CINEMAX: How has Lucy grown from Season 1 to Season 2?

EVE HEWSON: A lot. She really was fresh to the city in Season 1, but was watching and learning a lot from everyone around her – how corrupt they were and having secret lives. She's more aware than people think. She picked up a lot that she puts to use in Season 2. She's grown massively.

CINEMAX: How do you get into character to play Lucy? What type of research have you done?

EVE HEWSON: I listen to a lot of rap music. Drake.

CINEMAX: I do a lot of research. I learned a lot about West Virginia, the church she's from, the history of the Appalachian Mountains, nursing and dialect work.

EVE HEWSON: We had training for the medical scenes from Dr. Burns who taught us how to suture. I don't get freaked out by the blood, which is weird because in real life I do. It's fun to see each department work together and make it happen. It's exciting when it works out. It's pretty gross, there's a surgery in Season 2 with a lot of pus. But when you're there it doesn't feel so real.

CINEMAX: Talk about Lucy's relationship with Thackery and Bertie in Season 2 and how they have evolved from the first season.

EVE HEWSON: She's still in love with Thackery and it breaks her heart when he rejects her. Everything she does from that point forward is because of how heartbroken she is over him. Bertie doesn't want anything to do with her. But he's the only one who has been there for her as a friend and hasn't taken anything from her. Thackery had sex with her, she got him drugs. He took a lot of things from the relationship that he didn't give back to her, where Bertie has always been a good friend. She realizes she screwed up and she needs him, but he doesn't want anything to do with her. So she feels pretty alone.

CINEMAX: We meet Lucy's father, Preacher A.D. Elkins, this season. What can you tell us about their relationship?

EVE HEWSON: You learn so much about her relationship with Thackery through her relationship with her dad. It is really uncomfortable and complicated. She adores him, but he is a bad man and he abuses her in many different ways. When she confesses her sins and he beats her, she is at her lowest and that's when she makes a decision that she can't trust anyone else. She has to put herself first and act like a man to get what she wants in this world.

CINEMAX: What has been the most challenging scene for you to film?

EVE HEWSON: I thought it was going to be the whipping scene, but that was actually a lot of fun. Everyone else was disturbed, but they put these pads on me and I couldn't feel anything.

CINEMAX: What do you think draws Lucy to working in the medical field?

EVE HEWSON: She wants to help other people. That's naturally her thing. She genuinely cares about people and that's what makes her a good nurse.

CINEMAX: If Lucy weren't a nurse, what profession would she have?

EVE HEWSON: A teacher, au pair or social worker.

THINK FAST

What procedure from the show would be the scariest to undergo?

Eye or brain.

What costume would you like to take home?

Nurse's outfit.

What other NYC time period would you like to live in?

60s, 70s.

What's your addiction?

Coffee.

What would be the hardest challenge for you personally if you had to live in the time of The Knick?

Women not being able to speak up for themselves and feeling unsafe.