Meek’s Cutoff is an alt-Western following three families heading west in 1845, their tiny wagon train lost somewhere in Oregon. It will be screening at the 2011 New Zealand International Film Festival. We asked actress Shirley Henderson (Trainspotting, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Harry Potter’s Moaning Myrtle) a few questions…
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FLICKS: Hello from Flicks, how are you and what are you up to today?
HENDERSON: Hello. I am doing fine. Been in my little garden all morning getting my hands dirty so I am a happy girl.
FLICKS: What should people expect from Meek’s Cutoff.
I am not sure what people should expect from Meek’s Cutoff. If you have seen the director Kelly Reichardt’s films before then you may have an expectation of a story touching on themes of indecision, loss, fear of the unknown and the silent watcher. This film is the journey of a few pioneers crossing America in 1845 and deals with these very human feelings in a subtle way.
FLICKS: What’s your favourite line of dialogue from Meek’s Cutoff?
I don’t have a favourite line from the film but I did have fun repeating the name of my husband William over and over trying to catch his hat blowing away from me in the dusty desert wind.
FLICKS: Share your fondest memory from the set.
One of my fondest memories was doing the scene with Oscar the ox when I wash down his face. He behaved so well and had the biggest brown eyes and felt as if he was trying to act with me. I know that sounds daft but by that point we had been working with the animals every day and from being just big oxen to us, we learned how to steer them and they all had their own personalities and Oscar particularly so.
FLICKS: What was the last great film you saw?
I just watched the film The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. It’s part of a box set of films I treated myself to, directed by the brilliant John Cassavettes.
FLICKS: If you could work with any filmmaker or actor/actress living or dead, who would it be?
I would have loved to have worked with John Cassavettes. I like improvising on film and he was brilliant at acting and directing in that style.
FLICKS: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
When I was a young girl I used to sing in working mens clubs and concert halls, just for fun. The type of songs then were ballads and my mum used to sit with me and explain the meaning of the words in the songs so that I could try and put across to an audience some sort of feeling and understanding in the hope they would enjoy my performance. So I suppose the advice was understand the words of what someone has written and the feelings will fall into place. I was never very good at english at school but the time my mum took to try to open up my world a bit still lives with me today and has come in so useful in my work.
