Alice St. Clair Plays Kate Middletonand Finds Herself in Wonderland

Alice St. Clair Plays Kate Middletonand Finds Herself in Wonderland By Dany Margolies August 26, 2011 Alice St. Clair How does a passion for New York lead to playing a quintessential English duchess? Through the perseverance and luck of the actor in question, of course. Alice St. Clair stars this week as Kate Middleton in Hallmark Channel's "William and Catherine: A Royal Romance." We'd like to believe two years of studying at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts made the British-born-and-bred St. Clair standout at the auditions. But her pertness, openness, and resemblance to the Duchess of Cambridge didn't hurt.While in her mid-teens, St. Clair vacationed in New York City with her family and, as she says, "fell in love with it." She had also appeared as an extra in "The Da Vinci Code" when the film shot in her family's home in Scotland and became smitten with acting. So she applied to and was offered a scholarship at the New York conservatory.Her first role after graduation has come with the making of the TV movie about the newest royal couple. Co-written (with Christopher Momenee) and directed by Linda Yellen, the project stars Jane Alexander as the queen, Victor Garber as Charles, Jean Smart as Camilla, and Dan Amboyer as William. Back Stage: What did you remember from the conservatory that came back to you while making your first film? Alice St. Clair: We had a class in Meisner, all those repetitions, and the whole time in class we'd all be sitting there like, "What the hell is going on?" You're just sort of repeating, "You're wearing a blue scarf." We carried on doing that, and the teacher was great; it was just that I didn't quite get it. And then I worked on it more and more, and it wasn't until I did this film that it all clicked into place. I realized it's just about saying something and letting it affect the person you're saying it to, and then seeing how what you say affects them, and then changing the other person from that. And really, that's what we do every day, but it didn't click until I was opposite Dan [Amboyer], and I was like, "Oh, this is what it is. It's simple." Back Stage: How did you land representation? St. Clair: I finished my first year, and I was doing internship for a casting director, Lina Todd. Lina took me to the Hamptons [International] Film Festival as her assistant. My job was looking after the rising stars. And that's where I met Mike [Gasparro], my manager. He [was managing] one of the actors. So I would have to look after them, get them to the different places at the right times. I don't know how he worked it out, but he'd got that I wanted to be an actress, and he just said, "Look, here's my card. Give me a call when you're back in the city. Mike is with TMT [Entertainment Group]. I have another manager called Tina Thor, as well. They're the reason I'm here. They auditioned me; they watched my work. But I decided to go back to school for the final year. Mike really respected that and said, "Go back and please call us when you finish." I did. I didn't speak to him for a year, and then I called him when I finished and went through the audition process. It was definitely a good thing to have waited. They set me up with a couple of meetings with agents, and Kyetay Beckner at The Gersh Agency and I got on.Back Stage: Did you audition for the role of Kate? St. Clair: I had my first audition with [casting director] Lynn [Kressel]. I think I went on tape first, and they obviously sent it to Linda [Yellin], and then I heard back that she liked it and wanted to see me again, so I came in again and did [an audition] with Lynn and Linda. I did a couple more, and [Linda] sort of directed me, and then my final one was a chemistry audition. It was at that point I slightly thought, "Oh, my God, I might have this," because I came back and there was like six or seven boys, and I was the only girl. I still didn't believeyou know you never dobut I was "Hmm, no competition here." That's when I first met Dan.Back Stage: How was the chemistry read? Could you tell who was the right fit? St. Clair: I could tell. It was a really interesting thing. All the other boys were great in their own ways, but first of all I didn't feel like they were Williams, at all, which is funny because a lot of them were English and [Dan] is American. The chemistry was great, but there was different chemistry with all of us. But for me, I think [Dan] was absolutely the right choice. And actually, one of the boys I auditioned with [Sebastian Beacon] ended up playing Duncan, William's best friend, because he was great but he just wasn't William. Back Stage: Did anyone discuss the actors after they left the room? St. Clair: They didn't say anything in front of me. But it was really exciting because I got to see all of the different ways different people did it. To see how everyone had done a good job but in a different way, it was really interesting.Back Stage: Why do you think you were cast? St. Clair: I tried to think of her not as Kate, just this girl falling in love. I later found out from Linda that what I did which the other girls didn't was [play] the younger Kate, the youthfulness, the sort of innocence. The other girls might have suited the later Kate. Back Stage: What did you do to work on the role? St. Clair: From the time I knew I got the part, I worked with this acting coach, Alan Savage, who's the most wonderful manI just get him, and he gets me, and it's an amazing thing to have found himso he's someone I would go to and we'd discuss it. Back Stage: So you board the airplane for your location shooting in Romania. It's like Catherine waking up the morning of her wedding and preparing to walk into Westminster Abbey. How do you put one foot in front of the other? St. Clair: I was so excited. I felt so ready. I think that was the massive part of it: I wanted this so long. I wasn't too nervous, because I knew it was a safe place I was going; I really trusted Linda. I got hair extensions about two days before I flew. Once they got on, I was like, "I can do this." And then of course having Dan there was very helpful. He was relatively new to it, too, so we could talk about our feelings of nervousness. Back Stage: You worked with several of America's great actors: Jane Alexander, Victor Garber, Jean Smart. What did you observe of their work habits? What did you learn from them? St. Clair: So much. There's a sense of real professionalism. They were always there, on timethere was no complaining at all. They seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. They really loved it. If there were scenes where we had to do more takes than you might think one needs, no one got frustrated. They were very, very inspiring. VictorI know from Danhe called up Dan a few weeks before they went and said, "Look, I'm going to be playing your father. Would you like to have coffee, and we can meet?" They got to know each other, so they got this relationship before they came. That was really nice of him to have done that. It made Dan feel very comfortable when he got there. I know they've remained close. I had a couple of scenes with Jane, and she was so lovely to me, encouraging"You're doing such a great job" made me feel very at ease. Back Stage: How hard was ADR for you? St. Clair: I found it so hard. You're supposed to re-create the same energy levels. One of the scenes I did ADR for, which is the paparazzi have just chased me and I'm deciding whether I should call William or not, takes a lot to get into. So doing [ADR] is a challenge. But I guess you really learn as you go. Now I realize it's just another part of the process of the film, and it has to be done. Back Stage: Is the hardest part the synchronization or the energy? St. Clair: The energy. The timing was hard, too, but the energygetting back into that exact place. When you say goodbye to a character, it's all over, and then you have to get back into her head space. It's quite tricky. Hopefully I did it. Back Stage: Did you work on your continuity? St. Clair: Actually, I found it so much less hard than I thought I would. In class at school, one of the things they would try and teach usand that's one of the reasons I chose this schoolthey do a lot of on-camera work. But obviously to exaggerate the exercise, they had us do a scene where there was so much going on. So I kind of had prepared that it was going to be like that. And actually you've got this wonderful script supervisor watching out for you. And so, really, if anything had gone massively wrong, she would have come in and said. I felt like when you do a scene and you do something, you do it for a reason, so it's almost easier to do it again. Back Stage: Kate is very athletic. Were you called upon to cycle and ski? St. Clair: Yeah, we had a cycling scene. And we were going to have a swimming scene, and I was really excited about it, and I joined up the YMCA, and I was swimming every day. And it actually got cut. But we had a football scenesoccer scenewhich I had great fun with, because I quite like sports and I'm quite competitive, and I used to play with my brothers. Back Stage: Did you tell Lynn and Linda you were good at sports when you auditioned? St. Clair: I didn't actually. Nearer the time, we had someone inquire, "Can you ride a bike?" and I said, "Yes." And then, "Can you play soccer?" and I said, "Not particularly, but I'm so up for giving it a shot," and I sort of went for it. I just basically had to try to keep the ball away from William. I loved it. But we'll see how it comes out. "William and Catherine: A Royal Romance" premieres Aug. 27 on Hallmark Channel. Alice St. Clair Plays Kate Middletonand Finds Herself in Wonderland By Dany Margolies August 26, 2011 Alice St. Clair How does a passion for New York lead to playing a quintessential English duchess? Through the perseverance and luck of the actor in question, of course. Alice St. Clair stars this week as Kate Middleton in Hallmark Channel's "William and Catherine: A Royal Romance." We'd like to believe two years of studying at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts made the British-born-and-bred St. Clair standout at the auditions. But her pertness, openness, and resemblance to the Duchess of Cambridge didn't hurt.While in her mid-teens, St. Clair vacationed in New York City with her family and, as she says, "fell in love with it." She had also appeared as an extra in "The Da Vinci Code" when the film shot in her family's home in Scotland and became smitten with acting. So she applied to and was offered a scholarship at the New York conservatory.Her first role after graduation has come with the making of the TV movie about the newest royal couple. Co-written (with Christopher Momenee) and directed by Linda Yellen, the project stars Jane Alexander as the queen, Victor Garber as Charles, Jean Smart as Camilla, and Dan Amboyer as William. Back Stage: What did you remember from the conservatory that came back to you while making your first film? Alice St. Clair: We had a class in Meisner, all those repetitions, and the whole time in class we'd all be sitting there like, "What the hell is going on?" You're just sort of repeating, "You're wearing a blue scarf." We carried on doing that, and the teacher was great; it was just that I didn't quite get it. And then I worked on it more and more, and it wasn't until I did this film that it all clicked into place. I realized it's just about saying something and letting it affect the person you're saying it to, and then seeing how what you say affects them, and then changing the other person from that. And really, that's what we do every day, but it didn't click until I was opposite Dan [Amboyer], and I was like, "Oh, this is what it is. It's simple." Back Stage: How did you land representation? St. Clair: I finished my first year, and I was doing internship for a casting director, Lina Todd. Lina took me to the Hamptons [International] Film Festival as her assistant. My job was looking after the rising stars. And that's where I met Mike [Gasparro], my manager. He [was managing] one of the actors. So I would have to look after them, get them to the different places at the right times. I don't know how he worked it out, but he'd got that I wanted to be an actress, and he just said, "Look, here's my card. Give me a call when you're back in the city. Mike is with TMT [Entertainment Group]. I have another manager called Tina Thor, as well. They're the reason I'm here. They auditioned me; they watched my work. But I decided to go back to school for the final year. Mike really respected that and said, "Go back and please call us when you finish." I did. I didn't speak to him for a year, and then I called him when I finished and went through the audition process. It was definitely a good thing to have waited. They set me up with a couple of meetings with agents, and Kyetay Beckner at The Gersh Agency and I got on.Back Stage: Did you audition for the role of Kate? St. Clair: I had my first audition with [casting director] Lynn [Kressel]. I think I went on tape first, and they obviously sent it to Linda [Yellin], and then I heard back that she liked it and wanted to see me again, so I came in again and did [an audition] with Lynn and Linda. I did a couple more, and [Linda] sort of directed me, and then my final one was a chemistry audition. It was at that point I slightly thought, "Oh, my God, I might have this," because I came back and there was like six or seven boys, and I was the only girl. I still didn't believeyou know you never dobut I was "Hmm, no competition here." That's when I first met Dan.Back Stage: How was the chemistry read? Could you tell who was the right fit? St. Clair: I could tell. It was a really interesting thing. All the other boys were great in their own ways, but first of all I didn't feel like they were Williams, at all, which is funny because a lot of them were English and [Dan] is American. The chemistry was great, but there was different chemistry with all of us. But for me, I think [Dan] was absolutely the right choice. And actually, one of the boys I auditioned with [Sebastian Beacon] ended up playing Duncan, William's best friend, because he was great but he just wasn't William. Back Stage: Did anyone discuss the actors after they left the room? St. Clair: They didn't say anything in front of me. But it was really exciting because I got to see all of the different ways different people did it. To see how everyone had done a good job but in a different way, it was really interesting.Back Stage: Why do you think you were cast? St. Clair: I tried to think of her not as Kate, just this girl falling in love. I later found out from Linda that what I did which the other girls didn't was [play] the younger Kate, the youthfulness, the sort of innocence. The other girls might have suited the later Kate. Back Stage: What did you do to work on the role? St. Clair: From the time I knew I got the part, I worked with this acting coach, Alan Savage, who's the most wonderful manI just get him, and he gets me, and it's an amazing thing to have found himso he's someone I would go to and we'd discuss it. Back Stage: So you board the airplane for your location shooting in Romania. It's like Catherine waking up the morning of her wedding and preparing to walk into Westminster Abbey. How do you put one foot in front of the other? St. Clair: I was so excited. I felt so ready. I think that was the massive part of it: I wanted this so long. I wasn't too nervous, because I knew it was a safe place I was going; I really trusted Linda. I got hair extensions about two days before I flew. Once they got on, I was like, "I can do this." And then of course having Dan there was very helpful. He was relatively new to it, too, so we could talk about our feelings of nervousness. Back Stage: You worked with several of America's great actors: Jane Alexander, Victor Garber, Jean Smart. What did you observe of their work habits? What did you learn from them? St. Clair: So much. There's a sense of real professionalism. They were always there, on timethere was no complaining at all. They seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. They really loved it. If there were scenes where we had to do more takes than you might think one needs, no one got frustrated. They were very, very inspiring. VictorI know from Danhe called up Dan a few weeks before they went and said, "Look, I'm going to be playing your father. Would you like to have coffee, and we can meet?" They got to know each other, so they got this relationship before they came. That was really nice of him to have done that. It made Dan feel very comfortable when he got there. I know they've remained close. I had a couple of scenes with Jane, and she was so lovely to me, encouraging"You're doing such a great job" made me feel very at ease. Back Stage: How hard was ADR for you? St. Clair: I found it so hard. You're supposed to re-create the same energy levels. One of the scenes I did ADR for, which is the paparazzi have just chased me and I'm deciding whether I should call William or not, takes a lot to get into. So doing [ADR] is a challenge. But I guess you really learn as you go. Now I realize it's just another part of the process of the film, and it has to be done. Back Stage: Is the hardest part the synchronization or the energy? St. Clair: The energy. The timing was hard, too, but the energygetting back into that exact place. When you say goodbye to a character, it's all over, and then you have to get back into her head space. It's quite tricky. Hopefully I did it. Back Stage: Did you work on your continuity? St. Clair: Actually, I found it so much less hard than I thought I would. In class at school, one of the things they would try and teach usand that's one of the reasons I chose this schoolthey do a lot of on-camera work. But obviously to exaggerate the exercise, they had us do a scene where there was so much going on. So I kind of had prepared that it was going to be like that. And actually you've got this wonderful script supervisor watching out for you. And so, really, if anything had gone massively wrong, she would have come in and said. I felt like when you do a scene and you do something, you do it for a reason, so it's almost easier to do it again. Back Stage: Kate is very athletic. Were you called upon to cycle and ski? St. Clair: Yeah, we had a cycling scene. And we were going to have a swimming scene, and I was really excited about it, and I joined up the YMCA, and I was swimming every day. And it actually got cut. But we had a football scenesoccer scenewhich I had great fun with, because I quite like sports and I'm quite competitive, and I used to play with my brothers. Back Stage: Did you tell Lynn and Linda you were good at sports when you auditioned? St. Clair: I didn't actually. Nearer the time, we had someone inquire, "Can you ride a bike?" and I said, "Yes." And then, "Can you play soccer?" and I said, "Not particularly, but I'm so up for giving it a shot," and I sort of went for it. I just basically had to try to keep the ball away from William. I loved it. But we'll see how it comes out. "William and Catherine: A Royal Romance" premieres Aug. 27 on Hallmark Channel.