I discovered Katherine by chance through her vimeo channel. She's an actress who loves period drama, especially Jane Austen adaptations. This is the main reason she produced her Persuasion Project (two videos) and the reason why I invited her to share her experience here at My Jane Austen Book Club.
First of all Katherine, welcome to My Jane
Austen Book Club! Would you mind to introduce yourself to our readers and tell
us something about yoruself?
Gladly. First of all, thank you
for finding me and reaching out. Meeting another lover of Jane gets my kettle
going :) I’m an actress and I live in Los Angeles. Since I’m all about
challenging myself in my career and my life, my ultimate goal is to become the
most fearless actress of my generation. I don’t mean that someday I’ll be free
from fear exactly, but that when I’m terrified, I will go for broke anyways and
do the thing that scares me. And that’s what I did with this project.
I bumped into your lovely videos on Vimeo and
was surprised noticing that you had decided to film scenes from
Persuasion. Why? Why not P&P or
S&S which seem to be the best favourite
among young Janeites?
As an actress it’s difficult to get work, and it’s especially difficult to
get work that inspires you. To fight this, I took matters into my own hands.
Since the period genre is one of my absolute favorites, I decided to produce a
project that I could fall in love with as an artist. That project became these
two scenes from Persuasion. So yes of course P&P and S&S are fantastic,
but I had seen them too many times. I was worried that I might unintentionally
duplicate another actress’ performance. In the end I chose Persuasion
because I really love the story and I really really really love Anne Eliot. Her
struggle to overcome the pressure of her society and gain the courage she needs
to follow her heart, mirrors my own struggle with fearlessness. Her story is
very modern in that sense.
How did you work on your video project? What
did you start with?
Once I chose Persuasion, I read
it with an eye towards what scenes I could film on my limited budget of 500
dollars. I ended up with my final two scene choices because I could be the only
actor on camera, thus limiting my costume fees, and because I could film
outside which meant I could get away without paying for a location or for
filming permits. And I really loved getting to adapt Austen’s beautiful book
into a film script.
From the adaptation I recruited my voice over actors, my crew
(my hubby and mother), I prepared the character, and I rented the proper
equipment. We ended up filming the two scenes in one afternoon. We often had to
stop and start filming as mountain bikers and hikers with dogs passed by. I’m
sure they got a kick out of seeing a Regency lady in the middle of the LA
foothills.
And finally, I edited the project. What you see is the result of
that work.
Is your dream job becoming an actress?
What I am most proud of is that
I claim my life as an actress without waiting for someone to hire me. So yes,
while I would love to be paid and while I would love to work on the next
Hollywood Austen adaptation, I love where my career is currently at too.
Have you seen many Austen adaptations so far?
What are your favourite ones?
Oh my goodness yes! Which ones
haven’t I seen?! :) Hmmmm. My favorites are usually the long ones. Like Pride
and Prejudice with Colin Firth. I just can’t get enough of that world so I find
two hour films frustrating :) Of course, then I just end up watching Pride and
Prejudice with Kiera Knightley or Sense and Sensibility with Kate Winslet
several times and call it good. This is unconventional, but I love Lost In
Austen. It’s all about what it would be like if we went back in time into
P&P.
 |
| Darcy and Amanda - Lost in Austen |
Did you make the cute Regency dress you wear in the videos yourself?
I did make the dress and thanks
for calling it cute! It was actually the first sewing creation I attempted as
an adult. I had no idea what I was doing so I was really quite pleased with how
well it came out.
What is it that most fascinates you in that
distant, so different world, which is Jane Austen Era?
Everything about Austen’s
stories is romantic. The men (need I say more). The women overcoming the limits
of their society. The historical period itself pulls me in: life is slower, no
cell phones or multi-tasking, education and wit are attractive, etc.
Which Austen heroine/s do you most sympathize
with?
At this stage in my life, I
relate most with Anne Eliot. I touched on it before, but her struggle with
fearlessness, to do what her heart demands despite the persuasion of others, is
what I struggle with. It may be my own mind telling me I’m not good enough or
that I don’t deserve to pursue my bliss as an actress, but I fight that
persuasion just as she fights the persuasion of her family. And there is
something about the way everyone underestimates her. No one, except Wentworth, really
sees Anne’s beauty and value. Sometimes I feel overlooked like that.
Who’s your favourite Austen hero, instead?
Well I love Mr. Darcy. To see
his defenses brought down by love thrills me every time. I also love love love
Col. Christopher Brandon. His quiet, steadfast passion is something I’ve come
to appreciate in my twenties. It went over my head as a teenager :)
Imagine you could live one day in one of Jane Austen novels,
which one would you choose and which scene in the book would you be more excited
to live?
I’d like to live more in the
Persuasion scene where Anne reads Wentworth’s letter. It’s that moment when her
world is blown apart and she realizes she is loveable, desirable, that it isn’t
too late to live her ideal life. I could live in that discovery my whole life,
in that emotion of worthiness and value and love...in knowing that no mistake
is irreversible.
Going on dreaming, what would you miss the
most from present day life?
I would miss my husband the most :) And as an
asthmatic, I’d miss my inhaler.
Is there anything you haven’t read by Austen that you wish to
read soon?
I’d like to read Northanger
Abbey. In fact, consider it downloaded on my Kindle now!
For those interested in seeing what I do next, you can like me on Facebook or follow me
on Twitter. You can also visit my website.
Thanks a lot, Katherine. It's been a pleasure to chat with you. Good luck with your life and career! And now, let's have a look at your videos...
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with Jane Austen was when I read Pride and Prejudice in high school. It wasn’t until years later when I saw the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice that I developed a passion for her novels. At the risk of sounding a bit shallow, Colin Firth’s portrayal of Mr. Darcy may have had a hand in rekindling my interest! Or, was it Captain Wentworth’s proposal letter to Anne Elliot at the end of Persuasion that sealed the deal? Whatever the reason, I began reading her books, and following film adaptations of her novels and one day I realized I wanted more. I wanted to create 
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I took a Jane Austen course at my school, Sarah Lawrence College, this last semester. I loved diving into Austen’s work—mostly Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and, of course, Pride and Prejudice. But when we came to the Minor Works, I found I was a bit unprepared to discuss these writings. We get a glimpse at a young Austen—an Austen uncolored by life experience and publication. We can almost imagine her standing in front of her family in her parlor acting out scenes and skits she had written. We can see her parents laughing at her satirical wit, her early observances of the ridiculous, her 
