The Interview: Mageina Tovah - Hux Star and Director

by Matt Shine | 18 September 2016

The stoy so far

Mageina Tovah

After winning multiple awards, Hux, directed by and starring Mageina Tovah will screen at Raindance Film Festival.

\Hux, longing to connect, rebels against the lonely isolation of her autism. Braving the confusing, chaotic world of others, her attempts at interaction are repeatedly thwarted by her powerful aversion to stimuli, and by an epidemic that decimates the population. When all seems lost, Hux finds one final chance to connect.

Starring as Hux, Mageina Tovah has amassed impressive credits with her work as an actress in Sam Raimi's Spider-man films and popular television series including American Horror Story, Scandal, You're The Worst, The Shield, How to Get Away with Murder and Shameless.

Directed, written, produced and edited by Tovah, Hux also boasts a talented Director of Photography. Charlie Lieberman, ASC, is known for his work on Heroes, Joan of Arcadia, and cult show My So-Called Life. It includes music by Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent of American folk duo, Shovels & Rope, whose talents have previously been displayed on the Late Show with David Letterman. The film also stars Harry Dean Stanton as the grandfather, he is known for The Green Mile, Big Love, Twin Peaks and Inland Empire.

Already doing well on the festival circuit, Hux is the recipient of the Best Dramatic Short award at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, the Best Professional Short award at the Reel to Reel Film Festival, the Platinum Remi Award at the Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival. It has gone on to be selected for a number of other awards at well respected festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

The Interview

Congratulations on your wonderful film 'Hux' being accepted into Raindance Film Festival, where did you get the idea from to write this topical film?

Thank you! I've always been interested in apocalyptic stories, and characters facing the universe on their own has been a theme in my art. As I was developing Hux's character, it soon became clear that she had autism, and after that, the character and story blossomed.

For those who haven't seen 'Hux' yet, please can you tell us about the film?

'Hux' is a drama about a woman struggling to connect with others through the isolating veil of her autism. Hux strives to become a strong, capable woman in the midst of a confusing, chaotic world and uncertain future.

You are an established Hollywood actress with an impressive filmography. What tempted you to get behind the camera?

It was sort of by necessity! There was a story I needed to tell. Hux was for me an interesting, important character, and I felt the film could have a positive impact on its audience, shedding light not only on what it might be like to be on the autism spectrum, but also how interesting and involving a female lead, especially one that's not neurotypical or mainstream, could be. I didn't want to wait for someone else to make it happen, so I jumped in and figured it out myself.

You edited, directed, wrote and starred in 'Hux', what challenges did you face wearing so many hats and what did you learn from making this film?

I also produced! I ran a first time, thankfully successful, Kickstarter. My editor dropped out so I had to learn to edit. I got into a rhythm of coming up against the next thing I didn't know, researching everything I could about it, talking to everyone who might know something about it, processing it and outputting results. The entire process was a challenge! But I learned so much, and it's a wonderful thing to know so many sides of filmmaking, it makes me better at each individual part.

Is 'Hux' a stand-alone film or do you have plans for a feature?

I wanted 'Hux' to stand on its own as a short film, but from my first imaginings of 'Hux', I knew I would explore her world further in an extended version.

You star as a woman who suffers from severe autism, what kinds of research did you do to play this role so convincingly? Do you happen to know the statistic on the percentage of females who suffer from autism?

I am lucky to have a father and a sister who are child psychiatrists and a mother who is a pediatric physical therapist. They were tremendously helpful and insightful sounding boards throughout the process. I also read books by, listened to, spoke with and watched interviews with people all over the spectrum.

According to the Centers For Disease Control about 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and ASD is about 4.5 times more common among boys (1 in 42) than among girls (1 in 189).

What is next for you?

As a filmmaker, I'm working on the extended version of the 'Hux' story.

As an actor, I will be returning as The Librarian on the second season of Syfy's 'The Magicians'.

As a visual artist, I just donated my latest piece for auction for the third year to thewww.MoreThanACone.com animal rescue charity.

And finally please let us know how people can keep in touch with you, your social media links and website.

HUX Trailer: