Interview by Carol Wright | Photographer: Pip Bourdillon | Stylist: Farrah O’Connor | Hair: Shukeel Murtaza | Makeup: Maria Asadi | Credit: Premier Personal
We got to chat with up-and-coming actress Isobel Jesper Jones who can be seen in the fantasy drama Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, about getting into her character Jessica’s headspace, working on The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and her advice for aspiring actors.
Growing up, did you always have an interest in storytelling and acting?
When I was growing up, I always wanted to be an actor! I actually recently found a diary entry I wrote when I was 8, where I talk all about my dreams of becoming a famous actress and being on a TV show! When I was little, my mom was always reading stories to me, and I was so lucky she would take me to see all sorts of live performances. Her love of storytelling was infectious, and I developed a real love for using my imagination to escape into other worlds.
What drew you to Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself and made you want to audition?
I was so excited by Joe Barton’s scripts – they were unlike any fantasy scripts I had read before, and I couldn’t put them down. Joe’s writing has such a dark sense of humor, and I instantly loved how the show didn’t take itself too seriously. I remember the first time I read the scene between Jessica and her fellow cadet Hazel in the cornfield in Episode 2… that was the moment I became seriously intrigued by Jessica as a character. I thought, wow, there’s something so much more complex and sinister going on with this girl – and I was excited by the challenge of bringing her to life.
Your character Jessica is someone who harbors a lot of feelings of hatred toward Nathan, and those feelings lead her down a dark path. How did you go about getting into her headspace and understanding her motivations as a character?
It was challenging trying to get my head around someone seemingly so devoid of conscience and empathy. I read about cases of people who seem to have a similar propensity for violence, and I was also interested in individuals who claim to use violence in service of the ‘greater good,’ which I imagine is one of the ways Jessica might justify her actions. Her trajectory across the series is also huge, as with all of the characters, so I put charts up which mapped the course of her journey as she joins the hunters and slowly begins to climb through the ranks. I’m someone who likes to delve deep into a character’s psychology, so Paul and I would often have conversations about what motivates Soul and Jessica’s cruelty, and how darkness can consume a person.
On set, did you try to keep your distance from your co-star Jay Lycurgo to keep the relationship frayed, or once cameras stopped rolling, did you separate yourself from your character?
Well, the distance was sort of unavoidable! So much of Jessica’s trajectory in the show is her tracking down and chasing Nathan – so more often than not, me and the other hunters would arrive on set just as Jay, Nadia, and Emilien were leaving! But that meant that the few scenes I did have with Jay became really special. I decided early on that I would try to separate myself from Jessica as much as possible on set. She is so isolated from others, and I knew I didn’t want to stay in that headspace for any longer than I needed to, especially as it was my first time on a set, and I had so much to learn. I just wanted to have fun and chat with as many people as possible!
Do you get to have more freedom when you’re playing a villain and exploring a character with a darker side?
I think Jessica definitely offered an opportunity to be free from the expectations often placed on young female characters – such as the expectation to be attractive or palatable in some way. It’s not often we see a truly unlikeable young female character, who seemingly has no redeeming features, and the challenge Jessica posed was liberating. However, it was hard to play someone who keeps herself under very tight restraints emotionally. I really missed the catharsis you get as an actor when you play characters who wear their heart on their sleeve.
Do you feel you grew as an actress while working on Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself?
So much! Jessica is undoubtedly the most challenging character I’ve ever worked on. The Bastard Son was also my professional debut since leaving drama school and the first set I had ever been on, so it was a big learning curve. I learned so much about the stamina that’s required over the course of a long shoot and how different acting in front of a camera can be compared to performing onstage.
Next year you’ll be seen in the highly-anticipated The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Did anything in your acting process change when it came to working on this blockbuster film vs. The Bastard Son?
Working on The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was an overwhelming experience because of how real everything felt. The sets were unbelievably realistic and on a huge scale, with hundreds of supporting artists and stunt doubles and more cameras than I had ever seen! So it required a huge amount of focus to not let the nerves and magnitude get overwhelming. I feel so grateful my first job was on The Bastard Son, as I learned so much from our cast about tuning all the chaos out and staying present, it was an invaluable experience.
What advice do you have for aspiring actors?
I think something I wish I’d reminded myself more often is to stay playful. Sets can be hectic and full of so many different pressures, and it’s easy to forget acting is about relationships and bouncing off your fellow actors. Even playing someone as dark as Jessica – there’s always space to keep things playful and fresh.