Known for her various roles in Weird Science, Kingpin, Sugar babies and Hall Pass, Vanessa Angel is an accomplished talent with a broad body of work. In Trouble Sleeping, Vanessa plays a woman tormented by the memories of her late-husband’s suicide. Her life is further complicated by the arrival of her stepson, who will soon inherit all of his father’s wealth. A psychological thriller with a twisted sense of humor in the vein of the Coen brothers’ films, Trouble Sleeping is directed by Robert Adetuyi and stars Billy Zane, Vanessa, Rick Otto, Ingrid Eskeland, Kale Clauson and Fred Stoller. In this one-on-one interview, Angel reveals the challenges she faced in bringing her compelling character to life.
What attracted you to this psychological thriller?
Vanessa Angel: I was excited when I read the script. Rob (Adetuyi) and his lovely wife thought I would be a really good for it. And it’s so rare that you find a script with a middle-aged woman in the lead. For me, it was her unraveling, that emotionally, there were just so many things to play. But her personality made it appear that everything was okay. I grew up in England, and I used little snippets of my mother for the character. In England, during my parents’ generation, there was a tendency to keep everything in with a stiff upper lip, to give the appearance that everything is great, when inside, there’s a whole cauldron of emotions happening. So l loved the script, which Rob originally wrote as a play five years ago. It was just such an actress piece, and yet the story was so intriguing. It had that dark Coen Brothers humor as well, which I saw when I read it the second time.
What challenges did you face in bringing Vanessa’s character to life? Vanessa: I didn’t have a lot of prep time, and since the casting was so last minute, the people Rob had in mind for Alex didn’t have a window open at the time, so Rob cast my husband for the role. That was actually great because when you’re in a relationship with someone, there are nuances of communication that you have in a marriage that are very hard to create with an actor, especially when you literally meet the day before shooting. So I was hoping that would come out, and because Rick is my husband, we had a chance to go over the scenes at home, which really helped when you don’t have much prep time. It was challenging to hit the emotions and bring in that sense of comedy as well. We shot the entire film in 12 days, so that also presented a challenge. Rick and I have a daughter and we don’t usually work at the same time, so the logistics of being a parent and filming 14-hour days presented an additional challenge.
The dialog is particularly lean and effective. Was it in the original script or did you hone it down during filming?
Vanessa: It was actually in the original script. We did make some changes as we were filming. Sometimes you rehearse a scene when you’re reading it on the page, but then when you actually make it come to life, you change it. The dialog was very pared down and read like a play. I loved the Memet-esque feel of the dialogue. Rob was very open and not married to every word—especially if he felt it wasn’t working. We also made some changes to the final scene. Luckily, we had Roy Wagner as the cinematographer/DP who was absolutely brilliant in making Rob’s vision come to life. Because of the stillness of the dialogue, he wanted lots of camera movement, as opposed to repeated over-the-shoulder shots, which would have made some scenes appear too dead.
The lemon merengue pie reference underscored with subtle wit Vanessa’s need for acceptance in this dysfunctional family. Your thoughts on this?
Vanessa: I sort of came up with the idea. Originally, there wasn’t a reference that the pie had been on her wedding menu when she was married to Charles. I wanted there to be a reason for it to be said. I did a TV series back in the ‘90s called Weird Science, which was a very broad comedy. I always try to bring a little humor into a film, but also make it real. But you can’t be too broad in these situations because it affects the tone. Vanessa is driven by making this poor decision. She slowly realizes the error of her decision, and how she can’t live with it anymore. She’s guilt ridden while trying to keep the appearance of being very together.
What do you think the film tries to convey with the recurring nightmares of Charles trying to kill Vanessa?
Vanessa: That’s a very interesting question. I think, it’s just Vanessa not coming to terms with what she’s done. It’s in her subconscious. Anytime you make a decision you don’t feel good about, it often recurs in your dreams. And that’s how you work things through. I think that Vanessa can’t accept that, and slowly, toward the end of the film, she realizes that she can’t be without Charles.
Dr. GIlbert is an amusingly off-kilter character. Do you believe he helped highlight the film’s unique point of view?
Vanessa: Yes (laughs). We shot with him the very first day. It was when he was telling us Vanessa’s stepson was coming home. He’s so funny. It was the first day, and Rob wasn’t quite sure how the rest of the shoot would go. Rob was concerned that maybe it would be too funny. But it was very real and it felt right.
You have an extremely broad body of work. What do you like about psychological thrillers?
Vanessa: As an actor, any time you can find layers, the objective or reason why someone is the way they are, it’s a plus. I think psychological thrillers give you so much more to play with. Comedies are more surface. So I love to use my emotional depth and sense memories to go to those really dark places. As an actor, you’re trained to really enjoy going to those emotional depths. So you need to access that when you’re doing these kinds of films. It makes you really feel alive and in the moment.
