Photo by Paul Smith
A multitalented stage and screen actress, Stephanie Cleough has traveled the world to follow her ambitions and dreams. Stephanie can now be seen as Anemone, a streetwise yet vulnerable sex worker who must balance her empathy for a murdered colleague with her desire to survive the deadly forces of Bay City, in Netflix’s hit Sci-Fi series Altered Carbon.
Growing up between Duncan, British Columbia and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Stephanie was constantly surrounded by the arts. Her mother was a painter, and her father an actor and singer and she regularly performed plays with her family, exploring many different worlds. While growing up Stephanie attended a Waldorf school, where all her learning was conducted through storytelling, writing, languages, music, and movement. These influences led Stephanie to strive for a career as an actress as an adult.
Stephanie initially gained recognition primarily as a theatre actress, touring with numerous productions in Western Canada including Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She also won critical acclaim for her hard-hitting one woman show Losing Patience, Gaining Hope. Her love of the stage eventually landed her in London, England at the age of eighteen, where she completed a successful run in a thought-provoking original musical at the historic Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London’s West End. It was here that she decided to further her pursuit of film and TV by taking the leap and moving to Los Angeles where she soon felt at home studying with renowned acting coach, Larry Moss. Since then, Stephanie has recurred on The CW’s The Originals and appeared on The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, CBS’ The Mentalist and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and FX’s Justified.
Most recently, Stephanie has jumped into the indie film scene and has begun collaborating with talented artists to produce creative content. She has also discovered her passion for the exciting world of improv comedy and continues to sharpen her skills at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.
Thank you for granting the interview, Stephanie. Altered Carbon is a mega hit! You play Anemone, a streetwise yet vulnerable sex worker who must balance her empathy for a murdered colleague with her desire to survive the deadly forces of Bay City. Tell us about your character.
She is such a wonderful example of the strength and kindness we all have available to us, even in the harshest of circumstances. She’s built up walls and affected a tough exterior. She’s complicated and imperfect…fighting for survival. But ultimately in her core, she’s still that sweet little girl who just wants to connect, feel loved and give freely to others, even at the risk of her own life. Her arc is tragic…but also so beautiful.
Altered Carbon is a futuristic film set in an era consciousness is digitized and stored in cortical stacks implanted in the spine. This allows humans to survive physical death by having their memories and consciousness “re-sleeved” into new bodies. This reminds of the film End of Days starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. How did you prepare for your role?
They really gave us the gift of time with this project which can be so rare in our extremely fast-paced industry. I had the opportunity to go ‘all in’ in a way we don’t always have the time for; physically, mentally and creatively. There was such a large commitment from the top down to making every detail count…which is literally every actor’s dream.
Did you know Altered Carbon was based on a novel by Richard K. Morgan? Have you read the novel?
Absolutely, and for anyone who hasn’t read it I’d highly recommend it. That’s such a fascinating part of series that are based on books, you get to compare the original narrative to the show, what you would have envisioned the same way or differently to the direction that the creators took.
This is Netflix’s most expensive production. What was it like to work on the set of Altered Carbon, with a massive budget?
Honestly, it was amazing. I have so much respect for Netflix. They don’t do anything by halves. They knew this was going to be a big budget show and there was clearly a decision made early on to give absolutely everything needed to allow the creative space to make something truly special. They really trusted the vision completely and supported it every step of the way. That has such a wonderful trickle effect, all the way down the food chain. Everyone wanted to bring their best selves and do their best work.
We recently interviewed Hiro Kanagawa, who plays Captain Tanaka in Netflix’s Altered Carbon. Do your characters interact?
Actually no, our characters never meet! I loved his work on the show but most of my scenes were with Joel (Kinnaman)…who was every bit as wonderful to work with as you’d expect.
You have an incredible portfolio of work. You have recurred on The CW’s The Originals and appeared on The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, CBS’ The Mentalist and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and FX’s Justified. However, you initially gained recognition primarily as a theatre actress, touring with numerous productions in Western Canada including Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. With your vast amount of experience in both television and theater, do you find that you prefer one over the other?
I can’t say I prefer one or the other, they’re just so different. But I’ve spent the majority of my time the last few years in film/TV land and have been feeling that it may be time to dip my toes back into the theatre. I’d love to spend some time in New York. A little black box Off-Broadway? We’ll see!
Is there a role you would love to play?
Oh my gosh, what a great question. There are so many… I’d love to do something extremely physical like action or adventure. That would be so fun for me. Shake it up with some wacky comedy…then do a refined and subtle period piece? …a musical? …an intense political drama based on real-life events? Ha, basically, I hope to be one of those ridiculously lucky unicorns who gets to do it all, play in totally different universes and tell wildly unique, entertaining, important and moving stories. I guess I’d better get cracking!
Are there any upcoming projects you have that we haven’t mentioned?
There are a few pretty exciting things in the works but I have to wait until I’m officially allowed to talk about them so… Watch this space!
Altered Carbon has been renewed for a second season. Do you know how your character will progress? Are there special scenes we should look out for?
I believe that is currently a rumor, if confirmed, that’s great news. Laeta is such a truly incredible creator. I can’t even put into words how inspiring this woman is both as a human and as a creative (and fellow Canadian). I’m sure she has all kinds of amazing ideas for season two. One of the best things about a show like this is that absolutely nothing is off the table. She’s been working closely with Richard throughout this process as well as she’s very committed to illuminating and celebrating his work so, between the two of them, I’m sure whatever path they choose will be unexpected and brilliant.
Thank you for your time!
Of course! Thank you for yours!
Featured Image Credit: Paul Smith.
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