EXCLUSIVE | 'From' star Avery Konrad on playing Sara Myers: 'It was super intriguing to play her'
Five episodes of 'From' and the EPIX horror drama has been one of the more gripping series on Television. Created and written by John Griffin and executive produced by the Russo brothers, the story is set in a fictional town in America that traps visitors who are also haunted by mysterious nocturnal creatures if they head out after dusk. One of the actresses in the series is Avery Konrad, whose been central to the storyline since its inception.
Her character Sara Myers is troubled, and at this stage in the show, is one of the more complex personalities. Speculated to be one of the people stuck in the town under the influence of whatever possesses it, she has been the focus in episodes 4 and 5. In an exclusive interview with MEAWW, Konrad sheds light on playing Sara, 'From' and what lies ahead.
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How did a role in 'From' come about?
The audition for 'From' came in like much of my other auditions and when I saw that the executive producers from 'Lost' were attached to it. I was really excited and I was such a huge fan of the show. I used to watch it every week, and then I went down and read the breakdown for Sara (Myers). She was super intriguing to me and had a lot of depth. That was super exciting.
I really connected to the material and I put it on tape. A couple of weeks later, I heard back from my agent that they wanted to screentest me which was crazy because it felt like a dream project. So the process itself was quite exciting. Less than 24 hours later, I found out that I got the role and within the next two weeks I was on a plane out to Nova Scotia for shooting!
What can you tell us about Sara Myers?
As we saw from the show, everyone is battling things, and I think the intriguing thing about Sara and what I love about her so much is she's caught in this really unfortunate situations everybody is, but she is more vulnerable than the rest of them are. And trying to cover that up and finding the layers within that was a huge challenge to me as an actor because she was written so beautifully and was actually beautifully flawed. It was just a blast to play her. It's also every actor's dream to play a role so in-depth like her.
Was Sara one of the few aware of what was happening to the people on the show?
As much she gets caught in these situations, I think because she's kind of so vulnerable, open and in that heightened situation, her character gets into trouble. But I think because she's got an open wound so to speak, she can be more vulnerable than some of the residents in the town.
What were your initial thoughts when you read the script and what can the audience expect?
My initial thoughts when I read the script was a lot of intrigue. It was so intriguing to see that there was so much going on all the time and I love how grounded all these characters are and different, and that makes the show interesting. And that comes from the creator, and the other part is the incredibly talented cast that we have brought these characters to life. I think this is what makes the characters so special.
I feel like the show is already established which is very special to watch. You kind of catch them in their everyday lives, like you don't feel like you're arriving with them. You're already there in their circumstances. As far as what people can expect from the show, is that you can always expect the unexpected.
What were some of the challenges you faced in playing the character?
This was my first time playing a character that was going through a lot of trauma was definitely a hurdle to get over and being able to lean on my castmates because a lot of us were going through this experience for the first time. So to have a group of people to be able to lean on during those days where you kind of don't want to take the work home with you, so to speak, but sometimes you can't help, but do that. I think that because she's going through all these traumatic things all the time, that was a hard thing to shake off at the end of the day.
How challenging was it to be on the set, especially during the pandemic?
The production's top priority is to ensure everybody's health and safety. So when we all flew in, we were all quarantined for two weeks, we were tested multiple times a week. We were masked when we weren't shooting scenes, we were social distancing, all that kind of thing. And then we got through five months of shooting with no bumps in the road. So I'm very thankful to everyone who kept us safe and healthy throughout that.
What's next for Avery Konrad?
I just wrapped up a comedy for Paramount plus it's called 'Honor Society' starring Angourie Rice. It's sort of like a coming-of-age story about her finishing up high school and, um, I play one of her best friend who's super goofy. And it was a ton of fun and I can't wait for everyone to see it!