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First of all, can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about
you?
Hi - I’m Sarah Maddocks a British actress & voice artist
experienced in film, television, theatre & radio. I trained at RADA
and Drama Studio London and have acted in crime drama, thriller, sci-fi,
action, romantic comedy and period drama. I love playing strong female
roles - the more challenging the role, the more exciting it is to play.
Your upcoming show Emergency: LA - in a few words, what's it
going to be about, and what can you tell us about your character?
Emergency:
LA is a scripted drama featuring the fictional officers of LAPD, members
of LA Fire Dept Station 77 and staff at Emergency Centre Trauma One - we
follow their day to day adventures, rescues and everyday lives. The show
is designed to celebrate the heroes that respond to 911 calls without
question.
Christine
Rosen has been in the medical administration business for several years
and recently divorced her surgeon husband after a difficult marriage. She
arrives in Los Angeles and seeks to establish her position in Trauma One
as their newly appointed administrator. Let's just say she has no
intention of making any mistakes in her new life.
Your
character Christine is going through the motions quite a bit from what I
gather - so how do you even prepare for such a role, and what will you
draw upon to bring her to life?
Creating
a credible backstory for any character is vital - emotionally I will
either draw from any events or experiences from my life, or from somebody
else's life and make them my own. Learning the trade of a hospital
administrator is key, so I will no doubt arrange with the producers to
shadow one for a few days before filming starts.
Working
with the script, I will consider my character’s motives and how they
react and interact with the other characters - and I also consider the
reactions of the other characters towards my character. Basically, it’s
all about fleshing out the character - lifting them off the page - giving
them reasons why they do what they do, say what they say and react in the
way they do. Often what a character doesn’t say is actually more
important that what they do say.
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The Scattered |
As Emergency: LA is
still in pre-production as we speak, what can you tell us about your
collaboration with the showrunners so far?
We're
in contact almost daily and I'm being sent the scripts and story outlines
as they're being finalised in order to familiarise myself with the flow of
the show. They are very interested in hearing my ideas for the development
of Christine which I find incredibly exciting - it really feels like we
are a team.
How did you
get involved with the series in the first place? The show
creators had seen some of my work, I was asked to do a self tape and was
fortunate enough to be cast! As you
live in the UK and Emergency: LA is shot in the US, do talk about
the challenges regarding this for a bit! Obtaining the
necessary visa to be able to work as an actor in the US takes time and is
incredibly complex - it’s also quite an expensive process, but if acting
in Hollywood is your dream then you have to push as hard as you can to
achieve it! Other current
and future projects you'd like to talk about? I have been
cast in a two feature films that are currently in development. I can’t
say too much about them at the moment, other than they are very different
genres - a romantic comedy and a sci-fi - and they are both strong female
roles, which I love playing! I am also working on a sci-fi radio drama
series and hope to be doing more voice-over work for gaming.
The Ballad of Evil Roy Badfinger |
What got
you into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I have always been passionate
about acting and whenever I experience a great production, as a viewer or
listener - be it in film, television, theatre or radio, I become totally
absorbed. I love inhabiting different people and telling their stories. I
auditioned and was fortunate to be given the opportunity to study at RADA
and Drama Studio London. This training has given me a fantastic grounding,
as well as teaching me many different acting techniques and methods. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Emergency: LA? I have acted in
crime drama, thriller, sci-fi, horror, action, romantic comedy and period
drama. I am fairly versatile, but I have been cast mainly in professional
roles - psychiatrist, detective, doctor, lawyer, police officer, teacher -
as well as mother, lover and schizophrenic! I love inhabiting different
characters and telling their stories. The more challenging the role, the
more exciting it is to play. One of the most memorable characters I played
was Pepper in The Ballad of Evil Roy Badfinger. She was a bit
psychotic, but with a big heart - so she was rather contradictory, which
made her somewhat unpredictable in her reactions. It was exciting to play
her because she was such a challenging character.
Criminal Eyes |
How would you
describe yourself as an actress, and some of your techniques to bring your
characters to life?
I
enjoy playing a variety of characters - especially strong female roles.
It’s an organic process for me, I don’t tend to use just one acting
technique - I use a variety and it all depends on the role. I think I have
used most techniques at least once! Sense memory is one technique I
particularly like. I always read the script several times, to understand
the story and the characters and do any necessary research. Then it’s
all about fleshing out the characters and breathing life into them. I
spend time building a backstory for my character & exploring their
motivation in each scene. I always create a strong backstory for my
character, based on what I know about them from the script. If there is
little information in the script, then I create my own backstory.
Actresses (and indeed actors) who
inspire you?
That
is such a difficult question to answer - there are so many who inspire me
- here are just a few:
Actresses:
Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Jodie Foster, Tilda Swinton, Charlize Theron,
Emma Thompson.
Actors:
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington,
Javier Bardem.
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Your favourite movies?
Again
- so many, and so varied!
It’s
a Wonderful Life, Blade Runner, The Silence of the Lambs,
Man on Fire,
Slumdog Millionaire, As Good as It Gets.
...
and of course, films you really deplore?
The
most important things for me in a film is that I can engage with the
story and care about the characters. I really “feel something” after
watching a good movie. I don’t enjoy films that are self indulgent or
exploitative - I just wouldn’t watch them again!
Your website,
Facebook, whatever else?
IMDb:
http://www.imdb.me/sarahmaddocks
and
Twitter: @sarahmaddocks1
Anything else you're dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
My mantra: Be true to yourself and be kind to others. You can never
stop learning.
Thanks for
the interview!
My pleasure - it was great talking to you!
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