Nathalie Emmanuel understands what it’s like to want your family close.

Emmanuel stars in The Invitation with Thomas Doherty, Stephanie Corneliussen, Alana Boden, Courtney Taylor, Hugh Skinner and Sean Pertwee. The film follows a young woman named Evie (Emmanuel) who has no known relatives after the death of her mother. After she takes a DNA test, she discovers a cousin she never knew she had and is invited by her newfound family to a tremendous English wedding.

“[S]he’s at first seduced by the sexy aristocrat host but is soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family’s history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity,” according to the logline.

Emmanuel said one way she developed the character was through Evie’s creativity.

“She’s a creative like myself and that sort of being in a situation in the past where you’ll like, ‘This is just all I want to do and no one’s giving me the opportunity to do it,’ that artist hustle, I understand,” she said to Shadow and Act. “And that desire for connection and family–I’m incredibly close to my family. I have a very small family, but it’s so fundamental to my entire life. I’m very, very lucky that way. When I’m away from them for long periods of time…it’s incredibly isolating, it’s incredibly sad. Being in that situation where you don’t have that…I can empathize with how hard that must be. “

View the full interview with Emmanuel and Doherty above.

The Invitation, directed by Jessica M. Thompson and written by Blair Butler, is in theaters now.

The Invitation

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