Interview with “Force of Nature: The Dry 2” Actors, Lucy Ansell, Sisi Stringer and Robin McLeavy

Full transcript of Interview with “Force of Nature: The Dry 2” Actors, Lucy Ansell, Sisi Stringer and Robin McLeavy.

0:04KT: Lucy Ansell, Sisi Stringer, Robin McLeavy. Thank you so much. And welcome to the For Your Reference podcast. I am so excited. In every sense of the word, all of you embody Force of Nature. and I'm so glad to talk about the film with you all today.

0:21KT: I think the best way to get started is this is an existing sort of IP.

0:26KT: The Dry was very successful, in Australia as well. And it's also based on a book. Was there any sort of expectation of it needs to be done this way? Like Eric Bana's in this, Deborra-lee Furness is in this. How was it embodying the roles that you had?

0:41Lucy: I think in terms of expectation, the, The Dry, what it did so brilliantly was present the detective genre in an Australian landscape in a really sophisticated way.

0:55Lucy: And watching that film, the, the tension is so incredible and it just keeps mounting. And I think that's probably the only, the only thing that we probably felt. obligated to replicate. Other than that, it's a totally different film. you know, locations wise, it's completely wet. We were saturated the whole time.

1:15Lucy: And in terms of embodying our characters, we were really. Keyed into this idea of having your identity kind of smothered by corporate hierarchy and how just yeah Right and how destructive that is to the soul and then you see this group of women functioning in these really abnormal ways and then they get thrust into nature and everything collapses So it was, it was real joy to be able to explore those themes out in the middle of nature.

1:48Lucy: Absolutely.

1:49KT: I don't know if it's a spoiler, but you two play sisters.

1:52Sisi: I don't think that's a spoiler.

1:54KT: You never know. Um, how was it being able to, cause you really do, I have a sister and we very much tough love on each other and tell each other what we need to tell each other. And both of you did that so well.

2:10KT: How was it being able to do that as performers and be like, Hey, step off, step off, sis.

2:17Sisi: well, I mean. We, we clicked like instantly. We are, we come from a similar place culturally, you know, the people we surround ourselves with, the things we value, community, you know, being black in Australia, being a woman, being queer or whatever it is.

2:33Sisi: so it only really took us meeting and Seeing each other. Yeah. And then it was like, we, we, yeah, we good. We on. Okay. Okay. And then we were besties. Yeah. so it was really easy to build trust because it was kind of, because we've come from the same place. It was quite, it was like right there. It was, it was really easy.

2:52Sisi: and so then playing sisters off of that,

2:54KT: if you know, you know, if you know, you know,

2:56Sisi: it felt really natural. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, I don't think I had to dig all that deep because I've got an older brother, which I know it's a different kind of dynamic. But I feel like it's like that thing when you come back home around Christmas and you go back into that family dynamic.

3:11Sisi: I think for me, it's like that weird thing where you're like, we are stuck together. I love you and I've got you, but sometimes you annoy me. And so I feel like we just sort of had to sort of, yeah, we didn't even have to really play that. We could just, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. But it was, it was funny.

3:29Sisi: It's so easy when you get along with the person so well, you can sort of riff off each other. Oh, totally. Totally. And you know, like we're the same age, we speak the same language. Communicating was really easy too which made rehearsing our scenes and doing everything easier.

3:44KT: Yeah, and in regards to the ensemble We have some staunch women, some forces of nature And even though we were in the wilderness You know, even in corporate spaces, it can feel very wilderness-y.

3:58KT: Oh my god. It's a jungle out there! As well. So, it was so interesting seeing the interplay and the dynamics between all of the characters.

4:06KT: I guess, from a like, audience point of view, did you have the whole script? Because we do have some rollercoasters. Or did you try and stay in the moment of where your character was at that time?

4:19Sisi: I think both. I think, I think you can definitely do both. Mm-hmm. You know what? I wanna, I wanna hear what you have to say actually.

4:25Lucy: Yeah. Uh, you mean in terms of having the whole script available throughout the shoot or, yeah.

4:29KT: Because where you were is not where you ended up at the end of the film for a lot of the characters.

4:35KT: Yeah.

4:35Lucy: Yeah. I think, we were talking about this a little before that. It was interesting to play the tension of the shame, the personal shame that ended up coming out for each of the characters and how kind of sideways that took each of us. I think that was the interesting part that I wasn't personally expecting.

5:00Lucy: and because it is that, you know, whodunit, you, you want to, you just want to play. Whodunit, who's gonna get it? Yeah, exactly. And everyone kind of, you know, fucks up a bit at some point and, and tries to cover their tracks or has, you know, for me personally, I'm just. My character is so repressed and, is sitting on so much resentment and it comes out in a really ugly way at the end, but I, I had to, like, I wish I could have been crazy and wild, and, and let that force come out a bit more, but yeah, it was, you know, like with, with dysfunction and dysfunctional relationships and dynamics, it's going to come out messy if people aren't conscious and I feel like my character was very, it's You know, unconscious and hadn't really worked through that stuff.

5:49Lucy: And cause Anna Torv's character is, is under so much stress at the, from the beginning right to the end of the film. that was a fascinating dynamic to play with.

5:58KT: Yeah, cause you two worked very, closely together, at least on screen, as well. But again, very staunch cast, Anna Torv, Deborra-lee Furness as well.

6:07KT: What was it like working with Robert Connolly as well in regards to the directing? and being able to play and move and shift throughout in your characters?

6:16Sisi: Yeah, I mean, I think the, the beautiful thing about Rob, or the thing that I appreciate the most is he, he has such, he's got clear, clear visions of what's going on and he always had sort of command of the room, but there was always space in there for us to meet him and to bring our own sort of, interpretations and, and he was, it was very sort of collaborative in that sense of, Building the story together.

6:40Lucy: And he would just be so open to reworking a scene. if it, if it felt a bit clunky and super collaborative, and he has said to us a few times that the further he gets into his career, the more organic he's becoming and the more he just puts full faith and trust in his cast and creatives, which is such a beautiful, release of control that is very rare in a director.

7:05Lucy: Yeah. And it's, it's. He held a really beautiful, soft space for us, in the sense that, yeah, I never felt like he was pressuring us to make certain choices, and, And we

7:16Sisi: could, like, complain, and say, or, not complain, but you know what I mean, if we had something, we could be like, if we're uncomfortable, or, even like, Annoyed that something's not working out.

7:26Sisi: Yeah, it was never an issue of oh, I don't know like what it's like I'm actually can we stop for a second? Yeah, you know So that was and then and then in that there was so much freedom because we knew that we would be supported no matter what Choice we made or even if it was wasn't going great. We could fix it.

7:44Sisi: We could play with it And I love directors that are highly collaborative because I think you need to be And also like, not being super staunch on the script too, like, like being like, if you need to change the lines to make it more natural to you, or for something that you think your character would say in a different way, there was heaps of space for that too, which was really cool.

8:04Lucy: Well, it's safety and trust, right? Yeah, and it's such a generous act, considering that he, you know, had done the adaptation, with Tara, and they had worked so intimately with that text for so long, and yeah, just to come open minded and curious and to keep digging and investigating was a real gift.

8:23KT: I'd like to thank you for your time and before I get to my final question, I just love the richness of the experience of being a woman, whether it's being black or brown or having, you know, any sort of internal struggle that we might outwardly sort of manifest and, you know, none of us are free until we're all free and it's so important to be able to talk about that.

8:42KT: But. To wrap up, cop out would be The Dry, but, if you have any sort of double feature that you think would be interesting to watch.

8:57Sisi: I mean, I would, sorry, you guys, can I self promote for a second?

9:01Lucy: Yeah.

9:02Sisi: Uh, I just did a film, with, uh, Sean Lahiff and it, the Carnifex, it was called Carnifex and basically it prepared me for this entire thing because it was the exact same environment. Okay. The exact same environment. We were in the bush. We were in the rainforest. It was raining. It was muddy.

9:19Sisi: There was rivers. There was, it was cold. All of that. So like I had. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Already had experience with Working in that kind of environment. and because we were in that environment, the shots were beautiful. The cinematography was amazing and you barely have to try with the, with the bush that we have, like it just looks.

9:41Sisi: Like that, it's awe inspiring, and so I got to do that twice, which is fantastic. So I would recommend watching Carnifex alongside Force of Nature. Lucy? Okay, this is a little bit of a cop out, but I'm gonna say Twin Peaks because I feel like That's not a cop out. That's not a cop out. That's a mindfuck cop out.

10:03Sisi: Okay, I stick with it.

10:04Lucy: I would pair it with Balibo, Rob's earlier film, just because it's on my list, stylistic. It's such a politically important film, first of all. So I think the message is really strong and it's a bit more acute than say Force of Nature. And it's ragged, like it's documentary style.

10:22Lucy: It's that, that shoot sounded crazy. Like they were in East Timor filming that. And, Yeah, I, I think that was a real, a big turning point for Rob's, stylistic choices. And I would actually love to watch that again. And that was mostly men. That was a group of men. So,

10:38KT: Well, commentary is so important.

10:39KT: That's what art should do. It should shift culture and challenge culture as well. But thank you so much. Thank you.

10:47KT: Lucy, Lucy, Robin, thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

10:47Lucy: Thanks for having us.