Question: What drew you to the script?

VK: When I got the script, I thought it was new and interesting. William Bradford is said to be the moral compass of the group and having played Pete Campell (Mad Men) who, I think was the opposite of that, almost no moral compass at all. I did a lot of research, and I was surprised that William Bradford had written so many books. I read “On Plymouth Plantation,” which chronicles the first 10 years or so of the settlers life in Plymouth, and covers a bit about why they traveled and what they dealt with. I thought, personally, coming from what I've been doing for the last seven, eight years, it was a wonderful opportunity for me to dive into a different era and a different type of character.

Question: Would you personally have taken on such a voyage?

VK: I would not have fared well; I don’t fare well on a five-hour flight. People back then were stronger and more adaptable.

Question: Do you relate to Bradford?

VK: I don’t think I can relate to anything about him. He has a completely different mind frame than I do. We live in different worlds and times, and have different priorities. He was very selfless. If you go to Plymouth today, you will see Billington Lake and Standish Forest, and streets and towns named after these people. But there is just one little street named “Bradford” on the tip of the cape, and I don’t think he had anything to do with it. In all his books he barely mentions himself. For any of his achievements, he says the group did this. He was a very modest and selfless man who wasn’t perfect and made some bad decisions, but who was godlier than I am.

Question: What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?

VK: I’ve always liked Thanksgiving. It has always been my favorite holiday. I have fond memories as a child of going to a cabin on Lake Superior. The whole family would be together for five days, and it was a nonstop party. We would play games, ski and hike, and sit around a table and say something we were thankful for. I think that is nice way to pay respects to all you have been given.

Question: Who was Edward Winslow?

BS: Edward Winslow was an emissary between the Pilgrims and the Pokanoket tribe. He was a great friend of William Bradford and later would go on to be governor of Plymouth and serve the king back in England. He also had a son who played a big part in the growth of the country.

Question: What research did you do?

BS: Playing an historical figure, it was only right that I do my due diligence. These events took place a long time ago, so there is not a huge amount in the way of documented facts. I read some of Bradford’s book as well as a great book called “The Mayflower."

Question: What attracted you to play this character?

BS: What was interesting about him from what I read and what was in the scripts is that he had a lot of strength in him. Over the course of the story, he learns how to be a leader and show his growth. As a man he was very devout in his beliefs, and he suffered so much hardship and yet was drawn to the Native American way of thinking. I was intrigued by his openness to a new religion and culture, and this for me resonates with the rise of spirituality today. And he had nice shoes {laughs}.

Question: Tell us about your costume.

BS: When I got my shoes I couldn’t tell which was the left and which was the right. I respect women in tights much more now because mine ride down constantly during the day. It’s also helpful to have an expanding chest piece when you are living in a hotel and eating great food in Cape Town.

Question: What do you think of the sets?

BS: The authenticity has been amazing and there are times when I sit on set with the fire going and I really feel that I am in Plymouth. I just lose myself and time travel.

Question: Do you think you could take on such a voyage?

BS: I grew up in a culture where I could have my own life, so being persecuted for my religious beliefs has never been an issue. However, I like to think that faced with adversity of my beliefs, I would take on such a voyage. If I wanted a better life, yes I would do it. I sort of did that when I moved to America with my family. The principle is the same, and if you want a better life you have to chase it.

Question: What has been your favorite scene to shoot?

BS: I just filmed a scene with Raoul Trujillo [Massasoit] when Winslow goes to save his life. It was an incredible scene. Historically, they are buried next to each other. Later, ironically, it is Winslow’s son who gives the order to kill Massasoit’s son. I really enjoyed speaking Abenaki, and really take my hat off to the Native American actors who have had to learn all their scenes in the language. I also enjoyed the exterior scenes on the Mayflower with water and wind being thrown at us. It was fun. Our first scene was us finding Plymouth, and watching the village grow in real time has been fun.

Question: Who is Dorothy Bradford?

AC: Dorothy is the wife of William Bradford, the first governor of the colony. When Dorothy and William departed on the Mayflower, they left their child, Johnny, behind because he was too young to travel. Viewers will see what happens to Dorothy emotionally as a result.

Question: Why did she leave her homeland?

AC: Dorothy left her homeland because she and her husband were separatists and didn’t want their religion to be controlled by the government. They made a very horrid journey on the Mayflower. No one knew how bad the conditions would be on the ship, but in the end, they hoped it would be worth it.

Question: How did you prepare for the role?

AC: I read a lot of books and researched online. I talked with Vincent [Kartheiser, who plays William Bradford] and we discussed our characters together at length. I also learned how to talk in a British accent, which I loved and often did off set as well.

Question: Who were the Bradfords?

AC: The Bradfords are part of the “saints,” and really, they are the most saintly of the saints. William always tries to keep Dorothy calm and strong, but he never really knows how she is feeling because people in that time didn’t discuss their feelings and emotions. There was a scene I shot at the funeral of Jasper, a young boy Dorothy grew quite close to before he died, where I had the feeling I wanted to tell my husband I loved him but couldn’t because that isn’t something Dorothy would have verbalized. As an actress, I tried to say things through my eyes and I hope people will respond to it because the characters never verbalized their emotions.

Question: What was it like working on the boat?

AC: I knew we would be shooting on a boat but didn’t think it would really move! It does! It moves on a gimbal and your whole world gets rocked, so you don’t really have to act when you are holding on to your stomach. It was really cool.

Question: What did you know about the Mayflower?

AC: In school we learned about the Mayflower. “Mayflower” seemed like such a sunny, happy word. You always see pictures of a sunny, happy boat. In preparing for and shooting this movie I have learned that it actually wasn’t built for people; it was a cargo ship and was designed to transport goods. It had no place for people to sleep, and it was a really horrible place by the end. It stinks, there is death all around you, people are sick with diseases and there is nowhere to use the toilet. It’s really the exact opposite of what I learned about it in second grade.

Question: What is it like wearing these costumes?

AC: The dresses are great and tailor-made for me. Luckily, I don’t wear a corset. I do have dirt under my fingernails and can’t get it out! When I ask for bread at a restaurant and everyone at the table sees my hands, I feel the need to tell them that it is fake dirt.

Question: Would you have had the courage to do the Mayflower voyage?

AC: I wish I could say yes, and that I would have that sort of adventurous heart, but it would be very scary. I would probably say no.

Question: Do you relate to Dorothy?

AC: I do relate to her. I think about my family a lot, and being so far away from them for the first time. I love my parents, and I am trying to put myself in their shoes as I think about my character and having a child that I can’t feel and touch and be in the same room with. That feeling is overwhelming and powerful.

Question: Dorothy is quite a departure from previous characters you have portrayed. Talk about what it’s been like to play her.

AC: It has been great playing Dorothy. I usually play characters who aren’t very nice, or who are bitchy and controlling. Dorothy is a true, good-hearted, wonderful person who is truly selfless, and it is an honor to play someone like her who really existed in history. There is a magic there I won’t forget.

Question: Who was Massasoit?

RT: From my perspective, Massasoit represents not just the short history we are covering in this film, but also about 150 years of watching an assault on the native people by the English settlers. Disease came with them, and that turmoil resulted in tribe versus tribe. What I am trying to bring to him is that sense of someone who is a war general and chief, but also has a desperation to save his people, which is his utmost concern. He is tackling both potential conflicts with the English and ongoing conflicts with other native tribes.

Question: What does this story mean to you? Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

RT: I remember being five and in kindergarten, and being asked to play a Pilgrim and was taken aback. I wondered, “Why can’t I be the Indian?” This made me realize the whitewashing of what Thanksgiving really was. I say that because National Geographic Channel in this telling has gone in deep and tried to de-sanitize the story. SAINTS & STRANGERS gets deeply involved in the politics among the Indian nations that were also in conflict with each other. It sets up Massasoit as a leader who needs to make choices that will save his people. But I think if anything else, part of the healing process amongst Native people in the Americas is that there has to be a restoration of a sense of pride and realizing that we do come from a really old, old culture that was intruded upon but is still surviving after more than 500 years of conquest and colonizing.

Question: Why do you think it is important for the Native Americans actors to speak the indigenous language?

RT: When these projects get made, it is always important for authenticity that the language be embraced. To negate it, or do it in a language that doesn’t suit that people, is wrong. Part of what brings authenticity is working in the native language, which helps to reveal their worldview. In SAINTS & STRANGERS all of the Native American lines are spoken in the Eastern Algonquian language Western Abenaki, which today has only 12 native speakers left, and is extremely close to what the Pilgrims would have heard at the time. Jesse Bowman Bruchac, the dialect coach, worked with us on not only phonetics, but also constantly making sure that we understood what we were saying and the syntax. I think, more than anything else, I just want other Native people to realize, first of all, a lot of the films that I do, but this one in particular, that these languages are still spoken. And as an actor, we really try to honor, as best as we can, who these people were.

Question: What is it like learning and working in the Abenaki language?

RT: It is a huge task. People don’t often realize that, for Native American actors, we are actually being asked to do twice the work of the English-speaking actors. To learn the script as a non-Abenaki speaker is double the work.

Question: What do you think of your costume? Were you involved in the design?

RT: I was under the impression that we would have more adornment, but in working with the director and producer I came to understand that we are a people ravaged by disease. Because of that, we are made to look more impoverished. When we first meet them, they have almost nothing. I made a point of putting on Wampum, which is the use of shells as currency, and I did ask for some feather action because it’s important to the overall aesthetic. Massasoit was always known for having an ornamental knife, and I have a tortoise as my spiritual animal because it has a long history in indigenous culture. Massasoit would have his own look as a sachem (leader), and the red on my forehead would be representative of blood history and the memory we bring forth. I wanted it to always be part of my look.

Question: What were the challenges?

KC: We made from scratch everything from the Pilgrims’ “Western” look to the Native American costumes. For me the biggest challenge is always giving a costume character when it comes off the sewing machine. I work closely with dyers and an aging department to give every garment a life and a history of its own so that nothing looks or feels brand new.

Question: What is the process? Did you set up special departments to make all the clothes?

KC: I had a fabrication department that solely worked on the Native American looks. We made every breechcloth, legging and shirt, as well as dozens and dozens of pairs of moccasins. I also have a manufacturing department for the Western looks, and aging and dyeing rooms to bring life to what was being made.

Question: What is your favorite costume

KC: I love the Native American looks. They were the most challenging but the most fun to do. I wanted a very primitive but super-functional feel to them, and I think we pulled it off.

Question: Did you collaborate with the actors on their costumes?

KC: We collaborated on some of the Native American accessories, but most of the actors flew in very late, so we already have a defined look for each role in place. We illustrate for each lead character so that they know what they are going to get ahead of time.

Question: The Native Americans are all unique. Tell us about some of the individual pieces that were created for them.

KC: Their basic layers are the same, but each has character has his or her own “trinkets.” Squanto wears a silver spoon on a leather thong as a necklace. I wanted a nod to the fact that he had interacted with Europeans before, and read somewhere that Native Americans sometimes used Western objects in a unique way. Massasoit is the king and suitably adorned with owl skins and skulls and decorative feathers.

Sept. 6, 1620: The Mayflower departs England.

Nov. 11, 1620: The vessel anchors in Provincetown Harbor.

Nov. 11, 1620: The Mayflower Compact is signed by 41 men aboard the ship.

Dec. 25, 1620: The Pilgrims decide to make their permanent settlement at Plimoth (now Plymouth), across the bay from Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Mar. 17, 1621: The Pilgrims have their first formal encounter with the Wampanoag.

Apr. 1, 1621: A peace treaty is signed between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.

September/October/November 1621: The first harvest celebration — what we now refer to as Thanksgiving — is held.