Lazareth: Ashley Judd Explains Why Female Characters Don't Have to be Likable

The actress sheds light on her newest movie character.

By Jenna Anderson

For decades, Ashley Judd has been appearing across movies and television, in everything from the Divergent series to Star Trek: The Next Generation to Twin Peaks. This month, Judd steps into the spotlight in the thriller Lazareth, in which she plays an aunt going to great lengths to protect her family. While speaking to ComicBook about her role in Lazareth, Judd dove into the characterization she ultimately decided on for Lee, and how she wanted her approach to be more than just a "likable" character.

"Alex Tibaldi, the director, is a very confident performance director," Judd explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "He asked for a lot of takes, which I was delighted to give, because the acting portion on set is actually quite short. It takes a long time to set up the camera, to light the candles, because we didn't use electricity, or to get the flashlights, right? We used some flashlights to light scenes and, you know, the acting is kind of over. It's a little disappointing. We got to go back outside. I did try to make Smores, and they wouldn't let me have a fire, for safety."

"I gave a lot of different kinds of performance and what ended up in the edit is a kind of a severe stern arc, until I'm not," Judd continued. "And I'm really comfortable with the way that turned out because first of all, anybody who still says that all female characters have to be likable needs to be shamed and scorned. I just think that that's how we are when it comes to our kids. We want to protect them, we want to keep them safe."

What Is Lazareth About?

In Lazareth, following the death of their parents, Lee (Ashley Judd) adopts her nieces, Imogen (Katie Douglas) and Maeve (Sarah Pidgeon), and raises them in a remote cabin as a deadly pandemic rages on around them. For over 10 years, the girls are raised to never leave the woods, avoid any and all interaction with outsiders, and ultimately rely on Lee as their only connection to the outside world. Lee has convinced the girls this is the key to survival in what is now an infectious and violent world. But when Imogen and Maeve discover an injured man in the nearby woods, Lee's absolute control begins to disintegrate as their faith in her, and everything they've ever known, begins to unravel.

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The cast of Lazareth also includes Asher Angel as Owen, and Edward Balaban as Morian.

Lazareth is in Select Theaters and On Demand.

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