FIVE minutes WITH Cara Theobold
Downton Abbey star Cara Theobold is back on screens in a very different role, battling present-day demons in new E4 show Crazyhead. The actress, who played kitchen maid Ivy in Downton, tells Jeananne Craig about tackling the undead, using a rolling pin as a weapon, and channelling her inner Liam Neeson
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, AMY?
Amy has been sort of stuck in a rut, she’s in her early twenties trying to figure out what’s happening and she’s been treated for mental illness for most of her teenage years because she’s been able to see demons from a young age. I live with my best friend Suzanne (Riann Steele), who looks after me, and I work in a bowling alley. I’m sort of stuck at this place where nothing much is really moving, and at the start of the series I come off my medication and start to see things again, which is obviously very traumatic.
AMY DOESN’T TAKE ON THESE DEMONS BY HERSELF THOUGH?
I meet Raquel (Susan Wokoma), this whirlwind who comes into my life, and we strike up an unlikely friendship where she introduces me to the world of demons and demon-hunting and I get dragged along into it. It’s a lot to take on for Amy and a lot happens very quickly. She’s forced to be brave, take action and just throw herself into things because it’s kind of life or death.
HOW DO THEY GO ABOUT HUNTING DEMONS, CAN YOU SHARE ANY TRICKS OF THE TRADE?
Raquel’s been doing this for years, is a self-made demon hunter and quite inventive in her tactics. With Amy, everything happens so quickly and in such a short space of time that she’s just forced to act in the moment. She’s so impulsive and discovers she has this fighting instinct she never knew she had. She’s very creative in the weapons she uses, she’ll literally grab anything. I used one of the penguins little kids use at an ice-rink to smack a demon about with, I beat another up with a rolling pin...
WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT AS A DRAMA OR COMEDY?
While the genre is obviously demons and the underworld and these things being real, it’s also a very dark comedy, so there’s a way in for anyone. There is so much going on, and it’s all about this group of friends and the dynamics between them, and them struggling to figure out how to survive.
DID YOU WATCH ANYTHING IN PREPARATION BEFORE YOU STARTED?
I watched Thelma & Louise, which I thought was brilliant in terms of two girls going on a journey and finding themselves and finding just how brave they are and just how much they can push themselves. It’s obviously very different from Howard’s [Overman, Crazyhead’s writer] comedic ways, but it’s got similar peril existing with humour in the same moment. I really like action hero comic book stuff, so I watched a lot of The Avengers, and there were times early on when I was like, ‘I think my character should do THIS’, so maybe as the series goes on, I’ll find those moments to be a superhero. There are times when I go, ‘Should I be a bit more Liam Neeson in this?’
WERE THERE A LOT OF STUNTS INVOLVED?
We had an amazing stunt team. There were a lot of stunts and fighting, which was really good fun. I do so much running in the show, luckily I run anyway, but we had a joke on set about me being really fast. Our chief grip would be trying to keep up and saying, ‘Can you just take the edge off the speed?’
HOW WAS IT ACTING OPPOSITE THE DEMONS?
We had loads of green screen. I’d never done it before, so it was a great new experience. With the demons themselves, we’d work with the actor and they’d do a take where they had green marking dots on their face, so the amazing effects team can put their demon faces on afterwards. I’ve seen some of the stuff and it’s really scary. Crazyhead began on E4 on Wednesday, October 19