In 2 Print - Spring 1997

"Interview with Megan Follows"
Laura E. MacDonald

As the lights go up on the Atlantic Theatre Festival's production of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, we find the play's main character, Nora Helmer, reading a bedtime story to her two children. This little scene is not in Ibsen's play but it reminds the audience what theatre is all about: storytelling.

Theatre is an amazing forum and it is the original birthplace of storytelling. Media such as film and television, all of those things have come out of storytelling and playwrighting," says Megan Follows who plays Nora Helmer.

We're meeting at the Festival Theatre in Wolfville, NS following a matinee. The cozy theatre, complete with a thrust stage and seating for over 500, was once a university hockey rink. Now it provides Atlantic Canada with high quality classical theatre. "The birth of this theatre here [in Wolfville] is so extraordinary and such a wonderful thing that needs everyone's support," says Follows, whose performances at the Festival attract theatre - goers from all over Canada.

For its second season the ambitious Festival presented Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, as well as a limited run of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters.

Follows plays Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and Nora Helmer in A Doll's House. "They're very different, which makes it a lot of fun playing them," admits Follows with a laugh. "Kate is an extremely healthy, humorous character. She's very playful and she's very clear - minded -- there's no subtext. Nora is loaded with subtext. There's the whole process of discovery that happens with Nora because who she is is not who she thinks she is." Maintaining the two roles is a challenge, Follows says. "You can't begin to slip into confidence or cockiness with them because they're just too huge."

Why does Follows love acting and storytelling? "Because you get to play. As a grownup there aren't many jobs where you still get the joy of playing. And because you learn things, you go on great journeys."

Although she still has red hair, bright eyes and freckles, Follows no longer resembles the "carrot - topped" teen she played in Anne of Green Gables. The petite woman wearing jeans and a baggy shirt remains full of energy and youthful vitality. At age 28, Follows spends much of her off - stage time playing with her children who are 2 and 4 years old. In order to spend more time with her children, Follows opted for the smaller Wolfville festival for the summer of 1996 rather than making a larger commitment to the Stratford Festival in Ontario.

Being a mother has not only affected Follows' career decisions, but also her interpretation of roles, giving her new life experience to draw on when creating a character. "Being a mother has certainly enriched my life unquestionably, regardless of my work. What we strive to do in the theatre is to tell stories that touch us on some level that as humans we can relate to." For Follows, being a parent has opened her eyes to a new awareness. "Watching my two children grow and watching them learn, these are experiences actors bring into our work, to inform our work so that what we do is real."

Follows grew up in a theatrical family. Her father is Ted Follows, an actor and director, and her mother is actress Dawn Greenhalgh. Megan Follows made her stage debut with her mother and sister in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds. Her three siblings are actors, directors, writers and producers in film, television and theatre. Follows is very close to her family, who are very supportive of her career. The children grew up watching their parents perform and learned from them. "They've taught me a great deal about surviving in this business and they know what it means to do something that you love. They know that it isn't always easy. I have a tremendous respect for them because they taught me to reach for something that is fulfilling to me."

Follows has had a highly acclaimed career thus far. When she reflects on her reign as Anne, she says, "I feel fortunate to have gotten that role and to have had that experience because there are few dynamic female roles, particularly for young women, where you get to do so many different things. Roles where it's not about what you look like: not about how you're going to be judged sexually; not an episode of Baywatch." Follows is frustrated by the narrow scope of what is available for young actresses. "It's a struggle. Women are often judged on their sexuality, unquestionably they are. Their looks, their weight, their hair, really who cares ultimately?" she says with a sigh. For Follows, what matters is an actress's sense of humour and talent. "I always look back on Anne as a great experience, one I will obviously never forget and never would want to."

Our conversation takes a more serious tone when the topic shifts to the business of acting. "It's a very, very tough business and it's not always a fair business," she admits. "I feel very grateful that I've had the opportunities I've had and that I'm able to do something that I love to do, and that I've been recognized, for it is quite extraordinary." In films such as Termini Station and Stacking Follows has played strong independent characters who are central figures driving the plot, "Not just a shoulder to the male character. It's much more fun, it's much more interesting to be leading the action."

Alarger audience was able to see Follows in Under the Piano, which premiered on CBC in January 1996. She played the role of Rosetta, an autistic savant. "I had two weeks to come up with that character. It was an incredible challenge because it was very skeletal on the page. I didn't have any personal experience to draw on which is why it was quite frightening and exciting. I had completely to say 'This is not me, I know nothing about this, now let's create a character.'"

Follows does a variety of work in film, television and theatre. Each role is a new challenge for Follows who has a passion for learning. "That's what's so interesting about live theatre -- it's an open question. You keep trying to get certain things right, trying to explore certain things. It's exciting because it's never the same."

With each experience she gains knowledge from her fellow actors. Follows has great admiration for Colleen Dewhurst, with whom she worked on Anne of Green Gables and Termini Station. She describes Dewhurst as "the most generous and gracious woman I've probably ever worked with, along with Dame Wendy Hiller -- people who come to something with an extraordinary amount of experience and talent and who have a huge generosity of spirit." Such learning opportunities are important for Follows. "Right now I'm doing exactly what I need to be doing which is learning; people are teaching me a lot."

Follows sees acting as a team effort. "One of the things I love the most about the business is the people that I've worked with, the good relationships and the friends that I've made, sharing theatre with other people who have a similar drive, similar desire." Follows compares the experience of working with a company of actors to being part of a family which involves sibling rivalry, dysfunction and eventually, harmony. Reputations, emotions, opinions and other baggage must be left at the door. "What's important ultimately is the work, that's the only thing that's important, none of the drama around the work is important." Actors in a company have a common goal, says Follows. "To achieve the project to the best of our ability...the thing we love the most is working and that's why we're actors. For me there's no time for anything other than that; there's too much to learn, there's too much that I want to achieve. Everything else is quite superfluous and doesn't contribute to achieving the standard I want to set for myself."

The more I learn and the more I read, the more I see what intrigues me. There's so much to strive for. There's such a huge challenge and you're never on top of it," Follows says of the endless possibilities that acting offers her. She looks forward to playing in the future because she says there are so many more stories to tell. "I feel very fortunate to be my age and working in the theatre and to be having this experience with a company of actors, to be working on great works of art," Follows says of working on classical theatre. "It's a great experience that enriches me as a person." Keeping theatre alive "is a struggle," Follows says, "but it's certainly a fight that's worth fighting." If her sold - out performances at the Atlantic Theatre Festival are any indication, Megan Follows has already made a tremendous contribution to keeping theatre alive and well.

Source: Canadian Newsstand