About the character
My character, Betsy Bell, is vivacious, full of life, confident, sparkly, flirtatious and very happy until certain events take place that change her personality.
I didn't have much preparation time between casting and coming to Romania for filming. I had two weeks in pre-production for riding lessons, voice coaching and working with Courtney on various scenes. We marked through the script with different stages of Betsy's life and worked on things that she would be feeling.
Playing Betsy Bell
I'd read many scripts but as soon I started to read An American Haunting I couldn't put it down. The first time I read the script I thought it was fantastic. As soon as I finished the last page, I was shaking, I was so scared and the ending of the screenplay took me by surprise and really shocked me. I called my agent right away because I really wanted to do this role. There was an enormous range in everything Betsy has to do and to portray. I thought it would be very interesting to attempt that mindset.
The director, Courtney, wanted somebody perhaps older to play the role but I thought, if I have to fight hard in order to get this it will be worth it and it definitely has been. Working for three months is not that hard. There are long hours, which can be physically tough when it is but for me it was a challenge and it was fun to do. It was such a ride! It was an incredible experience.
The script kept on changing while we were filming. Scenes got more dramatic, reached climax sooner and so on. It's been an emotional roller coaster. One minute I was crying, screaming hysterically, the next I had to be happy, then I had to cry again or to scream and fight. All these emotions going from one place to the next in seconds it was just tough emotionally.
I couldn't have gone to the place where Betsy was and show what she really was without Courtney Solomon, our amazing director. I also discussed the character with other cast, my parents and with my closest friends. Also doing research on the story, for the background I needed. Also, once you are on set, in the Studio or location and wearing the costume to look like her etc. all helped me to recreate the character.
I have only performed in three movies, but with every one of them I found I got confident and stronger after I've done it. Because you learn to deal with different circumstances, you know how to meet things you may have acted that out before. I would like to think that I take a bit of every part at home.
Similarities and differences between Rachel Hurd-Wood and her Character
I can say that Wendy Darling from 'Peter Pan' was a younger version of me. As I grow up, this part, Betsy Bell, is definitely more me as I am now. She is more confident, more outgoing and more vivacious. I don't know how others would comment on that, but I would think of myself like that.
Betsy Bell has many attributes I would like to think that I possess myself. I've been thinking constantly about how Betsy Bell would react in a situation that I, myself, was in. I remember when I was at school and I was daydreaming about my character. I was wondering what Betsy would do right now. My teacher had to call to me in order to 'get me back' to the classes! The truth is: it is quite hard to be in two places at once!
She is an incredibly strong girl. That's what you can see through everything that happens. Sometimes I wonder. I don't know if I would be as tough as her. Maybe I would, but I have never gone through such experiences as she did. This is what makes us completely different: our life experience. It is just now when I can truthfully empathize with people who lived through tragedy, because I have semi-experienced it by acting Betsy Bell. If it was within my power, I would never let what happened to her happen to anyone.
Method acting
It is all about making it completely real. And if you think it means you have a lack of imagination, just watch Sissy Spacek. She is such an incredible actress! She is mesmerizing on screen!
It is just putting yourself in the moment, whatever it takes to get you there: it could be someone saying something to you, or you could be doing a specific thing that you think it might help that scene.
I consider myself a method actress. I need something to provoke me to get where I need to be.
I am quite shy and I never thought I would be acting. But as soon as I did it, I realised an essential thing: acting is addictive! You just have to keep on doing it!
Acting with Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland
I've been blessed to work with great people! I learned so much from Sissy Spacek and from Donald Sutherland. The truth is I was terrified to meet them! They were so helpful, so patient and understanding. Working with them was like a master class in acting. Things you learn without them saying anything, just by watching them. Being in the same room, watching those incredible actors doing what they are best at was so incredible to me!
Constantly they have been giving me things every day that I tried to think about and remember.
Sissy is so lovely and you wouldn't have said that she is who she is [upon meeting her]. She was so sweet, funny, and so very motherly and I was so honored to work with her. Donald is a lovely person, too. He has that presence, that aura, that voice that is so powerful. I remember when the shootings were about to end he bought me an iPod. It took me completely by surprise!
The most difficult scene and the most memorable one
The most difficult scene in the movie was probably when I was dragged on the stairs backwards, while I had to scream, to cry and to fight. It was both physically and emotionally very demanding. My feet were hitting each stair as I went on top and Courtney actually bandaged them so my skin wasn't in direct contact with the wooden steps. But we had to make it to look as painful as possible.
The most memorable one was when we filmed in the forest, during the winter. It was so cold and I was only wearing a dress. It was so freezing that I will definitely never forget it! And I really like that scene. I think it's cool!
Funny stories that happened on set
I am terrible at waking up in the morning! And this movie had so many early starts. Wherever I went I was falling asleep. One day I was lying on the wooden floor, for the scene and I fell asleep on it! People were walking around me trying not to wake me up!
About Rachel's friends
When I film far away from home, most of all I miss my family and my friends. I live with my mother, father and brother in a Victorian cottage on the edge of a forest in leafy Surrey about an hour from London and I go to school locally. I don't have a movie star life style. My parents and friends keep me grounded. Everybody from home was so supportive; I don't know what I would have done without them. They have been just wonderful: phoning me and e-mailing me so much, telling me what's going on there. Sometimes it can be pretty difficult switching between going to school and being on set, but this is something I have been able to adapt to. Being an actress is fun, but at the same time it is nice to hear about home life and what the teachers said and about the homework my friends have got. Even if those 'normal things' may seem boring when you're at home, just to hear about them when you're not there is so refreshing.
Filming in Romania
When I wrapped, I was sad to leave Romania. It's a very beautiful country and I've made lots of really good friends here. The Romanian people have been absolutely wonderful, charming and helpful and I really, really enjoyed working with them. But it would also be so nice to go back home again.
Romanian people are incredibly funny, and I just really loved getting to know everybody. They play lots of practical jokes and farces! It is also just interesting to hear and to learn the language, it's so different the ones you learn in school.
All the crew was absolutely fantastic, very professional, good fun. Even if we were tired, we kept on smiling and get through the most difficult and demanding scenes.
About 'An American Haunting'
'An American Haunting' is a psychological thriller about a family in 1888 Tennessee and the way they deal with the events they take place at their farm. It is a movie about real people and real facts. It is NOT a movie about ghosts so it will surprise many people who are expecting to see a new scary movie.
About 'An American Haunting' viewers
I hope that we'll leave them with shivers. I have seen parts of the film and it looks great, I am sure they will like it. They will find it scary.
I guess that with every different film we learn about how different people react in different situations. This state is something so unlike than anything that pretties much anybody in the real world has to deal with. It is so far from things that people consider normal. I guess they can learn from it.
Working with the director Courtney Solomon
Courtney Solomon has been so wonderful! I couldn't have done anything without him, seriously. First of all, he is a very close friend. He's been so supportive, and I became so dependent on him, I just didn't know what I was going to do when I went back home again! He was so helpful and before we do every scene he got me into The Zone. Many of the scenes I had to interpret being very emotional, we discussed very much about what Betsy was feeling. I've needed to imagine what sort of things might happen to me that I could use to play Betsy. But the things that happened to her were so terrible that I had to amplify any emotional state and react to that. It is also quite hard to forget them straight away. The scenes were very intense. To be honest, I have been falling asleep pretty much straight after I've done the scenes. But they were not worrying me. I thought about them but then Courtney said, "Don't let them worry you - this is what happened to Betsy, not what happened to you."
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