You have an impressive career. When you look back, is there anything you would like to add to your portfolio?
Thank you. And yes, there are so many roles and so many platforms on which I would still love to perform.
I am classically trained and have performed Shakespeare around the UK, but I hope to one day grace the stage at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, to portray his iconic woman such as Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra.
Here in London, we have The Royal National Theatre, which is one of our most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues. Everyone who is anyone has performed here or wants to! Currently, Tamsin Greig is doing Twelfth Night and next month Andrew Garfield will then star in Angels in America. Their program is so varied and inclusive it would be such a treat to be a part of it.
With my physical and gymnastics background, I would like to do more motion capture and effects work. The animation and gaming genres are growing fast and are filled with phenomenally talented people. I really enjoyed developing the un-dead child creature in Dungeons & Dragons and I cannot wait to do more. Hopefully, one day working with Andy Serkis and his Imaginarium Studios.
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We would love to see that, too! You received training from The Oxford School of Drama. Tell us about your experience.
I went to drama school in my mid-twenties, having recently finished working on two Harry Potter films. I had been going to auditions, but I felt like a fraud because I hadn’t had the drama school training of my peers. I remember chatting with an agent who was kind enough to give me some advice and told me about The Oxford School of Drama. I left his office that afternoon and applied. After several rounds of auditions I got in! The Oxford School of Drama only takes a very select few actors each year and so I knew it was meant to be. But I also was counting my lucky stars.
Every morning we would arrive ready to work all dressed in black to these gorgeous converted farm buildings in the Oxfordshire countryside. We would start everyday with yoga and stretching, which is an activity I still do. It was a tough experience on many levels and there were many of days I cried. I had gone there wanting them to tell me I was great, but that is not what drama school is about here. They challenge almost everything about you – your appearance, your experiences, your thoughts and feelings, they challenge your life choices, your relationships, and they ask you to bare your soul. Past experiences that you may have locked away are teased out, so that you can potentially use them in your characters.
Drama school taught me that, to portray the lives of others, it is crucial that I can go to dark places, survive it, and be ready for the next time.
That’s interesting. We never knew drama school could be so intense. Thank you for sharing. Well, this leads us into our next question. You also hold a degree in Psychology. Do you rely on your training to create backstories for the characters you play?
I think it has helps me, yes. Psychology is a fascinating subject and it allows you to look at behaviors from a subjective, analytical point of view, which can be useful when trying to get an insight into the character, especially one that is very different from yourself. But I’ve learned that I cannot rely on one method or route to finding the truth of a character. As such, psychology has become just one of the tools in my acting toolbox, along with some elements from Meisner, Stanislavski, actioning, improvisation, and whatever else I can find!
You started your career as a stunt double for Emma Watson in the Harry Potter Films. Do you still do your own stunts?
I do, yes. Stunt work was not something I thought I would get an opportunity to do. But the Harry Potter films really were a magical time of my life that were filled with opportunity.
Harry Potter was obviously a huge undertaking, but we were a close-knit, supportive team. Greg Powell, the stunt director, trusted me and gave me the confidence to do Emma’s stunts and I owe him an awful lot.
One of my favorite scenes to film was in Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix with the character of Grawp, Hagrids giant half-brother. Filming the Grawp scenes was mostly done using green screen and Grawp was often represented by a tennis ball on the end of a long stick! In one particular scene, you might remember Hermione gets lifted up by Grawp, a terrifying experience for the young Hermione, but a fantastically exciting experience for the young Charlotte! We had a giant Grawp hand that I was securely fitted inside of and was lifted up to the ceiling by a large mechanical arm whilst being filmed.
I love to challenge my physicality and push beyond my fears to see what I am capable of. But in the end I chose not to pursue a career as an actual stunt woman, though I still have distant dreams of doing a Mission Impossible type film, where I can act and do my own stunts.
You are advanced in ‘stage combat.’ Tell us more!
Stage combat is really useful for any actor and surprisingly good fun, especially with weapons.
It is a fascinating discipline as the technique requires the victim, not the aggressor, to have all the power and control. For instance, when “strangling” someone, it is the victim that holds the aggressors hands around their own throat and the rest is acting!
You have starred in both stage and film productions. What do you enjoy most?
Definitely stage. Even when filming I feel that I am effectively “on stage”.
I love our theatre culture here in the UK. I have been going since I was five years old. The buildings have a lot of history and gravitas and they seem to retain the energy of past productions. I cannot help but smile every time I walk into a theatre as a performer or as an audience member.
Treading the boards and performing on stage in front of an engaged crowd is an almost indescribable experience. To live your character’s life every night and to share their story with the audience is unlike any other acting experience.
I do find filming exciting as it is constantly changing and moving. It really is alive. The story is usually filmed out of sequence so knowing your character arc at every juncture of the script is both essential and challenging. What is wonderful is having more than one take to play around and get it right!
Is there anything else you would like to share that we haven’t asked?
I’m excited for the future of our industry. We are representing more and more of our world’s population. It is important that stories from all over the world are truthfully told and reach a mass audience. We have so much to learn from each other’s experiences and it is important that everybody has a voice.
What’s next for you?
Over the last year I’ve been cast in several international TV commercials, which was a new thing for me. While it’s always nice to be in work and I learned a lot from those experiences, I’m now focusing on stage and film.
I’m currently in rehearsals for a play that opens in May, so I’m very excited to be performing here in London, again. I am also trying my hand in collaborative writing for another theatre project due to open this autumn. Fingers crossed!
I will never be a finished article. I’ve embraced growing older and the different roles that come with being more mature.
I don’t mind falling down, as long as I am learning from my mistakes. I have a lot of ambition and I am very lucky to be surrounded by wonderfully talented, supportive people, who inspire me every day.
Connect with Charlotte:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IckleMissH
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/IckleMissH/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteHunterOfficial/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2409667/
Spotlight: https://www.spotlight.com/2517-8975-4364
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