Cast Interview: Magan Wiles in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Magan Wiles

Role in this production:
Sally, Assistant Director

What's been your favorite role, to date?
Juliet - although I never cracked open that damn tomb scene.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

I was playing Hero in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING with the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis.  I was doing the scene where Hero and Ursula have a fake conversation to make Beatrice think that Benedict is in love with her.  There was one night where the audience was laughing their asses off the whole scene, and I thought, "Boy, we must be really cookin' tonight."  It turns out there was a possum crawling its way up the front of the outdoor stage.  It finally appeared at the edge of the well where we were washing clothes, maybe five feet away.  The audience just lost it-all we could do was stare at it, then look at each other, then look back at it.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

Sally is a really lonely and angry person.  Recalling times and people that make me feel that way has not been pleasant.  Interesting and maybe even cathartic, but unpleasant.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

I will use the tools we are using in our rehearsal process for the rest of my career.  I find a lot of Strasberg's technique to fall in line with the way I approach acting instinctively.  It's thrilling and fruitful to have the processes I used to do unconsciously be named and used consciously as a rehearsal tool to build an ensemble show.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?

Sally is unsatisfied with her life, and wants to move herself and those around her forward into a new way of living...I have found myself in that place several times over the course of my life.  She presents a tough exterior but is actually a very vulnerable person....that' me.  But if you ask me about it, I'll deny it :)

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
I am shooting a New York Film Academy thesis project titled "Meetings" - I play a jealous girlfriend who confronts the supposed mistress in a restaurant and then chokes her out.  You know, a feel-good role.

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

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