Emma Appleton – ContentMode

Emma Appleton

stars in

Paramount +

series

Road Trip

Photography Rhys Frampton

Fashion Director Deborah Ferguson

Emma Appleton has established herself as a force to be reckoned with. In her latest project, Road Trip, Appleton’s character takes a journey both physically and emotionally. The series focuses on themes of love and loss, as Appleton displays her performance prowess. Road Trip joins Everything I Know About Love, as another book to television adaptation that Appleton has worked on, as she brings characters to life from the page. We talk about the show’s filming process, her approach to character development, and more!

Dress, stockings, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

Congratulations on Road Trip! How has the process been so far?

The process of being involved with a project is wild. So much happens before casting and then I’m lucky enough to be thrown into the mix, bring Addie to life, build and create a world with a cast and crew, live in a different country for four months, emotionally and physically invest in what I’m making, and then my part is kind of finished. But the project goes on into the edit and post production, and then you finally see the finished product. I always find it fascinating that different versions of a show exist in the scripts, the filming, and the edit. It’s always shifting and mutating, and it makes you realise how many people are involved in the final outcome.

Dress, stockings, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

Sweater dress, belt, stockings, heels, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

Road Trip cuts between memories of the past and events in the present. How do you think this format contributes to a cohesive final product?

It allows an audience to really get to know the characters—to connect with them, and to invest in the relationships between them all. I think it also allows space to see how much they do or don’t change. For example, I think we see a huge shift in Addie and as we go further into the series, we find out why that shift occurs. As humans, I believe we have such power in evolving and changing, and it feels true to life to be able to explore that on screen.

Coat, skirt, scarf, stockings, heels, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

Sweater dress, belt, stockings, heels, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

The show adapts the 2021 novel of the same name. Were you a fan of the book before you worked on the project?

No. I had seen The Flatshare, also by Beth O’Leary, and found the characters and world she created to be so loveable and charming but also honest and relatable. I only became familiar with The Road Trip when I got sent the first episode to read. Because a television adaptation is always a slight departure from the original source material I chose to focus on the scripts knowing that Beth’s creation of Addie, the other characters, and the story were the heart and soul of the project.

What was the filming process like?

Filming began in Bristol, where some of our show is set. Starting there really helped me ground Addie, get to know her better, and explore the situation where we meet her and her state of mind. It’s where we started bonding as a cast and crew, and where we began feeling out how the filming process would go. Then we had a month off before going to Gran Canaria, where we had the same cast but a lot of brand-new crew members, so it felt like a new chapter. We spent a lot of time on dusty roads in the middle of nowhere, in abandoned hotels, in quiet picturesque villages, and in a villa in the hills surrounded by views of the island. I feel incredibly fortunate that we were able to experience all of it together. It’s a huge part of what made this such a special job for me. When you come home from a job sometimes it feels like a film you play in your head that only you and a few others were a part of, and no matter how much you try you can never convey what a unique experience that is.

Dress, stockings, heels, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

Dress, stockings, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

What similarities do you see between yourself and your character, Addie? What differences do you notice?

Addie is highly independent, almost to a fault. I’d say I’m a lot less like that. I can sometimes fall into trying to figure it all out on my own and quickly realise it’s so much easier and manageable to talk to my friends or family and ask for help. I’m a huge advocate for calling mates and just having a chat. Emotional connection is everything. I think Addie goes on a journey of discovering that. When we first meet Addie, she has a curiosity about her and a desire to travel and explore what life could offer her. I feel like I’ve become more like that over time: less scared of the world and more excited and intrigued by it all. Oh, and Addie can drive. I absolutely cannot.

You worked with China Moo-Young for a third time on this project. How would you describe your working relationship? How do the two of you cooperate on set?

I truly feel so thankful and lucky our relationship happened. I guess it’s like how you can have chemistry with other actors. The same can happen with directors. The beauty of having worked together a few times now means we have a short hand, we just understand how each other works. I really get a lot from how straightforward China is in giving notes. She really gets the characters she’s working with. She cares about them as much as I do. She’s invested in storytelling but she’s also incredibly technical, and I’ve learned so much just by watching and listening.

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In many ways Everything I Know About Love is a love story of sorts, but one that features dynamic female friendships. How do you think narratives like this empower women to decenter men, and focus on themselves and their friends?

I feel like the romcom genre has always had its main focus on heterosexual romances as its focal point. And while those stories can be so beautifully done, I feel like we are heading in a direction of seeing what other relationships can and do look like in real life. The importance of friendship is reflected back to us in stories like Everything I Know About Love. I think we have been brought up to believe that our romantic relationships should take more space than platonic ones and truthfully, we are missing out on so much love and joy from our friendships if we do that. One doesn’t need to cancel out the other. They should all be held in equal measure and importance. Romantic love is beautiful and magical and all the wonderful things, but it can also be painful and frustrating and challenging, and we need our friendships always but most of all at those moments. I don’t think we should ever take them for granted.

When you work on television adaptations of beloved books, how much do you collaborate with the original authors? How did Beth O’Leary and Dolly Alderton contribute to the final television productions?

It really varies from project to project. For example Dolly was adapting her book for the screen and executive produced the show, so she was a constant presence on set. We spoke a lot and I asked questions because I was so aware that Maggie was a slight departure from Dolly, but I also wanted to be respectful and was consistently aware that my character was based on a real person’s lived experiences. I believe roles like this should always be handled with care. Beth wasn’t able to be on set that much but it felt like she’d laid such a solid foundation of the world and characters in the book. It was adapted by writers Ryan O’Sullivan & Matilda Wnek, and Beth was involved. Because Addie is a totally fictional character I was able to explore her more by myself and through the scripts. Collaboration comes naturally and organically, and I like to just let it take the route it’s meant to.

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As an actor, I’m sure you have loads of recommendations. If viewers like Road Trip and Everything I Know About Love, what else would you suggest to them?

I would suggest watching Starstruck, Feel Good, Big Boys, This Way Up, Fleabag (which is obvious, but maybe someone somewhere hasn’t seen it yet), Looking and Catastrophe.

Dress, stockings, heels, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

Dress, stockings, earrings: SAINT LAURENT

What does the future look like for you? What other genres or mediums would you like to explore?

I don’t think too much about what the future will look like because historically it turned out wildly different to what I thought. I equally enjoy and am slightly terrified. I have no idea what will happen. I know I’d like to make my own work. I feel like it’s in the future somewhere and one day I’ll get so bored and frustrated with my own thoughts that I’ll send a script I’ve written to someone to read. I like the idea of directing but am also aware of what a huge role that is. I’d like to keep working with directors I admire and studying how they operate, but then maybe next year I will have given it all up to be a ceramicist. Who knows!