Kiernan Shipka has a movie making its North American premiere at South by Southwest. She won’t be able to make it to Austin, so we got to speak with her by phone before the fest starts. Shipka plays Eva, a teleporter along with her brother Zac (Timothee Chalamet), separated by a father fearful of their powers. Experiencing life in the real world for the first time, Eva can just teleport from situation to situation when things get intense. Of course, the final half of the final season of “Mad Men” is also starting next month, and you might have already seen Shipka in an episode of the Netflix comedy “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
CraveOnline: Why can’t you make it to Austin?
Kiernan Shipka: I wish I could but I’m filming in Ottowa.
Which project is that?
February.
You got to play the lead in Flowers in the Attic and now One & Two. Have leading roles just started to become available to you?
I was so excited to start working on One and Two because it was such a great production. There were a lot of fun people and the material was really, really great. It was super exciting and I was excited to go to work every day. It was just fun, very collaborative so ultimately a great experience. I hope I can have more of those.
I’m just wondering if there was a point where Hollywood started calling with movie offers.
To be honest, it really differ project to project, how the process goes and what the script entails. Everything is different. Each project is different.
One and Two is a movie that probably couldn’t get made by a traditional studio, but are you offered both kinds of projects?
Like I said, there’s kind of a mix of everything happening right now. Indies are great and studio films are great. I really like both.
Was this your first real visual effects role?
Yeah, it actually was. It was really fun to work with visual effects. I got to see it in Berlin and see the effects in full swing on a big screen. It was a good experience.
What was the process?
There was always some sort of wind machine or leaf blower, something like that because every time [I teleport] there’s a little bit of a wind effect. Then they would get a clean shot without me there. Editing does its magic and they all come together.
So they’d actually blow in your face with a leaf blower?
It was sometimes that and sometimes for some of those scenes, especially towards the ending, there was this gigantic, gigantic kind of fan. There was always some sort of wind effect.
Is playing a runaway even more heightened when she can not only run but teleport away?
It was this interesting thing because the first week of filming wasn’t chronological. It was all the out in the world stuff, so meeting this character and also having to be in a totally different place than she was at the beginning of the movie. It was a really interesting first week because it was far into the script, but ultimately really fun.
I imagine she has more experiences because she gets out of dangerous situations more often.
Right, right, right. It’s interesting, you do see that plays to her advantage a few times and it was also interesting because she was without her brother. I hadn’t even met Timo yet so obviously that super strong bond is I think what the movie is about.
There’s a scene where you’re nailed to the wall to hold you in place. I’m sure it was filmed safely but was that an intense scene to do?
It was definitely very intense for sure. Totally an emotional scene where you’re in an emotional state, but it’s a very psychological thing for the characters too. I think even if they could easily or not easily get out of that situation, I don’t think they would want to because of the repercussions. It was definitely a very emotional scene. Obviously the crew and everyone is very sensitive when the scene calls for being serious.
There are some beautiful shots where you’re standing in the field, and again the wind is blowing on you. How do you perform those scenes? Do you have to be thinking about something or just trust the director to capture what he’s looking for?
It’s all dependent on exactly when. There’s a couple field shots in particular where it’s very beautiful captured by Autumn Durald and it was very spur of the moment. I always like to be thinking about something, but I totally owe it to the director and the DP making that look so magical.
Was One and Two something you auditioned for or did they offer it?
I had met with Andrew [Droz Palermo] a few times over Skype to chat about the project before.
What are we going to get to see in February? What kind of different role is that for you?
February is about a boarding school and this sort of unknown haunting presence that kind of lives within it that affects a few girls in particular. It’s been really good so far. I’ m excited about it.
Were you bummed that they did Petals on the Wind so quickly that you couldn’t reprise your role, since it was 10 years later after only three months?
Oh yeah, that was crazy. I’m super happy to have that experience and totally happy. It’s great that people loved it.
When you think back on “Mad Men,” what were the most significant moments for Sally over the years?
Well, I think that there’s definitely been a few. Certainly one was with Sally and her grandfather. For a few reasons, I think it was really, really big for her. They were having a great time eating ice cream, and then he kind of tells her that her mother wasn’t always perfect. I don’t think that was something she’d ever heard before, ever. That probably changed her perspective a lot. And then also he told her that she could do anything and that she was very smart, and I don’t think she’d heard that before. I think that’s why she’s a really independent, strong, great person.
Since you wrapped a while ago, have you kept in touch with any of the other “Mad Men” cast since?
I have. I’ve gotten to see a few of them and I’ve gotten to see a lot of the crew. I’ve seen Matt a little bit so it’s been nice. Obviously since the show’s premiering pretty soon, there’ll be some more press which I’m excited about because I’ll get to see everyone which will be nice. But I’ve seen some people which is great.
Over the years, did Jon Hamm or January Jones give you any acting tips, or was that even something you talked about?
I would say that I learned most from them just by watching them. That’s really where I learned so much about acting, just watching other people. Jon and January are both so excellent, to be able to watch them work and be able to work with them, there are so many big lessons that I learned.
Is there one you could articulate?
Jon’s just an amazing guy, so humble, so great to work with. He’s obviously such a talented actor and January’s just so awesome. She’s Betty and Betty and Sally, and Sally and Don, have had such evolving relationships over time. It’s just working with both of them and having that collaboration is really, really cool. I’m really happy to have worked with them.
Humility is a good one. How did “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” come to you?
That was super fun. It filmed in New York, I read the script and I loved it. It was so fun to get to work with everyone. I’ve known Ellie for a little bit so it was pretty cool to actually work together.
Do you get many offers to do comedy?
I did a comedy called Fan Girl which isn’t out yet but that’s a total comedy. I perform at Second City too. I’m in an improv troupe so I do like comedy a lot. I think it’s really fun. I’d love to do more of it.
Do you think we’ll see Kymmi again in a second season?
I can hope we’ll see Kymmi again. I can only hope. That would be super fun. I’ll be back there any time.
Had you always wanted to be an actor or was it something that clicked later on?
Acting is something that I’ve always loved. I can never remember not loving performing or wanting to act. It was always something, even when I was super young, that just excited me so, so much.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
