Exclusive Interview with Guilt’s Daisy Head
Born in England, actress Daisy Head has been involved in a plethora of television and film projects over the course of her career. She made her debut as recurring character Kate Barber on the show Feather Boy in 2004, which was followed up by roles in Trial & Retribution, Roles & Maloney, Patrick’s Planet, Doc Martin, Holby City, Doctors, Endeavor, The Proxy, Suspects and The Syndicate. She also starred in the films The Last Seven, Rules of Love and Heart of Lightness. Now, she’s playing Grace in Freeform’s new, critically acclaimed drama Guilt, alongside her father, Anthony Stewart Head, and Billy Zane. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Head about her impression of Grace, her thoughts on the show’s prevailing mystery and her love for House of Cards. Check it out below!
What appealed to you about the character Grace?
I think that the most interesting and exciting thing about the character and the show is the mystery and the ambiguity of it. At any point, it could go either way. We really don’t know. As an actress, having the opportunity to play that ambiguity and the ability to swing any which way is really exciting, so I think that was definitely the main appeal that drew me to her.
What was your first impression of her and how has that impression changed the longer that you’ve played her?
My first impression of her was that she is pretty naïve. Because of what has happened to her regarding her parents—regarding losing both of her parents—she has to be emotionally mature, but with that, she’s incredibly naïve and kind of rebels a bit and does things that she knows she shouldn’t. And I think that people can often misread things about her as people often do with those in difficult situations. I don’t think my impression of her has really changed; I’ve always found her to be a very interesting, complex character that is consistently that way throughout the whole series.
The last episode dealt a lot with cyberbullying. Is that an issue that strikes a chord with you?
It does because a lot of it goes on and I think it’s horrendous. I’m not on social media myself and I’ve never succumbed to it—and that has nothing to do with not wanting to put myself in firing range of hate or anything, because, ultimately, in the world we live in, people are going to hate me for whatever reason. Even not being on social media, I’m still going to get bad press and other things. It happens. But I do think that there are a lot of people on social media who are vulnerable and there are people who are eager to take advantage of that. The way that people are hounded on social media and picked apart—in some cases, it leads to them committing suicide, and that’s horrifying.
There are these kids that are incredibly vulnerable and susceptible to this kind of bullying and it breaks my heart. I hope that raising any type of awareness will inspire changes in the future because these kids do need protecting and any kind of bullying is not acceptable. No one wants to be bullied; it’s a matter of “treat others like you want to be treated,” and nobody wants to be bullied. And then there’s that whole thing about thinking you’re anonymous if you do it online but it’s not and your words still count. It’s a very horrible situation and it absolutely does strike a very big chord with me.
Also in the last episode, Grace made an interesting statement to Professor Lilly’s wife: she asked her if killing her husband made her feel better. Was that a hint that Grace may have been more involved in Molly’s death than we’ve been led to believe?
Well, that’s what we’re going to find out! (laughs) I can’t spoil anything! I have to be mute on that one but that’s a fantastic example of the ambiguity that persists in the show. You just don’t know. One of the other great things about this show is that each character is harboring their own guilt, and as we go through the series, we learn more about each of their guilt and how it’s relevant to this crime. But they all have their secrets and it’s just a really fun—it’s a really fun game of “Clue.” Who did it? Which weapon? Which room? So, it’s really exciting and any moments like that where we can play with the meaning and the perception is super fun and I love that it keeps people guessing.
I love that too! So what is it like working with your dad on this project?
(laughs) Oh my gosh, working with my father has been an absolute dream and something that I’ve always wanted to do, so now I can cross it off my list of lifetime accomplishments. He plays my stepdad so it’s slightly removed from being my actual dad but it’s wonderful. I’ve learned so much from him and continue to do so. I aspire to his greatness both on and off-screen and it’s an absolute joy to be working on camera with him. The closeness of the relationship and the chemistry is all there. Working with him motivates me to do what I do, so I feel very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity, and I hope that this isn’t the last time that we work together because, ultimately, nothing beats it.
What books, movies or TV shows bring out the nerd in you?
Oh, that’s a very good question. When I find something that I love, I become a complete fanatic about it, so I can kind of become very, very nerdy. At the moment, it’s “House of Cards”; Robin Wright is amazing, Kevin Spacey is amazing, it’s just an amazing show. I tend to go on and on and on about the things that I really love until people are like “Ok, ok, I’ll check it out!” Otherwise, I’m a huge comic book fan as well and love Marvel films, so in that respect, anything in that genre tends to get me geeked and happy.
New episodes of Guilt air on Monday nights at 9:00 pm ET/PT on Freeform.