Eve Hewson connects with her ambitious ‘Bad Sisters’ character
Want to know who Eve Hewson is? Watch her as the ambitious Becka in the darkly hilarious “Bad Sisters” on Apple TV+. “Becka is so close to my heart,” she says. “I was a girl like her.” Hewson’s a standout in the series, about five Irish sisters, four of whom decide they must kill the other one’s sadistic husband. The series has been picked up for Season 2. But this is far from Hewson’s first rodeo: At 31, she’s also played roles in such series as “The Luminaries” and “The Knick.” Still, whenever newcomers discover Memphis Eve Sunny Day Hewson, they’re often delighted to learn one more thing about her: Her dad is U2 singer Bono.
Hewson chatted with The Envelope via Zoom from Cape Cod, where she’s shooting “The Perfect Couple,” and talked about being her own woman, nepo babies — and getting therapy.
You must be thrilled, with “Bad Sisters” picking up a BAFTA series award in May.
What an achievement! It’s so great to see [show creator-star] Sharon [Horgan] get her moment, because I know what she put into this show and how hard she worked every day — seeing her between takes, writing and writing, even in the hair and makeup trailer, not sleeping. It made me have a little cry.
Did you see yourself in Becka?
More than any part I’ve ever played. So I thought it would be easier [to play her], but it ended up being quite demanding. Most characters I play are far from me, and it’s like putting on a hat. But I grew up with girls like Becka. I was raised by women like her. It was a big part of my soul. But the process of being that open and vulnerable actually became more difficult, because I felt I was giving so much of myself away that I felt drained. By the end of the show, I was exhausted by it.
What was it like to have such a female-forward cast to be performing alongside?
I spent most of my 20s being pretty much the only girl on a set with loads of men. I think they call it the “Smurfette syndrome.” This was a completely different experience. Because we were all playing sisters, we all naturally fell into a comfortable place with each other. Sometimes, if you’re the only girl in a cast with a bunch of men, there’s a different way of holding yourself. When you’re around people like you — girls like you — you can let your guard down a little bit more. That’s really nice, to feel a different energy when you’re walking onto a set.
What inspired you to get into acting in the first place?
I had a tutor, because I was terrible in school, and she was a filmmaker who tutored on the side. She ended up making a short film, and I worked on that as a production assistant. She ended up writing me a part in one of her movies [2008‘s “The 27 Club”] and I got to go to North Carolina for three weeks. I fell madly, deeply, completely in love with the whole shebang because of [my tutor, Erica Dunton]; she completely opened up my world. It was a life-changing relationship.
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You attended film school in New York City, where you lived in your own apartment off campus. Do you feel like you got to be a “regular” student, without everyone focusing on your famous dad?
What’s awkward about being from my family is the first few weeks of anything new. There’s that awkward time when people try to find your Instagram or Facebook and all of a sudden they figure out about your family, and it’s an awful conversation. People talk about you. But then it goes away, because people get bored about things quickly. So, yeah, I had a great experience. Drama school was a safe environment where I could try things and embarrass myself and try it again.
You’ve made a real effort to separate your career from the famous part of your family, so I imagine the whole “nepo baby” conversation that took over the Internet recently must have been pretty obnoxious.
I just thought it was funny. Most of my friends who were on that list thought it was funny. I was surprised by how many people who weren’t nepo babies were like, “You go, girl!”
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If you hadn’t gone into acting, what would you be doing now?
Psychologist. I’m very interested in human beings and why we are the way we are. Acting is just a performing version of that. When I was at NYU, I studied psychology as well. I’m fascinated by human beings and characters and stories.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever got about acting?
“Go to therapy.”
And did you?
Hell, yeah. You can give advice and you can get advice, but you have to learn on your feet. Through trial and error. Everyone’s going to have mistakes. You’re going to embarrass yourself. You’re going to be really proud of yourself. You just have to learn to ride the wave.
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