Shauna MacDonald
Shauna MacDonald returned to the character of Sarah when The Descent 2 hit the big screen in December last year, the movie is out on DVD out this week.
I caught up with Shauna to talk about making a second movie, working with a new director and returning to the character of Sarah.
- The Descent 2 is out on DVD this week so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?
Well it’s a sequel to The Descent and it takes place within twenty four hours of the first film and essentially it’s a rescue mission to save the lost girls.
Sarah appears from the caves she has got amnesia, she can’t full piece together the events of the last few days in her head and she is the only link to her missing friends. And so Sheriff Vaines and Rios, the assistant Sheriff, convince Sarah to go back into the cave and all is not as what it would appear, and of course they come face to face with the crawlers again.
But it’s like a redemption movie for Sarah rather than her descent into madness it’s her ascent into some sort of atonement with herself. It’s pretty action packed an emotionally charge, much the same vibe as the first but bigger and better.
- You are returning to the character of Sarah once again so what was it about the script that made you want to return to the character?
Well it was kind of back to front it wasn’t so much reading a script and getting attached it was getting attached then reading a scrip, they came to me with the idea of doing a sequel way before any scripts were floating around, they knew that they wanted to continue the story of Sarah so they needed me to say that I would be attached to it.
So initially it was the idea of being to continue the story and see where we could go with her and they are very good at selling, these producers, they know to pitch and idea to make me go ‘ooh that sounds really exciting.
And then, eventually, they gave me the script. But the original Descent 2 script, compared to what we actually shot, changed hugely it’s very different, and for the better. So the script that we ended up with was excellent but that’s not what got me hooked it was the idea that got me hooked.
- How surprised were you that they were even thinking about doing a sequel?
I was quite surprised because it was quite well stitched up and rounded but not so surprised because it did so well. I think we were at the British Independent Film Awards when on of the execs said ‘what do you think of a sequel? And I was like ‘that’s a ridiculous idea’ but then I though hang on we are winning awards, it’s a great film that we have created and people love the film and the characters and I thought well that might not be so crazy.
Plus does it mean that I get to have a lead role again and get to do loads of exciting things? Ok I’m in (laughs) you have twisted my arm.
- You have already touched on this but, without giving too much away, how does you character change or develop throughout the second movie?
It’s pretty tricky because at the end of the first film she has lost her mind, Neil and I agreed that she had gone into the depths of the earth as well as the depths of her mind; she’s not dead but that’s her in the cave with whom she thinks is her daughter but is in fact an hallucination.
So it was a bit tricky because they needed me to get above ground to start from some sort of beginning so we thought the best way to do that was to give her amnesia, we didn’t want her to forget completely because then there is not tension; if there’s no feeling of foreboding in Sarah it loses something with the audience.
We cleverly, with the use of medical explanations, decided that she was very grief stricken and traumatised but not crazy. So we stared from this grief stricken and traumatised point and then go back into the cave and see what notes you an hit, what crazy notes you can hit, the lucid and sanity notes you can hit.
So I guess that the emotional journey that Sarah goes on in the film begins with grief stricken and emotional and moving up and forward in her life and at the end, by meeting other characters in the cave; I don’t think it’s any great secret that Juno reappears, there is a certain atonement and resolution with Sarah and Juno. So she ascends into sanity I suppose.
- Descent 2 also sees a change of director as Jon Harris takes over from the Neil Marshall so what kind of new ideas and direction did he bring to the project?
He was heavily involved in The Descent, it was the movie’s editor, often when I would speak to Jon it was reminiscent of Neil’s description of how he wanted things to feel, that’s one reason why they kept it in the family because they wanted to be true to the first film.
We could cut a lot of corners because I knew what he was trying to say and he knew what I was trying to say, because we had all worked on the first film, but he was different because he wanted to make it bigger and better and darker and gorier.
And so the technical, the blood for example, there was suddenly gallons of blood and instead of being submerged in a blood pool I’m submerged into a shit pool. So I kind of new early on that it would be like working on the first but then times that by a bit more and that’s what it is.
But I get on with Jon, Jon and Neil are similar in the fact that they are both really nice blokes but with really dark, dirt, funny minds; and that’s the sort of sense of humour that appeals to me when making horror films.
What would the difference be? I think Jon pretended to let me have an opinion more because I was very vocal, maybe he though t oh shit I had better not piss of the lead actress because we really need her where I suppose in the first film they could have always recast it.
But Jon was very giving to me because I desperately wanted to make a better film, or a least as good a film, as so did he but he let rant on with my anxieties about it because I had a lot to lose.
- You got put through so many extremes in the first film, what new challenges have you had to face in this one?
Well there’s a lot of underwater sequences, which actually didn’t make it to the film and I couldn’t believe it because I had told all my family and mates ‘Oh my god I got dragged backwards through a tunnel that was submerged underwater and they put a rope around my ankle and pulled me through.’ And they were like ‘Oh really? Where abouts in the film is that scene Shauna? I think you have gone slightly mad. (laughs)
I got to do more physical stuff; I got to do more fights. It did seem physically harder but I think that was just because of the plot she seemed to get into more scraps early on and got to be a bit more brutal and savage, she had already been there an experienced it so there was no cutting corners she just got down and did it.
But the huge difference in filming was The Descent we shot in the winter and The Descent 2 we shot in the summer. On The Descent we were constantly freezing cold, we would go to work in the dark and you are working in these caves and I was dark when we were going home so we got in this weird world.
And I ended up having these awful nightmares just because everything I was dealing with in the day was nightmares, blood and monsters and it was dark and cold.
But for the second film we shot in the summer in Ealing and they kindly got me a flat five minutes away from the studio so I would walk to work at 7.15 in the morning, a reasonable hour, the birds are singing and I’m feeling great I would go and put my costume on, pretend to be someone else and go home.
And not to belittle it because there are a whole load of emotional notes to it which were tricky but I just felt lighter. But I also think that it’s because I’m older, I’ve got married and have had children and grown up.
I have realised that I didn’t have to put myself through all these anxieties I could just turn up and do my job and try, I had to leave my work where it was because I couldn’t go home to a one year old thinking about my dead daughter and these crawlers.
- The original film was very physical, so was it easy to get back into character? Did you go any specific training before the film?
I’m into running and I ran the marathon just a few weeks before we started shooting and didn’t tell them because you are not really allowed to run marathon on the run up a shoot, you actually have to tick a box in your marathon that says that you will not run a marathon.
So I did that just to make sure I had lots of stamina but I also did a ten week of fight training, you have so much to think about on set if you start worrying about how your punches look it gets really distracting.
And you are working with other actor, Natalie and I had a lot of fight scenes together, and I didn’t want to have to worry about punching her or kicking her by accident, in the end she actually punched me in the face by accident.
So I just wanted to feel physically confident so I could worry about the acting and not worry about the physicalities. For the first film I did lots of climbing training but I realised, when I got on set, that they don’t like you doing too much climbing because of the insurance, they always pull in the stunt doubles.
So I knew do less climbing and do more fighting training and just make sure that you are fit and all will be well.
- The original film has gone on to become a modern British horror classic, especially the ending, so how surprised are you by the success?
I was surprised at the time because I was really young, I was only twenty three and the other girls were young, and we just went along and had an amazing time shooting it. It was crazy and a total ride, we had no responsibilities in our lives let alone our career so we had nothing to lose, so for the six or eight week shoot it was a riot, of course we worked really hard, but just enjoyed it.
But then it became this success and this rolling success, it went on to become this underground success and a cult movie. It did take longer because it came out the same weekend as the bombings in London, so no one was going to the cinema everybody just wanted to be with their families.
So the actual release of the film, In Britain, was ok but it wasn’t huge. But then it spread across the world and then the DVD came out. It’s nice to say when I go to auditions and when I meet people it’s got a huge qudos and we are all really proud of it.
- The new movie's ending is a little ambiguous so are there plans for a third movie?
Not so far as I know but, to be honest, I would probably be the last to know I think that there is mileage, maybe if they bring it above ground. You can keep telling a story for as long as you like, apart for Armageddon I’m not sure how you would follow that, but you can keep telling stories as long as you are inventive.
So I’m sure they will try something whether they do, like last time, leave it for five years before revisiting it I’m not sure.
- Throughout your career you have juggled both TV and film so how important is it for you as an actor to find a balance or do you choose roles purely on script?
It doesn’t matter to me what genre they are in it’s all about the journey of the character, if the character have an amazing path and get to push the story forward and you can see the objective, it doesn’t matter if it’s television or film.
Film is nice because you are part of a family, if you are doing a film for television it’s the same thing, but if you got in an out of series, if you are jobbing actor and go in and out and do your thing, you are not sort of in there.
Because you are taken away from your family so you have to make a family at work so people can be cliquey, no cliquey is too negative, but quite close knit and they have their own life, they have created this extra family at work, and you come in and try to be part of the family but it doesn’t always work and you feel like a jobbing actor.
So it’s nice to do a film, something that’s closed, a film for telly so you have got a sense of a journey with everyone.
It’s nice now to have things on my CV now that means that I don’t have to go up for everything I can say ’I don’t need to do that’ I know have enough on my CV to say no it’s just not for me.
- Finally what's next for you?
Well my youngest if five and a half months so I’m enjoying being a mum and it would be tricky to leave them. There are a couple of things floating around, nothing is confirmed, but if I do something it’s going to be a film but it’s going to have to be worth leaving my kids for a couple of months for. If I do get this thing that’s hovering around I will go and do that and then go back to being a mum.
The Descent 2 is out on DVD now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Shauna MacDonald returned to the character of Sarah when The Descent 2 hit the big screen in December last year, the movie is out on DVD out this week.
I caught up with Shauna to talk about making a second movie, working with a new director and returning to the character of Sarah.
- The Descent 2 is out on DVD this week so can you tell me a little bit about the movie?
Well it’s a sequel to The Descent and it takes place within twenty four hours of the first film and essentially it’s a rescue mission to save the lost girls.
Sarah appears from the caves she has got amnesia, she can’t full piece together the events of the last few days in her head and she is the only link to her missing friends. And so Sheriff Vaines and Rios, the assistant Sheriff, convince Sarah to go back into the cave and all is not as what it would appear, and of course they come face to face with the crawlers again.
But it’s like a redemption movie for Sarah rather than her descent into madness it’s her ascent into some sort of atonement with herself. It’s pretty action packed an emotionally charge, much the same vibe as the first but bigger and better.
- You are returning to the character of Sarah once again so what was it about the script that made you want to return to the character?
Well it was kind of back to front it wasn’t so much reading a script and getting attached it was getting attached then reading a scrip, they came to me with the idea of doing a sequel way before any scripts were floating around, they knew that they wanted to continue the story of Sarah so they needed me to say that I would be attached to it.
So initially it was the idea of being to continue the story and see where we could go with her and they are very good at selling, these producers, they know to pitch and idea to make me go ‘ooh that sounds really exciting.
And then, eventually, they gave me the script. But the original Descent 2 script, compared to what we actually shot, changed hugely it’s very different, and for the better. So the script that we ended up with was excellent but that’s not what got me hooked it was the idea that got me hooked.
- How surprised were you that they were even thinking about doing a sequel?
I was quite surprised because it was quite well stitched up and rounded but not so surprised because it did so well. I think we were at the British Independent Film Awards when on of the execs said ‘what do you think of a sequel? And I was like ‘that’s a ridiculous idea’ but then I though hang on we are winning awards, it’s a great film that we have created and people love the film and the characters and I thought well that might not be so crazy.
Plus does it mean that I get to have a lead role again and get to do loads of exciting things? Ok I’m in (laughs) you have twisted my arm.
- You have already touched on this but, without giving too much away, how does you character change or develop throughout the second movie?
It’s pretty tricky because at the end of the first film she has lost her mind, Neil and I agreed that she had gone into the depths of the earth as well as the depths of her mind; she’s not dead but that’s her in the cave with whom she thinks is her daughter but is in fact an hallucination.
So it was a bit tricky because they needed me to get above ground to start from some sort of beginning so we thought the best way to do that was to give her amnesia, we didn’t want her to forget completely because then there is not tension; if there’s no feeling of foreboding in Sarah it loses something with the audience.
We cleverly, with the use of medical explanations, decided that she was very grief stricken and traumatised but not crazy. So we stared from this grief stricken and traumatised point and then go back into the cave and see what notes you an hit, what crazy notes you can hit, the lucid and sanity notes you can hit.
So I guess that the emotional journey that Sarah goes on in the film begins with grief stricken and emotional and moving up and forward in her life and at the end, by meeting other characters in the cave; I don’t think it’s any great secret that Juno reappears, there is a certain atonement and resolution with Sarah and Juno. So she ascends into sanity I suppose.