From writer/director Neasa Hardiman, the indie horror film Sea Fever shows what can happen when a mysterious lifeform ensnares a fishing trawler out in the deep Atlantic with its crew on board. When marine biology student Siobhán (Hermione Corfield) has to endure a week on a boat whose close-knit crew starts to succumb to a strange infection that is taking them out, one by one, she attempts to understand its source and how to stop it.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Connie Nielsen (who plays Freya, one half of the couple in charge of the fishing crew, alongside her husband) talked about the heart of the story of Sea Fever, coming from a fishing community herself, the atmosphere created in the film, shooting on such confined sets, what she liked about working with co-star Dougray Scott, and the challenges of this film. She also talked about how exciting it’s been to be a part of the Wonder Woman franchise and to see its impact on audiences, as well as what she looks for in a project.

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Image via Gunpowder and Sky

Collider: When this script came your way and you read it, what was your initial impression? Did it feel very relevant, even then?

CONNIE NIELSEN: Yeah, I felt like this was the kind of film that had a conscience, from the beginning. Yes, it was scary and it’s inside of a genre package, but really, its heart is with the people on that boat and with nature. It’s a film that really speaks about the power of nature, and then it showcases human beings’ behavior in relation to nature. You have people who try to control nature, like the fishermen. You have people who try to observe and who are in awe of nature, like Hermione [Corfield]’s character, who really is struggling to understand humans and does not understand humans, at all. And then, we have my character, who is trying desperately to just keep her family afloat. I come from a fishing community, so the film and the script really spoke to a deep place within me because I have seen how those communities have been decimated by EU regulations and the whole way of life has gone away, but that hasn’t solved the problem of overfishing. What you have seen is a move away from family-owned businesses into giant corporations, who are able to over-fish secretly, in many of the areas that small boats are still trying to cling to business within. And so, what I found was that the script really spoke to a very important reality on so many refined and delicate ways. I was really intrigued by the monster at the core, as well, and the heinousness, and yet the beauty of the monster.

So much of the success of a film like this comes from the mood and the atmosphere and the tension that it creates, which isn’t necessarily on the page. Were you able to get that from reading it, or did an understanding of what that would be like come out of conversations with the director?

NIELSEN: I think that oftentimes a director creates a tension and intent through casting. And so, the way she put together the people, with all of our different energies, is what gives the movie a specific kind of energy and tension. The way in which we interact with each other and the way that we are tensive with other people comes a lot from casting. And then, of course, there is the slow build of the challenges that keeps on facing this group, both internally and externally. There is a heartbreaking backstory to the couple who both co-captain this boat, and I was very touched by that story as well.

I was very impressed with what this film accomplishes because it seems like it would have been very challenging to pull all of this off on a small budget.

NIELSEN: It was very small budget, and [Hardiman] really did wonders with it. She was very, very good at making every dollar stretch towards the right spot. I really love this kind of filmmaking, where the director gets to express their idea and their story without having to make concessions on their vision.

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Image via Gunpowder and Sky

What did you like about working and collaborating with Neasa Hardiman as a filmmaker?

NIELSEN: Well, you have three female characters that are really strong, in each their own way. The naturalness of that, and the fact that they’re collaborators and human beings with character and personality, is definitely connected to the fact that is a woman. It’s a woman who knows how to describe real women.

What was the experience of shooting this film like, between shooting on a boat and shooting on what fairly confined sets? Did that also help create a sense of claustrophobia?

NIELSEN: Yeah. The galleys of the boat were very tight. We shot everything on the boat, to start with, so that once we moved into the studio, the boat was an experience that we were relating to when we were inside of the cockpit, the mess hall, and so on. And we spent some time with a couple who are just like these two people, on their boat, and we got an understanding of how they clean up, how long their tours are, and how they live. It’s completely without vanity. Vanity is gone. There’s just this depth of trust between people, except of course with the newcomer.

Did you and Dougray Scott do anything specific to establish the relationship with your characters? Did you talk about that, at all, or was that something that just came easily between you guys?

NIELSEN: Dougray and I just established this natural rapport, right away. I also know Dougray’s wife [Claire Forlani] really well, and was so delighted to reconnect with her. So, we had a natural energy together. I felt a lot of respect from him. There’s a lot of give and take in a scene, and when you feel that somebody is being generous, that builds a lot of trust as well. He’s that kind of actor.

Was there a most challenging day or scene for you, either personally because of the emotions in the scene, or technically because it was just a challenging scene to shoot?

NIELSEN: It was really important to make sure that people understood where we were, what we were doing, geographically, and what it meant to be breaking the law. We made sure that we were technically providing that experience for the audience. We definitely wanted to make sure that was clear. I think that the scenes were so well written that they took off by themselves. Sometimes we had to do a scene 50 times because the camera had to turn and do singles on each person because we were in such close quarters, and we just did it. It was a really great shot and a really comfortable experience throughout the work day.

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Image via Warner Bros.

It was previously revealed that you and Robin Wright were going to be shooting a flashback sequence for the Wonder Woman sequel. Do you know if that ultimately made it into the finished film?

NIELSEN: I’m so sorry, but I can’t talk about Wonder Woman stuff at all. We can’t talk about that.

In general, what was it like for you to be a part of that first Wonder Woman film, especially with as big of an impact as it made on people? Was it exciting to see that?

NIELSEN: Yeah. I really hope that we’ll be able to continue to speak to young women like that. It was an incredible experience to see people who just didn’t know they were hungry. Speaking to somebody who had been raised on a cultural diet directed towards men, and being forced to identify with characters and psychology that don’t even serve our own interest is something that people have done for a long time. And then, all of a sudden, there’s this film or this book or this thought that takes flight and says, “Well, wait a minute.” And people started questioning. That was a confluence of a lot of different things, but that was an awakening of women and young women. The people that came after my generation, the girls who are now in their 30s, often felt as if they were being complacent towards feminism. They would even say publicly, “Oh, I’m not a feminist.” And I’m like, “How can you not be? How can you not be for women? We have issues, and we have to deal with these issues. We have work to do. You saying that you’re not a feminist is really not helpful.” So, seeing how women woke up to that was so refreshing, to be honest. It was really lovely. What people were really seduced by was this culture of equality and this idea that we are not victims in need of anything. We were hidden from the world, but we were our own highly cultivated and highly cultured society. It’s society of community and equality, and all of those ideals, whether it’s conscious or not, catches people’s imagination.

At this point in your life and career, what do you look for in a project and what gets you excited about the work? Do you have your own personal checklist, or is it really an instinct when you read something?

NIELSEN: I gravitate towards things that tell a story that needs to be told. I gravitate towards stories about women who are standing on their own. I look for stories that look for a truth that goes beyond whatever pop culture is talking about right now. I’m interested in things that try to cast a light on things that, for some reason, get forgotten or unseen, especially if it leads us towards understanding the complexity of a female character and women in general. I don’t want to adhere to the poor and trite pop images of what women are supposed to be.

Sea Fever is available On Demand and on Digital on April 10, 2020.