The Gloaming: Emma Booth on the Magic of Filming in Tasmania [Interview]

The character of Molly McGee on The Gloaming was always meant to be played by Emma Booth. 

The Gloaming, premiering tonight on STARZ, comes from executive producer Victoria Madden. It centers on detectives Molly McGee and Alex O’Connell, who are reunited to work together on a haunting murder case. 

Emma Booth was the perfect person to play Molly, and Madden knew that early on. I recently spoke with Booth about how she came to be a part of the series, what we can expect from her character, and what it was like filming in Tasmania.

“It was actually brought to me by Vicki Madden, who’s the writer/creator/showrunner of The Gloaming,” Booth began. “She saw her a film of mine, Hounds of Love, where I played this kind of oppressed woman, this relationship. They’re actually serial killers, believe it or not. But she was like, ‘I need that girl.’ And I do believe that the studio was looking at much bigger names than me, and Vicki was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, I need her.’ So it kind of went back and forth and back and forth.”

By the time she was finally offered the role, she’d become even more invested in wanting to be a part of The Gloaming.

“The show is phenomenal. The script is really intriguing. It combines my two favorite genres, crime and supernatural,” she said. “And I’d never been to Tasmania, and I always wanted to go to Tasmania. Then I got the job, went there and realized Tasmania was much more epically stunning and kind of interesting than I’ve ever assumed it was prior to that.”

Booth has a few guesses as to why Madden wanted her to play Molly McGee in the first place.

“I think if you ever saw Hounds of Love, you would understand. First of all, because I was very much physically changed in the role, I think she saw that there was no kind of … I wasn’t afraid of looking any way at all, so the ego wasn’t particularly there. I was like, ‘I’m here to play a character. I don’t give a shit what I look like.’ Do you know what I mean? Even though Molly turned out to be more attractive than we initially going to make the character look. It was that,” she explained.

“It was also, what she told me, was what I was able to give emotionally without really saying or doing anything, which is what she loved. And how I could play crazy well, and impulsive a little bit,” she explained. “So, I was like, ‘I can do this.’ And so, thank God, it came back to me because she really fought for me. And so, I’m very grateful for Vicki for that.”

Booth’s character Molly is described as a formidable cop who is struggling to balance that role with her role as a single mother. She’s also obsessive in nature, impulsive, and emotionally unavailable. 

“She’s a risk-taker detective. She’s the kind of detective that has to win. She has to figure out the case, no matter what. Even if it means her family falling apart at the seams, which does happen for a bit. She can’t help herself. She’s obsessed with her job and the truth and getting justice,” Booth explained.

“And she’s got this impeccable memory. She learned this memory game from her father when she was younger. And she’s kept it up because it’s a tool she uses, where she can walk into a room and remember every single little detail, which is a really interesting aspect of her. But she’s also very closed, because of a lot of grief and abandonment she’s felt and experienced throughout her life. So it’s kind of hard to get into Molly, in a way.”

Molly’s tragic past with Alex O’Connell (Ewen Leslie) is also key to the story. 

“It’s really interesting because they used to be together 20 years prior. And then he walks up and surprises her, and she is just completely taken aback by that. You realize the crime they’re investigating links up to the crime that happened 20 years ago that split them up. And so, you’ve got these two kind of storylines. You’ve got the crimes themselves and the police drama. And then you’ve got this kind of full character journey about them trying to find redemption, and peace, and closure, and justice. Basically, all the characters, to be honest, because they’re all going through their own grief and loss.”

Part of what makes The Gloaming particularly unique is its setting. For Booth, filming in Tasmania was a highlight.  

“It was very cold,” she said. “When we first got there, it was okay. And then winter set in, and it was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s freezing.’ We had a lot of 3:30 AM starts and long, long days. So we were up against the elements there and all of that, but it was so beautiful and so different everywhere you went.”

“You’ve got rainforests, and there are huge mountains. You’ve got snow. You’ve got beautiful, sunny, epic beaches and rolling hills and ginormous mountains that look like, when you go up, it’s like literally another planet.” She described one mountain specifically that she said “looks like you’re on Mars when you’re up there. It’s so crazy.”

“I’ve never seen any other place in Australia that was anything like Tasmania. And also just to be there, with such a really violent and tragic history that happened in the convict times in Tasmania. And I can really feel that energy is still there,” she added. “It’s a very, very interesting place to spend five months.”

That setting works well for the haunting story that The Gloaming tells. 

“You couldn’t get a more appropriate place than Tasmania, especially a story like this, because it is about haunted people in a haunted landscape, and that’s exactly what Tasmania is. It is a haunted landscape — legitimately haunted,” Booth said.

“It’s kind of got this, yeah, just this eerie, strange, heavy, but also strangely just beautiful vibe and tone and feeling to it,” she added. “I think without the look of that, we definitely wouldn’t have the show that we have.”

Booth also said that while the show does have supernatural elements, she doesn’t believe it goes too far. 

“Look, it’s spooky and unnerving at times. And it’s definitely got a couple of freaky moments, but it’s definitely not terrifying by any means. So if there’s people out there like, ‘Oh, I don’t like ghost stuff,’ it’s like, we haven’t taken it that far. People should know that — that it’s actually very watchable. It’s spooky enough for everyone, if you like the spook, for sure. But it’s not going to be terrifying for people that get a little bit scared, and I think that was done purposefully.

“Although knowing Vicki, next time we do it, she’ll be like, ‘Great. Let’s just go 10 times darker.’ I’m ready for that. I’m like, ‘All right, let’s do it.’ But I like dark material, and I like really character-driven work. And I like to be really challenged. So I’m up for it if we do go again.”

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The Gloaming premieres Sunday, March 21st at 9/8c on STARZ.

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