Amy Adams Talks Playing a Complicated ‘Hero’ on HBO’s ‘Sharp Objects’ [EUR Exclusive]

*Based on the book by Gillian Flynn, author of” Gone Girl,” the HBO limited series “Sharp Objects” stars Amy Adams as a reporter (Camille) who returns home to cover a grisly murder.

Twelve years ago the riveting novel was released and captivated readers. And now, the response that the series has received from critics and the audience has more than delighted EP/Showrunner Marti Noxon, the actors and Flynn, who noted during HBO’s panel during Summer TCA:

“It took a long time coming, obviously, 12 years. But it was well worth the wait and it was a wonderful, collaborative group of filmmakers that we had here,” she said. “I wrote or co-wrote three of the episodes and was in the writer’s room every day. So it wasn’t just handing over my baby. It was making sure it was the absolute right group of circumstances to have it come to life,” Flynn added.

“And part of that was making sure HBO who completely understood it too. Because what I was getting early on with “Sharp Objects” was a lot of people who were interested in just the scare element or just the exploitative element and not interested in Camille.”

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Flynn said she wrote “Sharp Objects” because “I loved Camille and because I wanted to tell the story about generational violence among women and what that looked like and what that felt like. Because that story, I didn’t feel, had been out there enough and I put that inside the wrapping of this town and of these murders,” she said.

Continuing: “I didn’t want Camille and her family and her half-sister and her mom and what these three women meant to each other — for good and for bad — to get lost in there. And HBO got that. So it was waiting for that correct time. It was letting that have room to breathe and really understanding what this is, which is, really a character study with a really cool amazing mystery along with it.”

Co-starring alongside Ms. Adams are Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Eliza Scanlen, Elizabeth Perkins and Matt Craven. Now that more than a couple of the episode have aired, what does the cast think of some of the reactions? Are they surprised by what viewers post online about the characters and plot?

“I try not to read too much online,” said Adams. “I don’t have any social media, so unless I’m really seeking it, I don’t really hear too much. But one of the things that’s been really nice — and this is very much due to everybody involved — is the reactions to an accurate telling of female trauma,” she added. “And that felt very validating to me because it is something that isn’t explored as often. We often make women the victims of something but Camille is also very active in this. So Marti and Gillian and Jean-Marc handled that in a really beautiful way. So that’s kind of what I’m hearing and it’s very validating.”

Adams and her female co-stars serve up some deeply emotional, crazy good stuff on the series, so when one reporter asked “Does it go home with you at the end of the day?” Adams explained: “There’s a closeness that either existed or became during the shooting. So that helped us through sort of the darkness of the subject matter. For me, family is the most grounding thing. So going home to my daughter and my husband and making dinner or doing something very domestic always helps me reground myself and get me back into my own reality,” she shared.

“I had talked about that I had really bad insomnia and I would wake up with anxiety, and I’d have to realize that I didn’t own it. It belonged to Camille. So, I’d have these very insane conversations with myself at four o’clock in the morning, by trying to decide what was my anxiety and what was Camille’s and what I needed to let go of and what could work the next day,” Adams added.

As far as the scars on Camille’s body from her self-harming (cutting), Adams said “The makeup department did a lot of trial and error with that, and it ended up being sort of a combination of silicone and glue. They did an amazing job. But I know they went back in post and kind of highlighted what we needed to” in order to make the scars look so real.

“We would do it for three hours, but the minute you put clothes on, it would start to get crazy and it would end up full of lint and sticking to things. There’s a scene in “Fix” where she comes home drunk and we’re talking after the rose garden thing. I remember I was just peeling the sweats off of my glue. It was so gross.”

Amy Adams has had terrific success with a varied slate of films, so when EURweb.com reporter Ny MaGee asked her if there’s a specific theme or attitude in women that she prefers to explore via the roles that she accepts, she said: “Not intentionally.”

“When I go back and review sort of chunks of time, I feel like I’m kind of working out my own junk, so to speak, through work. So, I think, as long as the main character has a strong voice, or if it’s a supporting character, I really understand how she supports the main character in a way that it feels new and unique,” she explained.

“Like to me, just something that feels different that I haven’t done before. With Camille, I think the thing that attracted me was that I hadn’t seen this particular hero, you know, from a woman. So that was really attractive to me. And Gillian does such a great job at drawing those characters. But there isn’t one particular type of woman. If the voice feels specific, if I understand it, and if it feels true and if it doesn’t feel true, I can’t do it. I don’t know how to do it.”

So how does Amy Adams think Camille measures up as a journalist?

“She does a really good job person to person. I think her drinking might get in the way of her recall. But, I do feel watching it and the way that it’s portrayed, she’s really good at sitting down with people, and making them feel safe while at the same time challenging them. And I think we’re getting to see that a little bit in the way she questions people. I think she could be better. I think she has potential, but you know – she doesn’t always bring out her tape recorder. I think she misses some steps. I’m aware of this. So, she has room for improvement.”

Scanning the room full of reporters at TCA, Adams added: “I mean, I have to take it from you guys because I’m just – I’m doing my best,” she said, noting that Camille is “not as good as Lois (Lane).”

Watch “Sharp Objects” Sundays at 9PM on HBO.

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