Today Jessie Rabideau joins me for a quick talk about her recent short Fear. You may remember reading my review of the film recently where I was particularly impressed by its bravery and ambition. Naturally I wanted to find out more about the process and thinking behind the short and so took some time out with both the star and the director (coming soon) to have a little chat… here’s Jessie:
Hi Jessie, thanks for chatting with me today! How are you?
Haha! Fine, thanks.
First of all, congratulations on Fear! What first drew you to the role?
Thank you. I suppose I was intrigued by the concept and thought it would be super challenging and that I would learn a lot in the process. This is one of my first roles so really I was just excited to try acting out, and it seemed like a neat environment to do so.
I think it’s a really interesting role to have acquired… how did you set about externalising a feeling of pure fear?
I think we have all been in similar situations in which we get spooked out. When I lived alone, I would constantly get scared – for no reason! When acting out the scenes, I tried to put myself in the situation and react honestly.
Was the short shot chronologically? How did that affect your portrayal of a growing sense of panic and fear?
If my memory is correct, we did shoot it chronologically — at least, for the most part. So that definitely helped. Since we didn’t really have to do any location change, we weren’t forced to shoot out of order for practical purposes. Each scene has something different happening, so I just tried to react truthfully under those circumstances. Those circumstances do get more terrifying and real as the story progresses, so I suppose my reactions are more and more fearful.
Do you find it easier to express through action, or through words? This film called for an unusually large amount of action over dialogue and I thought you handled it well…
Words actually tend to trip me up! It’s funny because acting isn’t about saying lines. It’s about reacting truthfully and when you do have lines to say, they better not be scripted or rehearsed. Lately, I have been learning that acting is working from the gut, and lines can put me in my head. So, this role actually seemed less challenging in a way.
How comfortable are you with shooting nudity? To me the scenes here did feel justified and integral to making your character as vulnerable as possible, but how do you make the decision about whether to disrobe for a project or not?
I wouldn’t do anything if I didn’t feel that it was justified or if I wasn’t comfortable with it. I don’t say “yes” often to those projects that require nudity (implied or not) or other tricky situations — it really depends on the project and who is involved in making it.
That’s fair enough, and so what’s next for you Jessie? What are you working on currently which we should keep our eyes open for?
Two short films I wrote and act in are in postproduction now so be on the lookout for those (here: https://vimeo.com/jessierabideau). I’m also in this fun web series called Satan and Sarah – (You can check out the first episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfRqIMN-S1Y)
Excellent! Thank you for taking the time out to talk with me today!
Of course! Thank you!
Be sure to check out Jessie’s links if you’re interested in what she had to say here today!
Mr Rumsey's Film Related Musings 