Justine Mitchell is ready to take over our screens every Sunday night. She appears in RTÉ’s latest drama, These Sacred Vows, where she will play the mother of the bride.
It seems like she has settled into the role of mother, or at least, stepmother. She appeared in Hamnet as Jessie Buckley’s character, Agnes’ stepmother.
And she cannot overstate how “obsessed” she was with Maggie O’Farrell’s novel of the same name before she joined the award-winning film.
“[Jessie] is just amazing to work with. I can’t describe how wonderful she is,” Justine tells VIP Magazine ahead of the premiere of These Sacred Vows.
She praises the Kerry woman, who is nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film. She has already won a Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globe for her performance. This week, she was nominated for a BAFTA.
“God, huge hopes but also, come on, she’s going, she’s got to get it,” she gushes.
“It was of great interest to me. How do you translate a book into film? Imagistically, I knew Chloe Zhao was onto something. She had, imagistically, really thought it through. When you meet her, she is magnetic, she is sparkling, she is funny as hell,” Justine says of the book.
Despite the emotional film which left movie viewers bawling in the cinema and all the way home, Justine says that it was a “light” set. She praised the twice Oscar-nominated director for creating that atmosphere.
“Being on set was really funny and very light. She’s just charming and brilliant. We just trusted her immediately. So it felt very special and we were just hoping it could be like the book.
“Maggie O’Farrell put it succinctly. She said the movie is the fraternal twin of the book, and I thought that was perfect.”
These Sacred Vows debuts on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Sunday, 1st February
