Exclusive: Natalie Dormer Talks The ForestPosted by Wilson Morales
January 4, 2016
Coming out this week is the supernatural thriller The Forest, directed by Jason Zada and starring Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney and Yukiyoshi Ozawa.
Set around Mt. Fuji in Japan, where the legendary real-life Aokigahara Forest exists, a young American woman, Sara (Dormer), journeys there in search of her twin sister, who has mysteriously disappeared. In the company of expatriate Aiden (Kinney), Sara enters the forest having been well warned to “stay on the path.” Determined to discover the truth about her sister’s fate, Sara will have to face the angry and tormented souls of the dead that prey on anyone who dares come near them. These malevolent spirits lying in wait for Sara at every turn will plunge her into a frightening darkness from which she must fight to save herself.
While Dormer has had lead roles on stage back in the UK, is best known for her TV roles as Anne Boleyn on the Showtime series The Tudors, as Margaery Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones, and as Irene Adler and Jamie Moriarty on the CBS series Elementary, as well as her film role as Cressida in the The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2, this is her first lead role on the big screen.
In speaking exclusively with Blackfilm.com, Dormer talks about her character, working on the film, and what’s expected of her character in the next season of Game of Thrones.
Although most fans have seen you on TV and other films, this is your first big role as a lead. How does it feel?
Natalie Dormer: It’s great. It seems like natural evolution.
As a actress, who’s worked in ensemble projects, is it more daunting when you have more pages to read for yourself in a film like this?
ND: I’m a stage actor. I was trained a stage actor. I’ve been the lead on stage several times and I’ve been the lead on TV a number of times. I’m familiar with the sensation of the responsibility of a project; so for me, I was just amped to take that to the feature world.
How would you best describe Sara?
ND: Sara is an overachieving, very controlled, white picket fence wife who is deep denial about a trauma she had in her childhood. What I love about this movie is that she is completely motivated by love for her sister and her sense of regret on how she handled something early in her life. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to do the film because all of the monsters and scariness aside, this seemed like a plausible and realistic basis for a film. We all have someone in our life that we would travel half around the world to save if we thought they were in pain and in trouble. We also all have demons and regrets and stuff that we think we should have done differently that haunts us. Then imagine being in a place where those mistakes got mirrored back at you to the extent where you start to descend into craziness and really pay for it. I was really taken in by the psychological elements of this story so that’s why I wanted to do it.
How strongly do you believe in this twin connection?
ND: One of my dresser in Serbia was one of identical twins so I talked to her a lot about her experience of growing up. She also knows other identical twins. I think they tend to hang out in groups. I don’t know. From what I have done and the people I have spoken to, some people genuinely believe they have, and some sets of identical twins not so much. But there are some out there that believe that have a sixth sense in regards to each other, which is fascinating. I don’t have identical twins but I have brothers and sisters that I love very dearly and would travel half the world if I thought they were in trouble. I think most people do which is why I think they will identify with when they watch the movie. When people are yelling “Why are staying in the park, all in the dark,” it’s because we have a daughter or a son, mom, dad, or best friend that we would do that for.
Do you believe in the notion of spirits, legendary stories or paranormal stuff?
ND: I believe in energy. I believe that certain places carry an energy. I shot Anne Boleyn’s death scene for The Tudors in jail in Dublin. That is a courtyard in Dublin where many, many people have been executed over hundreds of years. Most famously, the freedom fighters for the Easter Rising in 1916, which is coming up for it centenary next year. You stand in a place where a lot of people have been executed and i think there’s going to be some residue energy. In later times, it can probably be explained by science, but I do believe places can hold energy if bad things happen there.
How was working with Jason (Zada)? Had you seen his work in music videos?
ND: No, I hadn’t. He knows the genre very well. His background is in horror. He knows his heritage of it. He has a lot of references that he was able to bring to the table to talk about. I was intrigued by that.
Had been a forest before where one can get lost?
ND: I come from a hiking family. I have hiked forests and mountains in my time and I love the outdoors. I love being out there in the Tara forest in Serbia. That border between Serbia and Bosnia is beautiful.
How was working with Taylor?
ND: Taylor is amazing. I love Taylor. He has an ease and a charm to him that is so natural and plays perfectly in the character of Aiden. He has thing in playing Aiden that is similar to me playing Margaery Tyrell where you can’t read him. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? Do I trust him? Hopefully, the audience goes back and forth with those thoughts. I think he played that ambiguity really well.
What’s in stored for Margaery Tyrell in the upcoming season of Game of Thrones?
ND: She’s really trying to get out of that jail cell. She’s got much bigger problems than Cersai Lannister this season.
What have you heard about a prequel to The Hunger Games?
ND: All I understand with Hunger Games is that if anything were to come, it would have to come from Suzanne Collins. Nina Jacobson and Francis Lawrence have had to answer this question time and time again. Anything has to come from the pen of Suzanne first and foremost.
What’s a good reason for folks to go see The Forest?
ND: Because this is not your ordinary horror movie. This is a thinking person’s horror movie. It’s a nice bang and wake up call when the holiday season is over and it’s back to work. It’s the best way to start the year…with a bang.
