\u201cTerrified<\/span>!\u201d adds Mackey.<\/p>\n\u201cI mean, we kind of knew what we were doing,\u201d O\u2019Connor continues. \u201cWe knew that it\u2019d probably be a little controversial but that if we did it well enough, and we kind of speak from our heart, that people will understand the intention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if the film isn\u2019t entirely based in fact, no one could accuse either O\u2019Connor or Mackey of not doing their research. O\u2019Connor explains that she read just about every biography she could get her hands on before embarking on the project, while Mackey also did an extensive amount of studying, something which proved invaluable when it came to building the foundation for her performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so fun to learn all of that stuff,\u201d Mackey explains. \u201cI like feeding my brain with lots of facts and things, and it was such a rich world to delve into. But actually, in a way, they were quite separate things. It was great to have all of those books and those biographies, but actually when it got to the shooting of the film, the script became my main priority and so you let all of that go in a way.\u201d<\/p>
That script was penned by O\u2019Connor herself, and in addition to incorporating aspects from true history, it is also partly inspired by Bront\u00eb\u2019s fictional work \u2013 including Wuthering Heights. One example of the way in which the film deviates from the historical record is the addition of a fictional romance between Emily and a curate named William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who in real life is believed to have actually had an affair with Anne Bront\u00eb.<\/p>\n
Asked about this process of blending fact with fictional elements, O\u2019Connor explains how everything essentially came back to theme.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe theme of it really is: \u2018How do you find your voice when you can\u2019t see yourself reflected anywhere?’\u201d she says. \u201cAnd how do you as an artist kind of connect to who you really are when who you really are isn\u2019t really appreciated?<\/p>\n
\u201cSo everything that happens in the film \u2013 like you take the mask, for instance, the mask was a real object the Bront\u00eb\u2019s had. And then when I was developing it, I thought that could actually be a really great symbol for Emily\u2019s creativity, it\u2019s connected to the mother, connected to the feminine. And so it became this great kind of symbol in a way for creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connor adds: \u201cSo that\u2019s kind of one way that I worked \u2013 I did the research, but then I didn\u2019t limit my imagination. I was never going to write a biopic about this subject, I really wanted it to fly, and be something that young people would actually go and see. Biopics in some ways are so like for a particular demographic, and I wanted this film to speak to a lot of young women.\u201d<\/p>\n