Madeline Stowe Talks Revenge Season 1

• By TVweb  |  Aug 30, 2012
• 0

Madeline Stowe discusses playing Victoria Grayson on Revenge

How much fun is it to play a character like Victoria Grayson?

Madeleine Stowe: It's amazing fun because I love Victoria. I really, really love her. She has a very interesting backstory that makes her understandable and explains why she's as warped as she is - but you have to watch the show to see when that is revealed. Playing a villain is so much more interesting than playing the roles I've played before, which is usually the heroine of the story or the tortured love interest. Victoria is a piece of work, which is great fun and something to sink my teeth into.

Do you think Victoria is a heinous character?

Madeleine Stowe: I don't think that at all. I think Victoria is hiding something that goes way past the terrible sin she committed. To be honest, I think we all hide things in different ways. In her mind, she feels that she has risen to being a good human being, but she's very much in love with Emily's father to this very day - and that's what really haunts her.

Were you looking to play a different type of character when this juicy role came up?

Madeleine Stowe: That's not something I ever consciously thought about; it wasn't part of my calculations. It truly came out of the fact that I had left acting for a while, but then this script came up and I was immediately hooked. Particularly being the age that I am at right now, when women aren't allowed to be glamorous creatures. It was definitely the right role for me.

Is it easy to make Victoria appealing to an audience?

Madeleine Stowe: Initially, it was tricky finding the right balance, because some people thought she should be almost a mustache-twirling heavy, but I never felt that. I felt that she had a certain kind of vulnerability about her, that if the hammer had to come down, it was going to come down. So when they were testing the character, I think what they found is that the audiences unexpectedly felt for her. They felt a lot of sympathy for Victoria because she's trapped.

Revenge is set in the Hamptons. Have you ever been there?

Madeleine Stowe: No, and I've got no desire to visit either. I look at it with a sense of unreality. The lives of those people really don't interest me that much; it's not terribly fascinating to me. It just seems so outside and incomprehensible. However, these characters intrigue me. It's a fun, gripping ride on the show.

Has playing Victoria Grayson changed people's perception of you in real life?

Madeleine Stowe: I have to say that when I walk down the street, people are really terrified of me now. They really are. In truth, I'm nothing like Victoria. I'm actually very shy and very introverted, which is why I disappeared from Hollywood for so long. I went and moved into a ranch in Texas for a number of years. I'm idiosyncratic and I'll disappear again.{

What is your relationship like with Emily VanCamp?

Madeleine Stowe: She is a very interesting girl and an extraordinary professional. Emily has a great deal of inner dignity. A lot of young actresses these days give themselves away too much, but Emily keeps it inside. I don't know whether that was her ballet training or how she was raised, but I respect that. She reminds me a little of Grace Kelly.

Are you similar in the way you go about your roles?

Madeleine Stowe: No, we work very differently. Emily has a very smart process and she thinks everything through. Also, with our different characters, she has a lot of exposition while, in a way, I have the more fun role to play. My role is all about manipulation, but I never have to explain anything. Emily has to do that. She's doing a brilliant job carrying the weight of the show on her shoulders.

When you're on set, do you stay in character between takes?

Madeleine Stowe: Generally, an extra stands in for the actors when the lights and cameras are being set. However, I like to stand there for every second, so I can really stay focused and in character. That's not how people typically work, but I feel that it's essential with Victoria.

Victoria is incredibly glamorous. Do you feel a lot of pressure to live up to her image?

Madeleine Stowe: This is where Victoria and I are completely different. I like to wear big baggy shirts, jeans and cowboy boots. That's what makes me happy and that's how I go to work every day, but I have to be a little more careful when I go out now. I have to think about it a little more.

How different is it to be in the spotlight today compared to when you first found fame?

Madeleine Stowe: It's a very weird world now. I grew up in a world where people weren't commenting or scrutinizing you. I don't Tweet, I don't use Facebook or any of those things and I'm bewildered by it, so pop culture is a very strange phenomenon to me. I don't know what to make of it. I'm very old fashioned and I can't see myself changing now, but who knows what the future holds?

You can relive all the drama of Madeleine Stowe in Revenge: The Complete First Season, currently available on DVD.