Well, we see your character just really dive into this paranoia really. That’s such an evocative journey, I think, to try to convey. I’d love to know where you sourced inspiration to really prepare for this kind of decline into chaos.
Well, I mean, listen, for every part you do research, and there’d be people that I would kind of ask questions of. And try and understand how physically things like that would manifest, because fundamentally a lot of the communication with the audience, the thing they’re going to be able to reach, is the physicality of the character. I didn’t have a lot of time. I literally had about three weeks. Therefore, a lot of it came down to once you kind of had those touch points. When I was there, a lot of it, you go back to the script, obviously. Russell was great. Eric is not Russell, and Russell is not Eric, but I think in the writing of the story — I know Russell’s mentioned this, so I don’t think he’d mind me mentioning it — I think there’s certain things that he might have put in there, that perhaps resonated with him on some level or he could reference. That was a very important thing to get right.
But also, if I’m really honest, the real thing that got me was trying to put my body through as much as I could, what I felt Eric’s body would be going through. I had moved myself to a hotel that was miles away from the crew, and it was only me staying there –
Wow.
– on the island. Tried to live that isolation as much as I could to see how that would affect you. I’m very social normally, so obviously that’s going to have an impact. And then nature, if I’m honest. I tried to just immerse myself in the power of nature on this island. Actually, if you are someone trying to find your identity, if you feel like you’ve lost yourself, which Eric certainly does. Actually, if you try and find your reflection in nature, there’s something, nature is the most wonderfully uplifting thing, but it can also be quite oppressive.
Absolutely.
That isolation, the power of being in nature as well, really informed the rhythm of Eric, I think.
Nicki
