Chapelwaite Star Emily Hampshire on How Her “Rich Fantasy Life” Inspired Her Performance

In the new EPIX series Chapelwaite, inspired by the Stephen King short story Jerusalem’s Lot, Emily Hampshire stars as Rebecca Morgan, a former Mount Holyoke College student who becomes a governess, with her family thinking this might be a poor career to pursue given her skillset. Hampshire could relate to that position, to a degree, as she was quick to find success as an actor, which results in her sometimes being somewhat oblivious to conveying certain duties that are required of her character in any given project. Luckily, she noted that this project specifically benefited from her sense of imagination, which she’s been embracing since she was a kid. Chapelwaite premieres on EPIX on August 22nd.

“I now realize I was very fortunate. I never had another job, I started acting really young, like 11, and I never had a ‘job’ job,” Hampshire detailed of past experiences informing her character to ComicBook.com. “I’ve learned skills on movies, like I had three days of cashier training and stuff like that. What I think did lend itself to being an actor was I think I pretended I couldn’t hear for a while and that … Actually, it’s really relevant to this, in a way, like, ‘Am I crazy?’ I did have a very rich fantasy life. I think that, definitely, even though I didn’t get paid for that, I found a way to get paid for that.”

Chapelwaite is set in the 1850s and follows Captain Charles Boone (Adrien Brody), who relocates his family of three children to his ancestral home in the small, seemingly sleepy town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine after his wife dies at sea. However, Charles will soon have to confront the secrets of his family’s sordid history, and fight to end the darkness that has plagued the Boones for generations.

Hampshire also noted that, while she might not have personally attended, researching her character’s background enlightened her to Rebecca’s impressive alma mater.

“I became obsessed with that school,” the actor recalled. “I didn’t know what it was and then when I was researching it, I was like, ‘I wanna go here.’ They are so progressive, they’re the first school that allowed trans women there, their mandates about empowering women are so amazing.”

Chapelwaite premieres on EPIX on August 22nd.

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