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Evelyne Brochu on her new queer-themed suspense thriller “Tom at the Farm”

When she’s not being badass bisexual Delphine Cormier on Orphan Black, Evelyne Brochu keeps plenty busy. Xaviar Dolans‘s movie Tom at the Farm was just released in the U.S. on Friday, and is about a man whose boyfriend dies, and when he goes to visit the family, finds out that his boyfriend never spoke of their relationship. The trailer is dark and ominous (and French!) and leaves me wondering how the heck things go south so quickly.

Evelyne Brochu graciously answered some of our questions about her role in this thriller.

AfterEllen: What can you tell us about your character in Tom at the Farm?

Evelyne Brochu: My favorite thing about Sarah is her honesty. You can see right away, from the costume Xavier created, that she has a loud personality. She created a style for herself that screams, “This is me, take it or leave it.” Yet, she is caught in a situation where she is forced to impersonate someone she is not. That paradox between character and situation, between true and false, that struggle, is what I loved most about getting to play Sarah.

AE: What about this role or this project made you want to be part of it?

EB: Originally Tom at the Farm was a play by Michel-Marc Bouchard, I got to create that character on stage. Getting a chance to also be a part of the adaptation that Xavier and Michel-Marc made together was an absolute joy. I could stay inspired by 120 hours of rehearsals and thirty something shows, yet I had to make the transition to a much more intimate medium, to another vision. That challenge was thrilling.

AE: Our readers know and love you from your role as bisexual badass Delphine in Orphan Black, which is dark, but not quite Tom at the Farm dark. What about this movie do you think will appeal to Orphan Black fans?

EB: I see Orphan Black as an edge-of-your-seat type of show, it doesn’t let you relax into it, it keeps you breathing fast. At least that’s the way I react to it. Even reading it when I get scripts, I can’t just lean into my sofa and have a good read, it gets my heart going. I think Tom at the Farm has the same rhythm, perhaps even more as it is a thriller. And the music by Gabriel Yared (The Talented Mr. Ripley) is just so gripping.

If you’re referencing the fact that both have queer characters as main characters I would say that, of course, there is a strong parallel to be made between the two projects. But I think Tom at the Farm looks into the subject from an entirely different angle. Michel-Marc once told me “Members of the LGBT community unfortunately often have to learn how to lie before they learn how to love.” To me Tom at the Farm tells the story of that tragedy.

AE: Do you have a preference between filming movies vs. television? For that matter, do you have a preference filming in French vs. English?

EB: It all feels so different, it’s hard to say. Every job feels like a whole new world. Every character speaks in a different way, every story makes you go places where you’ve never been, every director uses his or her medium in a unique way. That is what I like the most I think, how experiencing something that is always called “acting” can feel so new and different with every project.

AE: How would you describe this movie in three words?

EB: Love, lies and tango. Oh gosh, it sounds like a romantic comedy put like this, but see it and you’ll get it.

AE: On a scale of 1-10, 1 being My Little Ponies and 10 being the most unfathomable terror you can think of, how scary is Tom at the Farm? Should we be going to a matinee if we ever want to sleep again?

EB: Don’t worry about seeing this one-it is not “horror movie scary” at all. I can’t watch scary movies, even parodies of scary movies can haunt me for weeks. Tom at the Farm is a psychological thriller, a good 5, compared to the 10 that is for example Candyman-you see how old that movie is, that just tells you how long ago I gave up on horror movies.

AE: You don’t get potentially-fatally-injured in this, too, do you? Because I’m not sure the clonesbians could handle that.

EB: Haha! That’s a trick question.

AE: What else can we look forward to seeing you in while we wait to find out Delphine’s fate? Any other projects coming out soon?

EB: Yes, I’m shooting season two of X Company as we speak, in September the movie Pawn Sacrifice is coming out, I got to play a couple of scenes in it, a really fun character. I also just finished shooting a feature film called Miséricorde, looking forward to see that one come out in the next year.

Check your local listings for showings of Tom at the Farm, now playing!

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