Andrea riseborough

Oh, Mandy… When did you have an inkling that Mandy could be something special? As soon as I read the script. But the thing that clinched it was watching Beyond The Black Rainbow. You realise that what was on the page was going to become as visually beautiful as it was lyrical. What did you connect with?

The thing I connected with was Panos. He’s part of a group that is redefining what a female hero is. She’s had a difficult life, she’s innately flawed. They almost beatify her, which I think is really beautiful, and a really good message for young women as well. did you feel a lot of pressure after finding out mandy is based on Panos’ wife? I only realised that when she came to visit the set. She’s very, very beautiful. She has long dark hair, she has this pale skin. I got there, and realised I was playing her, to a certain extent. And she’s called Andrea. We laugh about that all the time. do you know how mandy got her scars?

The scars were representative of Mandy being a real person, not some untouched beauty who’s waiting in a tower for anyone to come and collect her. It’s really healthy to see that on screen. Where it came from in my mind will always be personal to me. And where it came from in Panos’ mind will always be personal to Panos. You must be delighted with the response…

We all were. The reason people have responded so phenomenally is because of its authenticity, and because it doesn’t adhere to any formulaic nonsense. Humans respond really, really beautifully to authenticity, even if it’s bonkers and involves a chainsaw battle! You had four films at sundance this year, including Nancy, your first as a producer. it must have been a special festival… It really was. It’s funny, when we were getting Nancy together, this guy said to Christina [Choe, writer/director] and I, “Good luck getting a film made with a female name as the title.” So we promptly fired him and then I went to Sundance. I was there with four films, and two of them had female names. JF