VII Interview: Robyn Wood

Robyn Wood is a name you should know. This movie vet has starred in numerous indie films and is making her mark in main stream film making. Her most recent role as a Melody Griffin has her played a sociopath who kills her victims in their dreams and has everyone talking. We talked to Wood after the Baltimore premiere of the film where she spoke about her modeling career, charities, working with Alvin Green, and her apprehension of sex scenes.


VII Mag: How did you get into this industry?

Robyn Wood: I started out as a production designer and during my senior year at Howard University, my professor passed on a project for a production designer she thought I'd be interested in and I did that for a while. Occasionally, I would get called to be apart of the cast because they needed a fill in or they wanted me to be on screen. It was a little bit of a transition, but I took some classes and I felt comfortable being on screen and speaking in front of people.

VII:What other work have you done?

RW: I've done "State of Play" which is a film with Russell Crow and Ben Affleck, a romantic comedy called "Misunderstandings," I'm about to start work on a film with the Robinson Brothers. I work with Kiss cosmetics and a few other beauty companies.

VII: How did you get involved in Sweet Dreams?

RW: It's been so long but Alvin sent out a post. I have no idea how I saw the post and I auditioned but I'm there.

VII: When you first read the script and saw the character, were you a bit put off?

RW: It was an interesting script, I was attracted to it because I like where the character was going and it was a role I had never played. I thought the character had some depth to her although some scenes did make me a bit nervous.

VII: Which ones?

RW: The passionate scenes because that's not something I usually do and I don't plan on doing a lot of sex scenes. It's something we talked about and they made me comfortable by describing how it would be shot. Even some of the killing scenes, I wasn't sure I could pull it off.

VII: How did you channel your emotions to play a sociopath that's just hacking people up?

RW: I tried to give Melody, the character, the benefit of the doubt and see where she was coming from, which helped. I believe that there are women out there who want to get married at all costs and they have their eyes set on someone and will track them down to the end. I think the measures she went through to make her means to an end was drastic but I tried to make her a real person and give her some depth.

VII: What did you add to Melody to make her more Robyn?

RW: I think she was more me in the beginning scenes when you're getting to know the nicer side of Melody. I think everyone has a limit and I tried to imagine myself going outside of that limit and going to Melody to a crazy, I hate to call her crazy, but she was disturbed. When I see someone who is mentally disturbed, I have a soft spot for them even though they do horrific things. I think sometimes it's the disease that's causing them to act that way. That made it easier for me to deal with the thought of playing her.

VII: What was it like working with Alvin Green?

RW: It was good. We had out ups and our downs but I knew Alvin was passionate about the film and the project and wanted to have it done properly. That motivated me and I wasn't going to stop doing it no matter what happened on set and whatever else may have come up. I wanted to see the film finished also and Alvin is also energetic about filming and that made me more energetic.
VII: Do you wish Alvingot deeper into Melody's mental issue? He had a line that said, "no one loves me" but he didn't get too much into it?

RW: I do. I think there's a whole back story to Melody that makes her who she is. I think that would be a great movie to watch and explore.

VII: Do you think it'll be hard in the industry being so sexual you not wanting to do sex scenes?

RW: (deep sigh) It's something that I come across but I try not to choose. This is probably the most sexualized role that I've ever done. I've played the nice girl, the good digger but never sexualized. It's something that if the script reads right I can do but I feel like a lot of women are sexually overexposed and it's not something I want to be a part of.

VII: How do you plan to change that?

RW: It starts with me and the roles I accept. I also have projects I want to see brought to screen, plays and things that show other sides of women, black women especially.


VII: Where would you like to see yourself in the next few years?

RW: I would like to see myself doing bigger roles. I would like to do some Hollywood block busters but I love the independent film industry spirit. I want to continue to be a part of independent film but also big block busters. And continue endorsing companies and charities I'm passionate about. I also want to do some of my own projects.