Of course, that is also where the similarities between the actress and her character end.
But looks can be deceiving.
We also chat about how unique a film likeThe Girl on the Trainis in our current studio climate.
Yes, I read this book about a year ago.
I picked it up.
I read the logline, and it said, On the train, Rachel watches this seemingly perfect couple.
And immediately, I was like, this is a great set-up for a film.
A lot of tones of Hitchcock andRear Window, which was one of my favorite films.
In fact, theyre usually the opposite of what they seem.
Youre comparing it to Hitchcock.
Yeah, I dont know if that was intentional to Paula [Hawkins].
The idea was really, for her, spawned from her own experiences and riding the train.
Its something thats very, very common.
And for her, the lives of other people interested her.
And gosh, I think she says.
What if I saw something that I wasnt supposed to see?
And then it kind of snowballed from there.
Megan is a very interesting character, because shes an enigma for most of the movie.
Youre not quite sure what shes thinking.
I wanted to know how you approached that as an actress.
She is just such an enigma.
I think she almost has like schizophrenic qualities about her where shell resort to different personalities.
She can go to the nanny.
I mean, shes the mistress of self-reinvention.
I dont think we ever get to see who the real Megan is.
And not just my character in this film, but also what Rachel was going through, as well.
They were connected in more ways, in many different ways.
Is that something you had experienced with other characters?
No, this was a first in terms of feeling like I needed to really shed a character.
This was the first time that that gave me a physical reaction, like a physicalalmost like a rejection.
I mean, there wasnt a whole lot of time.
And there wasnt a lot of time to get to know each other, at all.
So were you able to really develop her backstory with Tate off-screen?
I was able to leave that up to the book.
Its such rich material, and its told from her point of view.
In fact, the whole story is told from three different womens point-of-views.
The way that the other characters view them, as well.
Like the contradictions of who they were compared to who other people thought they were.
And how they view each other.
And then a lot of their relationship is told to other characters, but not to each other.
Going back for a second, as you said, we have three really great feminine, adult characters.
You dont see that a lot in modern Hollywood movies.
Do you think thats changing?
Because I dont think this movie mightve been made by a studio five years ago.
I think it was barely made by a studio last year.
Theres a standard that women are set to, to give a shot to keep everybody comfortable.
Going back to the voyeuristic aspect, Rachel is obviously a character who has some questionable obsessions.
I think by nature, human beings are curious.
And I think thats only amplified as an artist.
I mean thats my entire life.
But you havent witnessed any murders yet?
[Laughs] Thats never the case.
Well, thank you so much, and I hope you might get home and feel better.
Thank you so much.
The Girl on the Train opens Friday, Oct. 7.
