On this Thursday’s episode of The Run-Through, senior fashion and lifestyle writer Christian Allaire and senior beauty and wellness editor Margaux Anbouba talk to Meghann Fahy, whom we all know and love for her roles as Daphne in season two of The White Lotus, Devon in Sirens, and Merritt in The Perfect Couple. Her latest project is the drama Rebuilding, co-starring Josh O’Connor, out now.
Below, read excerts from her conversation with Christian and Margaux about working with Josh, her favorite beauty tools, and being “broken” by Paranormal Activity. Then, tune in to the full episode for lots of sweetness about her boyfriend, Leo Woodall; her shout-out to Lily Allen’s West End Girl; and a moment for her favorite musicals.
Also on the show, Chioma talks with writer Chanté Joseph about her viral British Vogue article “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?” a breakdown of the news about Vogue World: Milan and Balmain’s new creeative director, Antonin Tron.
Margaux Anbouba: So you have a new film out in theaters, Rebuilding, on November 14th, which is the day after this episode airs. It came out to great reviews at Sundance. I watched it last night. I don t want to give too much away, but basically it s a story about a cowboy named Dusty, played by Josh O Connor, who is our very cute Run-Through alum. I love him. He loses his ranch during a wildfire and you his ex-wife rebuilding in the aftermath. What drew you to this role? Because it feels quite different from a lot of the other things that we know you for.
Meghann Fahy: Yeah, I think that was the huge draw for me. Also Max, who wrote and directed the film, is someone who I was a fan of before. I just really love his style of filmmaking. It s very modest in a way that I think doesn t exist a lot anymore. He really leaves a lot of space. I m sure if you watched it, you would feel like he s not forcing anything to happen. He s just kind of letting the thing exist and there s a simplicity to that that I find really intriguing. And the character was very different than anything I ve ever done before, and so I was really looking forward to being able to step into that space of just a very stripped down, subtle, honest piece.
Christian Allaire: You probably had a difficult job because you had to create a very interesting dynamic. You have Josh O Connor, you guys are ex-wife, ex-husband; you have Lily LaTorre, who plays your daughter; and you have to build that from nothing—you re meeting on set for the first time. So how did you build that sort of dynamic with both of them?
MF: Yeah, it was interesting, because they started filming before I arrived, which is always a little tricky, when you show up and it s sort of already happening. It s like camp has started and you re there a week late and you just feel like you re playing catch-up a little bit. So I remember feeling like the first day I was like, Oh my God, I don t think that went well at all.
CA: Why did you feel that way?
MF: The only thing I had to do was come in and walk down the stairs and give Josh a look, and I couldn t do it in a way that felt like a human being. It s like when you don t have anything to do, you just have one thing to do when you overthink it so much that you re like, Oh, I don t know how to say “hi” like a normal person, because that s the only thing I have to do all day. But after that, I mean, it was a very cozy set and Lily was amazing and super chatty and really wanted to hang. So she actually was somebody who I feel like really brought me into the vibe with everyone else, because she was so playful and wonderful. And Josh is obviously just really sweet and down-to-earth and was really, really lovely too. So yeah, it didn t take long to kind of fold in. But yeah, in the beginning I was like, oh man.
CA: Any fun stories with Josh? He always has fun stories from set.
MF: He s such a good storyteller. I am not as good of a storyteller as he is.
CA: That s not true.
MF: We went to a rodeo. I went to my first rodeo.
MA: What did you wear?
MF: I think I just wore jeans and a white T-shirt.
CA: That s actually very on-point.
MF: I mean, 50% of the time you ll catch me in that particular outfit, so I m just taking a guess, but I think it was probably that. Have you guys ever been to a rodeo?
CA: I actually never have.
TA: I m from Texas. I don t have a Southern accent, but I grew up in Texas.
MF: I thought it was an unbelievable experience.
MA: What did ya’ll watch?
MF: I was not familiar with the tradition of that and how everybody goes every weekend and it s like, the whole town s sort of there. It felt very cozy. I was shocked by the mutton racing.
MA: Oh, I love it.
CA: Oh, I ve heard of that.
MF: They have two and three-year-old children barebaking sheep and getting thrown off. It was wild. It was really incredible.
MA: My mom was a barrel racer—she grew up doing it and so I tried it, and then switched to English riding. I was like, that s way too hard for me. Mostly I was into brushing the horse s hair, if I m being honest. But I love everything about rodeos. I even love the smell of horses.
MF: Yeah. There s something really—it felt so culturally different from where I grew up, I grew up in Massachusetts and so I think to be experiencing a part of my own country that felt like it could have been a different one, in this way, and really feel the sense of community in that space, I was so moved by it. It was beautiful. So that was a highlight.
MA: You had a twang in the film.
MF: Yeah, I don t think I was supposed to, honestly. The way that the lines were written, it really felt like it was lending itself to some sort of something, but I was not supposed to have an accent in the film. And I said to Max, because one of the people on the crew at the wrap party was like, “Where are you from?” And I was like, “I grew up in Massachusetts.” He was like, “Really? I was going to guess West Texas.” And I was like, “That s not great.”
MA: I have a lot of friends from West Texas and I feel like you sounded great.
MF: But that s not where the girl character was from. So I do remember saying to Max, “If you need me to ADR or anything, just let me know.” It was really hard for me to not go into that space just based on the sort of dialogue.
CA: I think that s the fun of acting. You take liberties, you go where the wind takes you.
MF: I mean the liberty of an accent that was not asked for is really… that s a huge liberty to take.
MA: People always talk about stealing stuff from set. I m curious if you took anything from the set, like a really good pair of vintage Levi s or something like that, that you were wearing.
MF: From this film? No, I didn t take anything from this set. I was really just wearing pajamas the whole time, which was incredible, and this big band T-shirt at one point, that was a local band that Max wanted to kind of feature in the film, and I loved that also. But I do usually steal something.
MA: What did you take from Sirens, which I loved?
MF: Oh, I took the boots. I took the big combat boots from the very beginning. I just felt like those needed to be in my closet and they ve been there. I have not taken em out. That’s where they live.
MA: They re very tied to that character. You might embody a lot of her angst if you put them back on.
MF: I think that s true.
MA: I m a beauty girl and so I loved that scene [in Sirens] where everyone was getting ready and I had all the LED masks. I try to do my LED mask every night, and my cat sits there and stares at me like I m possessed by the devil.
MF: My friend is equally like, Ah!
MA: Okay, so he s not joining you? You guys are not having couple’s time for 15 minutes every night with a face mask.
MF: No, it s a little too claustrophobic for him, I think, which I get.
MA: I was going to ask, are you into any of those tools? Any of those devices? It sounds like obviously.
MF: Yes, I am. I have the Omnilux Clear, which is the blue lights, because I do struggle with adult acne, and that mask is really good for that. I find when you use it, it works. Which is hard. It s hard.
MA: I ve noticed a lot of these roles that you ve been a part of are sort of rich people, social horror stories. I m curious if you are drawn to these sorts of projects, or if they somehow find you, you re so good at being a part of these…
CA: Buzzy shows,
MA: These buzzy shows that are in this sort of lane.
MF: I think two things are true. I am interested in that dynamic, for sure. I think a lot of people are, which is why it s such a popular genre in the last few years, obviously The White Lotus being the biggest of them all, and I think that really struck a chord with people. It s like murder mysteries. There s just this innate curiosity that I think people have and there are so many stories to tell in that space, and I think it s just something that kind of always hits for some reason. I m not quite sure why that is, but I do think that it s sort of endlessly easy to eat up.
CA: Even though you ve sort of had that focus, I feel like the genres of projects you ve chosen have been vastly different. You ve done comedies, you did Drop, which I devoured. That s almost more of an action-horror. Is there a genre you haven t done yet that you re intrigued by or think you want to do?
MF: I really have been trying to do it all. I recently did my first sort of rom-com over the summer. I had been asking to do one. I really want to do everything. On Monday, I m starting a film in England and it s a horror film. Drop was more, like, thriller. And this is properly a horror film.
CA: It s my favorite genre.
MF: I m very excited about it. I m a little nervous, in a healthy way, because I think anytime I m starting something that feels like it s going to be a new process, I m like, what s that going to be like?
MA: How are you going to get in the mental head space for this, versus other roles that are more lighthearted?
MF: I m not an actor who really feels like they need to get themselves into a particular space prior to filming. At least that hasn t happened yet. It might someday. I ve been lucky. Usually just starting the thing kind of does the work on that end for me. I find that I sort of drop in once we sort of start doing it, and I m hoping that that will be true for this. But stay tuned.
CA: I m sure once there s spooky vibes on set, you ll get into it.
MA: Spooky pair of shoes…
MF: Well, it s sort of my favorite…’cause I grew up loving horror and then something happened. I watched Paranormal Activity, the first one, when it came out in theaters twice, but it broke me. I still have nightmares in the theme of that film, where you can t see the thing, but something s pulling you…
CA: Maybe it s a real ghost.
MF: It s really spooky. It s like sleep paralysis vibes. But it s always happening in the room that I m actually in. And I ve started having lucid dreams where I m like, I know this is a dream and I m trying to wake myself up… it s horrible. So all of that to say, the film is sort of in a house. That s the main location, which I love.
CA: Okay. Haunted house story.
MF: It s all in the house. So I think that s going to do a lot of the work as well; it s like this crazy, sort of modern architectural home in West Sussex, in the middle of a field, and it just looks like it doesn’t belong wher eit is.
CA: I m already hooked. I ll be there opening night.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
