Rebecca Hall has said being “self-conscious is kryptonite” for an actor.
The 43-year old English actress stars in the upcoming sci-fi body horror series by Ryan Murphy, The Beauty, alongside Ashton Kutcher. It is about a miracle drug with powers that can be sexually transmitted and which transforms people into optimised versions of themselves – at a lethal cost.
Hall plays FBI agent Jordan Bennett who works with Evan Peters’ character Cooper Madsen as they investigate the rising deaths and rapid spread of ‘The Beauty’.
Reflecting on the pressures she faces while working in an industry that obsesses over beauty and youth, Hall told Vanity Fair: “I’m constantly in that tension as an actor, between being aware that looking a certain way helps you get jobs. Then also understanding that my job is to reflect human beings, warts and all.
“Frankly, being self-conscious is kryptonite for an actor.
“If you’re thinking all the time about how you look, you stop being any good at your job.
“So it was interesting to do a show directly dealing with that.”
The Beauty is based on a 2015 comic book of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A Hurley, and also stars Jeremy Pope and Anthony Ramos, with cameo appearances from supermodel Bella Hadid and popstar Meghan Trainor.
Hall is known for starring in BBC drama The Listeners as Claire, a teacher who can hear persistent and invasive low-frequency noise that no one else can, causing her to feel increasingly isolated.
She also starred alongside Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona and in 2010 won the best supporting actress Bafta for her role in the thriller Red Riding: 1974.
Other notable film credits include The Awakening (2011), Christine (2016) and Iron Man 3 (2013) along with starring in the TV series Parade’s End with Benedict Cumberbatch.
Hall is the daughter of the late theatre and film director Sir Peter Hall who was the founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
FX’s The Beauty will premiere on Disney+ on January 22.
