A New York Minute With Emily Bader
Emily was photographed in New York by Daniel G. Castrillon; she was interviewed by Alison Engstrom. Makeup by Carolina Dali, hair by Seiji Yamada.
It’s great to meet you Emily! You've had a busy June with the release of the film Fresh Kills and My Lady Jane from Amazon. Congratulations!
I worked on these projects over two years ago now—Fresh Kills we shot in February of 2022. It all feels like this dream, this imaginary thing, you never actually did it until it comes out. I've been in anticipation for so long. The fact they're both so different and come out the same month—the same week almost—is crazy.
Before we talk about both, how would you describe the road leading up to now?
It has been a long process and it hasn’t been an overnight success story in any way. I've been auditioning for 10 years. I always wanted to be an actor, but my very rational parents were like, yes absolutely, when you are 18. When you're 18, you can do whatever you want. I like to say that my journey in this business has been pretty much like a staircase. I think of it as a good thing to talk. You hear these stories about the person who's found on the street and immediately they book their first job. As someone who wanted to be that, it could have been very disheartening when you realize how difficult it is.
I had no connections in this business or any clue what I was doing. It was learning on the go but it was a big learning curve and I think it was a classic process. I got small jobs and then I got an agent and then I got slightly bigger jobs, and then you just move your way up the ladder. I started to meet people in this very classic way, which is good. I think you have to be stubborn enough not to give up, not have a backup plan, and something, at some point, will work out.
People do want the ‘overnight success story’ and maybe don’t realize the slow climb and build can have the biggest reward because you’ve had to actually go through the steps and work really hard to finally get it.
I'm sure having your dreams come true right away would be just an amazing thing to happen. But I do think having been on the edge and thinking, oh, this is so rough. Can I do this? This job is constant rejection. Having to look at yourself and decide you are capable of doing this is very difficult. It's not difficult in essence, acting is such a fun job, but just getting to this place has been so difficult. It is challenging for your ego but now to see that your work is paying off and people are taking you seriously is all the more worthwhile.
What did you learn about yourself from your first job to now–was it thoughts of, wow, I'm actually more resilient or courageous than I thought?
Courageous is good. When it comes to acting in general, you have to be brave. I know that sounds silly, but it was so scary stepping into this world with no clear idea of what I was doing. In the beginning, I didn't know if I was going to be strong enough or brave enough to enter these rooms terrified and not run out screaming. I remember when I got the callback for My Lady Jane, we did this very scary screen test– I'd never done a screen test before, but I had heard about them from all my friends, and typically it's more than one person in a room. But I was the only person there, which was a unique circumstance. I told myself, you're going to be freaking out, so if you can prove to yourself that in all that chaos you can still do the thing you love, which is the acting bit, and not run out of the room screaming and crying, then you won and getting the part would just be a bonus. I truly thought there was no way I was going to get it. I think that mindset, giving yourself the small wins like showing up and not completely freak out has helped me not only be kinder to myself, but I think braver in those situations.
You mentioned you knew you wanted to be in the arts, but you had to wait until you were 18 to kind of pursue it?
I remember I saw Emma Stone talking about how she convinced her parents to let her come to LA by making a PowerPoint. Unfortunately, that didn't work for me (laughs). I think they did that because I wouldn’t have been prepared for what all that rejection takes out of you. I think it was good I entered it at the time I did because it is so harsh at times.
I am a huge movie fan, it’s been my life forever. When I would come home from school, I would watch like six movies until I got yelled at to do my homework. I always knew I wanted to be a part of that world in some way. I just didn't know how I was going to get there. I went to college for theater—I love theater—but living in LA it's a different world. With movies, there can be a crazy thing that happens when you watch them and certain moments will make you want to cry, even if they're not sad. Or, like a good song, there’s just something about the escapism and the way it transports you to an amazing place. I always knew I wanted to be able to do that in some way.
Well you did it, congratulations! Like you said, the road's not always straight or direct, but you are here. But let's talk about Fresh Kills, which is Jennifer Esposito's vision.
She wrote it, she produced it. She directed it. She stars in it and she financed it. She did everything.
That's amazing. Talk to me about bringing her vision to life. How did you get the part?
It was a funny situation because they were looking for someone with a New York edge since it takes place in Staten Island and it’s about this Staten Island family. My friends had gotten auditions and I hadn't gone in for it. A good friend of mine was the reader for the casting room and he was always allowed to bring in someone as a favor. So he brought me in. As soon as I read the script, I felt that it was really special and everything I ever wanted to do. This movie's a bit of an actor's dream to get to play a young female character who is not only fully fleshed out but also really complicated. I was lucky enough to get the part somehow.
It's very dark, but I think it's a beautiful movie and you could feel Jennifer’s passion in it. I'm playing basically Jennifer Esposito when she was young. There was a lot of communicating back and forth because she was the blueprint. It is her, and she had such a clear vision. I was lucky I connected to it immediately and it was in line with what she wanted. She gave me the freedom to express this character that she's lived with for 20 years, the way that I felt it should be expressed. It surprised me because I know she had been thinking about it for so long; it could have been a more difficult relationship, but it wasn’t at all. She was incredibly giving and free.
That sounds so collaborative. Talk to me about Rose. How does your character come into the fray?
It’s set in Staten Island, New York and it’s about a late eighties mob family, but from the perspective of these two daughters. Rose is the black sheep of the family; she can't let things lie where they are because she sees the violence and the pain that's going on within their family. The inability to discuss the truth of what's going on starts to weigh on her and suffocates her. She gets more suffocated, and more anxious until she starts questioning whether or not she can live in this world and what it would mean to leave it, to leave her whole family behind. The poor girl goes through a lot.
Seeing her direct, Would you ever be interested in doing that one day?
Absolutely. I always said I wanted to be a writer, unfortunately, I'm terrible at it. I think directing is something that I would love to do later down the line. Having Jennifer direct and seeing how awesome it was to have an actor direct you as an actor, made all the difference. For her, performance was everything; she wasn't going to stop until it was what we needed to do. She knows how to get you there and how to describe things in a way that makes sense. There are a lot of directors who aren't actors that can also do that but I haven't worked with too many directors. So to get to do that and see something you've envisioned come to life—be the captain of that ship—I think one day would be something I would like to pursue.
Now to talk about your other big project, My Lady Jane. Talk to me about getting into that headspace, your accent and horse riding skills are on point.
With the accent, I started from a good place. I watched a lot of movies and I copied a lot of people, like Flea Bag and Pride and Prejudice. I had an amazing dialect coach who basically held my hand the entire way and made sure that I wasn't making a fool out of myself. In the beginning, I met our showrunners, Gemma and Meredith, and we were so similar in personality. We had this look of recognition that we were on the same page about what this would look like. There wasn't too much of a stretch where I started mentally and where I had to go as far as the journey that she goes on. For the horse riding and the stunts, they just trained me. I mean, I was terrified of horses. I had a month of training before, and then we shot for eight months.
Had you ridden a horse before because in those scenes you look like a pro.
So here's the thing, I was desperately clawing to get this part. I got an email that asked if I could ride horses and that it was important. Rather than saying that I was amazing at riding horses, I said, tell them I grew up around horses, which I did. Technically, all my neighbors have them. When I was a kid, I fell off and it was scary. Then when I got the part, I was like, well, now I have to learn. It's the best thing I could have ever done. I'm obsessed. I think about it all the time. Please, can we get a season two? Can I go back again? Can I go to the Devil's Horseman Ranch and ride these amazing horses? Those horses are movie stars.
Did you do all of your own stunts as well?
We had stunt doubles who were amazing. It's funny because me and Edward’s (Bluemel) stunt doubles are a married couple, which we didn't know about until the end. We were like their chemistry is amazing. I did everything like ride horses, sword fighting, and falling out of towers. But if any moments look particularly sick, it's probably not me (laughs).
How would you describe the series for those who haven’t tuned in yet?
My Lady Jane is an alt-history romance. It's very alt-heavy on the retelling of one of history's most tragic female figures, Lady Jane Gray, the nine-day Queen. In this story, we are giving her agency and a chance to possibly make a better future for herself with the backdrop of fantasy, romance, and everything else. What if she could save herself with her strength, mental acuity, and all those things you don't normally see?
Absolutely. What was your favorite part about filming it?
We filmed in a lot of places. The first half, when the weather was good, we were on location. We filmed in Bath, which is insanely beautiful, and Woodstock, which is in the Cotswolds and is stunning. Dover Castle was one of my favorite moments. I was racing away down a castle bridge at night with fire on an ocean cliff, on a horse, in a princess dress with the craziest hair extensions you've ever seen—that was a radical pinch me moment.
It's so cool though, think about when you first started to riding a horse in Dover, amazing!
I have been such a big fan of this genre, Pride and Prejudice and The Princess Bride are two of my favorite movies. I had just assumed that it was never going to be in the cards for me because I'm American. Those are just not genres of movies that Americans get to do, but it is changing now. But to be there in Dover, speeding down a hill on a horse towards a bunch of terrified crew members was a massive pinch-me moment that I don't think I'll ever forget.
It's amazing. What are you most proud of about the series?
I'm so proud the creators of this show had such a clear vision. It is so unique that I think a lot of people didn't know what to do with it. I'm so proud that we managed to execute something that is exactly what we wanted to do. It's so hard not to compromise, especially when you're dealing with revisionist history and a female protagonist. But with this dark sardonic and sarcastic humor, it's hard not to have to sacrifice some things. I think that the project holds to what we wanted.
Are you working on anything else? I know there's been rumblings of maybe a season two.
I am just waiting to see what happens, but nothing that I can say yet.