Heather Graham takes on the lead role in a western for Location of the bones (in cinemas and digitally from August 23rd). The actor, who is famous for his roles in Boogie Nights, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me And the Hangoverto name a few, were pleased to see a story that put smart women at the center of the narrative.
“I feel like most Westerns are all about the male characters,” Graham said Yahoo Canada. “Probably a lot of women are killed, or they are prostitutes, or they are just boring wives waiting at home and saying, ‘I hope you come back.'”
“It was really fun that the women in this story can be really smart and really complicated and really interesting, and that’s what I liked about the script.”
“I think I think the world is evil and people are evil.”
In Location of the bones Graham plays Pandora, who lives in a remote house with her daughter Hester (Brielle Robillard). In a mix of western genre, thriller and horror elements, we see Pandora and Hester take in injured outlaw Calhoun (Corin Nemec) while facing the threat of a gang led by Bear John (Tom Hopper). Pandora’s first priority is always protecting her daughter.
“I think my character is very hurt and jaded by things that have happened in her past, and so she’s developed this bitterness and this kind of anger and this very strong protectiveness towards her daughter,” Graham said of Pandora. “I think she wants her daughter to have the life she never had, but in some ways it’s good and in some ways maybe not good.”
“I think I see the world as evil and people as evil. I think I have a very dark perspective, maybe it’s too dark in some ways, but I want to protect them from all the bad in the world.”
She added that being on set and wearing costumes helped make the situation feel truly “real” for the actor.
“You’re literally in this house in the middle of nowhere and there are all these horses,” Graham explained. “It was honestly super uncomfortable. It was freezing cold. The costumes were really uncomfortable, but it’s super fun to just put yourself in these situations and feel like they’re really real.”
Graham also praised her experience working with the film’s director, Audrey Cummings.
“I love working with female filmmakers and she’s quite a daredevil,” Graham said. “She likes genre films and definitely upped the tension.”
