'Unbelievable' star Kaitlyn Dever says playing Marie Adler 'broke her heart', but felt like she was giving 'a voice to the voiceless'
A new eight-part series on Netflix, 'Unbelievable' chronicles the harrowing account of a 19-year-old girl named Marie Adler who suffered sexual assault at the hands of a stranger and no one believed her tale. In an interview with Elle, actress Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Marie, said, "[Playing Marie] was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life."
Dever, 22, added, "I’ve never been so involved in a character before, so emotionally connected. I just wanted to get it right. I wanted to give this girl justice and the voice she never had."
The series begins with Dever in the frame, trying to put the missing pieces of the puzzle together after the assault. Shivering and stuttering, she sits across the cops as they slam her with one question after another. Making a mark with her understated and raw performance, Dever brings in the right amount of emotions into the story. No wonder it was the "toughest" act for the actress. Elucidating why it was the hardest thing she had to do, she told EW, "In the aftermath, just after we were filming it, I took a little bit of a break and a breather."
"I have to say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my career, the hardest project I’ve ever done, just because I was putting myself in these emotional spaces every single day for three to four months. But I can’t really compare it to what these people went through in real life. It’s not even close to what they went through. I have to make sure I say that because it’s really unimaginable what these people go through. It was definitely emotional, but at the end of the day, I was able to come out of it and go home."
"I spent a lot of time reflecting on Marie," she added, "It just broke my heart the entire time. Every scene, she’s just a girl who kept getting punched in the face, even after her assault. Even before her assault, she had a very tough life. My heart was aching for her during and in the aftermath of this show."
Dever added that she was really focused on Marie's "emotional journey" and "state of mind" throughout the process. "I had just so much sympathy for her, and so much empathy. I felt horrible about what these women went through in the story, but I knew I needed to just do the best that I can to do the best for these people, in telling this story. I needed to forget about myself. It wasn’t about me, Kaitlyn, as a person anymore. It was about Marie and her story," she said.
She feels "proud" to be an actor as she is a part of bringing such important stories to light and giving a "voice to the voiceless." "As a woman, as a young woman, I think we all have those small moments — not feeling heard or not feeling you have a voice. But I've never experienced anything to the degree that Marie has experienced. And I think that also, being a woman, if you haven't had that experience yourself, you probably also know someone who has had that experience — someone that is close to you or someone that you love," Dever told NPR.
Before playing Marie, Dever essayed the role of a homosexual high school girl Amy Antsler in a coming-of-age comedy film 'Booksmart'. The actress has wished she could portray more such strong women on screen. "I feel like as I've gotten older, I do want to really be a part of projects that I know are going to be really important and inspiring for young women. Already, the response that I've been getting from 'Booksmart' has just been so inspiring, and honestly, just reminds me of why I wanted to be an actress in the first place. And the same thing with 'Unbelievable'."
However, she strongly feels that portraying it on screen is different from what the women actually face. "And while it was very difficult for me to do, shooting-wise — you know, playing this character every day — it doesn't even compare to what these women have gone through in real life," Dever said.