Josh “Captain Nostalgia” Burkey: First off, congratulations on this movie. It's quite an impressive piece of cinema, both in general and in the horror genre specifically. In a lot of ways it's your performance that makes The Stylist so incredibly effective. We open up with a screen of you styling another character's hair. How much of what we see in the film is actually you doing the hair? What kind of training did you have to go through?

Najarra Townsend: Hi! Thank you for the kind words. As far as training for hair, I looked into courses and classes before we began shooting but nothing ended up working out within the time frame I had. So I ended up getting a practice head that I set up in my living room. I named her Betsy and watched a lot of hair YouTube tutorials. Also, my mom offered to let me give her a haircut and my husband offered up his hair as well so I could get some practice on real people. Luckily, our director, Jill Gevargizian, and our producer/production designer, Sarah Sharp, are both trained hairdressers so I brought my practice head with me to Kansas City and during prep they helped me as well. Sarah gave me a whole day of practicing how to do a root touch up so I would know what to do in our first scene of the film. Everything you see in the film while there’s dialogue is me doing hair but for our slow mo/montage shots, that’s all Sarah Sharp’s hands doubling as mine. 

CN: The Stylist began as a short film. Claire is a different person in the film than the short. What did you think of the changes to the character?

NJ: We had about 5 years in between the short and the feature and during that time the character and the script naturally evolved. With more information comes a fuller character. Plus, I grew a lot as well and that changed how I related to Claire. 

CN: Claire does a series of impressions throughout the film of those who she kills. How much of that is you mimicking the other actresses and how much is a collaborative effort?

NJ: There’s one scene early on in the film where I directly quote a character I’ve just killed. Unfortunately we shot that scene before we shot the scene where the actress, Jennifer Seward, says the lines I need to mimic and to me those were the most important lines to get as close as possible to Jen’s delivery. So, I actually ended up getting her audition tape and mimicking the way she said those lines from her audition. I recorded them on the voice memo app on my phone and would listen to them on set before we shot the scene. I also had to say some lines from the original short film and tried to keep those the same.

CN: I love the juxtaposition sequence with Claire and Olivia's morning routines. Having that little bit of knowledge about how Claire begins her day. Did it make it easier for you to channel her persona when cameras began rolling?

NJ: Every bit of information you can gather for a character really helps to shape the person they are. I think having that scene in there really shows the audience a glimpse into Claire’s psyche. 

CN: Claire has a usual at a local coffee shop of a Chai Latte with Almond milk. What's your personal coffee shop drink?

NJ: I actually love a chai latte with almond milk! But I am a coffee lover at heart so I have to go with either an iced coffee with almond milk or a vanilla latte. 

CN: Claire is a fairly complex character. She is equal parts vulnerable and intense. What was your process for tapping into the character's mannerisms?

NJ: A huge part for me when it comes to a character’s mannerisms is the wardrobe. Once I had Claire’s backstory written out and felt like I really knew who Claire was, the piece that really drew it all together were her clothes. From the moment I put them on I felt myself walk differently and behave differently. That’s the magic of a great costumer designer! So big shout out to the amazing Haley Sharp for our wardrobe!

CN: Claire has this way of overanalyzing a lot of the interactions she has throughout the day. Curating a degree of her mental health. How important was it for Claire's mental health to have these moments of processing and decomposition?

NJ: I believe Claire’s level of over-analyzing is one of the things that is harmful for her. She picks apart every little thing she does and says and that usually leads her to spiral into a hole of self hatred. It’s good to analyze situations and to think before you speak but I don’t feel it is healthy to take that to the extreme. Claire wants to be in control of how she is perceived and be as close to her version of perfect as possible. That is dangerous to one’s mental health. 

CN: I ask about mental health because our publication is also a nonprofit that uses mediums like film to educate and engage on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. One of the things I found so compelling about The Stylist was how much it felt like it leaned into our message. Claire is someone who embodies a broken life; ultimately reaching her breaking point at the end. Would you say Claire's arc throughout the film is a commentary on how isolation can affect our mental health?

NJ: I think we can all agree isolation has a huge impact on mental health. Given these current times where a lot of us have spent much more time in isolation over the last year than is normal, I think it’s really showed us how much we rely on human interaction. It’s vital to our mental health to have relationships with people. All of Claire’s relationships are surface level, like with her clients or people in passing like the barista. I believe living a life of isolation can cause a lot of damage to our well being and you can see how that has harmed Claire’s mental health, for example she has a hard time understanding social cues and over analyzing everything. One of the dangers with isolation is the longer you are alone, the harder it becomes to go back into the world and open up. I hope films like this and the experiences we have all had over the last year can help us make sure we reach out to people more and check up on each other. 

CN: There comes a point when Claire decided to leave behind her life of crime. Is this her attempt at healing? What changes for her in this moment to cause this decision?

NJ: I wouldn’t say it was her attempt at healing, Claire wouldn’t observe an issue which needed to be healed, more a matter-of-fact desire to change. It was a need to be more ‘normal’ so she could maintain a relationship with Olivia.

CN: There are a number of scenes where Claire is writing and erasing texts to Olivia; always searching for the right thing to say. She is constantly projecting the image she wants Olivia to see. We, as the audience, get to see the vulnerable side of Claire but no one else does. How important of those moments of vulnerability for your mental health? Why should you be willing to let your guard down around people? 

NJ: It takes bravery to be vulnerable and we can all relate to the struggle of not wanting to put ourselves out there only to be hurt, and yet that’s the only true way to have deeper relationships with people.

If you or someone you know is reading this right now and struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message, or tweet at us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the suicide lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!

Victims and Villains is written (and produced) by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey and others, and edited by Cam Smith. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. Special thanks to Najarra Townsend for letting us interview her about The Stylist. The Stylist is property of Sixx Films and Arrow Video. We do not own nor claim any rights.

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