The rising star of gritty drama Smashed talks to Stylist about her latest role as a recovering alcoholic

Interview: Sophie Haslett

If the age-old tale in Hollywood is true that you have to ‘go ugly’ to be taken seriously as an actress, then Mary Elizabeth Winstead isn’t doing anything to dispel the myth. In her latest release, Smashed, she plays an alcoholic primary school teacher, all seaweed-slicked greasy hair and ill-fitting tea dresses. It’s quite a departure from her previous reputation as the film world’s scream queen (in films such as Scott Pilgrim, Final Destination and Die Hard). What drew her to the character of recovering alcoholic, Kate?

“I was craving the role,” she tells Stylist. “There aren’t actually that many roles out there for women and while I’ve had a lot of fun flying around in horror films I was getting sick of the niche and reputation I was becoming known for. When I saw the script for Smashed I didn’t think that I would be considered for such an incredible part. For one thing, I’d been having a hard time even getting meetings for smaller independent films because people thought I was too nice and not interesting enough. But once you’ve had a part like Kate, and once you’ve finished filming, I think it’s understandable that you don’t want to go back to playing the girlfriend or the wife.”

Smashed is without a doubt Mary Elizabeth’s most meaty role to date. In the opening quarter of an hour alone she wets the bed where she’s sleeping with her alcoholic boyfriend, Charlie (Aaron Paul). She then disappears into the shower with two bottles of beer before downing a hip flask before teaching a primary school class. “It was pretty scary acting all of that,” she says, candidly. “Alcoholism is not something I’ve had any direct experience with, either personally, in my family or in my close friendship circle, so I knew I’d have to find a non-literal way into the part.”

This manifested itself in several months of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where she met and befriended many addicts, as well as an examination of herself and her own issues.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead: scream queen moves on