Gothic & History: An interview with actress Emily Louise Knutsson

Emily’s interest in history

Emily’s relation to Edinburgh and London

Since you have both the American and the Swedish citizenship you already knew a lot about Europe before you started to study in Edinburgh. In the United States most cities are only a few hundred years old. In Europe some cities like Athens or Rome existed already more than 2.000 years ago. You decided to study in Scotland and now – according to your Instagram profile – you are based in London and Athens. Are the numerous relics of older times something you appreciate regarding Europe?

One of the reasons I selected Edinburgh to study was the incredibly beautiful and historical architecture, I mean, have you seen the Royal Mile! Or Dean Village? Or my personal favourite, Duddingston’s Kirk? Studying there was truly like living inside the pages of a storybook. Now that I’m in London, I’ve also come to appreciate the intermixing of new and old, and I really enjoy the juxtaposition between the two during my walk to work in Shoreditch, where I’m currently performing in immersive theatre.

A dissertation on medieval aesthetics in (Gothic) film

You wrote your dissertation on medieval aesthetics in (Gothic) film. Would you like to summarize what this study was about?

Actually, while I began in film during my research, I eventually settled on focusing on late mediaeval Arthurian literature. I wanted to really give history one last final hurrah before moving full time into acting, so I decided to use fully medieval primary sources. My dissertation focused on masculine and feminine forms of mediaeval magic in the characters of Merlin and Morgan, as well as how it related to the political chaos of the late fifteenth century.

From movies to literature

Let’s move from movies to literature. I know that you like Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, and Daphne du Maurier. Are there any recommendations regarding literature?

Hmmm, that’s always a tough but awesome question. Among favourite authors are Shelley, Stoker and du Maurier, but I’d also include Sally Rooney, George R. R. Martin, Jane Austen, and the Bronte sisters on that list. I’d probably say my all time favourite book is Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History”, which incidentally, if it was ever made into a movie, I would love to play Camilla.

Combining Gothic, academic and performance & history and literature with acting

You told Lawrie Brewster that you are trying to combine Gothic, academic and performance. You also say that you would like to combine history and literature with acting. Could you tell our readers a little more about this most interesting point?

I would definitely say that, for me, all creative disciplines sort of meld together because, at the heart of all of them is storytelling. I’m a dancer, writer, historian, and singer as well as an actress, and I would never be able to give up any of those disciplines because they are so intricately interwoven together. Ideally, in the near future, I’d love to pen a project that really interweaves all of those themes and put it onscreen or on stage; perhaps a retelling of a Greek myth or a medieval period drama with a fantastical twist.

Evil queens, femme fatales and ancient women

Regarding your career as an actress, you are particularly interested in “evil” queens, femme fatales etc. You mentioned in this context in other interviews characters like Lady Macbeth or Anne Boyle. Since our readers are mostly coming from the field of ancient history: Are there any women from the ancient world you would like to perform in movies or theatre plays?

Definitely Persephone and perhaps Medusa.

Being a historian and an actress at the same time

As a historian you would probably do some research regarding a character you are supposed to play. Of course, historic topics have sometimes to be adopted a little to our modern times. But what if you get a role as – let’s say Marie Antoinette – and you realise that her characterisation in the movie is totally rubbish? Would this be difficult for you?

Hmmm, I used to get really upset at historical inaccuracies in television series, but the more I studied history, the more I realised that history is entirely dependent on the narrator’s perspective. I suppose I would perhaps be a little frustrated at a one-dimensional character, but I actually think it would be fun to play a totally different version of Marie Antoinette, as long as the writer had good reason to take her in a different direction. For example, Marie Antoinette had a fake Austrian village built at Versailles…but why? Furthermore, history has also always reflected the era in which it was retold, so I always welcome modern adaptations so long as the story is compelling.

Gothic and Greece

With my final question I would like to come to a topic that is very important to me: Greece. I noticed already some time ago that there a quite a lot of pictures from Greece on your Instagram account. And now you are even based in Athens. What does Greece mean to you? And is there from your point of view a connection between Greece and Gothic? Greece was obviously a strong influence on writers as Mary Shelley and Lord Byron.

I absolutely love being in Greece. My mom lives there, as well as the Aegean cats and our spaniel that she’s rescued. To me, Greece is actually the antithesis of Gothic, which is why I love to counterbalance living in London with spending time in Athens. Greece is full of light and warmth and sun, and was the epicentre of the classical knowledge that illuminated the ancient world. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is the U.K., which to me is dark and mysterious, and perhaps the best place on earth to study and create creative material.

Thank you!