With its gripping rigidity and emotional complexity, Lifetime’s new thriller Woman Taken has viewers buzzing—and one of many standout performances belongs to Canadian-born actor Eric Hicks. Within the movie, Hicks performs Perry, a person whose determined craving for connection pushes him into murky, morally gray territory.
SpoilerTV’s Kim Rogers caught up with Eric to discuss what it took to step into Perry’s emotionally unstable sneakers, the real-life experiences that formed his efficiency, and the teachings he’s taking with him from this position—and from life itself.
Discovering Floor in Chaos
When Eric Hicks first learn the script for Woman Taken, he knew instantly he was in for a wild trip.
“Oh man,” he stated, laughing. “After I lastly bought the total script, I used to be like, ‘Oh… oh!’ It was juicy, but in addition like—how are we gonna do that?”
Even earlier than diving into the total script, Eric had a way of the emotional stakes from the audition scenes. However as soon as your complete story unfolded, it turned clear this wasn’t going to be a lightweight raise.
“You ebook the position, and then you definately notice—you’ve got to go there now. Emotionally. Mentally. A few of the locations you’ve got to take your self will not be straightforward. That’s the work.”
Nonetheless, for Eric, there’s consolation within the doing. As a substitute of getting misplaced within the overwhelm, he grounded himself in preparation.
“I simply get to work,” he stated. “I learn that script entrance to again as many instances as I can, attempting to get the story and the plot in my mind, but in addition being open, understanding that they are assured going to do script rewrites. The story goes to change.
And alter it did. A serious rewrite arrived simply at some point earlier than filming a scene: a personality initially written as Perry’s good friend, Kyle, was all of a sudden killed off. That meant Eric had to utterly reframe Perry’s relationships and emotional motivations—in a single day.
“It’s like a knife to the intestine,” he stated. “that man that I assumed was my finest good friend is now lifeless. However you recognize, you’re continually altering the plot in your thoughts and attempting to regulate and it is a fast-paced machine, however that is the fantastic thing about it. It’s good to be challenged, it truly is.”
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To grasp Perry, Eric had to construct him from the within out. That meant establishing a wealthy backstory—one which, whereas by no means explicitly proven, knowledgeable each line, look, and silence.
“I made it in my thoughts that Perry was missing household roots. He was at all times an impartial form of cat attempting to make stability in his life in a approach that he by no means had rising up,” Eric defined.
It’s this inner void that drives Perry’s each choice—and misstep.
“Perry simply needs household, he actually craves stability, he craves household, he craves group, however its simply not the bedrock of his basis. He would not know the way to operate in that world. And so the actions that he takes are all simply, you recognize, a little bit misguided though effectively intentioned” Eric stated.
Eric layered Perry’s emotional world with rules from Vipassana meditation retreats, which he’s achieved himself—10 days of silence and self-inquiry. One of many key classes he introduced into the position was the idea of “clinging” as the foundation of struggling.
“Perry likes this, he needs extra of it, he’s clinging and craving, he would not need to let go of this. That is the supply of all of our distress as opposed to accepting issues precisely as they’re simply being within the second, second to second to second, it’s what it’s accepted.”
Channeling Actual Ache
Getting ready for Perry’s intense emotional scenes required Eric to faucet into private experiences—most profoundly, his relationship together with his father.
“My dad is my finest good friend on the earth. We now have these open, sincere communication. It’s such a deep, stunning love that I’ve by no means had with one other man earlier than and you recognize, my dad bought sick just a few years go, he had a psychotic break. Psychological sickness is an actual factor and if you expertise it firsthand, it is actually troublesome to witness, particularly when its somebody you like most in life. So for me, that is only a effectively of emotion, this deep love and to not have my father in my life anymore, is my greatest nightmare.” That ache—of loving somebody fiercely and fearing their loss—turned the emotional anchor for Perry’s desperation.
“So I simply convey that vulnerability into Perry. To lose Dani, to lose their little one—it’s one thing I’ll combat in opposition to to preserve, I’ll do no matter it takes to preserve that and I’ve to open that a part of myself up when doing the precise scene work, in order that I can perceive emotionally what state of desperation he is in. I allowed myself to be out there and to be prepared to be broken and damage and susceptible in that sense.”
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A Scene That Broke Him Open
One second particularly pushed Eric exterior of his consolation zone: a pivotal scene when Perry is confronted by Detective Henrique on the farm. Beneath Perry’s calm exterior, panic brews—his world is unraveling.
Hicks explains that Perry had to put on a masks in that second.
“You will have to act like nothing’s flawed, however beneath, it is simply panic. And so to have that calm depth with Henrique, have intense moments performed off informal and then the next scene the place you recognize, I are available the home and Dani’s asking me what’s flawed.” he stated.
That second led into a non-public breakdown scene between Perry and his associate Dani, which Eric stated was important for exhibiting Perry’s humanity.
“The viewers wanted to see that second of Perry really panicking and shedding it. You see all of it come to the floor for the primary time and you notice how determined he’s. He’s going by his personal struggling. All of us have our personal demons to battle in life. There’s a humanity to even the darkest of instances and the darkest of characters and the brightest of characters that all of them have. We’re all complicated people with a complete array of feelings.”
Classes in Love—and Missed Alternatives
Although happy with the efficiency, Eric was candid a few scene he needs he’d approached otherwise—a dinner desk second that, in his eyes, missed the possibility to present extra of Perry’s love for Dani.
“I felt Perry was too moody and too judgmental and a little bit too harsh. That was a possibility for him to actually open his coronary heart and join together with her and have a coronary heart to coronary heart and I form of missed that chance,” he admitted.
It’s a mirrored image that speaks to Eric’s ongoing evolution as an artist—and a human.
“You are at all times form of studying and navigating as you undergo the filmmaking course of.”
The Takeaway: Three Easy Phrases
Requested to sum up Woman Taken in simply three phrases, Eric didn’t hesitate:
“Have extra understanding.”
He elaborated, “Everybody’s going by one thing. You by no means know what ache somebody’s carrying. And if you perceive that—it takes away judgment. It helps you navigate life with extra compassion.”
Whether or not you see Eric Hicks as a rising star or a fully-formed expertise lastly getting his due, one factor is evident: his portrayal of Perry in Woman Taken is a haunting, human, and deeply nuanced efficiency that may stick with viewers lengthy after the ultimate scene.
Woman Taken is now streaming on Lifetime. Don’t miss it!
