TO BE MARY SHELLEY: AN INTERVIEW

Alix Wilton Regan takes the reigns in playing the famous author Mary Shelley.

Who is Mary Shelley? It should be a given that she wrote the classic novel, Frankenstein. But what do we really know about the famous author other than being the partner of the author Percy Shelley?

Director Nora Unkel directs this intimate portrayal of Mary Shelley in Shudder’s A Nightmare Wakes. The film journeys through her most troublesome times as she conjures up the literary masterpiece Frankenstein. Her struggles with her relationships begin to take place as the characters including the monster begin to take a toll on her. Mary Shelley catches herself in her story with bloody dreamlike sequences. She then has trouble distinguishing her own reality while racing to make this story that would stand the test of time.

With her toxic love affair with Percy Shelley and the innermost struggles of being a female author in the early-1800s, Mary Shelley fought to defy the odds. Pain and grief took forth in her life rather than love and passion. To document this critical time as a basis in Frankenstein was a cry for help for herself and her sanity.

British Actress Alix Wilton Regan plays the role of author Mary Shelley in Shudder’s A Nightmare Wakes. With a racially diverse cast and a majority female production, the character of Mary Shelley is resurrected in a non-masculine tone and perspective. The actress who has experience in all forms of media embraces this opportunity to play a complex character.

To portray a character with so many emotions, darkness and pain is one thing. But to combine that with immeasurable ambition and hope is mind-blowing. It is like a tortuous descent where there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But what is that light? FERNTV spoke to Alix Wilton Regan about the film A Nightmare Wakes and what it is like to play Mary Shelley at her wit’s end.

The interview

FERNTV: Tell us what it was like in regards to the casting process for the film?

Alix: So for this one, it was pretty much just an audition/read on tape for the director and producers. The following was lots of back ‘n’ forth and pushing between them and my management team. Then an offer and a very loud scream of excitement from me as I got offered the job 

Going back in time

FERNTV:  What was your knowledge of Mary Shelley before doing this film and then what type of research did you do for the role?

Alix: I knew a little about her given she’s such an iconic British literary heroine. The book Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon which really threw me into her life and loves and artistry. I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it already. 

FERNTV: What was it like to do a period piece where people communicated differently than today?

Alix: I think that even though the mannerisms and ways of expressing yourself are indeed different. It’s still just a story about people in love, in pain, in life, living to the best of their abilities. The humanity of the characters is what matters, regardless of what time the story is set in. And, as an actor, you’re always just uncovering the truth of the characters at the moment, as they themselves are living it. 

FERNTV: Comment on the struggles of women during this period?

Alix: I mean… everything?! Women couldn’t vote, they didn’t legally own the children they gave birth to (the fathers did), they couldn’t own property, all their wealth passed to their husbands upon marriage, and – ah yes – a particularly dark one here – it was legal for husbands to rape their wives. All of the above are obscenely grotesque, I think we can all agree. Whilst we’ve made progress for women’s liberation and the advancement of equality between the sexes in the last 200 years. There’s still a lot of work to be done. For example, closing the gender pay gap and safeguarding women’s health care, in the way we do men’s. 

Working with a film crew of females

FERNTV: Comment on what it was like to work with costume designer Jennifer Stroud and wear the dresses they did during this period?

Alix: She’s a wonderful artist – and a lot of the costumes were vintage so they had this really authentic, living-in, pre-loving feel to them which I hugely appreciated working with. The Shelley’s were really quite poor at the time that this is set, so it was important that nothing was too fancy. 

FERNTV: What was it like to work with director Nora Unkel and what has she has taught you?

Alix: I love her I love her I love her. She’s open, honest, fiercely intelligent, talented, collaborative (which takes courage) and I can’t wait to work with her again. 

FERNTV: What was the biggest challenge in doing this film?

Alix: There were dark moments to enact, sure, but honestly, it wasn’t a challenge, I loved it all. 

FERNTV: You have been on the red carpet at Cannes. What are your thoughts on what this pandemic has done to the film festivals such as Cannes?

Alix: I truly can’t wait till we can all meet again, in person, in public, and celebrate our cinematic successes. For now though, I just want everyone to stay safe, sane, and healthy… but I look forward to when artistic life can resume in full, too.

www.alixwiltonregan.com