Sarah Gadon
We know nothing about your character. Could you please walk us through?
Sarah Gadon: In broad strokes, she’s the matriarch of the film. So she’s the princess. She is Vlad’s wife. A lot of the film is centered around the family unit. And I guess the major themes of the film are the sacrifices we’re willing to make for our families to keep our families together. So a lot of the film centers on her relationship with Vlad, and their relationship as a family.
Was she based on a historical character?
I don’t know. I don’t think she was. I will say that she does act as the moral compass for the film. And she does act as the moral compass for Vlad.
How does your relationship change from the human Vlad and the vampire Vlad?
I think… The way that I try to look at it is in very real terms. If you’ve ever had someone in your life who has been struggling with something, with addiction or struggling with anything. It’s about the resilience of love, and how much you’re willing to struggle with somebody to preserve your relationship, and to try to preserve them as a person. And I think that’s really important, and I think that’s what I was so drawn to in regards to the script. I was really looking to do a love story. It’s Dracula, but at it’s core, it’s this beautiful romantic, classic love story. So, I think that everything that Vlad and Mirena go through as a couple kind of culminates… well, with the climax of the film. But it’s about the choices to make in a relationship to preserve it and to preserve yourselves.
Does your character ever realize that Vlad is making moral decisions without you?
Mm-hmm. And that would be the crux of a good story. Yes, there is that point. I can’t really reveal to you the point in the plot where that happens; that would ruin the story. But, yeah, the stakes are high between the two of them.
Do you look for genre projects, or are you more drawn to – like you said – real stories within genre shells?
It’s interesting that you would say “genre,” because I think I have an affinity to working with auteur directors. And I think that seems to be the best arena that they can express and singular vision: in a genre. I worked with Mary Harron. I don’t know if she’s considered a genre director. Amma Asante and Denis Villeneuve. Really more strong auteur directors. And that’s certainly what I’m drawn to when I look for a project. That’s pretty much #1 on the list. And that was certainly the case with this project.
When I sat down for my meeting with Gary Shore, I really didn’t know much about the script. I knew about the story in broad strokes, but I didn’t know a lot beyond that. And I sat down with him, and he was just so passionate about his work and about the kind of film he wanted to make. And I was really drawn to that kind of energy, and I thought “Yeah! I wanna make this kid’s first movie! He’s like a baby Spielberg!” You know? He’s got all of this zest and zeal for romance and love, and it’s all early Spielberg stuff, and I was like “Yeah, I like this.” It aligned with things I was seeking to do, like a love story.
What has Gary Shore done that’s taken you by surprise?
On set? Let me think. The kinds of films I’m used to doing are independent films. They’re really small, character-driven pieces, and there isn’t as much spectacle involved. And this is the first kind of film that I’ve done that has had big grand spectacle. So for me, I’m not sure of there’s a kind of technique that he’s using, but I certainly think that having to coordinate everything technically is something very different for me. Having to wait and be able to create all these intricate camera movements, and coincide that with all this elaborate choreography. All of that is very new. And it’s a very different way for me to work. But then when I go behind the monitor, and I look at what he’s actually shooting, and it’s just beautiful, then it kind of brings me back, and I realize what I’m doing.
What is the tone of this new Dracula? Romance? Adventure romance? Horror romance?
I think what it’s being called is a monster film. That’s a really interesting thing, because my perspective of the film would be so different from everybody else’s perspective. I spent a lot of time with Gary and Luke in rehearsals, and we were just working on one connection and love. But then, sometimes when I see the other things happening, I’m like “Oh yeah! Full on fight film! And war film!” So I think it kind of has a balance of all of those things. At its core, I think it’s a family film. I think it’s a film that’s accessible to families. Because it’s all about, in my opinion, strong family values. And I think that’s what Hollywood does so well. It’s really interesting to see. It’s so different for me! I feel refreshed.
Was the Dracula story attractive to you?
Not at all. No. If anything, I think I was deterred by the vampire element of it, or the Dracula element of it. But then, speaking with Gary – especially just going back to our initial meeting – we met in this place in L.A., and we sat down beside Francis Ford Coppola at our meeting – which was so weird! It was like “Nice to meet you… [panicked whisper] It’s Francis Ford Coppola!” – and, he just kind of showed me that he had a lot of visual imagery with him. And he showed me that he really wanted to make a timeless love story. And that to me was refreshing. Because Dracula and vampire stories are always about sexual repression and female sexuality. It seemed to me at the time that it was such a different take on the material. That part was really refreshing.
How much fighting is Mirena exposed to?
She’s certainly not passive. I’m not a warrior, so there’s not that element. But I do get to… I certainly stand up for what I believe in. And I get to muscle around a little.
What’s your favorite scene in the movie?
It’s tough to say. [SPOILERS REDACTED.] My favorite stuff that we’ve shot is what we did on Devil’s Mountain, which is a big mountain in Ireland, and it’s quite a dramatic scene involving myself and Vlad. And we did all this coverage, we shot over three days. And then, at the very end, Gary did this crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy crazy crazy, wide, wide shot; we were this big in the frame [tiny]. It was totally silhouetted. The sky was incredible. We were on this freaking mountain. And it was this weird Visconti, Gone with the Wind meets Hollywood film. It was so cool. And when I saw that, it was on the third say of of shooting, and I was like whew!
Any scenes you’re looking forward to shooting?
My final scenes in the film are very emotionally charged. And it’s supposed to be set on a tower, but we built it on a soundstage. And there’s going to be some really interesting – the lighting in this film is just standout, it’s gonna be really interesting. There’s going to be a lot of play between light and shadows and Vlad will [SPOILERS REDACTED]. I’m really excited about that.
What’s your relationship with your on-screen son?
It’s weird because I really think we look alike. I feel we look related. It’s weird to look at something that looks like you. You have a bizarre feeling that I assume parents would probably have when they look at a human and realize that they created that humans. And so when I look at him, and I feel that there’s such a strong resemblance, I kinda go with that, and play off of that feeling and that amazement. Because the connection between the three of us is so crucial to the film. That has been great. And I like working with children. I think they have a very interesting energy. They’re so solid. They’re very present. They’re very up-in-their-eyes. And they remind you to stay playful and to stay present.
The costume you’re in is simpler than I expected…
You should have been here yesterday! [Laughs.] It’s interesting because when I started doing the film, I had just done a period film in London called Belle, and we were in corsets the entire time, shooting… There’s this funny thing in British equity called “continuous days,” where you shoot without lunch, but your day is an hour shorter. But you’re still shooting constantly, and you don’t get a break to eat. It’s bananas. They don’t have that in North America. And so we did this film, and we were in corsets shooting for continuous days. So when I started this, I said “Listen, I don’t want to be in a corset.” We’re not historically grounded here. Let’s be real: I don’t need to wear a corset. And so [costume designer] Ngila Dickson designed these dresses around that idea, and it’s been fantastic. I can breathe and move and eat!
Other than that, her silhouettes are very simple, her fabric choices are very interesting. They read very different than they do in person on camera. And, yeah, all the costumes are very different. What I’m wearing now is what you’d call “day glam.” Or “casual in the castle.” Other costumes are very, very intricate. The other day I was wearing this crown made of all pearls. And it looks like lace on my head. And it’s so delicate, but sharp, and it started to kind of cut my head.
When you talk about sacrifice and tough choices, are you referring to your own character, or just to Dracula?
My character definitely has to. I think every character; Mieran, Vlad, and Indres all have their own choices to make. The way I like to think about is when you’re young you form your ideas about the world. And you have all these principles. And you grow up and those principles are tested. And you have to decide whether or not you can realistically live your life by them. And that’s what I think the film touches on and plays with. That’s the kind of really interesting gray area that is the very cool thing about this film. My character definitely has to make a tough choice.
Witney Seibold is a commentator at Nerdist, a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly Trolling articles here on Crave, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
