Acting is a process, and it's often not one that comes easily. According to Ellen McLain – the voice of GLaDOS in Portal and one of the leads of the upcoming Twitch adaptation of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer-winning play 'Night, Mother – acting can be a grueling, emotional undertaking. That’s something her co-lead, Sheila Houlahan, agrees with.
McLain and Houlahan are close-knit. The two have known each other for about a decade, exhibit a strong personal and professional admiration for one another, and seem to utilize similar acting methods that involve enduring the "emotional [lives]" of the characters they portray. In an interview with Game Rant about the Twitch adaptation of 'Night, Mother, the starring performers detailed their approaches to acting, which in turn, had McLain compare her most recent role to perhaps her most iconic one.
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For those unfamiliar with 'Night, Mother, the play follows a woman named Jessie who is intent on taking her own life. The story explores Jessie's relationship with her mother, Thelma, who spends much of the play trying to curtail Jessie's suicidal tendencies.
While speaking on her role as Thelma in the upcoming theatrical Twitch stream, McLain cited the tough position her character is in as a key reason why it's such a tough role to play. In short, she has to adopt the feelings of a mother on the cusp of losing her daughter – something easier said than done.
“[Portraying Thelma is] very difficult because of the emotional life one must experience. My ideas about acting include that you bring yourself to the character and ultimately the character becomes you. I will be having Thelma's feelings and they are very difficult feelings to have.”
Houlahan, who was recently seen in The Little Things alongside Denzel Washington, echoed a similar sentiment while discussing one of the biggest challenges she faced during 'Night, Mother’s production. The actress acknowledged that her role as Jessie – a clinically depressed, suicidal person – might bring her to some “dark, scary places” due to the distressing, "harrowing" subject matter being explored.
While this is certainly some emotionally taxing work, there are safe and responsible ways it can be done. For Houlahan, that involves surrounding herself with those she trusts. The actress displayed a great appreciation for McLain, among other members of 'Night, Mother's production staff, all of whom she trusts greatly to keep her safe while she gets into character.
McLain is undoubtedly best known for her role as GLaDOS, but fans of Portal shouldn't expect her latest performance to bear much resemblance to her time as Aperture's sadistic AI. The performer spoke to the differences between Thelma and GLaDOS that impacted how she approached each character.
"For GLaDOS, there was an emotional investment, but she's not human. She's programmed. Speaking for GLaDOS, I do think that GLaDOS does feel lonely, but I don't think she understands human reactions like the embarrassment, shame, or depression that the characters in 'Night Mother have to experience.”
McLain’s analysis of the cake-loving GLaDOS is fairly spot-on: she is a program driven solely by the single directive of performing her cruel science experiments. While she does show signs of emotions throughout the games, she’s largely amoral, narcissistic, and self-serving, all of which are traits likely born out of a disconnect from humanity, and that's all reflected in McLain's vocal performance. It’s clear that this is a different kind of character from Thelma, calling for a different degree of emotional investment.
Since GLaDOS’ debut in Portal, McLain has received critical acclaim for her voice work. Considering the deep understanding she has of the character, it’s easy to see how her success came about. McLain's approach to acting – becoming one with the character – has paid off greatly for her, and a comparable level of knowledge and understanding was exhibited by both her and Houlahan while discussing their respective roles of Thelma and Jessie. If the past is any indicator, this should spell good tidings for the duo's upcoming Twitch production of 'Night, Mother.
'Night, Mother will be streaming on Twitch in September 2021.
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Source: Twitch
'Night, Mother images courtesy of Eli Reed.