Rebecca Ferguson

New Delhi (IANS) – Actress Rebecca Ferguson feels powerful people continue to feed off the “less strong ones”, but it is not right to analyse every film according to the political occurrence of the social environment.

Ferguson will next been seen as cult leader Rose the Hat, who feeds off the shine of innocents in her quest for immortality, in the upcoming film “Doctor Sleep”. The narrative seems to connect strongly with the enraging emotional #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, opening up conversation on how people in powerful positions take advantage of the innocent and gullible.

“Haven’t they always? Powerful people feeding off the less strong one?” Ferguson countered, when asked about the connect.

“I don’t think the times have changed. I do not wish to criticise (the point) because I think it’s a very fair point. But we can’t analyse every film we do to the political occurrence of the social environment. I think you are right in many ways, but for me, this is just a damn good film, good book and a fantastic character,” Ferguson told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Ferguson has made a name for herself in Hollywood by being part of projects like “Hercules”, “Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation”, “The Girl on the Train”, “The Greatest Showman”, “Mission: Impossible Fallout” and “Men in Black: International”.

She will be back in the big screen as a villain with “Doctor Sleep”, sequel of “The Shining”.

“Doctor Sleep” is based on Stephen King’s 2013 novel of the same name, which is a sequel to King’s 1977 novel “The Shining”. “Doctor Sleep”, set several decades after the events of “The Shining”, combines elements of the 1977 novel and its 1980 film adaptation of the same name, directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The film takes forward the story of Danny Torrance, 40 years after his stay at the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining”. It is directed by Mike Flanagan, from his own screenplay based upon the novel by King. Warner Bros. will release the film in India on November 8.

For Ferguson, “Doctor Sleep” is a continuation of “The Shining”.

“There is absolutely a pressure (to take forward the legacy of ‘The Shining’). But if you don’t look at this film as a sequel, which I don’t, (then) this is a continuation and it’s a free standing film based upon Stephen King’s novel, with a homage and a tie to the old ‘The Shining’…But there are new characters, new story and a new threat. I don’t want people to be disappointed but I’m really happy with the movie that we have made,” said the Swedish-English actor.

Talking about her inspiration for the role, she said: “My inspiration for the role was quite simple in the terms that Stephen King himself had written an incredible character and a piece of work that we stuck to and also Mike Flanagan’s script gave me so much to work on, so the inspiration was on paper and then in conversations with the director himself.”

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)

–IANS
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Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.