faking it ~ harry styles

10. interview

ROWAN WILLIAMS TALKS 13 REASONS WHY, THE FUTURE OF HER CAREER, AND BOYFRIEND HARRY STYLES

With just a week to go before Netflix premieres their next original series, 13 Reasons Why, we sat down with Rowan Williams, to get insider details on how it was to film a show with such heavy hitting topics.

Interviewer: First off, thank you so much for coming. I know it's really early.

Rowan: It's no biggy. I had to wake up super early for filming anyways. Thank you for having me, though. This is my first interview for the show.

I: We're honored to be the first! Now, this show is based off of a book that talks about some pretty heavy topics. Did you read the book before you took the role?

R: Not before I took the role, no. But when I found out it was based on a book I rushed out to buy it and read it. I had it read in one sitting and I was just sort of left speechless. Like you said, it does touch on heavy topics, so it took a bit to digest what I had read.

I: Were you nervous about filming, not just an adaptation of a beloved novel, but also a show that talks about things that have been heavy in the media lately, such as mental health, suicide, sexual assault?

R: Yes on both counts. For the adaptation part, I know what it's like to see your favorite book on the big screen, or even on the small screen, and it doesn't turn out the best and feeling disappointed, so I wanted to make fans of the novel happy and proud with this adaptation. As for the other part, I was nervous about whether or not I was portraying...the subjects correctly or not. Mental health and suicide is such a huge thing and it's not something to be taken lightly, same with the sexual assault. So we obviously didn't take it lightly.

I: What do you mean you didn't take it lightly?

R: Well, for like...acting purposes, I did research and I talked to people who struggle with mental health so I could do them justice and so I wasn't just someone who's never experienced that before playing someone who was really, really struggling and needed help. And, when filming, we didn't really shy away from much. There are some graphic scenes in the show, which were tough to film, but I think that's just what these things are; they're things people find tough to talk about and they are uncomfortable, but they're real and they're happening and we can't just look away.

I: Wow. How did you cope with filming some of the more intense scenes?

R: The producers had therapy dogs brought to set. If we ever had a tough day or the scenes were starting to get to us, we went and played with the dogs till we felt we were calm enough to finish the day. It was really tough at times, but we also had each other and we all looked out for each other. The cast has really become like my family.