Emily Hampshire Runs Toward Danger, Figuratively And Literally, With Her Courageous New Character in CHAPELWAITE

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Emily Hampshire’s character in the spooky new series CHAPELWAITE pushes the following question to its limits: Just how far would someone go for artistic inspiration? Based on Stephen King’s Jerusalem’s Lot, CHAPELWAITE also stars OSCAR® winner Adrien Brody and debuts Sunday, Aug. 22 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Hampshire plays Rebecca (Becky) Morgan, who is a college graduate and aspiring writer in 1850s Maine. Stuck with writer’s block and a looming deadline, Becky agrees to become the governess for a family that could be cursed, in a mansion that could be haunted, because – as she puts it to her mother – “there’s only one good story in town.” However, viewers will find out quickly that Becky Morgan’s “one good story” has many terrifying layers to it. “What’s crazy is that when the script for CHAPELWAITE first came into my inbox, I was reading Stephen King’s book called On Writing – it’s great,” said Hampshire, a well-known and versatile Canadian actress who in recent years has been best known to TV audiences for her role as Stevie Budd in SCHITT’S CREEK. “And lo and behold, Rebecca is a writer in a Stephen King adaptation. Rebecca is not in the original short story, but the Filardi brothers (Peter and Jason, executive producers and writers) added her, and I think it was a great idea. Not that Stephen King needs any help. But I like to think that if Stephen King were a smart, educated woman in the 1850s, he would be Becky Morgan.” Becky wants to know what is really going on in the mansion, and whether or not its new inhabitants – Charles Boone (Brody), who has inherited the property and moved in with his three children – will be plagued by the same strange occurrences that have sullied the family name in the town of Preacher’s Corners. Both figuratively and literally, Becky is the type of person whose curiosity pushes her to run toward danger, not away from it – and Hampshire loves that about her. “Especially as a journalist, wouldn’t you do the same thing, too?” Hampshire asked. “The core thing that I love about being an actor is, I want to know what it’s like! Now, I wouldn’t be as brave as Becky is in this situation, to go in there and be a governess. I’m lucky because as an actor, a lot of the time production can get you into those places when you’d be too scared. But I love her bravery and, as you say, how it relates to the things we will do for inspiration. As an aspiring writer, Becky does not go in there just to fall in love and be the mom. That gothic horror trope of the governess has really been flipped on its head.” Hampshire, who is originally from Montréal, has specialized through the years in changing up the types of roles she tackles – could there be two shows that are any more different in tone than CHAPELWAITE and SCHITT’S CREEK? The variety of her work probably has even kept her fans confused at times, but that definitely is meant as a compliment. “And I take it as one, I take it as a huge compliment,” Hampshire replied enthusiastically. “The truth is, I don’t think really strategically in that way. It’s more about where my interest is, what life stage I’m at, and how I can grow with each part. I’ve always been an actress, since I was a kid. And you know how, when you have relationships, you feel as if they’ve changed you? Well, my art feels like it changes me. For example, from the beginning to the end, as much as Stevie (on SCHITT’S CREEK) changed, I did, too. I learned stuff. I was affected by it. I know a lot of actors like to bring themselves to the part, but I’m greedy! I want the part to give me stuff!” Well, CHAPELWAITE’s brave and smart Rebecca Morgan certainly has a lot to give – to the Boone family, to viewers, and to Emily Hampshire, too! “There’s a line that Rebecca says, something like, ‘it takes purpose to break the paradigms that others set for us, but as a woman, I know this well,’ and she says that in the 1850s, but I could say that today,” Hampshire said. “It’s still true. And yet, I probably would never say that, but Rebecca did! So it just made me feel like I can say more things now than I could before I played Rebecca. I can be a little braver, and maybe run a little bit towards the danger, before going the other way!” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv