Thomasin McKenzie, In a New Light
In her latest role, in Netflix's 'Joy,' the New Zealand actor takes a swift departure from her previous psychological horror role in 'Eileen.' Filming alongside Bill Nighy and James Norton was "the most wonderful experience I’ve ever had," she says.
Photography by Robbie Lawrence
This article was published in March 2024 in Mastermind 15. Purchase all issues here.
By the time Thomasin McKenzie starred in her break-out role, in Debra Granik’s 2018 film Leave No Trace, film sets were already familiar territory. Born and raised in Wellington, New Zealand, the 23-year-old is a third-generation actor: her grand-mother is actor Kate Harcourt, who appeared in everything from stage shows to radio dramas; her mother, Miranda Harcourt, is a lauded acting coach. McKenzie herself started in the family trade aged six. Growing up, she toured New Zealand with her parents – her father is a screenwriter and playwright – while they put on theater productions.
Since then, she has appeared in Taika Waititi’s 2019 film Jojo Rabbit and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, and alongside Timothée Chalamet in Netflix’s The King and Anya Taylor-Joy in Last Night in Soho. McKenzie’s latest role casts her opposite Anne Hathaway as the titular character in Eileen, a psychological thriller directed by William Oldroyd and based on the novel by American author Ottessa Moshfegh. Described by McKenzie as an atypical coming-of-age story, the film is set in 1960s Massachusetts and follows a young corrections-facility worker who becomes enamored with an older woman. It might be McKenzie’s most challenging role yet.
Do you think there was a chance that you wouldn’t become an actor, given your family background?
TM I definitely didn’t always want to be an actor. My grandma, my dad’s mom, tells a story from when I was younger. She asked me what I wanted to be, and I listed these jobs – a zoologist, a vet, all these different things – and at the end, I said, “But I do not want to be an actor.” So, that didn’t really work out for me. I’ve done a couple of university courses, and I’m still interested in what else might be out there because I don’t want to base my whole identity on acting. It is what I love to do, though, and I’ve found that I’ve fallen more in love with it as I’ve grown up.
Do you feel most comfortable in dramatic roles?
TM I started off doing very naturalistic films, but I guess I suit the high-intensity realm, in films like Last Night in Soho. Maybe it’s down to the fact that I look innocent, so I fit the character who’s looking at the world initially through innocent eyes, and then everything goes to shit.
Can we expect to see you in comic roles?
TM This year, I want to focus more on playing lighter roles because I do tend to go for very dramatic stuff. Part of the reason I became passionate about acting in the first place is because I felt I had a chance to make a difference and to share important messages, and I associated that with more dramatic roles and storylines. But, looking at the world, I think we need some lightness and joy.
What sort of messages do you want to convey with your acting?
TM Jojo Rabbit was a way of reminding people about history and not to make the same mistakes. One of the first films I did was called Consent, which was based on a true story in New Zealand, about a young woman who was sexually assaulted. I felt, especially at the time, like that was a really important story to get out there, to shine a light on how unfairly women are treated and how they aren’t listened to.
What do you like about Ottessa Moshfegh’s writing?
TM I’m such a massive fan of hers. She has such a unique tone of voice, and I love how truthful she is and how unashamed she is to talk about the grosser, grittier side of humanity. I find reading her work changes your rhythm, in the same way that watching a Yorgos Lanthimos film does – it really affects how you go about the rest of your day. It makes you feel like you’re floating, and it’s powerful when someone is able to do that with their work.
What did you like about playing one of her characters in Eileen?
TM Eileen wasn’t worried about how people were perceiving her. She wasn’t going out into the world trying to be accepted or liked. That helped to take a lot of pressure off me because that’s how I exist in life – trying to please people. Eileen wasn’t worried about being likable; I enjoyed exploring this darker side of myself.
What did you do to prepare for the role?
TM I talked to a clinical psychologist who had worked in prisons in New Zealand, to understand the experience. I also went through the novel and collated all the evidence I could get on the character, every indication I could find of who she was, and put it all in a document and sent it to the psychologist. She gave me an analysis of Eileen and suggested what she might be suffering from. That helped me to separate myself from Eileen because I had a more clinical way of looking at her, which was important because she is in quite a dark mindset all the time, and I didn’t want to fall into that trap.
How did you decide how Eileen was going to carry herself physically?
TM A lot of that was in the book, so I worked with the costume designer, Olga Mills, and the hair and makeup team to create the character from that. But we added some details – for example, her stockings were always really baggy, as if they were an awkward layer of skin, because we wanted to give the sense that none of what she was wearing was her own, that she was uncomfortable in her own skin and ill-fitted to the world.
A few of the scenes in Eileen call to mind Carol, Todd Haynes’s 2015 film. Was this a source for you, and what other films have informed your work?
TM The characters in Carol were a reference for me, in terms of the dynamic between Rebecca [played by Anne Hathaway] and Eileen. I really love Wendy and Lucy, a 2008 film starring Michelle Williams, because it’s super naturalistic – it just follows a young woman on her journey in life. I love all of the Hayao Miyazaki films; I don’t know how much they have influenced my work, but they have influenced my personal life – I have Hayao Miyazaki paraphernalia all over the place, and my dog was called Totoro. Winter’s Bone by Deborah Granik was a big influence on me, too, and I was very lucky to be a part of another one of her films. There are also the New Zealand icons, like Taika Waititi, Jane Campion and Peter Jackson; growing up surrounded by their work, in a country that was so proud of them, they are always on my mind.
How do you think being from New Zealand informs your work overseas?
TM I tend to be able to charm people with my New Zealand-ness. That’s always my goal with work, to foster happy environments on set, because I’ve been on unhappy sets before, and it’s just not very fun. It prevents people from doing good work.
What have you got coming up?
TM I did a film last year called Joy, directed by Ben Taylor, where I acted alongside Bill Nighy and James Norton; it should be coming out later this year. It’s about the invention of in vitro fertilization. I play an embryologist called Jean Purdy, and it’s very emotional. Every time I think about it, I’m on the verge of tears. It was the most wonderful experience I’ve ever had.
Fashion by Abby Adler. Hair by Rudi Lewis. Makeup by Emma White Turle using 19/99 BEAUTY.