From show creatorAlena Smith, the Apple TV+ original seriesDickinsonfollows Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) on her road to being a published poet and the promise of fame that will follow. When Sam Bowles (Finn Jones), the ambitious editor ofThe Springfield Republican, does his best to convince her to take her work a step beyond letting just Sue Gilbert (Ella Hunt), her brother’s wife who she also happens to be in love with, read them, it tests Emily in ways that she never could have imagined.
During the virtual press day for the second season,Anna Baryshnikov, who plays Emily Dickinson’s sister Lavinia, spoke to Collider for this 1-on-1 interview about why she loved her character immediately, exploring the sister dynamic, what it’s been like for her to work with co-star Hailee Steinfeld, the special moment she shared with the late directorLynn Shelton, seeing Lavinia as ahead of her time, and shooting the spider dance.
Collider: When this project initially came your way, what was it that interested you in the character and how much do you feel she’s evolved since you initially signed on to play her?
ANNA BARYSHNIKOV: I loved Lavinia immediately because she had some of the more modern language in the pilot. What was so compelling to me about the show was that you couldn’t tell if a line was in historical facts from the 1850s or an irreverent comment on 2020, or at the time 2018. So much of that seemed to be embodied in Lavinia. In a lot of ways, she feels like this window into the world, in this very modern way. I had initially auditioned for Sue, and felt good about the audition and was really happy with it. As I was leaving, Alena [Smith] said, “I think I’m gonna be seeing you again.” I was like, “I’m gonna get a call back for Sue!” And then, I got an email saying they wanted me to come back in for Lavinia, so I read the script and something about her language, I just knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. What’s been so delightful to play with her is that she has a lot of unexpected qualities. You think she’s this girlish, frivolous, superficial character, but she grows into something much more self-possessed and weirder and eccentric. I’ve just had such a joy finding that transition.
After the first season, were there aspects of her that you were most excited about getting to really dig into with Season 2? Did you have a sense of what her full arc would be?
BARYSHNIKOV: Yeah. I knew that she was gonna continue to get more agency in her life and take control of her situation. I really loved the moment in Season 1, where she decides to pin up all of her new drawings in her drawing class, and I was really interested in exploring that part of her further. At the end of the day, even though she was different from Emily, they both lived their lives in their parents’ house, they didn’t get married, and they didn’t have children. She really became the protector of her sister’s work and was someone who really valued her sister’s genius. So, I was excited to see how she gets closer to being that person, from this really bubbly, fun-loving young woman.
What has your relationship with Hailee Steinfeld been like and how has that evolved over two seasons now? How does it compare to your relationship off screen?
BARYSHNIKOV: Hailee and I very instantly clicked. It was almost difficult in the first season because we became so close so quickly that we had to remind ourselves that our characters don’t really like each other initially and don’t see eye to eye. We just wanted to play scenes together and love one another. Acting with her has been one of the greatest gifts of my career. As a viewer, I watch something likeThe Edge of Seventeenor evenTrue Grit, and you can see what an exceptional actress she is. But then, watching it in front of me, and seeing her work ethic and how alive she was stays in every scene, I feel like I’m learning so much from her, as an actress. She’s one of those people whose instincts are so on point and she works so hard to keep her craft refined. I’m so inspired by her and I’m so glad that she’s the lead of the show.
What do you also feel like you’ve learned about acting from the directors that you’ve worked with on this show?
BARYSHNIKOV: Sadly, the person that comes to mind is Lynn Shelton, who passed away a few months ago. It was so devastating to hear, for many reasons, but because she was a person who just stepped onto the set and was just thrilled to be there. Her energy was so kind, but then she also just had a real knack for letting actors shine. She was really an actor’s director and understood the comedy in the show so well. She shot the third and fourth episode of the first season, so I felt like I was just getting my sea legs and I was a little self-conscious about my performance, and she went out of her way to randomly text me and say, “You’re doing wonderfully and I’m so happy to be working with you.” That meant the absolute world to me. So, when I’m feeling self-conscious about my work, I’m gonna remember that text as much as possible.
I absolutely love the costumes on this show, but after you spend a season wearing this wardrobe, do you miss having to get back into modern-day clothing or are you grateful to get back into your own clothes?
BARYSHNIKOV: So grateful. The costumes are beautiful, but they’re as uncomfortable as they are beautiful. Like everything in this show, there’s a real point to them. How women were forced to dress in the 1850s is so confining and it really limits your ability to live your full life. It’s a reminder of what we put women through, for the sake of a trend. But I will say that the one thing I’m gonna hold onto is that underneath the dresses but on top of the corsets, there are these white blouses called corset covers that are delightful and they’re so pretty. I started finding them on vintage websites. You can find really inexpensive ones online and they’re the perfect little cropped blouse. So, I wanna lose the corset, but I’ll keep the corset covers.
It seems like Lavinia would certainly be the most fun Dickinson to hang out with. Do you feel like you would personally get along with her?
BARYSHNIKOV: Hell yes! Part of the joy of playing Lavinia is that I feel like I know her. I feel like I’ve had friends like her. I’m always trying to draw in people I know, to keep her a multi-dimensional character and to also keep her modern. Personally, I relate to Emily a little bit more, but I think I would be very tight with Lavinia.
Lavinia also seems like someone who’s figuring out who she doesn’t want to be, even though she might be having a little bit harder time figuring out who she actually does want to be. At this point in her life, what does she want and what does she definitely not want?
BARYSHNIKOV: You really hit the nail on the head. I think she’s realizing that she doesn’t want the life that she thought she did. I think a lot of women experience that. I’m at an age where I’m starting to see the people get married, and it’s an interesting moment to figure whether or not you’re doing something because you really, truly want to, or because you know that’s what’s expected and your parents will be happy and the person will be happy, and it will make the course of your life feel simpler than it would be otherwise. I think Lavinia wants the freedom to make all of her decisions herself and to keep investigating the parts of herself that made her feel artistic and witchy and weird and intellectual. As boy crazy as she might be, she might also be learning that men aren’t allowing her to live her fullest life.
Do you also see her as someone ahead of her time, in how accepting she is and embracing she is of her own quirks and oddities?
BARYSHNIKOV: I do think, in a lot of ways, Lavinia was ahead of her time. We really start to see that in her relationship with Emily and how much she accepts Emily as the talents that she is and how unconventional she is. The sweet side of Lavinia is that while she might be concerned with how people see her in the first season and how frivolous she is, in some ways, she is also so understanding and so compassionate and a real caretaker. To live your life in the way that Emily and Lavinia did, at that time, required bravery. And so, as fun as Lavinia is, as a character, I’m always interested in trying to find the moments that have required a lot of courage and the barriers that she had to break through to live the life that she wanted.
One of my favorite moments for her is the strange dance that we get to see her do a couple of times, both in front of Emily and for Ship. What were those scenes like to shoot? Is it ever hard not to crack up, when you’re just dancing around and being weird?
BARYSHNIKOV: I absolutely cracked up. There was one take of it, where we tried to do something on the bed and I just completely fell off the bed, doing the dance, and I was cracking up. The spider dance was probably the weirdest, most wonderful thing I will ever get to do for a job. It was so much fun to figure out what that was. The burlesque dancer, Lola Montez, who Lavinia becomes very infatuated with and is really enjoying imagining herself as, had a burlesque routine that involved pretending that a spider would crawl up her leg. She would become the spider and it would end in her lifting up her dress and showing the audience what was underneath, which was nothing. She was naked. This act was famous for having driven men absolutely crazy, so I think Lavinia relishes what it feels like to have her sexuality be something that makes her feel powerful, instead of making her feel vulnerable. So, coming up with that dance with the choreographer, Danny Mefford, was such a joy because we could really run with what Lavinia would imagine this dance to be, without YouTube. We both felt very strongly that, even though it was something that we wanted to be cute and sexy and a good moment in her relationship with Ship, she also wants to feel dangerous. We w really wanted to lean into the weirder aspect of Lavinia there.
How long did it take to shoot that and how many times did you rehearse it at home first?
BARYSHNIKOV: I have a video of me rehearsing it, where I get stuck in a position and I’m like, “Ow, someone has to lift me up.” We probably met three times before we shot it, to choreograph it. What I didn’t expect was that, when we shot it, Pico Alexander, who plays Ship, was directly across from and his reactions were informing what I was doing. I could have never rehearsed for that or anticipated that. He had a lot of fun with responding to it, so it became so much more of a back and forth that it was just a straight up dance.
Are you someone who gets giggle fits or who breaks during takes, or are you typically pretty good at holding it together?
BARYSHNIKOV: Something that I tried to learn from Jane Krakowski is that when something happens that makes me a giggle, it’s probably a good take, so you have to really attempt to power through, to make it work and get the shot. But sometimes, you just can’t help it. Specifically in scenes with her, I sometimes just lose it because she’s so funny.
Dickinsonis available to stream at Apple TV+, with new episodes on Fridays.
