Lyndsey Marshal in Toronto, Canada on September 9, 2016.
We spoke to Lyndsey Marshal at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) about Trespass Against Us, in which she appears alongside Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson.
From what is available to research suggests, Trespass Against Us portrays the decline of a small-time crime family. Why do you think that the symbiosis of crime and family are so often so effective at commenting on one another in film?
I think a family set up can provide you with a claustrophobic, pressure-cooker environment. You can see how an act of crime reverberates within a group. And how that effects individuals members and depending on how complicit or knowing each person is, how that impacts on the family as a whole. A family network also allows you to see the story through many eyes male, female, young and old. And it works. For me Sopranos is still one of the most compelling dramas. And The Godfather, Goodfellas, Animal Kingdom, Breaking Bad, should I go on…
When you think back on shooting the film, is there a moment or day during the production that encapsulates the experience?
For me the countryside we shot in (the Cotswolds) feels like a big character in the film. I remember a sunset the day we shot the Antiques Roadshow scene. I just felt so happy to be there. We were all sunkissed, hanging out in the caravan playing with the kids (the wonderful actors Georgie and Kacie) and in that moment I thought, who needs a house and all the shit we hoard! Surely this is how we should all be living. Out in the air, in a field, with just each other.
Doing press, how do you find the balance between answering enough to stoke interest in the film but not saying so much such that it forms people’s impressions for them or satiates their curiosity?
I’m rubbish at it. I’m still learning. Some people are great at press, I actually think it’s an art in itself. Some actors just know how to flirt with it… Like a potential lover! In terms of selling your product? Well if it’s something you love you want the best for it, and I love this film and so I of course want people to see it. But weirdly enough the more you love a project sometimes, the harder it is to ‘sell’ as you can get somewhat precious over it, or OVER enthusiastic and then that can be a bit off putting! It’s a fine line. I suppose it’s essentially about trying to give people the ‘essence’ of the film. A bit of a spray shall we say… What scent would Trespass be??? If I could bottle that Tom Ford would be eating my hand off innit.
What aspect of Trespass Against Us do you wish you was asked about (more) or posed with greater depth?
Education. I think it’s a massive part of the film. How that forms your position and relationship within the world and how it can change the journey of your life. The film shows a tribe that live by there own realms of education. The education of life I suppose.
Without away any spoilers, what is a moral to the story that you took away?
Is it better to stick with what you know? I don’t know. I’m not saying people shouldn’t aspire for better, maybe not even better in some cases just different, but you see Chad pushing and fighting to leave the world he knows. And it ends up being the thing that tears his family apart. Or does it?
Marshal sips a glass of champagne at her hotel before the Trespass Against Us premiere.
Marshal outside the Fairmont Royal York.
Marshal gives a final excited glance before stepping into the car to the premiere.
As told to Paul Vaughan for TPJ
Photographer: Jessie Craig
