Till Death Do Us Part: An interview with Harry Treadaway

You don’t have to watch that many horror films to know that creaky cottages in remote locations are best given a wide berth. Yet against better judgement, that’s where newlyweds Bea (Rose Leslie, best known as Game of Thrones wildling Ygritte) and Paul (Harry Treadaway) choose to celebrate their nuptials in Honeymoon. “When filming, you can’t help but be aware that you are a couple, in a cabin, by a lake, in the woods,” Treadaway acknowledges over a plate of lemon drizzle cake, the day after the film’s UK premiere at Edinburgh Film Festival. “You can’t help but feel that that there’s something iconic, cinematically, about that setup – as much as when you’re on a horse in Monument Valley going ‘I’m playing a cowboy!’”

He’s referring to his role as villainous cross-dressing outlaw Frank in last year’s The Lone Ranger, a project that the 29-year-old actor still seems fired up by a year after its release, despite the film’s (unfairly) rough treatment at the hands of critics and moviegoers. “Playing a cowboy is something that feels fundamentally cinematic,” he continues, “and equally, in a smaller way, there’s definitely something about being in a couple, in the woods, in a cabin. You feel like…” He pauses. “Well, these things just aren’t going to go well…”

That’s an understatement. What starts out blissfully romantic quickly turns sinister as Bea begins exhibiting alarming behaviours – from forgetting her beau’s name to going on naked night-walks in the woods. Husband Paul is left wondering what, exactly, has got into her (so to speak). Factor in lights at the window and bumps in the night – not to mention some alarming bruises and a couple of rattled neighbours – and their happily-ever-after starts to look distinctly unlikely. First-time director and co-writer Leigh Janiek handles this evocative setup smartly, turning in an effective, slow-burn chiller that benefits greatly from Treadaway and Leslie’s chemistry as a couple. “That was our challenge,” Treadaway suggests. “For me and Rose to find a relationship that was alive and real and had all the little details and potentially sickly things that a newlywed couple can have. If you have believed in them as a couple first, that hopefully makes the switch more disturbing.”

This is not Treadaway’s first encounter with the horror genre. In fact, with it coming close behind zom-com Cockneys Vs. Zombies (in which the undead cause a bit of barney rubble in ahld Landahn Tahn) and high concept Showtime/Sky television series Penny Dreadful (in which Treadaway plays genre icon Victor Frankenstein), Honeymoon adds to a small but growing career trend. “I think that’s probably more a reflection of what is getting funded, than my choice to go and be a part of it,” he suggests, when asked to reflect on his relationship with the gorier, creepier, scarier end of film and TV. “I think if you look at what’s getting made, I’d say that horror seems to be one of the more marketable genres. Really, I just try and keep things as varied as possible and do as many different types of production, with as many different elements to them.” Since 2005 screen debut Brothers of the Head – a brash, brilliant calling card starring Harry and brother Luke as conjoined rock star twins – Treadaway has done well to keep things diverse, mixing up small parts in acclaimed Brit indies (Control, Fish Tank), television roles (Channel 4’s Cape Wrath, BBC’s Truckers) and the occasional lead (Pelican Blood, Hideaways).

“To me, Honeymoon feels wholly different from Penny Dreadful, which feels wholly different from Fish Tank, which felt wholly different from Brothers of the Head,” he continues. “I think your tastes and what you want to do shift as you move along, job to job. But also, honestly, I think an actor is lying if they say they design exactly what they end up doing, because, like anyone who’s self-employed, we can’t. You try and aim for people you want to work with but ultimately it’s a bit down to the gods as to what falls your way at certain times. But I was glad I got this one, and I made sure I taped hard for it… When I read it I thought, well, this is a story that for the majority of it is a drama about the unravelling of trust between a newlywed couple. I really bought into the relationship – it felt idiosyncratic and real, and that’s a rare thing to read in a drama let alone in something like this. It starts with real love, and then it switches into something different – and for me, that’s probably one of the most appealing aspects, in a way; to have it come in the back door and bite you without you expecting it.”

The fact that he first read the script while on one of The Lone Ranger's gargantuan sets also helped to stoke his interest. “That was an incredible, awe-inspiring production,” he beams, “with freight trains and towns and hundreds of millions of pounds and helicopters… It was huge in the most wonderful, enjoyable, childhood fantasy kind of way. But then when I read this script, which was basically two actors, one location, four weeks – well, as a starting point that’s very different so I was already interested. It also felt like it would be a good challenge psychologically and probably physically as well, to do this thing that was just the two of us... I think I just really like a mix of it,” he reiterates. “I love working on massive sets that have taken months to build, but equally there’s something really exciting about spending a week in a living room.” He further illustrates the difference in scale. “For The Lone Ranger, I did 5 weeks of cowboy camp – learning to ride a horse, shoot a gun and twirl a pistol. Whereas I think we shot Honeymoon in 24 days. And I’m sure the budget of cowboy camp was probably as much as this entire film was.”

“I love working on massive sets that have taken months to build, but equally there’s something really exciting about spending a week in a living room” – Harry Treadaway

Honeymoon’s 24-day shoot took place at the definitely-ominous-sounding Lake Summit – a reservoir in Henderson County, North Carolina. “You drive off this pretty empty road, take a turning and go around a lake,” Treadaway recounts. “There are houses dotted round but we were out of season so they were pretty much all empty. And it really was the third character, this house, because it was like our stage. We did a whole week of night shoots, and it was pitch-black and very quiet, walking through a forest looking for your newlywed... It was great. I think being on location definitely added to the sense of reality, for us.”

It also afforded Treadaway an opportunity to develop his interest in directing, by filming a music video for now-defunct indie band Tribes. “We did that the day after we wrapped – exhausted, absolutely knackered,” he laughs. “I live with the singer, Johnny [Lloyd, now launching a solo career], and this was an acoustic track at the end of their album which I loved. He asked me to direct a video so I thought we’d just rent an old 70s car and go driving around the Blue Smoky Mountains, make it some sort of remembered relationship sort of video.” The results dovetail pleasingly with Honeymoon – not only are there similarities in setting (rural USA) and themes (a couple falling apart), but casting too, with Treadaway and Leslie reuniting in front of the camera. “I managed to blag Rose into it by telling her it would only be a couple of hours…” He lets out a deep breath. “It took a lot more than a couple of hours…! But it was really fun to work on, [and] I’d definitely like to do more.”

Next on Treadaway’s dance card is season two of Penny Dreadful, scheduled to shoot later this year. In the meantime, he’s just happy to see Honeymoon reach the audiences it was intended for. “The wonderful thing about TV is, you’re making it and you know it’s going to be beamed right into people’s living rooms,” he notes. “That’s where it comes out, and that’s a really intimate, brilliant art form. But for a film to get made, and then bought, and then go round festivals, and then actually get out there – it’s like swimming upstream. So when one gets there, I feel like that’s great.” Seems that, as far as Treadaway’s concerned, Honeymoon has found its happily-ever-after after all.