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Your new movie Twisted
- in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us about your
character in it?
Vibeke
Muasya’s dark psychological thriller explores the twisted ways trauma
can affect us. It’s an uncomfortable story of an emotionally damaged
mother, and the lengths she’ll go to, to protect her maturing daughter
from the bad world out there, no matter the cost.
What did you draw upon to bring your
character to life, and how much Karen Leigh Sharp can we actually find in
Silvia? As
a mother of two daughters and like Silvia, we will do whatever it takes to
keep our daughters safe from situations we believe to be dangerous. But in
order for me to dive into the darkest parts of Silvia, I needed her
backstory, so I drew on my own mother who grew up in an orphanage and was
sexually abused at a very young age. I was able to harness my mother’s
vacant eyes and her lack of living in reality. Sadly, my own mother
resented being a mom. Unlike Silvia and Karen, who love their daughters
more than anything in the world, unfortunately, Silvia’s love turned to
paranoid psychosis, while Karen’s relationships are built in truth and
reality. How did you get involved with the project in the
first place, and what drew you to it? Vibeke
did a national search on a casting site. I had just finished doing a play
in my small town of Nevada City, California and almost didn’t submit a
self-tape, but Vibeke’s character, Silvia, intrigued me, so I got my
best reader, Heidi, we went to work, and I got a call back. After 3 or 4
more submissions (to show my range), we had a video conference, met in
person, and I was cast. This is a role most actresses would kill for.
Hahahaha!!!! To what extent
could you identify with Twisted's
brand of thriller?
As
a moviegoer I have always been drawn to the psychological thriller genre
as well as non-American filmmakers whose style feels honest versus a
predictable formula. I like a story that begs the question: What happened
to these messed up people? As an actor, it’s always the juicy
emotionally distraught characters that
hook me, like Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the
Lambs. Silvia has a very
complicated backstory and I needed to protect her in order for anyone to
keep watching the film. There is a sadness to her. Yes, she does bad
things, but only because she believes she is protecting Hannah. What can you tell us about
Twisted's
director Vibeke Muasya, and what was your collaboration like? Vibeke
is an actor’s director. Twisted
is character-driven, and Vibeke
understands the process of art beyond craft. She has worked with A list
actors and knows how to layer her story from the characters' perspective.
She and I collaborated beautifully, and she kept adding to the script as I
kept asking WHY does Silvia have this behavior? Vibeke insists that her
actors stay subtly honest, that less is more, and to stop nodding my head.
I trusted everything about her very cool Scandi-style direction. She is
also a wonderfully smart and creative woman to work with. Do
talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! This
indie was an ultra-low budget, so we all had multiple jobs. Some of the
actors were script supervisors, PAs, or first AD. Val Camp our DP worked
his magic: setting lights, camera and gripped with his very small crew of
3 and his first AC. I secured most of the locations and co-produced. One
of the locations (Hannah and Silvia’s house) was also lodging for 10
cast and crew for twenty-one days, so we’d be cleaning breakfast dishes
while set dressing for the later morning kitchen shot. The bathtub and
other scenes were shot at my house (a different location), so my husband
left for the coast for five days with our dog, Juan. Twisted
was made out
of pure love and determination with the support of so many people from the
small mountain town where I live. Vibeke is a force of nature, our Danish Pied Piper who we faithfully followed anywhere. I call
Twisted “Our Little Indie That Could…” and it has. We’ve received
worldwide sales and distribution with Hewes Pictures and Alarm
Pictures,
we’re currently gathering nominations and have won at film festivals in
Sweden, France, Canada and the US for Best Thriller, Best Horror, Best
Director and Best Actress. We are currently streaming on Amazon Prime,
Vudu, Direct TV and Dish TV.
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Any
future projects you'd like to share?
I
have a potential role in a short film with some cool San Franciscan
filmmakers once they have financing. In the meantime, I’d love for Twisted
to open a door or two for me, with some cool indie filmmaker who
offers me my next interesting and challenging role.
From what I've
read, you got into acting at a very early age - so do talk about your very
early acting experiences for a bit! My
stage debut was at the age of 6 in the role of an emotionally unstable
queen, where I accidentally became hooked on the acting drug while
blurting out my bottle-up emotions of sadness, anger and humor while
recklessly injecting my uncontrollable laughter onto a live audience. It
was truly the moment my soul was set free and acting became my #1 passion. So far you've mainly
performed on stage - so what can you tell us about your career in theatre
for, and your education on the subject?
I
was always cast in the school plays, went to college and got a degree in
Theatre at California State University Fullerton. Moved to Hollywood after
that and started building my regional theatre credits in leading roles
like Blanche Dubois in Streetcar, Meg in Crimes of the Heart, Rosie in
Dancing at Lughnasa
(to
name a few). One of my favorite comedy roles was the wicked stepsister, in
Rodger and Hammerstein’s, Cinderella. But I credit 3 years of focused
training in the late ‘80s to my mentor Darryl Hickman, who taught the
Stanislavsky System. In a nutshell—get out of your head, and into your
soul.
What made you
try your hands on acting in films eventually, and how does it compare to
acting on stage?
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Both
film and stage offer wonderfully different and challenging techniques yet
hold the same objective: to create a truthful and interesting character.
Stage gives you the freedom to develop a larger-than-life character
through the physicality, crisp timing while discovering idiosyncratic
characteristics in typically a 5-6 week rehearsal process 5 days a week
through closing night with the cast and director. Live audiences pump the
life into the performances, it’s like
an umbilical cord of pure electricity between me, my fellow actors and the
audience. While film is so natural, so private, so personal. You work
alone at home making clear choices that you trust will create authentic
moments. You must be fully present with very little rehearsal time. Which
keeps it fresh and honest as you invite the camera and your scene partner
into your soul. It’s the eyes and subtle facial nuances that keep it
real. The moment I push or overact, I’m dead, I’m a liar, I’m
acting, not being.
What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Twisted? Right
out of college I got cast in a teaser as the lead in The Vampire Hunter,
but unfortunately it never got final funding, and BTW this was
shot on 35mm film, a few years
before Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then The Dolly (a play I won best actress for in Sacramento, California about child molestation)
was filmed for educational purposes. After raising my children and
teaching in the schools, I did a few short films with the intention of
getting a lead role in a feature film… fast forward to Twisted. How
would you describe yourself as an actress, and some of your techniques to
bring your characters to life?
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One
of my biggest takeaways from Darryl Hickman was: “You do not become the
character— the character becomes you. You, Karen, are the vessel, the
life force where the art lives, therefore you invite this character into
your soul that can expose your pain, sorrow, joy, anger.” The night we
shot Silvia’s soaking wet scene suggesting she had just crawled out of
the river after her husband’s drowning accident was shot two weeks
after losing my dad in a Covid ridden hospital where the lobby had been
converted into a make-shift row of beds. It looked like a hospital war
zone. I was given an hour to say goodbye and my dad was left to die,
scared and very alone. My raw grief was so accessible for Silvia. Actresses (and indeed
actors) who inspire you? My
favorite female actresses: Betty Davis, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Cate
Blanchett, Olivia Coleman and Saoirse Ronan. My favorite men: Sir Anthony
Hopkins, Daniel Day-Lewis and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Your favourite movies? Jane
Campion’s The Piano and John Crowley’s Brooklyn. Both films in my
opinion are visual masterpieces with impeccable tempo that intertwine
color, style, editing, writing, lighting, sound and ensemble acting—brilliantly. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I
usually just turn them off if I don’t like them, therefore, forgettable
;)
Your website,
social media, whatever else?
www.karenleighsharp.com
@karenleighsharp
imdb.me/karenleighsharp.com
#loveresister
Thanks
for the interview!
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