This year’s SXSW Film Festival may not include all the festivities that make the event so amazing, but at least we still get to see some good movies! While the 2021 program might be a bit curtailed compared to past versions of the mega fest, it is definitely great to see that the “Midnighters” category is still alive and well and representing genre fare in an otherwise mainstream selection of films.
Among the lucky few chosen, JAKOB‘S WIFE tells the story of Anne, a cloistered housewife who experiences an “awakening” after a supernatural event rocks her to her core. As opposed to an ordinary mid-life crisis, however, Anne’s new-found emotional freedom comes with some bloody repercussions.
Famed genre queen Barbara Crampton absolutely slays as the leading lady in JAKOB’S WIFE, and I was very fortunate to get to speak with the actress about her latest role. Enjoy!
Annette Kellerman :
Hi Barbara, how are you today?
Barbara Crampton:
Am good. How are you?
Kellerman:
I am doing well, I'm very excited to talk to you about JAKOB’s WIFE, such a fun, crazy role for you.
Crampton:
Yeah, thank you so much. I love it too.
Kellerman:
It’s so interesting how horror has over the years sort of transformed into a conduit for bigger issues. And maybe it's always been that way to a certain extent, but it seems like horror has a way of crystallizing everything from sexism, to racism- or in this case the repressed wife trope. As someone who's worked in genre films for years and years, can you talk about how horror sometimes is the perfect conduit for these types of stories to be told?
Crampton:
I think horror movies help us to deal with deep seated fears and being able to overcome them. Seeing yourself facing something and then winning out over it. Basic fears are about survival and about life or death issues. And we really get to that and the harm in between. We get to explore our fears and get to also explore trying to be victorious over them. But also horror is at its core, it's also about empathy, and it's about understanding. We use these experiences that are difficult to face to kind of have a window into people that might be different from us and to have deeper understanding and empathy for them. So I do think that over the years horror films, as you say, I think there's been a deepening in that aspect. And I think that audiences are smarter now, I think that writers are smarter now and I think that we're using the genre in ways that we haven't before. It's not so basic. We're using a lot of layering techniques to tell stories that really resonate with the human condition. And I've seen it recently with movies like GET OUT- they dealt with racism. Movies like Guillermo Del Toro’s THE SHAPE OF WATER- love who you want to love. And so I think with sexism we recently had A PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN. I do think in this movie we do deal with feminism in some ways. But I think that our film is really about an awakening that a woman has, but it's also an awakening that Jakob has himself and to his relationship with his wife. And so it's a revealing of who we are and who we hope to be. And I think it's a hopeful movie. I think it's a renewal movie. I don't think we're trying to make anybody wrong. Something horrible happens to this woman and it changes her forever. And it finally gives her the spark that she needs to challenge her husband and to challenge herself in ways she never did before. So I think it changes them both for the better.
Kellerman:
And it's such a fun, juicy role for you! Obviously I don't want to get into spoilers, but can you talk a little bit about how you embodied Anne's metamorphosis? It sounds weird to say it, but it’s such a fun metamorphosis.
Crampton:
Well, she's almost like a Caterpillar right. She's kind of in a cocoon where she protected herself. And her husband has enveloped her in this cocoon of his life and his meaning. And something happens to her that makes her face herself in a new way. She breaks out and I had a psychologist friend say something to me years ago that I never forget that was so relevant to this script. He was a very good friend of mine so he wasn't my therapist, but we would just share things about life and talk about things. And he said," people really only change when they're in pain. They change through pain. They don't change through love." Unfortunately, you'd like to think it’s through love...
Kellerman:
Right, but no,
Crampton:
This is what he said. This movie is about pain and about looking at yourself when something tragic happens. And a lot of couples when you read about tragic happenings in life, it breaks people apart. It's really hard for them to stay together. But in this film, we show that something tragic happens, but how can that bring them... How could that bring this couple together? How can they stay together and how can they look at each other with different eyes. And so there's two characters in it. There's three characters in the movie, almost four characters because Anne and Jakob are a couple and they have one personality and separate personalities. But then when Anne becomes changed... her changing and Jakob fighting it at first and not accepting her affects them both. How does that change the female in the relationship and how does that change Jakob? And I'd like to think that they both changed for the better, and they both challenged one another and they make a more perfect union. It's something still to be explored but definitely physically and emotionally, it has a huge change. And I think we're all, you know, multifaceted people and we are different. We are different with different people in our lives. And if you bring one aspect to the forefront, if you bring a more... A sense of renewal and a zest for life and a hope, how does that change your deepest partner? So that's what we're looking at. It's really an exploration about a relationship and how it changes or doesn't change over the years.
Kellerman:
And you get to have so much fun with it. It's just such a joy to see. There's a lot of scary stuff going on in the film, but one of the scenes that just really freaked me out is when it's just you in the bathroom. Again, I want to dance around any spoilers, but you have an epic kind of reaction scene. Is that just another day at the office? Or how does that kind of scene affect you? Because, oh my God, I was so... I was scared just watching you reacting in the mirror. And I think my actual note was like, “Barbara absolute terror.” Can you just talk a little bit about diving into those feelings and how you... Is it like an easy thing? Is it just another day at the office? Or is it much more?
Crampton:
It's been great working in the horror genre because working on films and being scared of having heightened emotions, you have to go there and you have to allow yourself to go there. And in life, my regular life, Barbara, I don't go there fortunately. Am pretty nice and easy going and... But it's my job as an actor to aluminate the human condition and expose it and be raw. And it's a challenge every time. That scene was a challenge for me, and I had to be vulnerable. I had to go to a dark place that I wouldn't go to in my normal life. It's not something I practice doing. I don't want to practice going there. So you kind of have to throw yourself into it. And I just use little mind tricks. I know how to get myself there because I've done it a few times in my life. And so I just work on it, but I don't plan it. I didn't know it was going to come out the way it came out. I just sort of work myself into that place and then I see how it manifests itself. And Travis Stevens as the director will also, give me some little- as a new director would- give me some adjustments for that moment. But it's not a place I enjoy going to but it’s important for the story so I have to, and then I have to shake it off afterwards.
Kellerman:
Wow. Well it definitely struck me!
Crampton:
That's good I guess.
Kellerman:
Mission accomplished! I imagine you must get every horror script in the world. Can you talk about your process in choosing your projects? You're always in such fun, dark films that I am drawn to. How do you pick and choose?
Crampton:
I'd like to play every part for every filmmaker if I could. I love helping young filmmakers and I like aiding them and telling their own personal stories or fun stories or scary stories. But if I read something and I feel like the part resonates with me, or I feel like I can bring something special to it, then I'll be interested enough to talk to somebody more about it and consider it. But if I feel the part is right and I can do something with it, then I might say, yes. If I read something and I go," well, I don't know if I have anything to offer," or I don't know if my personality would work for this or not. I might say no, but I also want to challenge myself. I want to do something fun and interesting. So it's hard to say what my process is for just reading it. But if the movie has something to say, I do like movies that have something to say, good or bad of how the human condition, but I'm more drawn to emotional stories and stories that resonate on a personal level. I will say that. So that's something I look for.
Kellerman:
I'm a mom of an 11 year old boy and everything I do at the moment is super “cringe and lame.“ And you're a mom. How do your kids feel about your work? Are they fans of your work? Have they seen your films? Are they cringed out like my 11 year old, or are they cheering you from the sidelines? Can you talk a little bit about what it’s like being this amazing genre actress and then of course having your normal day-to-day life and how your family supports you in that.
Crampton:
Yeah, to them I'm just their mom right now. I have a son who's a freshman in college and my daughter is a senior in high school. And they didn't grow up with me being an actor when they were really little, because I wasn't working until they were about eight or nine, I think. Because I took a break in my career for a while. But my son really likes horror movies and loves film in general and has recently taken a film course at college. He’s really in love with film. And we talk about film a lot and my daughter is interested, but maybe a little less. My husband is very scared by horror movies. He doesn't like to watch them very much, but he'll watch them with me if I want him to. You know, I made him watch PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN with me after I had seen it once- “Oh, you have to watch this!” And my daughter did watch that one and they were just shocked at the ending. So it's exciting to watch stuff with them when they like it and when they can get over their fears. But my son is really interested in it and he read The Shining and then he said, "mom, I want to watch THE SHINING with you." So we watched it a couple of times together and talked about it. But I think, what’s better for a horror film actress than having her son want to watch THE SHINING with her?! It was like very cool, but I'm really just their mom to them. And so I feel like I have two lives, you know that we all do. We have our public life and we have our family and home life. But they enjoy what I do. And they think it's cool. And they're proud of me I think.
Kellerman:
That's so great. It’s just so funny to admire my favorite actresses and then just occasionally remind myself, they have a real life with kids and everything else that goes with that too. They're trying to get the laundry done and make the lunches and do all the things... so thanks for humoring me.
Crampton:
Yes! Even though my daughter’s a senior in high school and she's just gone back to school only a couple of days a week, I made her a sandwich for her lunch! I have to cherish those moments because they'll be gone in a minute.
Kellerman:
Absolutely, and good on you for having their early years all to yourself. I love that. Well, thank you so much for taking to me today about JAKOB’S WIFE, Barbara. I hope to see you around Fantastic Fest again one day when things get back to normal. You take care.
Crampton:
Thank you. You too.
Kellerman:
I'm a mom of an 11 year old boy and everything I do at the moment is super “cringe and lame.“ And you're a mom. How do your kids feel about your work? Are they fans of your work? Have they seen your films? Are they cringed out like my 11 year old, or are they cheering you from the sidelines? Can you talk a little bit about what it’s like being this amazing genre actress and then of course having your normal day-to-day life and how your family supports you in that.
Crampton:
Yeah, to them I'm just their mom right now. I have a son who's a freshman in college and my daughter is a senior in high school. And they didn't grow up with me being an actor when they were really little, because I wasn't working until they were about eight or nine, I think. Because I took a break in my career for a while. But my son really likes horror movies and loves film in general and has recently taken a film course at college. He’s really in love with film. And we talk about film a lot and my daughter is interested, but maybe a little less. My husband is very scared by horror movies. He doesn't like to watch them very much, but he'll watch them with me if I want him to. You know, I made him watch PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN with me after I had seen it once- “Oh, you have to watch this!” And my daughter did watch that one and they were just shocked at the ending. So it's exciting to watch stuff with them when they like it and when they can get over their fears. But my son is really interested in it and he read The Shining and then he said, "mom, I want to watch THE SHINING with you." So we watched it a couple of times together and talked about it. But I think, what’s better for a horror film actress than having her son want to watch THE SHINING with her?! It was like very cool, but I'm really just their mom to them. And so I feel like I have two lives, you know that we all do. We have our public life and we have our family and home life. But they enjoy what I do. And they think it's cool. And they're proud of me I think.
Kellerman:
That's so great. It’s just so funny to admire my favorite actresses and then just occasionally remind myself, they have a real life with kids and everything else that goes with that too. They're trying to get the laundry done and make the lunches and do all the things... so thanks for humoring me.
Crampton:
Yes! Even though my daughter’s a senior in high school and she's just gone back to school only a couple of days a week, I made her a sandwich for her lunch! I have to cherish those moments because they'll be gone in a minute.
Kellerman:
Absolutely, and good on you for having their early years all to yourself. I love that. Well, thank you so much for taking to me today about JAKOB’S WIFE, Barbara. I hope to see you around Fantastic Fest again one day when things get back to normal. You take care.
Crampton:
Thank you. You too.
JAKOB'S WIFE celebrates its world premiere at SXSW on 3/17, but I will definitely keep you posted on the film's release. Be on the lookout for my interview with JAKOB'S WIFE director Travis Stevens coming up next month!
Cheers!
Rebecca Elliott
aka Annette Kellerman
