Mckenna Grace Relies On Pure Instinct As She Takes On Tough Roles

Mckenna Grace is in two of the top series streaming right now, and the roles she has recently tackled are intense. She portrays two young girls who have been violated and brutalized in unimaginable ways, and she does so with a remarkable level of depth, humanity and understanding.

In Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, sixteen-year-old Grace portrays Handmaid-in-training Esther Keyes. An enraged Esther is embroiled in more than her fair share of havoc this season, putting her at the center of two of the 10-episode fifth season’s most powerful scenes.

First, she attempted to kill fan-favorite Janine (Madeline Brewer) with poisoned chocolate in a scene that shocked audiences. Then, she blew that same audience away a few episodes later when she told Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) that she was raped and impregnated by Stephen Kunken’s Commander Warren Putnam, getting him executed. Her performance in that scene is astonishing.

She’s handcuffed to her hospital bed, which is a good thing for Aunt Lydia, who is very confused by this pregnancy and dares to question if Esther brought on Commander Putnam’s sexual advances with inappropriate behavior.

“Shooting that scene was a really interesting experience. I was handcuffed to the bed with my ankles and wrists. I get very into it when I’m acting, and the next day, my wrists were completely bruised and swollen from thrashing around in those handcuffs,” she reflects. “And I lost my voice. I’d never experienced anything like that, but I am honored to tell her story. It was a crazy scene to film. Usually, if I’m crying, I can use my arms and touch my face, but it was just me tied to that bed with nothing to do, no way to move, and there was very little to say. It was a very vulnerable scene and position to be in.”

She tells me that it’s usually her mom who accompanies her to the set but on that day, for the first time, it was her dad. When asked how she taps into that level of rage and hatred, she can’t easily explain it. “It’s just something that happens,” she says after a brief pause, adding, “It’s a combination of research and instinct.”

In Peacock’s nine-episode true crime series A Friend of the Family, she took on the role of the real-life Jan Broberg, who was kidnapped twice by psychopathic pedophile Bob Berchtold. In a recent interview, Jan Broberg opened up about how she and her family were groomed. It wasn’t an easy role to take on, but with a mix of raw talent and a lot of homework, Grace has, yet again, given viewers a fantastic performance.

She spoke with Jan and read her diaries, letters between her and Berchtold, court documents and transcripts, and interviews to prepare for the role. Both Esther and Jan required Grace to get into the mindset of a young woman who has her innocence taken from her by an adult man.

“Part of my process is that I read a script so many times, like 20 times over, so I am very familiar with every scene. But I wait to learn my sides until I’m on my way to work, so I come across more naturally. I don’t want to overthink the dialogue or scenes,” she explains.

She also uses music to help with her acting. “I write music to help me connect to characters, and I make playlists that remind me of them that I listen to on set. All of this helps me flesh out characters.”

She notes the similarities between Esther and Jan and talks about how they’ve each had their innocence taken from them at very young ages. “They’ve both gone through trauma and assault, and it is strange to play this type of character more than once. It’s important to tell their stories, not only to educate but also because this gives me a platform to speak about these topics and spread awareness.”

She just wrapped filming in Florida on a new movie entitled Spider & Jessie, an experience she describes as life-changing. “It was the most emotional and physically traumatic project I’ve worked on, and I loved every minute of it. It was crazy and beautiful.”

The film, in which she plays Spider, centers on opioid abuse and what it does to families, as told through the point-of-views of two young sisters. After their mother suffers a fatal overdose, they fear the foster system will separate them and decide to hide the body. But their lie may be discovered, and they must decide how far they will go to keep their secret.

It is clear that Grace seeks out a challenge, and it will be exciting to see what she does next.