I get more and more anxious through the years, so I don't know. I don't know.ĭon't they have people who can talk you down from stage fright? At three, four o'clock it's like, oh my God, I have to go in three hours… And when you're on stage, then it goes away, but it's just torture.ĭid you just think, in the end, it's not worth the anxiety? Why are you too scared to go back onstage? I love it, but I prefer-I think we are theatrical in a good way, but if we fuck up, we do it again. I love theater, and I've done it, and I'm too scared to go back on the stage. The dialogue is pretty theatrical throughout Penny Dreadful, I think. There was no shouting! We were like, 'OK, should I take off my…' No, that's too much. I rehearsed with Logan in his flat in London, I remember. I don't know, but you have to really believe with all your heart what's going on. How did you make it not ridiculous? The line between whether it became that or not must have been so delicate. It's difficult to get away from this character because it becomes part of you.

I don't think I would have chosen to be part of this scary adventure if it was just about possession… It's terribly human.

It is very dark, you know, but it's not just scary. It's funny, because I don't put this show into the gothic box. Why is that whole gothic Victorian era so fascinating to us now? She's a woman who's hungry to live now.ĭid you do lots of research into that kind of woman? Vanessa is a very strong woman for those times, were very repressed. I think lots of women are drawn to broken, damaged men. I remember taking a picture of the script and sending it to some of my friends, like, oh my God. She's talking about how Vanessa is drawn to damaged men, because ultimately she'd rather be alone… It struck me as very modern. I can't.ĭo you think Vanessa is a bit of a feminist hero? There's a scene in this new season where she's having what looks to be a sort of early psychotherapy session, with Patti Lupone playing her therapist.

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