Erivo’s mother was only 15 when the Biafran War broke out.
“My mother was a child of war,” Erivo tells EW.
Her home was ravaged, and they were on the run to find safety.
Cynthia Erivo in ‘Drift’.Utopia /Courtesy Everett Collection
“We’ve been speaking over the years about her experiences,” Erivo adds.
I’m really grateful that she’s willing to have the conversations.
What made you want to wear that extra hat here?
That was like 2016.
I loved the script.
I read it in my interval.
I should not have done that.
It was a bad idea.
However, it did make me fall in love with this piece.
Then sadly, Bill Paxton died, and I thought the film had gone away.
I wanted to make this film happen however I could.
I was willing to do whatever.
I’m a glutton for punishment.
I want to do all the work I can possibly do, even if it’s difficult.
I knew I was not going to be a silent producer.
I set about trying to find a couple people who could help us with financing.
I have not seen it done with such dignity before.
We get all of these glimpses of Jacqueline’s past and what she’s gone through.
When her sister is raped, it’s brutal and difficult to watch.
Were you actually on set witnessing that be filmed?
The scenes were all filmed in chronological order.
We’re all in those scenes.
So yeah, I was witnessing all of that.
How were you able to get through that?
I don’t even really know how I managed to get through all of that.
It’s a very thin line between you and the character.
You have to tap into some of the hard stuff in your own life.
It’s hard to tap into those memories and come out of them quickly.
So the thing that I found really difficult was going through those things and then switching off.
It was really hard to switch off once I was in it.
Sometimes the only thing that can help is a bit of time and patience.
That’s really hard to come out of.
Jacqueline forms this very tentative, fragile connection with Alia’s character.
How did the two of you forge that bond?
We had some really lovely conversations.
Alia is such a free spirit and has such a lovely, light energy.
There’s a scene toward the end where she comes to where Jacqueline lives.
At that moment, she gives her a hug from behind.
When we were shooting that moment, we would sit off to the side in silence together.
It’s one of those memories that’s stuck in my mind.
We just sat with each other and nothing had to be said.
I will never forget that as long as I live because it was such a kind moment.
What keeps you attracted to characters like that?
Because they all want something different and something that’s the same.
They all want to be seen for who they are.
They all are slightly lost and searching.
They all are indomitable spirits, some more vulnerable than others, some scared to be vulnerable.
Some can’t help being vulnerable.
They’re all women I have never met before, but somehow kind of intimately know.
I want to keep meeting people that I’ve never met before.
I want to keep meeting people that I want to know more about.
And these are those people.
That’s why I pick them.
It’s the same with Jacqueline.
I was interested in her silence and how quiet she was.
But it’s her willingness to attempt to keep going day by day that’s really interesting to me.
For some reason, she just keeps going.
Water encompasses so many different things.
That’s the crux of her life.
It’s the beginning of her starting again.
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