latest features
Attention Seekers
We caught up with Gossip Girl’s Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick in London where we discussed the perks and pressures of starring in a ratings winner.
Love Bites
We meet up with the lead cast of The Vampire Diaries to find out just what it is that makes this new breed of vampire so popular...
Untold Stories
FILMINK speaks to director Marc Gracie about the Aussie drama The Tumbler which delves into the curious corners of Australian history.
A Watchful Eye
We speak to entrepreneur and filmmaker Rob Spence who is in town for The Other Film Festival...
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Grace Under Fire
For her debut big screen role, South African actress Jessica Haines goes toe-to-toe with the legendary John Malkovich in the confrontational drama Disgrace... and lives to tell the tale.
Were you familiar with the novel before you became involved with the film? It created quite a stir in South Africa didn't it?
"Disgrace is a school set work in South Africa so I was extremely familiar with the novel before its life as a film began. J.M Coetzee's work is difficult not to notice. At the time when the book was published, the African National Congress (A.N.C) had just claimed its rightful place after years of "freedom fighting". Emotions were raw and the state of peace, on a knife's edge. Coetzee touched on some very controversial issues and the A.N.C felt that the novel was racist. I think they felt that the novel represented black people as the predators and white people the victims."
Were any of your scenes shot in Australia? If so, did you enjoy that, and was that an unusual way to work? Namely, crossing between Australia and South Africa?
"Unfortunately none of my scenes were done in Australia. It must have been quite a mind flip though, moving from the land of cows to kangaroos."
What's next for you? Any roles in the pipeline that you can mention?
"I'm lucky to have had a consistent stream of work over the last year, dabbling in some theatre ( my first love) and having just completed The Prisoner, a six part series with a great cast (Ian Mckellan, Jim Caviezel), which was shot in Namibia. I've also just got back from South Africa after shooting another book adaptation, The Bang-Bang Club with a lovely cast! For now though, I'm playing the charming role of just sipping some chai tea in the Mediterranean and answering these questions, looking forward to my adventure in Australia!"
Disgrace is released on June 18. For more on Jessica Haines check out the latest issue of FILMINK Magazine.
