Shutter : Rachael Taylor Interview


How well do we really know do the person closest to us? That’s the question facing Jane, played by the talented Rachael Taylor in the psychological thriller SHUTTER. On the face of it, Jane and Ben, (played by Joshua Jackson), are young, attractive and intelligent newly-weds, embarking on married life. They are traveling to Tokyo where Ben, a photographer, has a glamorous fashion assignment. The couple are supposed to be enjoying a working honeymoon but the atmosphere is unsettling right from the start; a feeling that things are not right. The trip starts out with a horrific car accident in which Jane is convinced she has hit a young Japanese woman. However there is no trace of the woman who seems to vanish mysteriously. From that moment onwards, tension builds dramatically and events unravel in a terrifying way, as Jane and Ben discover strange ghostly shapes on all their photos. At the same time, their lives are affected by highly disturbing incidents, which become more and more frightening.

The phenomenon of spirit photography, the concept that images of the dead can be caught on film, is a key element in the story. What is the significance of the eerie shapes in the Tokyo photos? There appears to be a connection between the photos and the girl who apparently died in the tragic accident. Events unfold with ominous uncertainty.

Riveting and very frightening from start to finish, the film is nuanced, stylish and creatively directed with tension and suspense by Masayuki Ochiai, whose films include INFECTION and HYPNOSIS. SHUTTER marks his debut directing an American film.

Rachael Taylor brings depth and strength to her portrayal of Jane, who bravely launches her own investigation into the mysteries that seem to be threatening her marriage and both of their lives.
The accomplished Australian actress grew up in Tasmania and studied politics and history at the University of Sydney. Her first big break came with her role on the Australian television show, HEADLAND. She moved to Los Angeles and appeared in last summer’s massive blockbuster, TRANSFORMERS, directed by Michael Bay. Her next film is the independent drama, BOTTLE SHOCK.


Articulate, intelligent and beautiful, the actress, who has long blonde hair, was wearing a green chiffon Matthew Williamson top, with graphic sequin patterns and a short, black, Armani pencil skirt. The following interview took place in the supposedly haunted Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

Q: How exciting was it playing the lead female role in this film?
A:
“It is a spooky and fascinating role for a woman because it is about the betrayal of trust and betrayal within a relationship. I think it will really resonate with women as well as with men. Getting this role was so exciting and for me because I haven’t been in Los Angeles for very long. It was fantastic that I was asked to carry a movie and Jane is the cipher for the audience in a way. You relate to her as she makes a lot of terrifying discoveries and the audience has to see and feel through her, so it was a great pleasure and privilege to make the film. I wasn’t sure that I deserved it at the time. But I am so happy I had the chance. I loved it.”

Q: What kind of woman is Jane and did you identify with her?
A:
“I really responded to Jane. She is a great female character. She starts off as a lovely but ordinary girl who is thrilled to be married and is about to go off on a journey with her husband and having a new experience of a foreign culture in Japan; the film is set in Tokyo. Then things go terribly wrong; she has a terrifying car accident and is worried that perhaps she killed someone on the road. She is not sure whether it is true or not because the woman she thinks she hit apparently vanishes. So she goes through a lot of doubts and conflict but I think ultimately, the story is about her having to step up as an individual and make discoveries for herself. She is motivated by getting to the truth. She is a great character because she is not reactive, she is much more proactive. She is not like the quintessential helpless female, stuck in the haunted house, reacting to the scary things that are happening to her. She really goes on an amazing journey in an attempt to figure out the supernatural events that are taking place around her.”

Q: Can you explain what happens in terms of the supernatural?
A:
“After the car crash, this bizarre ghost-like image keeps appearing in all the pictures she and her husband take; her tourist shots and his professional pictures. It is a supernatural apparition and at first she writes it off as a light mark, but the images become more and more pronounced and more and more difficult to ignore. Then she discovers the realm of spirit photography. It is actually a real phenomenon. There are photographs in existence that people still can’t explain. So she starts to try and unpick what this image means to her and why these strange and frightening things are happening to her.”

Q: Do you believe in ghosts and the supernatural?
A:
“It is hard to say categorically yes or no. I don’t think it is wise to completely discount the possibility of a supernatural realm, but I think it is hard to invest in it completely as well. I am open-minded. I was much more skeptical before I started this film actually. But when I started shooting the film, I began doing my own investigation of spirit photography. I discovered that it is quite terrifying and there are images that have appeared on photographs throughout history. They are not water marks or light reflections. We can’t physically explain why these images occur but there is strong evidence to suggest that they are genuine.”

Q: Did anything creepy happen during the making of the film?
A:
“We shot in some very creepy places like an old abandoned hospital and that was distressing and challenging. We also shot in old, empty Japanese houses that were quite spooky.”

Q: Have you had any spooky experiences yourself?
A:
“Not personally, but I believe that energetics can leave a residue. I believe that spiritual energy can sometimes be felt and found in a particular place. We have all had that experience whether we want to admit it or not. Perhaps we have walked into a house or a space that has a creepy vibe to it and we don’t know why. Sometimes there just seems to be something wrong or something off or something present that you can’t quite put your finger on.”

Q: How challenging was this role for you?
A:
“I think I probably underestimated what a challenge it is to carry a film. You work a six-day week for two and a half or three months and it is a big challenge. You’ve got to take care of your character every step of the way but at the same time, that is my job so I can’t really complain about it. Obviously, there were certain specific challenges. For example, we were working with a director who does not speak English. We had an interpreter who helped a great deal though. But being in Japan, I really felt like we were sort of stranded on our own in a lot of ways, which was actually great because that feeling matches the experience of the character who is going through the experience of total isolation. She can’t speak Japanese, I can’t speak Japanese and no one can help her. And in a lot of ways no one could help me, I just had to push through it.”

Q: Other than the language barrier what was it like working with the director, Masayuki Ochiai?
A:
“He Is incredibly talented. He is brilliant at building tension and allowing creepy things to take their time to unfold. He has directed a number of Japanese films that are so eerie. They do not let up and they are amazing and distressing in a distinctly Japanese way. In the West, psychological thrillers and horror movies can sometimes be quite overt, with characters getting out the chain saw and hacking people and pulling rifles. But this film is not like that at all. It reminds me in some ways of WHAT LIES BENEATH, which is about a secret.”

Q: How interesting was it for you, being on location in Tokyo?
A:
“It was wonderful. I was there for three and a half months and it’s an incredible city. The architecture, the fashion and art is incredible. I’m from Tasmania in Australia, which is a little rural island, so Tokyo was very different to the environment I am used to. It is very contemporary, it’s urbane and bustling and vibrant. And there are obviously major cultural differences between Japan and the West. It was great to dip into that world and just have the experience of a completely different sensibility. I felt quite isolated being there. It is hard to explain but I almost felt like a ghost myself. I felt like an outsider in that society as somebody who does not speak the language and who is obviously so Western. There was an incident I experienced that they actually wrote into the movie. It is the scene in which Jane walks into a pachinko parlor, which is a gambling parlor and she is taking photographs and was like a fly on the wall. I had the same experience myself. I walked into a big gambling hall and no one looked at me. There were mirrors everywhere and no one looked up. I couldn’t talk or communicate and did not know what they were doing and I really did feel like a ghost.”

Q: What was it like working with Joshua?
A:
“I cannot say enough good things about him. He is such a talented actor and a very intelligent man. He is well read and is a very advanced human being as well being an advanced actor. He is obviously a lot more experienced than I am and he was the person I went to for advice. He was an incredible support for me. I also think that he is great in the film and audiences are going to be really intrigued to see him play this role because it is different from anything he has ever done. What felt so important to me in this story was making sure the relationship between us was solid with a really tangible chemistry between us and that we looked like a young newly wed couple in love.”

Q: His character is enigmatic isn’t he?
A:
“Ben is enigmatic and secretive and Josh is the opposite; a very warm and open person. In a way he was the perfect choice but I think what is cool about Josh’s performance and the film in general is that it is enjoyable retrospectively. It is startling to watch but then looking back you realize that all the pieces make sense and that everything was leading up to a revelation. Everything he does can be interpreted in a particular way.”

Q: What is the film ultimately all about do you think?
A:
“Even though there is a supernatural element, what’s interesting is that it is a human drama, a relationship drama and it asks how well do you really know the person you think you know so well? What life did they lead before their life collided with yours? I think lots of men and women go through that on a day to day basis.”

Q: Did you see the original film?
A:
“That was one of the main reasons why I wanted to make this movie because I adored the original Thai film. Our version is completely different though. It is an interpretation rather than a remake.”

Q: What are you favorite horror films or thrillers?
A:
“I am a huge horror movie fan. I enjoy them. I just saw THE ORPHANAGE which I loved. It is horror movie with a heart. I love PSYCHO, I know that is cliché but it is amazing and I love the original THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and the original THE HILLS HAVE EYES. That was absolutely terrifying. I love THE OTHERS and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, which was one of my favorite movies growing up. I know that is weird. (laughs) I enjoyed the Japanese THE RING too and lots more.”

Q: It must be thrilling at 23 to have such a fantastic career?
A:
“I am thrilled. It is funny because I feel like I have been working and plugging away for a long time but that is probably something to do with the folly of youth, that we want everything immediately. We tend to get impatient. But it has been wonderful and I just want to continue to work with different people and step into different worlds in my roles. It is such a fantastic profession. You read a lot about celebrities going haywire, and of course it is true that things are dark and messy for some people, but you do not always hear about what a blessing this job actually is. I feel so fortunate. I went to Tokyo for three months and hung out with Josh and we made a film that we are really proud of.”

Q: How did TRANSFORMERS change your life?
A:
“It opened up a lot of doors and it is funny, even doing a supporting role in a big movie like that, I went from utter obscurity to getting considered for good projects. It put me on the radar so to speak. I am very grateful for it.”

Q: How did it all start for you?
A:
“I grew up in a very small town and I was never really aware that acting or art in general was actually something that I could pursue as a career. I started quite late compared to some actors. I moved to Sydney when I was 16 to try to start acting and did not begin working for a couple of years and then I started to get film and television roles. I know that I was always creative as a child and always wanted to act even before I knew what that meant. Also, I had a great English teacher who was a real inspiration. His name is Peter Maran. I met him when I was 13 and he introduced me to the world of plays and books and films and art. I did some plays and became smitten with drama. I was instantly seduced by acting. I adore it.”

Q: Are you taking it all as it comes, or do you have a career plan?
A:
“I do have a plan and I am becoming more and more specific about what I want to do and where I want to go as I get older. I do have a strategy and at the moment it is about reading material that I think is good and to be honest, I haven’t read a script for some time that I have been passionate about. It is all about being picky now. I know I have dues to pay and work that I need to accomplish and I am not prepared to go and blow it all on commercial movies that don’t matter and I’m not prepared to play the irrelevant pretty girl. I am quite sensitive about that. The girl in SHUTTER is a strong female character so it is about digging in and finding good material and working with good directors who will push me and stretch me. I want to be part of the group of actors whom I really respect.”

Q: What kind of work do you get offered at the moment?
A:
“I get a lot of offers for films that don’t make sense to me. The people I respect are Frances McDormand and Samantha Morton and Helen Mirren and obviously the inimitable Ms. Cate Blanchett. There are so many good actresses who inspire me and I feel like I want to take the big shot at having a career that means something. I am quite happy to wait too, I think roles get more interesting as you get older.”

Q: You look beautiful in the film and very glamorous today. Can you talk about your style?
A:
“You often hear actors saying they only like jeans and tee shirts, but I really like to dress up. I like looking young and fun but ladylike as well. I like sophistication. If go out for dinner I want to put on a dress and high heels. I am not into the LA style of jeans and sneakers, although I do wear casual clothes during the day of course. I love Donna Karan and Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim and an Australian designer, Tony Maticevski “

Q: Do you miss Australia?
A:
‘I do but I am very happy here because I have been so lucky. I wouldn’t say I am singularly focused on work, but it is a very important part of who I am and what I feel like I need to do right now.”

Q: Are you disciplined about working out and staying fit?
A:
“I am not super-disciplined because I don’t think that is healthy, but I work out because I have to and I hate it. I detest lifting weights but I do it every now and then and I do some cardio. It’s good for you and you need to do it as an actor and a young woman. So I do work out but I also give myself a break when I really can’t bear to do it some days.”

Q: What is next for you?
A:
“I am reading scripts at the moment. The last film I finished was BOTTLE SHOCK with Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman. It is about the birth of the Napa wine industry and it was fantastic fun. It is a love story and an American fable set in the 70s. We drank lots of good wine and it was very luscious. I just want to continue working with directors who challenge me and actors who are better than I am, which I am sure won’t be too hard to find!”