Lena Hall Interview: Snowpiercer | Screen Rant
TNT's Snowpiercer is speeding towards its season 1 finale and a violent revolution threatens to upend the order of the train. One of the most important passengers aboard Snowpiercer is Miss Audrey (Lena Hall), the mysterious madam who controls the Nightcar, which gives her power and influence over Third Class. Now that Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) is leading the revolution by the Tail section, Audrey will bring the might of Third Class against the privileged classes and the Voice of the Train, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly).
Tony award-winning actress Lena Hall chatted with Screen Rant about how she joined Snowpiercer, being a huge fan of the show as well as one of the series regulars, Miss Audrey's background, performing songs on the series, and some teases about Snowpiercer season 2.
First of all, I love this show.
Lena Hall: Oh good, good! I'm so happy!
One of the reasons I'm so excited to talk to you is in my head right now as we speak, I have "Say It Ain't So, Joe" playing in my head. In episode 2 when you came on the screen, that was the moment for me when I went, "Holy ---, this show!"
Lena Hall: (laughs) Thank you! A lot of people have reached out about "Say It Ain't So, Joe" and a lot of people ripped it and put it on the Internet. Like, just ripped it from the show. I had my guitarist friend record an audio track for me of the entire song, because the song is a lot longer than the version I did, so I had him do our own version of it so I can perform it virtually live. I'm just waiting for the requests 'cause I'm doing these virtual concerts on my own by request so that the fans and the audience can build the set list beforehand, so that I have time to record it and get all the tracks together. So I'm just waiting for someone to request ["Say It Ain't So, Joe"] so I can pull that one out of my pocket.
That's so cool. I'm sure there'll be an original soundtrack for Snowpiercer and they'll put your stuff on there.
Lena Hall: I certainly hope so. We've talked about it. Marty [Adelstein], one of the main producers and I had the conversation because everyone keeps asking me about this song. And then, of course, the Frank Ocean song "Bad Religion" aired last night. And Marty said, "I'm used to doing soundtracks for my shows so let's see how the season rolls out and then we'll go from there". But I think it's so cool. I love that they utilize the fact that I sing and that I am a performer on the show.
Absolutely. They're really playing to your strengths and making it an integral part of the show because the Nightcar is such an integral part of Snowpiercer. It seems to hold the morale of that whole train together.
Lena Hall: Yup! It is the center of the world, essentially, where everyone can come and release all the horrors that are happening. Sometimes, there's only so far you can go playing neutral in that world before your own morality kicks in and you have to fight for what you think is right and try and help fix what you think is injustice. It's interesting because everybody's views and morals are so very different - they're similar but different - and I think [Snowpiercer] is such an interesting mirror for the world that we live in. And how one thing can seem very black and white for yourself and it can be very grey for someone else. so I've certainly been perceiving the world and just taking notes on everyone's different takes and the different moral compasses everybody has in the world today. This show is a good kind of mirror on that very thing.
It really is. It's so timely and it feels very relevant and very of the now even though it was, what a year ago, at least?
Lena Hall: Yeah, we shot it two years ago.
So how did you get cast as Miss Audrey? Was it an audition? Was the role offered to you?
Lena Hall: I would love to say that the role was offered to me but no! (laughs) I am still making my way in this world, I'm not there yet, I'm not Meryl Streep yet! But I auditioned for this, I actually put myself on tape and Wittney [Horton], the casting director, she had me do it three times because she really believed that I was perfect for the role I was putting myself on tape for - which was a completely different role than I ended up being! Because I was in the original pilot, which was done by Josh Friedman and directed by Scott Derrickson, and it was a completely different script. The train cars were different. A lot of it was very different. My character was very different. I was more like Ruth, I guess, only very, very much an evil character! Not a singer at all. I was like the zealot on the train, the one upholding the order, because I was the true believer in what Mr. Wilford was doing.
That's what Ruth became.
Lena Hall: Yeah, exactly. So when everything changed around and they got [executive producer] Graeme [Manson], and Graeme changed the sets - he changed a lot about the show. So they looked at me and my character in the original, and they did some research on me as a performer, and they were like, "Hey, so, we're gonna basically write you this character." They were like, "You're gonna sing" and I was like, "That's fine. Absolutely fine." And as they described the character more and more, she was really tailor-made towards who I am and it's perfect. I was very happy to be on board for the change. I loved it. This was my first shot at slowly developing a character over time, doing a TV show as a series regular, which I've never done before, so for me, this was a great opportunity to tell the story of the train and the story of Melanie and of Andre Layton. It's their show and we are supporting them.
The first season was really fun for me to learn the ins and outs and the character development. Where I was from day one of filming and how my character changed with different directors, and how she continues to morph. It's interesting because you have a specific idea of your character and as time goes on, you learn so much, and things completely morph and change your views on your character. So I found this to be very cool, and very different from what I'm used to. You know, I'm used to Broadway. [TV] is ever-changing and full discovery. And we've already filmed most of season 2.
Oh, I was gonna ask about season 2.
Lena Hall: Yeah, and I love love LOVE what we did with my character [in season 2]! So the more we go forward with the character, it just gets so much more fun. The input that we have, personally, on our characters is also really, really cool. So I'm excited about season 1 and seeing people's reactions to it. It's been interesting to watch and see what people really pick up on too. But knowing what's coming in season 2 is like (laughs), it's crazy because I love season 2 so much!
How far along are you guys with season 2? Did the pandemic interrupt shooting?
Lena Hall: Yeah, we had to stop shooting. We were actually filming the last block, episodes 9 and 10. So we're very close to the end, we were already almost there. We just need to finish filming 9 and 10. It just depends on when we can get back in the studio to do that. But the show is doing really well around the world. I think it's awesome that they decided to release this show all at once around the world. It's the coolest thing to be a part of. It's weird to be a fan of what of what I'm in so much, but I am a fan. I'm very proud of it.
What can you tell us about Miss Audrey's past that isn't a spoiler. Has that been fleshed out?
Lena Hall: We get to learn about that a lot more. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that she's very deeply connected with Wilford. As everyone who works on that train pretty much is. If you work on that train as a specialty worker, like Ruth or like me or Lead Brakeman Roche, there is a special connection with Mr. Wilford. You have been handpicked by him. The rest remains to be seen and will be revealed later, but for now, you can only imagine.
So as a hand-picked specialty worker, Miss Audrey knows Melanie from before? They seem to have mutual respect but they seem to have more of a frenemy thing.
Lena Hall: Yeah, I think the frenemy part of it comes from how Miss Audrey sees how Melanie is dealing with the train and using her own power. Because she has the greatest power of anyone on the train and we believe that she can sway Mr. Wilford's opinion about things. And unfortunately, she hasn't been using that power for the good of all the people on the train. I think that's where that tension comes from, that's where that pain comes from, and we find out more about that later [in episode 10]. So Miss Audrey knows something's up and Miss Audrey knows that Melanie is going through something. So there is kind of a mistrust going on there, kind of a "Why aren't you sticking up for us?" Since Melanie is one of us, she was handpicked, so why isn't she protecting her own?
I thought besides the musical performances, Miss Audrey's most powerful moment was at L.J. [Folger's] trial, when Miss Audrey was advocating for Nikki Genet. You nailed that scene. What was that like to shoot?
Lena Hall: It was a great scene. It took all day but the craziest thing about it was that it was a different monologue that I had beforehand. I memorized the whole thing because I'm from theatre and I'm a good actor and I wanted to nail it on the first take. You know, I wanted to be that Type A personality (laughs), and the night before, they rewrote the whole thing! I mean, I was stressed out before filming because I was like, "Oh my God, how am I gonna remember a whole new monologue that has a little bit of the old monologue in it?" But the impassioned plea for justice for someone that I knew, someone they were avoiding calling by her name, they were calling her victim but they didn't have to humanize her by calling her by her name. Nikki. I think it was relevant at the time but it became more relevant as time went by.
Oh absolutely, especially with things going on right now.
Lena Hall: I had no idea about the importance of that speech because I was so stressed out (laughs) about learning the lines. It went well and I'm so happy I got that moment, it was such an important moment. But mostly, I was stressed out because I wanted to do a good job. They wanted a very calm but impassioned speech, something that would move an audience and inspire people to start fighting back and maybe open some eyes to the injustices as well. There was the spark of revolution in the Tail but that is really the spark of the revolution happening in Third. So that was an important speech to get everyone on board in Third Class.
Do you think Miss Audrey is sold on Andre's Tail revolution? Because if the whole thing fails, it seems like she has a lot to lose personally.
Lena Hall: Oh yeah, she does have a lot to lose. I don't think she's 100% sold, I think she wanted to try and do things the cleaner way. The strike. The bloodless revolution. But she saw exactly how Melanie played that and at this point, what else is there to do but fight like the Tail fights? Out for blood. So while she is hesitant, she sees a leader in Layton that she can't possibly be. She can be a leader but it's hard for her to lead the masses like Layton can, so she can be his right-hand woman and help lead the charge. Like one of his generals.
Especially since Layton has that special grudge against Melanie Cavill now after Josie was killed.
Lena Hall: That was such a great scene!
It was incredible. A literal fight to the death between Josie and Melanie all of a sudden. One of them wasn't walking out of that room alive.
Lena Hall: It was such an amazing scene. They gave us the whole season to watch before we filmed season 2 and it was such an exciting moment! I knew that existed but I'd never seen it because I was there for the filming. So I was just like, "Wow! Oh my God!" I do think that the first episode was very fast, it went by in a heartbeat. Then two and three, it slowed down a lot so that you could see the threads of everything that's gonna happen, but episodes four, five, six - it goes so fast! It's so fast-paced and exciting and engaging. I'm excited about the last few episodes, it's just so good. I love the show.
If you weren't cast as Miss Audrey but you could handpick any other role, who would you want to be on that train?
Lena Hall: I'd want to be Miss Audrey (laughs). Honestly, I'd want to be Miss Audrey. It's such a great role. I am not envious of anyone else's role. Maybe [Melanie] because Jennifer Connelly gets some great scenes. She crushes it. Maybe that but I love my role. Honesty, if I could be anyone on the show I would be Miss Audrey. Someone said, "If you could be in any class, what would it be?" and I was like, "the Nightcar!" I would be Miss Audrey, period. You'd wanna be in the Nightcar. The Nightcar is sick, it's right in the middle, you have access to everything.
It's the coolest car on the train and everyone comes to it. You have the weird boxing matches with people missing limbs, you have the musical performances...
Lena Hall: Yeah, exactly! Why would you need anything else?
Snowpiercer airs Sundays @ 9pm on TNT.