I ENJOY SEEING PEOPLE WHO HAVE MESSY LIVES
IT SHOULD be no surprise that the scandalous world of PR makes for juicy viewing in new TV series Flack.
Anna Paquin plays
Robyn, a high-powered PR maven who, while able to fix everybody else’s problems, is utterly dysfunctional in her own personal life.
This contrast was just one of the reasons the role was so appealing to Anna, 36, known for movie The Piano and vampire TV series True Blood.
“I want to play people, not women per se, and people are flawed and people can be different things in different parts of their lives,” says the actress, who was born in Canada and brought up in Wellington, New Zealand. Flack stars Anna Paquin as a publicist who is adept at keeping her clients’ lives appearing in perfect order, while her own falls to pieces. The actress chatted to
about the appeal of such a complex character and the expectations put on women
like, ‘Am I allowed to laugh at this?”’
Discussing preparation for the role, she quips: “I’ve had a publicist since I was 13. I’ve done plenty of research.
“I would love to say that my life contains all kinds of incredibly exotic scandals that my publicist has had to clean up for years, but it’s just not true,” continues the star.
“I am quite boring. However, I do intimately understand how that business works, because your job’s not done until you’ve sold the film or the TV show.”
Anna says she’s been “very blessed” to have had “a career filled with loads of interesting, complex female characters” and it goes without saying Robyn is part of this list.
“However, the amount of s**t I’ve read, of female roles where you’re like, ‘Are you kidding me?’...” she recalls candidly.
“That’s why a lot of – how do I put this delicately? – rather overqualified women play a lot of small roles in things, because those are the more interesting ones.
“I would rather have five minutes of getting to do something creatively exciting than two-and-a-half hours of playing someone bland, and not real.”
Anna also thinks audiences will identify with Robyn, who we see hurriedly doing her make-up on the Tube, waking up in her clothes and making questionable life choices.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m not perfect. I enjoy seeing people who have messy lives. And, OK, her messy is quite sort of ‘high end’ messy, but I think there’s a lot about seeing the work that goes into presenting the front that is fascinating and is relatable.”
I mention a scene in which we see Robyn getting her “game face” on in the lift to work, physically preparing herself for the day ahead: “The ‘1, 2, 3, brace yourself... OK, here I am’,” as Anna describes it.
“I think what it says about expectations on women is that we are expected to be ‘on’ somehow more of the time,” she suggests.
“You’re expected to have made the gluten-free vegan cupcakes for the pot luck thing, and be at work by 7am, and have done your kids’ homework with them, and worked out for three years and remembered to have got a manicure.
“And to see the machine behind it, and the effort behind it, is interesting.”