Horror can make everyday issues thrilling: Elisabeth Moss on ‘Shining Girls’ role

Women under life-threatening pressure — this seems to have become one of the trademarks for Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, who shot to stardom in the dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale and is now facing a time-travelling serial killer in the bestseller adaptation by South African author Lauren Beukes, Shining Girls, made for Apple TV+. 

Production sequences are usually shot out of order and here you have a character who, in her own life, isn't sure of what sequence she is in at any moment. Did this help or impair your approach to the character?

When you're shooting something, yes, it's out of order, but you have the plans and the schedule. Kirby [the main character in the series] can't talk about it. She can't share her experience with anybody, until she starts to share it with Dan. She's alone in her experience, that's the most challenging thing for her. When you're making a show or a film, all you do is talk about it. But shooting this show out of order was difficult.  Things change all the time on a micro and a macro level. Keeping track of that was challenging for everybody.

You have multiple hats in Shining Girls. You’re a producer, a star and a director. What made you want to tell this story to the world?

I wanted to work with the other people on a show. Michelle MacLaren did the first two episodes. Daina Reid made four of them. I worked with Daina on Handmaid's Tale and always wanted to work with Michelle. When we had this third spot for a director and they asked if I wanted to do it I jumped at the chance to work with those women who I admire, including Silka Luisa.

How difficult was it for Kirby to build trust? She's an unstable woman, but we have to trust her.

When you're the lead character it's your responsibility to take the audience through the journey of the show. I'm always conscious of the audience. Can I let them get away from me for a little bit and then bring them back? We tried to give the viewer Kirby’s perspective.

Things shift  around her. She doesn't have a grasp on reality — her reality is constantly changing. Taking the audience through that journey is a challenge — you have to go, 'Trust me. We're gonna be OK.

You're gonna get answers and clarity if you keep watching these episodes. You're gonna figure it out with me'.  As the character discovers things in the episodes, the audience does as well. We experience the same relief as we start to understand what's going on.

It's a psychological thriller that highlights the skills of a professional journalist. Did you study specific journalists’ work to create a better character?

Kirby is a journalist, a truth seeker. She tries to find the answers to a mystery. Why is this happening? Who's behind it?  She needs an ally and finds that in Dan. He helps her tell her story. People don't believe her, so she needs an ally, somebody to support her and to share her story. Kirby is the essence of journalism. She needs to find out the truth and share it with the world.

As a filmmaker, you seem to be attracted to horror. You did one of the most terrifying episodes of The Handmaid's Tale — The Crossing. What makes this genre attractive to you?

I've been a fan of the genre for years. Horror appeals to me and to others  because it offers the chance for analogy and metaphor. So many incredible filmmakers can take a story, or a deeper message, or issue and couch it in what's technically the horror genre. Jordan Peele comes to mind.

I'm also a huge fan of sci-fi. You can take an everyday issue, explore it using this genre and make it entertaining,  scary and thrilling.

Kirby is investigating her past identity. Did you explore your identity making this series?

As an artist you're always exploring your identity. Whether it's through music, film and television, or writing, or painting. We explore the issues around us, how they affect us and the impact we have on others. When you look at a character you compare things that experience to your own life experiences. You draw from them in big or small ways.

There are many elements to like about the series, for example, the '90s atmosphere created by the music Kirby listens to.  How much of that was influenced by you?

The Handmaid's Tale music supervisor was on the Shining Girls team. She's incredible. Maggie has better taste than anyone has in music. This was the perfect show for her. She's good at finding deep cuts and is familiar with the Chicago punk scene which was a big part of the show. We didn’t want to use the popular songs of 1992 but wanted an underground selection instead. I also loved the '90s clothes. I got a haircut  inspired by the classic Winona Ryder cut of the early '90s.

Wagner Moura has said amazing things about working with you. Did you enjoy working with him?

You meet hundreds of people on these projects and make some friendships but you don't expect to become friends for life. Wagner and I come from different backgrounds.  We somehow found each other and have developed a connection which you can see on the screen. He was my anchor through the experience of shooting the show.

What do you hope audiences will take from the series? 

The most important thing that Kirby learns is that she has to live by her own truth and she doesn’t have to do it alone. That’s part of why the relationship that she develops with Dan is so important. She finally starts to live as the person that she is.  This is the essential message. There’s a lightness to this show, a hope to it. The violence is not the story that we’re telling. What we’re telling is the story of how someone overcomes their trauma — that’s much more interesting.