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When the conversation of model-turned-actress comes up (as it does so often lately), Agyness Deyn is in a league of her own—just as she was on the runways. The British stunner, with her bleach-blonde crop and tangible cheek, was an idiosyncratic presence in fashion from the moment she burst onto the scene. That punky appearance may have waned over the years—she’s traded in peroxide for her natural golden hue—but Deyn remains a devout believer in doing things her own way. Along with her sister and friend Tracy Moore, she launched a covetable clothing line sans much PR hubbub (Title A, now stocked by the likes of Net-a-Porter); excepting notable cameos (Saint Laurent) has removed herself from the catwalk; and has never used a stylist (skeptics, look no further than the terrific Giles number she sported this past weekend).
Likewise, Deyn’s segue into the acting world has been not overly splashy, and decidedly on her own terms. After an introduction via a few shorts five or six years ago, she’s racked up an eclectic array of credits, including a cameo in the studio colossus Clash of the Titans, a risky turn as a stripper in Pusher, and a role as an epileptic young woman in the indie Electricity last year. The coming months are full, too: There’s the Coen brothers’ mid-century ensemble comedy Hail, Caesar!; the epidemic sci-fi Patient Zero; and The White King, a dystopian flick shot in Budapest.
But right now? Deyn is busy with the various press and accolades surrounding Sunset Song, a sweeping period piece from director Terence Davies. Since debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year, much of the acclaim for the film has fallen squarely on Deyn. In the feature, she portrays a Scottish farmer’s daughter against the backdrop of World War I—perhaps Deyn’s most difficult role to date, and one that has paid off in spades: She recently picked up a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer from the British Independent Film Awards. North American rights to Sunset Song, which premiered in the U.K. last week, were recently acquired by Magnolia Pictures, so expect to catch it in theaters stateside early next year.
In the meantime, we caught up with Deyn to talk about her process, taking cues from Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, and showing up to audition in a full ’50s getup.
On her segue from modeling into the world of acting:
“It’s really funny because obviously I modeled for, like, 12 years, which is a huge chunk of time if you think about it, but it goes so fast when you’re in it. Then six years ago I started exploring doing other things and did a few short films, and fell madly in love with acting and the whole process. That was the moment I decided that I needed to concentrate more on that, so that even creatively I could focus on it and I think just so people weren’t confused. ‘Is she modeling? Is she acting? What is she doing?’ People ask me about it a lot, and I always see it as if you’re in any job, if you’ve been doing the same job for 12 years, you kind of do want to move companies or get a different title. It’s been, in a way, a progression of what I was doing creatively, because it is expressing yourself and creating a character and things like that, but this is just kind of next-level.”
On learning from Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes on the set of Clash of the Titans:
“I did a small role in that, where I basically just sat on the set, just to get the vibe. Being on such a massive, massive studio film and observing amazing actors like Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson—being in this environment where you’re seeing people in their process, it was really inspiring. That was the moment when I was like, ‘Yeah!’ Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson were doing this scene, and I just sat there being like, ‘Holy shit’—the amount of commitment and how intense it was, but then how funny it was between takes, how they were so light. I thought, Wow, this is something really amazing to be able to learn and grow in. Then I did Pusher, and then the West End play The Leisure Society. That was so terrifying, but so brilliant. To the director, I was like, ‘Are you crazy? I’ve never done a play before!’ I played Mary in the Nativity in primary school, but apart from that . . . [laughs] But that was so amazing. It was basically like going to drama school, doing that play.”
On earning a dream role in Sunset Song:
“With Sunset Song, I was doing [The Leisure Society], and the casting directors came to see me in the play, and then afterward they were like, ‘Do you want to come to the office for a cup of tea tomorrow and have a chat?’ So then I went to the office, and I was asking them what they were working on, and they said this Terence Davies film, and I was such a film nerd, such a huge Terence Davies fan. I was like, ‘Oh, can I read it?’ not thinking I would ever be able to audition for it. I was just wanting to read it as a fan. And I read it and I sobbed. I remember I was in a hotel at the time, just sobbed the whole way through, and then I called my agent the next day, and I was like, ‘I know this is crazy, but do you think I could maybe audition for this?’ And then I was like the first one to go in on [the auditions]. It’s been an amazing journey. Creatively, when you respond to something so amazingly, stuff happens, and you kind of have to be engaged with it.”
On researching her part:
“Terence had been trying to make this film for, like, 15 years—over that. He’s had this in his mind for so long that he was very specific about his vision for it, but then also gave me a lot of freedom in preparing as much as I want and finding [the character]. My whole process is I just read the book continuously on a loop. I read the book, I read the script, and figure out who she is on a level of everyday life. I learned to horse-ride for it—not that she has to ride a horse, but just because [she would know how to]. All these different things like baking, manual labor. I always find it really good to start with the physicalities of a character, and then go in. I suppose then you have your own kind of experiences that you’ve had, and then marry it with the story. You and the character become so enmeshed.
“I got offered the part, and then we didn’t shoot for a year and a half, because we had the funding and then it all fell out. So I had a while, which was amazing, because if we’d have shot straightaway, it would have been a different thing. By the time we started shooting, we were just so excited.”
On Sunset Song director Terence Davies:
“He has this really genteel quality. He just turned 70 a few weeks ago, and he has such a wealth of experience. He grew up in a really working-class background, with something like nine siblings, in Liverpool, and had a really hard father, and he’s also a gay gentlemen. He just brings this experience. We’ll be doing a scene and he’ll come in and be like [drops voice to almost a whisper], ‘Yes, that’s it. Just add this one thing for me.’ Then he’ll tell me a story of him as a young man or his experience with something, and then he’ll go, ‘Okay,’ and run off to his little monitor, and then you’ll do it. He’s so engaged emotionally that he’ll be feeling what you’re feeling—the supervisors will be like, ‘You know he’s weeping at the monitor while you guys are doing this.’ And I really respect him in the way that he has such integrity for his own vision of filmmaking. He doesn’t do something to make it more commercial. He says if he doesn’t feel it, then what’s the point? He has a tendency to hold on things, and he does big, sweeping shots and big fades. In some ways, the way that he makes films isn’t current, it’s more like an art piece. A modern film would just be like, cut, cut, cut in the editing room, but he’ll just leave it on [the shot], which makes it beautifully poetic.”
How a close-knit cast made Sunset Song’s most challenging subject matter easier:
“We did all the interiors in Luxembourg, the summer exteriors in New Zealand, and the winter exteriors in Scotland. We were all traveling together, and it was very isolated because we’re all in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand, so we bonded so, so crazily. On our days off we’d hire a car and just drive. And I really feel like for me as an actor, my relationships off-screen definitely aid my relationships on-screen. Because you don’t have to fake it if you really have an affinity for someone. I feel like I can feel safe and play more. Especially with Kevin [Guthrie], who played my husband, because we had a lot of full-on scenes. He goes to war and he comes back and he’s basically fucked. He’s such a sweet guy before, and he comes back and he’s really abusive and he rapes her. We were so close as friends throughout the shoot that those scenes—where you really have to fully trust someone, especially because it’s so physical—it helped so much. Terence only does a few takes on things—like the rape scene, he just did one take. So you have to be in a place with whoever you’re playing against [where you] trust them.”
On working with the Coen brothers on the forthcoming Hail, Caesar!
“It’s a really beautiful small gem of a role. Basically, I play an actor in a film, in the ’50s. I was only in for a few days, but to work with [the Coen brothers] was amazing. In the audition, I was so nervous. I always find that really successful people have a really simplistic way of working, and they definitely have that. On set they’re just so chill. The audition for that was really funny, because obviously you audition a few times before you audition for the Coen brothers. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s ’50s, so I’ll feel more comfortable if I go in a ’50s getup.’ I got in and there were two auditions going on: Hail, Caesar! and this sci-fi action. I had my hair kind of like Grace Kelly and this black ’50s dress on and red lipstick, and I got to the desk and the receptionist was like, ‘What film are you here for?’ I looked down, and I was like, ‘Obviously the sci-fi action film!’
“[At the audition] I didn’t even read the scenes I was doing as with comedic value, and I was really playing the drama in it. And I remember being in there and them laughing, and I was like, ‘Oh, fuck, it’s a comedy!’ ”