Alexandra Schepisi The Eye of the Storm Interview

Alexandra Schepisi The Eye of the Storm Interview

Cast: Alexandra Schepisi, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Charlotte Rampling, Colin Friels, Robyn Nevin, John Gaden, Helen Morse, Maria Theodorakis, Dustin Clare
Director: Fred Schepisi
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rated: MA
Running Time: 119 minutes

Synopsis: In the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park, two nurses, a housekeeper and a solicitor attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son and daughter convene at her deathbed. But in dying as in living, Mrs Hunter remains a powerful force on those who surround her.

Based on the classic novel by Novel Prize winner Patrick White, The Eye of the Storm is a savage exploration of family relationships - and the sharp undercurrents of love and hate, comedy and tragedy, which define them.

Release Date: 15th of September, 2011

Interview with Alexandra Schepsis

Question: Can you tell us about The Eye of the Storm?

Alexandra Schepsis: The Eye of the Storm is about a very wealthy woman, who is ailing and more or less on her death bed; her children come back from London and Paris respectively to see their dying Mum but more to stitch up the will and in the process they are all dealing with a lot of family issues.


Question: Who is your character in The Eye of the Storm?

Alexandra Schepsis: My character is Flora, a private day nurse who works for Mrs Hunter and looks after her.


Question: Can you relate to Flora in anyway?

Alexandra Schepsis: The character was quite far away from me. In my research and preparation for the role I learnt to relate and adopt to the character. Flora is very different to me, in real life.


Question: Can you talk about working with your father, Fred Schepisi?

Alexandra Schepsis: It was really great, actually. I was pretty scared about it, but we actually had a really great time, working together.


Question: Did you read the novel The Eye of the Storm by Patrick White before you began filming?

Alexandra Schepsis: I read the novel, definitely. Eye of the Storm by Patrick White is an incredible book and a really amazing insight into the character because my character, Flora, is really richly written in the book, as they all are. There are a lot of characters and they are all delved into really deeply, in the novel, which is fantastic.

I did a lot of other research to prepare for the roll, I would watch and listen to people of the era, 1972, to work out how they sounded, behaved and so on.


Question: The Eye of the Storm is being described as "the most impressive supporting cast ever assembled in Australian film" how did it feel to work with actors such as Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Charlotte Rampling and Colin Friels?

Alexandra Schepsis: It is the most enormous privilege ever, when I first sat down at the first read through I was blown away at my company; I was surrounded by the countries best actors. I definitely learnt a lot working alongside them.


Question: How do you feel when you watch yourself on screen?

Alexandra Schepsis: I hate it! I have always hated it and I don't think I will ever enjoy it.


Question: Who or what originally inspired you to begin acting?

Alexandra Schepsis: I have wanted to be an actor my whole life and I think it was a combination of a couple of things. As a kid I wanted to be everything and I think that along the way I always wanted to be an actor as well. I think I ended up perusing acting because as an actor you can be everything, you don't have to choose one role in life, it actually gives you the chance to be all these people, with all these different professions in life, in different counties and different time periods; that for me is very exciting because I am really curious about everything and everyone.

I love dressing up and meeting other people as well - I get incredibly excited about a film like The Eye of the Storm because you get costumes, makeup and furniture and you're completely immersed in another world and that still really excites me.


Question: Are you working on any other upcoming projects, at the moment?

Alexandra Schepsis: At the moment I am directing a short film with Jacki Weaver, it is called Lois and it is set in Australia and Greece and next month we are actually travelling to Greece to finish the film, it is very exciting.


Interview by Brooke Hunter