In the dramatic thriller American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally, Meadow Williams and Swen Temmel team up with Al Pacino to showcase a political trial that grabbed headlines across the country. Williams stars as Mildred Gillars–dubbed “Axis Sally”–for broadcasting Nazi propaganda to American troops during World War II. Temmel stars as Billy Owen, an eager young lawyer, who joins experienced attorney James J. Laughlin (Al Pacino). After the war, the legal team was tasked to defend Mildred Gillars, who was charged with multiple counts of treason. Mildred’s story exposes the dark underbelly of the Third Reich’s hate-filled propaganda machine, her eventual capture in Berlin, and subsequent trial.
Starting in television, Meadow Williams appeared in such hit shows as Married with Children, Murder, She Wrote, and The Larry Sanders Show. She soon transitioned to movies, with her role as Pebbles opposite Jim Carrey in The Mask. That part led to a role as Kevin Bacon’s significant other in the Academy Award-winning Apollo 13. Most recently, Williams was seen in the action thriller Den of Thieves alongside Gerard Butler, and in the prison action drama as Erin in Backtrace with Sylvester Stallone and Matthew Modine. Williams also appeared as a sexy villainous cult leader in the comic book movie Officer Downe and as a college professor in the adult romance drama After. In the action-thriller Boss Level, she played Pam, the assassin.
Born in Graz, Austria, Swen Temmel moved to America in 1997 and became a U.S. citizen in 2018. After completing a two-year conservatory program at the renowned Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Swen took classes at the Groundlings Theater in Hollywood. He later finished a semester at the world-famous Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London where he studied Shakespeare. Since then, Swen worked with Sylvester Stallone and Matthew Modine as John Truby in the action thriller Backtrace. He also worked with Bruce Willis and Michael Chiklis as Baxter in the action crime thriller 10 Minutes Gone. In the romance drama After, Swen teamed up with Peter Gallagher, Selma Blair, and Jennifer Biels as Jace.
In this one-on-two interview, Meadow and Swen reveal their passion for acting and the challenges they faced in bringing their characters to life.
Thank you both for taking the time for this interview. Most people know of Tokyo Rose but not many know of Axis Sally.
Meadow Williams: There’s so much to this story. Her tapes have survived, and there’s the book that the script is based on. Swen played Billy Owen, the author of the book, who was present during Axis Sally’s trial.
What attracted you to this film and the role of Mildred Gillars?
Meadow: Mildred was a complex person and her life was very intense. I’ve always loved the thirties and forties but sometimes the stories just aren’t that engaging. Mildred’s story was spectacular and needed to be told. History treated this woman one of two ways—it either forgot her or mistreated her. I was eager to engage in this historical period piece. We stuck to what happened during her life. And since Billy was with her, we felt very good about his version and his reality as he saw it.
Swen, what drew you to this film and the role of Billy Owen?
Swen Temmel: As you said earlier, everyone knows about Tokyo Rose but Mildred Gillars or Axis Sally is just a name in a book that you skip over. So I felt that her story needed to be told. I played the character who wrote the book about Axis Sally, which formed the basis of the screenplay. So playing the man who told the first-hand account of the story was incredible. I’d never done anything like that. I hope that I gave Billy Owen Justice.
Did you audition for the role? If so, what was that like?
Meadow: The story came together in a rather unusual way. One of the producers who had seen me play Marilyn Monroe had read the Axis Sally script and suggested we do it. Then Al Pacino came on board and was very supportive. Once we went into production, Al asked me, “Are you dreaming about her yet because you will.” And sure enough, I started dreaming about her. He admitted that sometimes he doesn’t sleep very much when he’s immersed in a new character because it keeps him up at night. I dreamt about Berlin, which we later visited and I saw where Mildred worked, which I thought was important to get into her heart and her life.
Swen, you played a lawyer in a huge, headline-grabbing trial. How did you prepare for the role?”
Swen: I read Billy’s book and was fortunate enough to have the tapes he recorded before he passed away. Those tapes provided a first-hand account of the trial and certain things that weren’t in the book. I talked to his son, Van Owen quite a bit and picked his brain. I learned about his father and certain characteristics he had and who he was as a person. As for the lawyer parts, I did some online research and learned that it was the biggest case of the time. So for a young lawyer to be thrown into a case like that was a big deal. Billy was nervous and apprehensive at first, which wasn’t too hard to play when you’re working opposite Al Pacino. But slowly that dissipated and he became more confident and started to stand up to Laughlin (Pacino) and began to give him ideas. Billy was also the bridge between Mildred and Laughlin, going to her cell to talk to her. He established a good relationship with Mildred. Without Billy, the trial might have gone in a different direction. One of my favorite scenes was when Billy and Laughlin were going back and forth in his office—‘pushing each other’s buttons.’ I’m very proud of what we did.
Meadow, what did you draw from internally and externally to play the role of Axis Sally?
Meadow: There’s so much to Axis Sally. It was about capturing a time and person. So I started practicing before I got the script—wearing her clothes, her makeup, the red lipstick and nails, and just thinking about that period in time. I kept her photos with me all the time. As an actor, you keep doing that, and all of a sudden, you fall into the character. And that’s where your director comes in and you feel your way through because you’re into her one hundred percent. They guide you in terms of what looks good on camera, the lighting, and they become your eye because you’re lost in the character. You find the heart of the character and you just hold on and everything else will follow. An Olympic trainer once said, “Follow your heart and your body will follow.” Same thing with acting.
Swen, what scene or scenes did you find most challenging?
Swen: One was the last scene between Meadow and me. I’m listening to everything she says before we go back into the courtroom to hear the verdict. Hearing her say why she did the things she did while keeping a brave face and assuring her that everything would be all right—was a challenge. We had to act as though we didn’t know what would happen. She could hang and she’s pouring out her heart and soul to me. I wanted to be there for her one hundred percent because it was such an intense scene for Meadow. Another challenging scene was when Billy walked down the hallway and introduced himself to Al’s character, Laughlin. Billy had a limp, so getting that in while trying to convince Laughlin to take him on board was a challenge.
Meadow, your most challenging scene?
Meadow: The hardest scene for me was when the man Mildred loved her entire life and finally got to be with died in front of her. Just watching Max (Carsten Norgaard) pass away was intense and painful. Mildred had an intense life just trying to survive.
Swen, what film or actor inspired you to choose acting as a career?
Swen: I was born in Austria and when I first moved here, my dad started a restaurant in Venice with Arnold Schwarzenegger. So when I was a little kid, I’d be running around the restaurant and there was Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, and Arnold—all these big action movie stars. So I got drawn into their fictional world. When you meet these people in real life, you go, wow, that’s so cool. I was just fascinated by the idea that one person can play so many different people. So these guys inspired me to want to tell stories and make people laugh and cry and fall in love with your character.
Meadow, your inspiration for acting?
Meadow: This may sound like a cliché but when I was a little girl, I wasn’t allowed to watch much TV but I did see Marilyn Monroe on-screen one day. Soon after, as a little girl, I saw a woman in my church who looked like Marilyn and I thought it was her—going to my church. She would always leave early and I was forever trying to find the ‘pretty lady.’ After that, I watched Marilyn on TV and all I wanted to be from that point on was Marilyn Monroe. Later, I’d lock myself in the bathroom and wash my hair with blonde shampoo. As a young girl in Tennessee, you didn’t say you wanted to be an actor. My mother used to say ‘actress’ as an insult. She never watched any of my TV shows or movies. She used to say, “Why don’t you get a job on the Discovery Channel? I watch that.“ But I’m happy to say that my mother just watched me for the first time as Axis Sally.
So had you not pursued acting, what career path would you have chosen?
Meadow: I love vitamins and care about health. So probably something along those lines.
Swen, same question to you.
Swen: I don’t know. I’m an actor. But when I was a kid, I told my parents I wanted to be a pilot. But I’m fortunate enough to have a job I love. For me, it’s a beautiful thing to say ‘I get to go to work,’ instead of ‘I have to go to work.’
Back to you Meadow. You’ve done both TV and feature films. What have you learned that surprised you about working in this business?
Meadow: That it’s not all glamorous on the set. Sometimes you’re running, sweating, dealing with temperature extremes. You’re doing a love scene and the director may be more concerned about the angle of your nose. But what really surprised me was how beautiful, sensitive, and deep actors are. Other artists are attracted to you like a magnet and you click with them. After all, we’re oddballs. I was raised in Tennessee and they didn’t know what to do with me. I was like a circus freak in our farming family. But then you finally meet your own people and it’s incredible and wonderful. And you immediately bond.
Swen, what surprised you about this business?
Swen: When you first start, you think it’s this big world with so many people but once you’re actually in it, you’re often working with the same people. So it’s a lot smaller world. And you start building friendships. It’s not this golden place and some things aren’t as shiny as they appear. But I love it.
Any advice for young actors trying to break in?
Swen: If you truly believe that acting is your passion, you have to pursue it wholeheartedly. It’s not something you can just do on the side. Acting is a full-time job. You have to work hard every single day and put every ounce of energy into it.
Meadow, same question.
Meadow: Be your best ‘you.’ Whatever you are, grab hold of that and grow that as wild and crazy and beautiful as you are. There may never be anyone else in the world like you. And that ‘you’ needs to be seen. So find your inner voice, be your true self as wild and nutty and funky as it may be. And that version of you will be desired in some fashion in the film industry. Because they love unique. You can admire certain people, but do it with your flair. Follow your heart and be the truest version of yourself. I went to college and refused to graduate in my last year because I knew that once I got that degree, I’d have to get a real job. I had more than enough credits to graduate but I knew that I would be pushed into doing things I didn’t want to do. And you don’t have to be young to make it in this business. There are so many stories that aren’t about twenty-five-year-olds.
Axis Sally is available On Demand via Vertical Entertainment, Redbox Entertainment
