Interview with Stella Stocker #thebatman

British actress Stella Stocker recently lit up our screens as Martha Wayne in The Batman. I was keen to know more about this multi-lingual actress (speaks English & German) who has lived in France, the Congo and the USA!

While scrolling her multiple IMDb listings I was delighted to see that she had also appeared in Blithe Spirit (a Noel Coward play which yours truly appeared in years ago too!).

With a passion for period drama and some very exciting projects planned, I am delighted to welcome Stella Stocker to The Mighty Dragon.

The Mighty Dragon meets Stella Stocker

Could you tell me how you got into acting?

I grew up as the middle child in a family of five children. I always enjoyed playing make believe and staging little plays. It wasn’t until I was 18 that I seriously considered acting as a profession and shortly after, applied for a Drama course at university.

We’ve recently seen you in The Batman, what did you like most about your character?

I liked that the director Matt Reeves had given Martha Wayne more backstory than we had seen in previous films. Her troubled past and her stint in a mental hospital were intriguing. It was interesting to ‘act’ through the photographs, since most of it was conveyed through the photos instead of scenes.

Can you share any funny/memorable moments from the set?

It was lovely to get to work with some crew members I had worked with before, and to be part of a hugely anticipated film was exciting. In one scene I had to wrestle two guards from the mental hospital and the ground was slippery. In one take we all collapsed in a heap after I lost my footing, which was a good one for the blooper reel:)

I was very interested to see that you’d been in Blithe Spirit, a take on the great Noel Coward play. What was this experience like?

I really enjoyed working on Blithe Spirit. I did quite a bit of research on Greta Garbo, on the way she moved and spoke. She had a very particular accent and way of speaking. I joined the set on the last day of shooting and the cast and crew were so welcoming which made me feel part of the film straight away. Director Edward Hall was wonderful to work with. He knew exactly how he wanted the character to be portrayed.

From your career so far, what has been your favourite character and why?

I recently finished a film shooting in Prague where I play the mother of a young boy who survived Auschwitz. I love to be challenged in my work and that was definitely the most challenging part so far.

We shot some of it on location in Theresienstadt Ghetto. I certainly felt a responsibility to convey the character in a way that ‘honours’ the real story and person.

Is there a genre you haven’t tried yet that you’d like to?

I’d love to do an action film someday and I have never done comedy and would love to do that too. My favourite comedies are SOME LIKE IT HOT and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. Two very different types of comedy but equally wonderful.

I read you have a passion for period drama, what exactly draws you to it?

I love everything about it. The costumes, the way of speaking and the drama. Growing up I watched GONE WITH THE WIND many times. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY was the film that made me want to go into acting. I found a theatre costume, a dress from the 1890’s, in a car boot sale and wore it at home, walking up and down the stairs in the house, quoting dialogue from the film. My siblings thought it was funny but I was undeterred.

You’ve trained in the US and UK, are there any noticeable differences between them in terms of acting styles?

The training in the UK was geared more towards the stage while the training in the US was more film oriented. It was good to get stage training. To learn how to use your voice and body on stage, how to project and how to engage an audience. It is however, film acting I truly fell in love with.

What else do you have coming up?

AVENUE OF THE GIANTS which we shot in Prague in June, will be released sometime next year, as will the feature film MARLOWE. A 1930’s film noir.

Resources

Stella Stocker – IMDb
Stella Stocker – Instagram
Stella Stocker – website
The Batman – IMDb
Blithe Spirit – 1945 version IMDb
Blithe Spirit – 2020 version IMDb