This year he will appear again with Tom Cruise in the new installment of “Mission Impossible” and he will also return with the sequel to “Dune” with Timothee Chalamet. And although the Swedish Rebecca Ferguson has done nothing but blockbusters with the most famous men in Hollywood since she was nominated for a Golden Globe for the miniseries “The White Queen”, she has returned to the small screen with “Silo”, the ambitious Apple TV adaptation of Hugh Howey’s novel. There she embodies a rebellious woman who is elected as sheriff in the curious community that has survived an apocalypse locked in an immense 144-story silo, whose inhabitants have not dared to come out since then. Ferguson, who got his start on Swedish television, heads up a remarkable cast that includes David Oyelowo, Tim Robbins, Common and Iain Glen, among many others. In an exclusive interview, the actress and ex-tango dancer shared her perspective on the series, the adrenaline and science fiction.
Television opened the doors of his career but in recent years he has only been making blockbusters in cinema. What did “Silo” have to make you decide to return to the medium?
This is the new television. I feel that the one I knew when I started did not have the quality of today. Right now the most amazing series on television are the ones on the platforms. I remember that about 5 years ago he was with a partner on a set, it doesn’t matter who, and they had offered him something very important, and he was just wondering if he wanted to return to television. And yet I believe that today this medium has become the niche of creation. We are in a time where storytelling is phenomenal in miniseries, with dramas and directors that are incredible. Therefore, I did not experience it as if he was returning, but rather as if he was moving forward, as something new. The character itself was very interesting, especially his transformation. I am always attracted to people who have opinions, feelings, reasons and fears, trying to discover their talkativeness and decipher their codes.
Do you feel that like many sci-fi stories, “Silo” is actually about the present?
The novel was written a few years ago, curiously before the covid. It seems to me that certain comparisons can be made. I don’t know if it’s something that is limited to futuristic and scientific fantasy, but one can get into many worlds in which the narrative arises from intelligent human beings who question the world in which they live. The geopolitical land, the world, the avatars, the connection with oneself, the planet and power are themes that are constantly being used to tell stories, the only thing that changes is the context.
The series forces the viewer to question whether they are being told the truth and whether there is a reason why they are not telling it. Do you feel that there is a connection with our reality?
Of course. The world is full of lies. These are the cornerstones of our lives: ambition, necessity, politics, power, corruption, and that is followed by revolution. What I like about this woman is that she is very honest and authentic in what she feels and the way she behaves has to do with fear and anger, like in any form of revolution. Everything that happens arises from feeling mistreated, from wanting to ask questions and needing answers to know the truth. And what one often does not expect is that they give you the revealing answers.
Did going through a story in such a claustrophobic world make you appreciate your freedom more?
No, because it’s just acting. I would go to the set, shoot and come home. But in philosophical terms, reading the book and looking at the fact that these people were forced to live in a contained environment simply because they believe that there is something toxic out there, is something that generates enormous sadness and pain knowing what they have left behind. It’s quite horrendous and creepy to think about these people who are still there 200 years later, because in the society they live in they have nothing to compare it to. It’s scary to think that something like this could happen.
How does filming on gigantic sets like the ones used in “Silo” help your performance?
It was a huge help, because not only did we have gigantic sets, but there were also the cornfields, the apple orchards, the stairs, the depth of the view, the scale of it all, and the amount of people we could include while filming a movie. scene. Walking up and down those stairs helped bring an emotional reality to what we were doing. I’m not sure what it would have been like to shoot it on small sets, because there would have been no contrast and we wouldn’t have been able to go outside. I think it would have been horrendous. Curiously, when I read the script for the series, I realized that it was going to be a huge blockbuster because it was from Apple, but I didn’t imagine how big the scale of “Silo” would be. And it wasn’t until I walked around the sets and saw how many people were there that I realized that. Suddenly I understood. My plan was that this was going to feel like something smaller, but it turned out to be huge.
It would give the feeling that he is very attracted to the action. Before becoming famous, she was a tango teacher. Do you feel there is a link between the work that she does today as an actress and what she learned then?
Completely. Being aware of your body and any kind of movement will help inspire the way you act. But although it may seem that I am interested in action, the truth is that I am not. I’m good at it, it’s something I enjoy and a lot of my roles have those elements. But there are roles that I’ve done recently that don’t need it, like “Reminescence” or “Dune”, which has some of that, but not that much. But it’s not what I look for when considering roles. Anyway, I love the movement and I enjoy that you can tell so many stories with fighting techniques, with movement and body language. It’s part of the job and I love it.
And science fiction, is it something you are looking for? Because if you look at his filmography, he has done many stories within that genre.
No, I’m not looking for it either. It is something that I am asked a lot and that has its logic, because if you look at most of my films there is science fiction. And they are futuristic stories. But I don’t pay attention to that, but to the characters. It often happens that the stories that interest me are set on a large scale. I like intrigues, the journey that forces a person to mature or play two characters in different dimensions. What I seek is transformation and these are the stories that have given me that freedom.