryn, there’s a really violent scene that you filmed for Woman of the Hour. How’s it working with Daniel? Because he can just flip a switch with his intensity.
Kathryn Gallagher: He’s a brilliant actor. Moreover, he’s a really good guy and he created a really, really safe environment on set. I think especially when you’re doing something that is scary, you’re acting, and you know you’re at work, and to a certain extent, it’s make-believe, but getting thrown down to the ground, there’s an animal instinct that kicks in. Knowing that Danny [would stop] immediately the moment Anna would call cut.
Actually, both of them would run over and be like, “How are you doing? Did that feel good?” He is really a dream of a scene partner. He’s so present, and he really cares so much more about our comfort and our safety than getting the shot or staying method or whatnot. He was a dream scene partner, and we laughed a lot when we could, and we were in it when we had to.
Thanks to Woman of the Hour stars Nicolette Robinson, Autumn Best, and Kathryn Gallagher for taking the time to speak about the Netflix movie.