Hannah
Murray
Cassie
In
Skins, Hannah Murray plays Cassie; A total nutter, but magic
with it. A self-harming anorexic with zero self-esteem and a heart of
gold.
Have
you always wanted to act?
I suppose from about 11 or so it was something that I really wanted
to do. But this is the first thing I’ve ever done that’s
at all successful really. I’ve done sort of youth theatre at the
Bristol Old Vic. I’d done some plays with that and I’d done
some stuff for school and that was about it really. But I think doing
Skins has made me feel certain that it is something that I
really want to do and really go for it.
And
how did you hear about Skins?
That was through my youth theatre that I go to. Basically we were given
little bits of paper with the casting directors email address on and
I got in touch with her and then she said to come down for an audition
and I did, and got a call back and then another call back and then I
got the part.
What
is it about Skins that makes it different from other teen dramas?
Why is Skins something that is going to stand out?
I think that Skins is more truthful and I think that it’s
more exciting. And I also think that it looks like nothing else on TV.
I think it’s a lot more artistically done really. It’s really
beautifully shot and I think the characters are incredibly well crafted.
I also think that the fact that we are all so young is important, because
if you watch a lot of, especially American, dramas - they’re all
20-year-olds playing teenagers, but we’re all pretty much the
age of the characters, which I think is a big part of it.
How
closely did you work with the writers on creating the character of Cassie?
Did you have some input?
Obviously she was already written. She was very clear and well-drawn.
As soon as I read the script for the character she was just kind of
there. All the writers were really great about talking to us about things,
and if we wanted to have any suggestions or help to talk about how we
felt about how our character would behave, they were really good and
they were really open to ideas.
Tell
me a bit about Cassie. She’s quite a complex character.
Yes, she is. Well basically the main thing about Cassie, especially
in her own episode, programme two, is the fact that she’s got
an eating disorder. When the series starts she’s just come out
of hospital and she’s basically got a fairly horrible family life,
with parents who don’t pay any attention to her and just focus
on her baby brother. She’s a bit of an outsider as well. She’s
not involved in the main events like the rest of the gang. But at the
same time, as being very troubled she’s very clever and she’s
also kind of weird and wonderful and she’s fun and magical at
the same time.
Is
there much of you in her?
I don’t know. I don’t think that we’re the same on
a basic circumstantial level, I don’t have anorexia and I’m
not suicidal or anything like that, but I think there are some things
like, I think that everyone knows what it’s like to feel lonely
or a bit depressed and feel like that on an emotional level. And I love
how dreamy she is as well, and the things she thinks about, I really
like that. I think I can relate to her emotionally but not circumstantially.
Do
you feel some what kind of a responsibility playing a character who
is so vulnerable in terms of the fact that there are a lot of teenage
girls out there who have issues to do with eating? Do feel that there
is a responsibility that goes with playing a character like that?
I don’t know if it is a responsibility. I think obviously it is
a sensitive issue and I think it has been handled very well in this
show, but I don’t think the aim with this is to make kind of preachy
drama about how we should all behave in a certain way. Obviously this
is something that does exist for teenagers today and I think it’s
just a way of exploring that. I don’t feel a sort of responsibility
to behave in a certain way or portray her in a certain way because I
just want to play the character how the writers see it.
You’ve
referred to her home life, and Neil Morrissey plays your dad. That must
have been really fun?
Yeah, he was really funny. I was a bit nervous because he was the first
sort of ‘big name’ I’d ever met. But he was so nice
and so friendly and great to work with. He’s got a nice energy
in all the scenes that I did with him. He was really, really great.
And
how realistic do you think the drama is, how true to life is it? Does
it reflect the reality of being a teenager today?
I think it’s obviously exaggerated and heightened and there are
certain characters that exist in the show that are clearly not realistic
depictions of things. So, yeah there is a lot of exaggeration, but I
think on an emotional level the way the teenagers are portrayed and
how they are trying to work things out and everything is very true,
and the characters are very realistic.
What
was the experience of filming like? Was it everything that you’d
hoped?
It was more than that. It was so much more than that. I’ve had
the most amazing job of my life. It was so good. It was just so wonderful
to…it’s just the best job you could ever imagine and it’s
so exciting and it’s challenging and it’s fun. It’s
the best thing.
Did
they have to fit it into the academic calendar? Was it all done during
the summer?
No it was not all done during the summer holidays. When we filmed my
episode I missed two weeks of school but that was after my exams so
it wasn’t very serious. And then there was a month in the summer
but then we were filming throughout the first term of school but some
of us missed more than others.
So
you better make the most of the acting because your academic record
is going to be shot to pieces?
No it’s alright. I had good grades last year and I had some work
to catch up.
What’s
the best thing that someone could say about the drama when it comes
out?
That they like it. I don’t know, that they’ve enjoyed watching
it. I think that the main thing obviously about television is that somebody
can sit down and have a really nice hour and it makes them laugh and
it makes them feel things. I think that’s the most important thing
because it’s entertainment.
It
discusses quite frankly issues about sex and drugs will you be able
to sit down with family members and watch it or will you be too embarrassed?
Well partly I’ll be too embarrassed for the fact that I’m
in it. I mean I hate watching myself. I really hate it. I don’t
feel uncomfortable watching it with these guys because they are kind
of in the same boat. But, yeah it is the kind of show that I wouldn’t
particularly want to watch with my mum in the room. But I think it is
good that it’s not, because teenagers like to watch stuff that
they wouldn’t want their parents to know they were watching.
Yeah
if you could watch it with your parents then it wouldn’t be worth
making…
Yeah exactly.
By Benjie
Goodhart
Skins
Series 2
The
Return of Skins
An Introduction by co-creator
Jamie Brittain
Episode Guide
Cast and Characters
Writers and Contributors
Skins
Series 1
April
Pearson (Michelle) Interview
Mike Bailey (Sid) Interview
The Making Of Skins - Co-Creator Bryan
Elsley
Skins Series 1 Episode Guide
Skins Series 1 Cast and
Characters
