25-year-old Emily Browning has been acting for 17 years now. While her first project was the TV film, The Echo of Thunder, it was in 2004 that she was introduced to a wider audience with Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, a gorgeous adaptation that should’ve spawned a franchise. Following the divisive Sleeping Beauty and Sucker Punch, and more, she’s now returned leading a new project.
Her latest film, God Help the Girl, is a grounded coming-of-age musical marking the directorial debut of Belle and Sebastian‘s Stuart Murdoch. Browning plays a troubled young girl who finds catharsis through music. She’s sung in past films, but much more prominently in this instance. We discussed the film, in addition to her career, with Ms. Browning during a recent phone interview. Hopefully one day we’ll speak with her again for a project she’s written, which, based on her interest in screenwriting, is a possibility. You can read more about that below:
Looking at this, Plush, Sleeping Beauty, and other films you’ve done, they’re not movies you can put into a box. Is your taste just not the most mainstream?
I guess. I was just doing this interview where I was asked, “What’s your master plan? How does this film fit into your master plan?” I’m, like, “Dude, my attention span is way too short for a master plan.” [laughs]
I see a script I like, people I want to work with, and characters I like, and it just happens. I don’t think about it too much. It’s the one area of my life I don’t overthink. I just kind of do it. It’s weird, because a lot of my films have been quite different but have a similar theme of a girl being trapped, to a certain degree. I’ve been in a psychiatric facility in about seven different films, and I don’t know where that comes from [laughs]. I don’t intellectualize it too much.
Is it more freeing going with your gut rather than thinking like a careerist?
I think so. There has to be a certain degree… I mean, coming at it from a business perspective, which I’m so bad at, it’s, “Well, I’ve done 10 indies now and have no money. I have to go make a big film!” [laughs] That’s the only thing I think about career wise: paying my rent.
You’ve been working a lot more lately. There was a point where you considered quitting acting, but have movies like Sleeping Beauty and God Help the Girl rejuvenated you?
I definitely felt a shift after I did Sleeping Beauty. It was the first film I felt really proud of and made me feel like a grown-up. I still don’t really feel like a grown-up, but I felt like my first adult role. I started working when I was eight years old. At the time it was just a hobby, I loved it, and I loved the fact I got to be friends with grown-ups. I didn’t really get along that well with other kids. Not that I didn’t get along, but I was kind of weird, way too opinionated, and got made fun of a lot.
It was a hobby and I loved it, but I decided to quit for three years and finish high school. I thought maybe I wouldn’t go back and I’d go to university, but by the time I finished school it became very clear to me there was nothing else I wanted to do. Not that there was no other options, but I needed that feeling again of making a film, losing myself in a character, and being creative. That’s when I really started to take it seriously and know, if I can, it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
And if you ever wanted to leave acting again, at least you got a level of education and could still go to university to find another profession.
Totally. I just finished high school, so I didn’t go to university. That’s something I really want to do at some point. I love the idea of just going to university to purely learn about something I don’t know about, as opposed to going to university trying to find a job. I feel like this is what I want to do. I’ve made money for myself this way, but going off and studying women’s literature or women’s studies sounds really appealing to me. That’s something I’m interested in doing at some point.
How about studying music? Music has been a big part of some of your films. Is that an interest?
Maybe. That’s an interesting thought. I definitely want to try to learn to play an instrument. People always ask me if I want to make my own music, but I feel like being able to sing a little bit is not really enough. I would want to know how to write a song. I’m trying to teach myself how to play the drums at the moment, which is hilarious. Yeah, maybe music. We’ve performed some of the songs from God Help the Girl for a live audience, and it’s a feeling unlike anything else. It’s something I really love. I’d want to get that feeling back at some point in my life.
As you said, you’re interested in writing music, but don’t you write screenplays?
I do. I’ve written like 15 quarters of screenplays, because I have a short attention span. They never get finished. That’s something I really want to work on and develop. At this point in time I don’t have enough confidence in my own abilities to share them with anyone, but hopefully I will at some point. I’ve been acting for such a long time. I started when I was a kid when I had no anxiety and neurosis, so I just felt free. That’s an area I’ve always felt comfortable in. I never feel embarrassed in front of a camera. I never had that time of experimenting, finding what I want to do. It’s always been there. Now the idea of starting something new and sharing it with someone is… [laughs] I’m paralyzed with fear at the idea of anyone reading my writing. That’s something I’m going to work on, because I think I would love to make my own films in the future.
What kind of stories interest you as a writer? Are they more like this and Sleeping Beauty?
[Laughs] Oh, I don’t know. See, I’m just nervous even talking about! The one idea I haven’t gotten bored of is writing about…I’m kind of obsessed with cults. I’m so fascinated with the brain of the cult leader or the mind of someone who joins a cult or is a part of a cult — that’s something that really interests me. That is the most I’ve ever told anyone [laughs]. Like, I even just told my boyfriend, “Yeah, it’s about a cult!”
[Laughs] I know I have to let you go, so my final question: You’ve been working since you were eight years old. Do you still find yourself learning as an actor on each project or is a lot of it familiar by now?
I think I still have so much to learn. On God Help the Girl, it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. We didn’t have much money, we were running around, and it wasn’t so structured. It was kind of a dream. It didn’t even feel like making a film, it was like summer camp. It’s one of the most enjoyable professional experience I’ve had, and it was totally new to me. I feel like every film I’ve made has been a new experience. I still have a lot to learn, but I hope that I always do have something to learn. I get bored very easily. I wouldn’t want everything to feel the same.
God Help the Girl opens in limited release and on VOD on Friday, September 5th.