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 Young actress ALEXANDRA SCHEPISI, currently on screens in THE EYE OF THE STORM, tells ALASDAIR DUNCAN about why she loves period costumes, and why she was nervous working with her famous father.
In The Eye Of The Storm, an adaptation of Patrick White’s famous 1970s novel, Alexandra Schepisi plays Flora, a young nurse employed by a wealthy Sydney family. Sweet and naive, but also cold and calculating, Flora is a beguiling character, and according to Schepisi, one needing to be played with the upmost care. “Flora is a complicated character,” she tells me, “but if you don’t give her due respect, she can come across as shallow and conniving, and I really wanted to be careful not to do that.” Reading White’s novel gave her a good deal of perspective on the character. “She’s incredibly fleshed out in the book, and you find out a lot about who she is. She has a clear agenda, and she’s very selfish, but she’s also incredibly sweet and naive. That’s quite a challenge to play.”
Alexandra Schepisi acted alongside Aussie icons Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis in the film, but the most intimidating figure of all was the director – her father Fred. After accepting the role of Flora, she worried for a long time about how her presence on set would be taken. “I went through all the normal channels to get the job, just like anyone else would,” she says, “but I was still terrified that I would arrive on the first day and the crew would all look at me like I was there just because of dad.” Working alongside her famous father was, it turns out, easier than she expected. “We actually had a really easy working relationship,” she tells me. “It was all very professional, and in the end, my fears were totally unfounded.”
The film features one particularly intimate encounter between Schepisi’s character and Rush’s, and I feel I just have to ask – is it awkward being directed by your dad in a sex scene? “It definitely was an unusual experience,” she says with a hearty laugh, “but not as hard as I thought it was going to be. Whenever you do a sex scene, everyone just knuckles down and gets professional – when you’ve got your dad in the room directing you, you just have to be more professional!”
Stepping into the film’s 1970s setting proved to be the most fun for Schepisi, not least of all because of the costumes. “Oh my god, it was the most fun ever!” she gushes. “I’ve wanted to be an actor since I was a kid, and I think that had a lot to do with the fact that you get to play dress-ups. I always have a lot more fun doing period pieces than modern ones. When you’re playing a character in a contemporary film, the way you dress and behave may not be that different from you who are already, but when you step into another era, you get a new haircut, different clothes, and you really feel like someone else. I get very excited walking into the wardrobe department and seeing all the costumes – I start tingling.”
THE EYE OF THE STORM is in cinemas now [MA15+]. www.theeyeofthestorm.com.au
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