Well known to British audiences for her work on In The Thick of It' and Getting On,' we speak to actress/writer Joanna Scanlan about her role in Ralph Fiennes' The Invisible Woman.' Based on Claire Tomalin's novel, The Invisible Woman is a captivating period drama that explores one of the very first literary scandals that went public, Charles Dickens' (Ralph Fiennes) affair with Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones), the muse and mistress of his later years. Joanna Scanlan plays Dickens' long-suffering wife, Catherine, who bore him ten children over a long marriage. Once Ternan enters Dickens' life, he does not hesitate to desert and publicly denounce Catherine as well as denying her access to their children, and leaving her virtually penniless. Scanlan's Catherine is a tragic figure, enduring her husband's harsh treatment with stoic dignity. Her initial humorless fa ade changes as the film progress to reveal a deeply wounded woman who, though devastated, accepts her situation with quiet grace.
We spoke to the great Joanna Scanlan about her preparation for the role, her creative process and how television is a female-driven environment.
Tribeca: What initially drew you to The Invisible Woman? Were you previously a fan of Dickens' remarkable body of work?
Joanna Scanlan: I love Dickens, but there were a number of things that jumped out at me immediately about the script. First, that it was about sensational events involving a very famous, hugely famous author in the 19th century and is a statement of historical record in that sense. Thanks to Claire Tomalin's book, we're looking at this domestic tragedy from a completely different point of view from how it was perceived at the time. The film is from the point of view of the women in his life, specifically this very young girl whom he managed to have a secret relationship with for the last nine years of his life. It's sort of extraordinary! I loved the opportunity to play a role of Dickens' wife and the mother of his ten children.
I studied 19th century British history at Cambridge and that was my degree. One of the things we were looking at there was the kind of injustices and hypocrisies that women faced during the time period. The film gave us a chance to just really nail one specific woman who got a pretty raw deal. I guess it was a pretty amazing thing to be able to do that.
Tribeca: How did you prepare for the role of Catherine Dickens in The Invisible Woman? Did you consult Claire Tomalin's book?
JS: It's so mysterious isn't it? To be honest, you could say you do the research the director wants you to do and you work with the other actors but in the end, for me, I'm pretty instinctual. I let what happens, happen on the day. That's my approach. It's to feel what's going on and just play with that in the room.
I deliberately chose not to do any further research other than what I was given by Ralph to know about Catherine until I played the part. I knew that her situation was intolerable, but because the book is more about Nelly's story and not Catherine's story, it really doesn't reveal much about Catherine. The last thing I wanted to feel on set was angry because actually Catherine wasn't angry. She didn't respond to this tragedy with any sense of self-righteousness or looking for justice or revenge she had none of that. I allowed Ralph to guide me for the most part because this is not Catherine Dickens' story; it's Charles' story but she has a part to play in that.
After we finished filming, I read the book because then I knew I'd be safe. Of course, it's the most extraordinary book, which I highly, highly recommend to anybody who is interested in the position of women in history. It's an amazing piece of detective work put together by Claire Tomalin. It's gobsmacking. So now I'm an expert, I can tell you anything, but on set, I deliberately kept myself free of facts and just tried to immerse myself in her emotional truth.
If you think about it, Catherine Dickens is probably the founding member of "The First Wives Club."
Tribeca: The triangle between Charles, Catherine and Nelly seems almost like a clich nowadays. How did you work as a team to keep the story feeling fresh? Was there any rehearsal period?
JS: We did have a rehearsal period, which is rare in the feature film world. Ralph is an actor himself, of course, so he understands the value of rehearsal. We had a very nice little time to kind of dig in. To keep the dynamic fresh, Ralph urged me to be authentic in terms of Catherine's emotional realities. Today, it's an absolute clich that successful men in middle age abandon their first wives. If you think about it, Catherine Dickens is probably the founding member of "The First Wives Club [laughs].
Cases like the Dickens' are so common now that we have to reminded that it was an extraordinary thing that he did at the time. Historically, it was unprecedented that he would dismiss his wife publicly in the newspaper without telling her and then never allow her to see her children again and send her 600 pounds a year to live off. She, devoted as she was, kept her affection for him and insisted that some of the letters that he had written to her in their early lives be published because I want the world to know that he loved me once. It was a tragic, a tragic situation.
Tribeca: While the way that Charles treats Catherine makes you uneasy and makes you feel for her, you never quite pity her. Her eyes are completely open and she's dealing with the situation as best she can. She's incredibly brave. Were you at all surprised by the complexity of the character?
JS: Yes, I was surprised by her courage actually. In many ways I think she was, if it doesn't sound to
