Caroline Dhavernas On Her New Film ‘Easy Living’ And What The ‘Mary Kills People’ Cast Discusses In Their Group Texts

We won’t be seeing Caroline Dhavernas return in Mary Kills People until 2018, and as far as Hannibal goes, well, your guess is as good as ours. But if you need your Caroline fix, and we all do, you’re in luck. She stars as Sherry in the indie film Easy Living, which hits VOD today. Sherry is a makeup saleswoman with business dreams and just a flaw or two. The film twists and turns and will take you to places you don’t see coming, while remaining charming, odd, and even sweet all along the way.

Caroline stopped by our offices to chat about the new experience this film afforded her, why she chooses to read a lot of psychology books, and what the Mary Kills People cast texts about.

This character is described as someone who seems like she has her shit together, but really doesn’t. When you want to seem like you have your shit together, what do you do? 

I can relate to Sherry actually because I have this facade, I guess like most of us, but inside there’s all sorts of things happening. I’m a roller coaster of emotions every day. But yeah, I try to make people feel secure, especially at work, and that I know what I’m doing, even if I don’t know what I’m doing.

You’re not alone. You play a lot of very interesting female characters. Are you seeing more of them come your way?

Yes. Maybe not my way specifically, but I see them more, I find, on the screen in TV shows or movies. I remember reading so many scripts about the good wife who understands her husband and who will go through hell and high water to protect him. I think that’s been done, and now we can go through more interesting things, and it’s happening more and more.

What are you looking for when it comes to a character? What is something that you definitely want to see?

Well, I guess it’s the writing more than anything. Is it a world you want to evolve in and get to know? Is the person writing the story appealing to you, are they nuanced and complex and are there gray zones and a variety of emotions you can play with? So it’s all that.

What was it about Sherry that you really liked?

Well, she is trying very hard to structure her life but she’s not meant for that structure. So just to see someone being so discombobulated, and I saw a lot of humor in it. It was a challenge, it was a risk. I love taking risks with people who are willing to go down that road with me, so it was definitely one of those. It’s just more fun to try things out that you’ve never done before rather than keep doing things you know the recipe for.

Was there anything in shooting that you had never done before?

Yes, totally. The makeup selling scenes we did at the very beginning before we even shot the written scenes, and they were all improvised. So we would show up to women’s houses who had agreed to us shooting in their house with them and improvised these 30-minute moments with them. [Director Adam Keleman] picked some scenes to put in the movie, and then we picked some story lines for Sherry, so I got to know my character a little bit before we shot the movie. We even had a week off between those scenes with the women and when we shot the rest of the movie while Adam thought about how to incorporate those in the movie after, so that was fun. I’d never done that before.

So they weren’t actors?

Nope. Some of them were people who loved acting but weren’t actors at all, but they were all excited to be doing these scenes. So we arrived at their houses with the cameras and knocked on their doors, and as soon as they opened the door we started shooting. We didn’t even say hi.

How about the makeup stuff? Did you have to learn how to apply it or talk about it at all? 

Not really. She knows what she’s talking about sort of, but she’s not an expert in any way. I think she puts on that “I know what I’m talking about” thing, so no. I’ve had makeup put on my face for so many years as part of this job that I could come up with the vocabulary a little bit.

Your character is a big fan of mantras. Do you have one that you like?

Yeah, I don’t have one though, I always forget them and then find others. I read a lot of psychology books. It makes me saner I guess and it keeps me calm, but I don’t have a specific one. I try to be — my boyfriend was saying this the other day, “Let’s remain flexible in everything that happens in our daily lives.” Because we have these things that we want to see happen, and then most of the time they don’t happen the way that we want them to happen. So just to keep that in mind to remain flexible.

Let’s talk about Mary Kills People.

We’re shooting right now for the second season.

So we’ll see it early next year?

I guess so, I don’t know. Last year we began in January in Canada and a bit later in the States, so I don’t know what the situation is this year.

Are you excited about where Mary’s going and what she’s up to?

Yes, it’s different because the stakes are higher this season. They’re exploring more of the morally gray zones of the way she helps people, who deserves to die, who has access to her services, so yeah, the stakes are even higher. A lot happens, there’s a lot of suspense this season.

Do you know how many episodes?

Six.

It’s the perfect binge-watch.

I think so. It’s perfect for actors too because you do two months and then you can do something else.

Was it easy to slip back into her?

No. Because you’ve known a character so well, you know what you want to get back into, and you have expectations that you’ve created for yourself. So you have to take time with putting on this skin again, and it doesn’t happen as quickly as I wanted it to happen. But you know, it’s also what happens in your mind as an actor when your doubting doesn’t always appear on screen, so hopefully it will be okay.

Viewers got very, very into this show. Were you ready for that? 

You never know what’s going to happen, and I don’t think about that because I have no control over it. I’ve been in many TV shows where the audience just doesn’t meet the way that it’s been promoted, and it’s so complicated — the distribution, the last step of making a TV show or movie. So I never have expectations because you can’t. You don’t know.

And inquiring #Fannibal minds want to know, as far as Hannibal goes, has there been any news on your end?

I don’t know anything. People ask me and I wish I had answers, but I don’t. I only saw it in the paper myself.

Oh, really? Nobody’s been like, “Clear your schedule,” or anything?

Not at all.

Well, are you into it if they are?

It would be great, of course.

Anything that you would want to see your character do?

It’s so far down the road, it’s not even a possibility right now because I haven’t heard about it. So I don’t put my energy and my thoughts there. I try to keep focused on what I’m doing right now.

Does that cast have a group text? Because sometimes they’ll keep in touch with each other that way.

Well, I’m not part of it if there is one. But I’m texting with my Mary Kills People cast. Also we have a new cast member, Rachelle Lefevre, who I’ve worked with before on Off the Map, an ABC show we did a few years ago in Hawaii, so I’m delighted to be working with her again. She’s so wonderful. We’ve been doing a couple of scenes together on Mary Kills People, and she’s so talented and beautiful.

What do you talk about in your group chats?

Silly things about finding good restaurants in the city. Then she bakes and she sends us pictures and tries to lure us into her house so we can eat what she baked, and things like that.

Find more info on Easy Living and where to watch it here.

Where to watch Easy Living