Quick Links
Mckenna Grace, at the time of this writing, is only 16 years old. And yet, she's grappled with some truly adult topics in her work. This is excluding her star-making performance in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, AKA the only good Ghostbusters sequel.
Of course, Grace's more emotionally challenging work has been in The Handmaid's Tale and Friend of the Family, in which she plays a very real person who was kidnapped and abused by a loved one not once but twice. It's heavy stuff. Enough for one to wonder how such a young woman can get into and out of that dark headspace.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mckenna Grace pulled back the curtains on her process and what it all means to her.
Who Is Mckenna Grace In The Handmaid's Tale?
Mckenna Grace plays Esther Keys in the acclaimed Hulu series. Alongside her acclaimed and wealthy castmates, Grace tackles some truly uncomfortable topics. This includes her fifth-season storyline which is so dark that we can't even talk about it here.
Of course, the plotline allows Grace to show off her remarkable acting skills in an uncomfortably honest way.
After finding out that she is pregnant with the baby of the man who took advantage of her, Grace's character absolutely loses it. In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Friend of the Family and Ghostbusters: Afterlife star revealed that she authentically felt so angry about what her character went through. This is how she was able to "tap into" her unbridled rage.
"I guess I was just enraged for Esther and what she’s been through," Grace admitted, referring to the scene where she's handcuffed in the hospital bed. "I don’t feel that type of rage through my day-to-day life. I kind of just do it and then after, come out of it to realize I’ve been doing this for hours, and I kind of don’t know where I went. I had these massive bruises on my wrist for going so ham. My wrists were so crazy swollen and bruised the next day."
Mckenna Grace Plays Jan Broberg In Friend Of The Family
Peacock's Friend of the Family is a miniseries based on a horrific true story. Mckenna Grace plays Jan Broberg, a woman who suffered tremendous pain at the hands of a close family friend.
"I’m honored to have been able to be a part of telling her story. I think it’s really important to get her story out there to hopefully educate people and show people [what happened]. Hopefully, people will understand," Mckenna Grace said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Playing Jan Broberg is no doubt an unparalleled emotional challenge. It also comes with a lot of criticism.
"To be playing these young women who are going through this, because it’s exactly what I say all the time about playing my age in Handmaid’s Tale: If we’re that uncomfortable with me acting out these scenes, why aren’t we doing something for the young women who are going through it?" Grace said.
"Dramatic roles, to me, are the most fulfilling as an actor, but also I find that these stories are important to tell and that I’m able to be a part of something that’s bigger than myself. To be able to talk about it and have a bit more of a platform to educate people, I think that’s incredible."
How Mckenna Grace Separates Herself From Her Dark Characters
Perhaps part of the reason why Mckenna Grace is able to move through her extremely dark roles is that she's managed a medical condition in secret for years. Most people wouldn't have had a clue that she was going through something so traumatic. She just kept her strength, her grace, and did her job. In other words, she's good at separating aspects of her life to be in a given moment.
But in her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mckenna Grace revealed that she has another trick for moving away from all of the horrible things her characters deal with.
"Luckily, I’ve always had my parents, who have always been so supportive of me and my decisions in acting. So outside of acting, I have my family and my dog and my own life that I can separate from my roles," Grace admitted to The Hollywood Reporter.
On top of this, the Handmaid's Tale star credits music as being her savior from the darkness. Much like Sadie Sink's character in Stranger Things, Mckenna is able to let the rhythm carry her away from the trauma her characters endure.
"I listen to a lot of music to get into a place, and then I listen to a lot of music to get out of a place. Just the other day, I was crying in the car, listening to something because it reminded me of one scene. Music does that to me, and I find that’s really helpful," Grace said.
Grace went on to say that all of the roles she's played have helped to form her as a person. So they also weigh heavily on her.
"But it’s an emotion you trick yourself into feeling, and then you have to figure out how to disassociate it from your real emotions. I’ve definitely had times where I look back at a scene where I did something all day that is a super dramatic, high-intensity scene, and it will give me a little bit of anxiety because my body thought it was real even though my mind knows it wasn’t," Grace admitted to The Hollywood Reporter.
"So it’s all sorts of mixed feelings, but at the end of the day, it’s acting and emotions I leave at work."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiknKOVo7uiecarmJydXZu%2FqrHNnWSonl2ptaZ5xZqkoqSpYrWiusOmmKKco2LBorjEZpqhmaKWsLWx0axm