Annaleigh Ashford is a mother slowly succumbing to the challenges of her time and environment in Hold your breath. Ashford primarily spent the first decade of her career working on Broadway, working on everything from Wicked to Legally Blonde: The Musical, Heathers: The Musical And Lease. The Tony winner would begin expanding her career to the screen with her key role in Showtime’s Masters of sexwent on to balance her roles between screen and stage with everything from The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story to b positive, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street And Welcome to ChippendalesWhich earned her an Emmy nomination.
Ashford stars in Hold your breath Like Esther Smith, a mother of two in 1930s Oklahoma, who fell on hard times, generally with the ire of her local neighbors for her emotional struggles in the wake of her husband’s death. As the Dust Bowl continues to set in and her efforts to get her family out of the area prove troublesome, Esther’s children are welcomed into her family member, Margaret’s, home. However, as Margaret begins to endure her own mental struggles, fears arise as to whether anyone is actually safe in the area.
Related
Along with Ashford, the ensemble Hold your breath throw incl American Horror StorySarah Paulson, The bear star Ebon Moss-Bacharach, My Best Friend’s ExorcismAmiah Miller as Margaret’s eldest daughter Rose, Alona Jane Robbins as her youngest daughter Ollie, and The old manS. Bill Heck. Capturing the natural terror of the period while also leaving viewers questioning what is real in its story, the movie is a captivating entry into the horror genre.
Before the release of the movie, Screen Rant Interviewed Annaleigh Ashford to discuss Hold your breathHow her character exemplified much of the trauma past generations of women went through, the period setting’s parallels to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how being a parent really made the movie’s heartbreaking themes all the more powerful for her.
Ashford found Hold your breathThe two main topics are “So applicable“To today’s world
Screen Rating: Hold your breath Is just quite the powerful film from start to finish. What was it about your character and the script that really sparked your interest in being a part of it?
Annaleigh Ashford: First of all, thank you. Yes, this script has two narrative threads that I thought were so applicable, unfortunately, to our present day, and also really fascinating themes to explore in the horror genre. I always say that a good horror film is something that makes us feel something and scares us, but a great horror film is something that makes us feel something, scares us, but has threads of humanity and heart.
And I think that qualifies, because there are two threads of narrative, one of which is the impact that climate change had on the 1930s. It was a climate disaster that was man-made, that was not natural, and I don’t think people are educated enough about it. It was really scary, and it had a devastating effect on the humans who lived in that part of the earth. And the other narrative thread that’s fascinating to me is the one that explores staying inside because you’re afraid of what’s outside.
This movie was written before COVID, which is so ironic and fascinating because it was outrageously applicable to our experience during COVID. You were afraid of what was outside, and you had to stay inside. And staying inside has been a really big struggle for so many people’s mental health, and I think the film touches on that in an extraordinary way.
Challenge wasSo heartbroken“By her character and living by”One of the most terrifying experiences”
“I was reminded in exploring the character of how unfortunate the patriarchy was for women of the era…”
I also really love your character’s arc of wanting to be a protective mother, but obviously not being all there, and struggling with the wasteland of the dust bowl. Given that you’re a mother yourself, I’d love to hear how much you pulled from your own experience of being a parent to really tap into the heart of your character.
Annaleigh Ashford: Yes, being a mom of an eight-year-old little boy and an almost-zero-year-old little girl – I’m just on the verge, I could have her right now [laughs] – I was so broken for this woman, and it reminded me that women for generations had to deal with the unfortunate loss of children, and this is something that we don’t even think about in our generation. It is one of the most terrible experiences and forms of trauma that a person can experience is to lose a child.
Losing anyone, but losing a child is particularly painful and trauma-inducing, and was just as common back then, and the way women are treated when they experience loss is unfortunately, really, really cold. I was reminded in exploring the character of how unfortunate the patriarchy was for women of that era and what a lack of support they had for mental health, and what a lack of understanding they had for mental health. So I think, yes, the film really just made me have a lot of respect and love for those who came before me. The generations of the past, the constant trauma they have to navigate. I’m so glad we have therapy, aren’t you? [Laughs]
About Hold your breath
Oklahoma, 1930s. The Bellum family house rests in a valley of dirt as clouds of dust blot out the sun. Margaret (Sarah Paulson) and her two daughters, Rose (Amiah Miller) and Ollie (Alona Jane Robbins), tend to their sparse farm while Margaret’s husband is left in pursuit of work. As they struggle to survive the radiant Dust Bowl environment, a mysterious stranger (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) arrives, threatening all they know and love. But is the threat a closer one?
Check out our others Hold your breath Interview with:
Source: Screen Rant Plus