EMMA BROWN: How did you first hear about Detroit?

HANNAH MURRAY: I was in L.A. last year in April and I got sent to this audition for an untitled Kathryn Bigelow project. There was no script, but obviously Kathryn’s name is more than enough to make you excited about something. There were just scenes to read that were from Almost Famous and Boogie Nights. I went in with no idea of who the character was or what the project was about; I was told it was about the Detroit uprising, but I didn’t know what it was going to focus on. I didn’t know how old my character was supposed to be. I was able to meet Kathryn the day before I left L.A. and she was so lovely and really, really kind. I left the meeting thinking, “Well, that went really well, but I can’t imagine anything is going to come of it.” Then I got offered the job, which was amazing. I didn’t read the script until a few days before we started shooting, because it was very secretive—some of the members of the cast never saw the full script, still haven’t seen the full script. Kathryn quite likes to withhold information from actors so that they stay really fresh and feel really truthful and spontaneous.

BROWN: Your character, Julie, is based on a real, living person. Was that something you talked about after you got cast? Or did you only find out when you got the script?

MURRAY: When I met Kathryn she said that this character was based on a real person, and that the real Julie was involved and would be there during filming. I met Julie the day I arrived in Boston [for the shoot]. It was the very first thing I did, which was amazing. She was on set every day, and it was such an honor to spend time with her and get to know her. She was so generous with her time and sharing her memories, answering my questions. For me, it was about connecting with her on a human level. She was always my touchstone for why I was doing this, why I thought the story was important. It was really great to feel like I had her permission—we all had her permission—to tell her story. I’ve never known anything like it. It was a very different process from anything I’ve ever worked on.

BROWN: Was it initially difficult to talk to Julie about what had happened? Even if she is being very generous and open, it must have been a very traumatizing experience for her.

MURRAY: I was very sensitive to that fact and the questions I wanted to ask her were not about the traumatic elements of the script; I was more interested in who she was as a person before this happened. But I think she’s incredibly brave and very untraumatized as a human being. Kathryn had mentioned that before: “She’s amazing. She’s just so strong and there’s no sense of victim about her at all.” She definitely recognizes how horrific the things that happened to her were, but she doesn’t let them define her or weaken her in any way. I was always worried about her, and she was always worried about me and Kaitlyn [Dever] and the rest of the cast having to act out these things. She was always asking, “Are you okay?” I was like, “I’m fine. Are you okay?” There was a lot of that; in general the set, as a whole, was such caring place. Everyone was always more worried about the other people around them and everyone was always checking in on people and trying to take care of people. For me, it felt like the safest environment in which to explore that material.