The star of the disturbing new drama reveals five secrets from the set

WINONA RYDER THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA

Tuesday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic

1I play Evelyn Finkel, an unmarried, independent Jewish woman, in this fictional history in which aviator Charles Lindbergh has become US president in 1940. His policies prompt violence against Jews, and having lost relatives in concentration camps I was very affected by the story.

2Evelyn gets romantically involved with Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf – a charismatic supporter of Charles Lindbergh – played by John Turturro. John was so convincing, I feared that the policy his character pushes, forcing Jewish people to become ‘more American’, might actually seem acceptable to people.

3A road in Jersey City, New Jersey, was cordoned off so we could film what amounted to a US version of Kristallnacht, when Jewish businesses and homes were attacked in Germany in 1938. Swastikas and anti-jewish graffiti were sprayed onto buildings, and then boarded up at night so as not to offend local residents.

4The biggest challenges were filming a bedroom scene with my character’s lover on the first day of the shoot, and also forgetting everything that really happened during the war! I’m a World War II buff so had to disregard everything I knew, so I wouldn’t constantly think about true events.

5Evelyn idolises Hollywood actress Barbara Stanwyck and wears the same shade of red lipstick Barbara would have used. Red has major significance during the series because of its presence on the Nazi flag. As America becomes more and more fascist, the designers bled more and more red into the scenes and costumes.

Winona as Evelyn, with John Turturro as Rabbi Bengelsdorf