Vintage drama a buzz for actor
A sucker for vintage fashions, Amy Usherwood was in heaven when she landed a role on the new TVNZ series Hillary.
The Dunedin-raised actress, best known for playing nurse Emma Franklin on Shortland St, says it was always her dream to star in a period drama like this.
However, going slightly ‘‘method’’ to play Sir Edmund Hillary’s first wife Louise, almost led to some hellish moments, admits Usherwood.
‘‘Wearing the 1950s slightlycorsetted underwear and slightly Madonna-esque pointed bras and suspenders were so much fun – the first few times. But then after a while you realised how difficult it was, because every time you go to the toilet you’ve got to undo your suspenders and then I’d have to get some assistant to come to help me redo it. That made me feel like a complete diva.’’
And while the outfits helped her get into character ‘‘because they force you to hold yourself in a slightly different way’’, they also basically put her on an ‘‘enforced diet’’.
‘‘We had such lovely catering, but you just didn’t feel like eating anything because it was so tight around the waist.’’
Still Usherwood, who was educated at Logan Park High School, and whose original surname Adams would get her confused with a certain Hollywood star, had no real complaints about her wardrobe.
‘‘I had an absolute blast. Every time I went in to try things on in the costume department, I was just oohing and aahing over everything.
‘‘ I don’t think I got to wear absolutely everything I got to try on but I bloody well tried to.’’
When asked if she was tempted to take anything home with her, Usherwood confesses there were a couple of things she ‘‘had her eye on’’.
‘‘One particular dress they made for me was just beautiful and I was almost tempted to ask, but then I thought, ‘ah, look, they put so much work into it, I think that will probably end up in the costume department so that’s fine, I can see it on screen when I want to’.’’
Feeling privileged to be a part of telling such an iconic Kiwi story, Usherwood says she was also attracted to the fact that the heart of this drama was more about the people around Sir Ed and the relationships in his life.
‘‘What probably struck me most was how wonderful Ed and Louise’s relationship was. Actually the more research I did into her life, the more I kind of fell in love with her. I had so much respect for the woman that she was because she was an incredibly talented viola player and she climbed herself at a time when a lot of women wouldn’t have done that sort of thing.
‘‘She also wrote several books. She was just an incredible woman. Everyone I spoke to who had met her or had something to do with her described her as such a warm person.’’
But wasn’t it daunting playing a real-life person? ‘‘Certainly a bit, because you want to be able to do it justice, I suppose. And particularly for people whose kids are still alive, you want to do a good job because you want them to respect the way that you’ve played their parents.
‘‘At the same time, what was great about this project was there was so much material to draw from. Her daughter, Sarah Hillary, was lovely and invited us over to see her photos and the letters that they’d written to each other, which was incredibly generous of her.
‘‘Also, the great thing about working with Danny Mulheron, the director, was that he straight away said, ‘I don’t want you guys to mimic these people’. I’m sure there are going to be people who knew them who will go ‘that’s not what they were like’ , but hopefully they at least feel we’ve been respectful and that it’s a story with a lot of heart.’’
One of the other unique challenges the role presented Usherwood with was learning to play the viola. ‘‘I had several lessons every week for a few weeks and it was actually really fun. I wouldn’t say I’m a virtuoso, but it was a lot of fun.’’
She admits though that this was the one area where a little ‘‘movie magic’’ was required.
‘‘What you are seeing me do and what the people on the day heard me do are very different things. It still sounded a bit like a strangled cat or something. However, it was a lot of fun to kind of learn that skill and they gave me a beautiful viola to take home and work with. It was a nice way to get into the character, I think.’’
Hillary
TV One. 8.30pm, Tonight,