Isabelle Fuhrman (‘The Novice’): Alex’s drive is ‘just something that was in her’ [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]

The debut feature from writer, director and editor Lauren Hadaway, “The Novice” premiered on June 13 at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and will be released in select theaters, on digital platforms and on VOD on December 17. It stars Isabelle Fuhrman as Alex Dall, a college freshman who joins her university’s rowing team and embarks on an obsessive physical and psychological journey, determined to make it to the top of the varsity boat. “[Alex’s] drive is not something that necessarily came from her parents, talking to her family, anything like that; it’s just something that was in her,” Fuhrman tells Gold Derby in our exclusive video interview (watch above).

Fuhrman was initially drawn to this story because she, like Alex, has an “insane amount of drive” whose origin she cannot ascertain. She reveals that she (much like her character would presumably do) went beyond the call of duty for her audition, submitting not only an additional, unsolicited recording of a second scene but also a letter that was addressed to Hadaway. Having partaken in a race from Los Angeles to Las Vegas that took place over three days, Fuhrman wanted to ensure Hadaway knew she could handle “exhaustion and physical decline” in addition to carrying the emotional weight of the story. “We [Fuhrman and Hadaway] just clicked, because she and I both have the same kind of obsessive drive when it comes to something that we want to go after,” the actor concludes.

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Even though Alex’s obsessive drive deprives her of a social life and stable, healthy comradery, she forges a relationship with a teacher’s assistant named Dani (Dilone), who in many ways is diametrically opposed to Alex. While Alex doesn’t necessarily listen to Dani when the latter begs her to take care of her emotional and physical health by abandoning rowing, Fuhrman explains that Alex does, however, hear her: “When you are in this place of ‘this is what I have to achieve’ and the blinders are on, very often people can tell you things and you won’t listen, but you still hear them.” Ultimately, the actor considers Dani an “important teacher” in Alex’s life and regards the termination of the two characters’ relationship as Alex’s “realisation that she’s literally throwing everything out the window.”

Throughout the IFC Films movie, Alex lashes out whenever anyone, particularly her coaches, advise her to be careful, give herself a break and just have some fun. In this regard, Fuhrman expounds that this guidance doesn’t land with Dani: “It’s not what she personally believes. She doesn’t believe she’s doing a good job; she doesn’t believe she deserves to relax. […] She’s not looking for anybody’s approval except for her own.” The actor adds, “I think she likes being misunderstood. I think there’s something that is attractive to her about how you can’t quite pinpoint her. […] And I really felt like there was power in her feeling like nobody understood her, because nobody can hurt her then.”

Also in our exclusive video interview, Fuhrman discusses her physical preparation for this project, the self-awareness that playing Alex awoke in her and how “Alex’s past is just as similar as what we can expect from her future when the movie ends.” For her performance in “The Novice,” Fuhrman won the Best U.S. Narrative Feature Actress prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the film also took home the Best U.S. Narrative Feature Film honor.

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