Isabelle captured our attention in a big way with American Mary, a film by Jen and Sylvia Soska that served as a starring vehicle for the actress. She was front and center, pushing herself in ways we had not seen before.
She followed this up with a turn in Hannibal‘s second season (now available on DVD and Blu-ray) as Margot Verger, Hannibal Lecter’s patient who is frequently tormented by her deranged brother Mason (Michael Pitt). This fall, you’ll see her in See No Evil 2, the sequel directed by the Soskas that arrives on VOD October 17th and DVD/Blu-ray October 21st.
Shock Till You Drop spoke with Isabelle about her time on Hannibal and See No Evil 2 and what the future holds…
Ryan Turek: In terms of prep work for Margot, the only thing you have to draw on is the novel. She’s never been brought to the screen before…
Katharine Isabelle: Yeah, and she’s very different. I didn’t have loads time to prep to be honest. They threw the novels at me, then just let me go at it. The Soskas are huge Hannibal fans and they told me all i needed to know. So, between Sylv [Soska] and [showrunner] Bryan [Fuller] I needed nothing else. When you have a character who is so beloved or been played before in a movie, it’s hard. I don’t want to look at what’s been done before and let that cloud my take on the role, but here, I read through the book and got the idea and Bryan really helped me flesh Margot out.
Turek: Can you imagine taking on a role like Clarice Starling?
Isabelle: [laughs] No… It would be hard if Clarice was added, I’m a huge fan of the series. I would be way fucked up trying to approach that. I’d be like fuck!
Turek: How has your time been being worked into the Hannibal family and bringing Margot into the mix?
Isabelle: Amazing. Also, I’m desperate to see the scenes when they come out, whether I’m in them or not. I’m always surprised because hardly do I get to see anything while I’m shooting something. I think for me, when I was trying to figure out Margot I never felt like I had a lock on the role until I’m there on the day. And I threw down a few different options on the first day to see what the editors end up taking and that informed the rest of going forward. Also, it’s amazing just to walk into Hannibal’s office. Mads is so charming and fun. We were recently at a convention together and I crashed his Q&A to bring him some beer. I just sat in the back behind him and stared at his head. [laughs] He’s just the coolest guy.
Turek: You’ve definitely entered into something creative and special with the Soska sisters, can you talk about that a bit?
Turek: Did you notice anything different in the way they work in terms of going from American Mary to See No Evil 2?
Isabelle: I think there’s just the pressure of being in charge of a studio film and the pressure of studio bosses and different people you have to appease and negotiate with…it’s just different from their independent stuff. I watched how they dealt with that. The pressure was obviously there, but they nailed it and did a great job. Everyone was thrilled with the end result. And they’re personalities on set is amazing and magical. Hopefully, all of this will pave the way for them to get financing for personal projects like Bob.
Turek: Would you say See No Evil 2 has their fingerprints all over it?
Isabelle: I think the film has their vibe. There’s humor and it’s dark and scary. This was their big fun slasher thing and you can’t help but feel their excitement. You can feel their enthusiasm for the makeup effects and prosthetics and blood and gore. It’s sort’ve like when you’re on set, you feel that and it infects everybody and they feel the same vibe. Magically it transfers even if it isn’t their original material.
Turek: Have you started receiving your scripts for Hannibal season 3 yet?
Isabelle: No, not yet! We start on Hannibal soon, but my character doesn’t show up in the season until later on. No scripts yet, I don’t get anything yet. They’re busy being geniuses over there.
