While many audiences know Joanne Froggatt as Anna Bates, Mary Crawley’s lady’s maid on “Downton Abbey”—a performance that earned her a Golden Globe win in 2015—the esteemed actor has decades of work under her belt onscreen and onstage. From her time at drama school to years of film credits like “In Our Name” and last year’s “Downton” film, Froggatt has delivered consistently empathetic performances. One of her best yet is her starring role on SundanceTV’s “Liar,” which wrapped its second and final season this week. As Laura Nielson, a teacher under investigation for the murder of her rapist, she mines nuances well worth witnessing through a quarantine binge.
How ‘Downton Abbey’ Film Director Michael Engler Made His Dream Project a Reality Tell us about your first day on a professional set.
My first day on a professional set was when I was 10 and it was doing extra work. I was there with my mom, it was a show called “Heartbeat,” which was filmed very locally, where I grew up. There wasn’t too much pressure. I was hugely excited to be there. My first experience of being on a professional set and having a role to play was when I was 15 and I was so excited, nervous, just so wanting to do a great job. I really wanted to do my best work and prove myself. I was very eager.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I think I instinctively took things pretty well. I was always pretty conscientious and I’ve always been a hard worker. I’ve always been prepared and I’ve always worked hard and I enjoyed doing it. That’s the main advice I would give to a young actor: Work hard and if you enjoy it, keep doing it. Be prepared, do your homework, make sure you know your lines, if you’re doing an accent, make sure it rolls off the tongue so you don’t have to think about it. All those things, I naturally did, probably coming from a place of fear to start with, a place of not wanting to mess up. That’s a good fear to have sometimes as long as you don’t let it overtake you.
“If you’re just starting out and you’re doing seven [self-tapes] a week, you need to have a little setup at home, which you can do so easy now.”
Once you’ve done the work and you're still apprehensive, it’s just getting through that first day. Then you’ve got to go, “I’ve done the work, it’s fine, if I’m still feeling nervous, it’s because I haven’t started yet and that’s OK.” I don’t have to keep making myself work, work, work when I know I can’t do anything more. It’s giving yourself that cutoff point where you go I’m prepared, I’ve done everything I can. You've also got to be prepared to be flexible on the day. It’s a strange mix of being prepared as you possibly can be but knowing when you get there, everything will probably change. [Laughs] As long as you’ve done that prep work, this character lives in you a little bit, it’s much easier to go on the flow.
How do you typically prepare for an audition?
I’ve always tried to prepare for an audition as if it’s a role. So I try and look at it as a performance rather than an audition, which isn’t easy. If you really want it, it’s difficult for your brain to let go of the “will I be right for it?” or the fantasy your brain goes into if I got it or the disappointment if I don’t get it. I think part of it is trying to accept those thoughts will be there and not enter into them. That’s going to be in there, but I don’t need to buy into that talk.
The audition process has changed an awful lot. When I first started, auditioning was always going into a room with a casting director and being recorded on a tape, whereas now, it’s self-tape more than anything, certainly for the first round of auditions anyway. I find doing self-tape really quite difficult because I don’t have that nervous energy of feeling like it's a performance. You can obviously do as many takes as you like, and then I become a little bit blind as to what’s good and what’s not when you’ve been working on one scene for an hour and then you watch it back and you’ve done 10 takes of it. Usually, I’m quite good at knowing what's good enough. I’ll usually be able to tell while I'm doing it that’s the one I want to keep.
If you’re just starting out and you’re doing seven [self-tapes] a week, you need to have a little setup at home, which you can do so easy now, you can film things on your phone. Get a cheap tripod, donut lights. And also it's not about the technical quality of your tape—yes it’s nicer if it looks a bit professional and the lighting’s better—but ultimately the casting director and the director are looking for your performance. If you throw something together on an iPhone in a hotel room after work one night, some people get jobs from those tapes. It’s remembering that it’s what you do that’s important.
“I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to go out buying things for each audition because you’d end up bankrupt. But [wear] whatever clothes you happen to have in your wardrobe that help you feel like that character.”
What is your worst audition horror story?
I remember doing an audition for a play here in the U.K. quite a few years ago and I was filming at the time, and the script came through the day before but I was really busy filming and I hadn't had a lot of time with the material. The character was a girl who was chasing fame and she wanted to be a singer. I thought she’s not going to be a great singer, she thinks she's better than she is—which is true, that was the story—but I’m actually a horrendous singer. I should really avoid singing in public at any opportunity. I went and read with a fantastic comedian and writer called Victoria Wood, who I worked with before. She was a real comedy genius and incredible talent and performer. So I knew Victoria and we all sat down and part of the scene was this character singing “Cabaret.” So I sat down across the table from this woman who I enormously respect, to say the very least, and was a little bit in awe of because she’s so incredible and a brilliant director. And I did the scene and burst into a really committed rendition of “Life Is a Cabaret,” and her face just dropped. They just started looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes. It was like I stripped naked and ran around the room. I finished and they didn’t know what to say. I said, “She’s not supposed to be able to sing like, well, is she?” and Victoria said “Yeah, she's supposed to be able to sing a bit.” [Laughs] “Well, in that case, I’m really not good for the role.” That was excruciating. They were very sweet.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
You can always dress for the role and do certain things, especially if you’re doing self-tape. I’m all for using whatever props you’ve got around and dressing as much as you can do. I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to go out buying things for each audition because you’d end up bankrupt. But [wear] whatever clothes you happen to have in your wardrobe that help you feel like that character. I sometimes wear wigs in auditions. Or I sometimes go in and change my clothes as soon as I get there if it’s a period job. I do things like that, but I wouldn’t say that was too crazy or weird. I have a couple of wigs I’ve collected over the years from jobs. It’s really handy to collect things like that. That’s a good tip: If ever you’re on a job and they offer you to keep your wig, if it’s something you can use again, keep it and pull it out for those auditions you think it could fit the character.
How did you first get your Equity card? SAG-AFTRA card?
Just TV work [for Equity]. It was less strict when I started. Previous generation, you’d have to do so many days’ work to get your card, but you couldn’t work without your card. I had my introduction to the business through television. I was able to get my first few jobs without my card, and as soon as I had enough dates to get my Equity card, I did. I’ve had it since I was 16. I did a couple of independent movies in the States, so that was lovely to join up for SAG, as well. It felt like a nice achievement to be a member of both unions.
What performance should every actor see and why?
Meryl Streep in “Sophie’s Choice” is one of the most pitch-perfect performances I’ve ever seen, certainly. She gives such a beautiful, understated, emotional performance in that movie. It’s an absolutely heart-rending story in itself, and you find out she’s an imperfect person, as we all are. She absolutely draws you in. When she speaks onscreen, you can’t take your eyes off her. She’s not doing much with her face, she’s just completely in that character. She’s not doing something, she’s not trying to act, she’s just completely enveloped this person.
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