Following the recent digital release of her latest feature film, Mancunian actress Suzanne Fulton discusses her experience of working on Derelict, a gritty revenge thriller by director Jonathan Zaurin.
Fulton plays Abigail, a tough and troubled young woman who is determined to get revenge 10 years after her father’s brutal murder.
“What drew me to the project was this character of Abigail,” Fulton explains.
“To be able to play somebody with so much gumption, so much passion, and so much drive. It’s that passion and drive that you don’t always see with female written characters.”
On the film itself, Fulton says: “It’s cinematically beautiful. The story is engaging and dark but also hopeful at the same time.”
A visually striking aspect of the film is its use of colour and black and white, something which helped Fulton herself stomach some of the more gory scenes.
“I’m a total wimp. I can’t look at blood. But then watching it in black and white, it somehow has this really artistic coolness about it.”
With a limited budget of £35k, Fulton describes the sense of camaraderie built on the set of Derelict.
“It wasn’t in a studio, it was the bare bones of it, you know, it was a very stripped-down team of people.
“But the team of people that we had were so skilled and so great and so passionate about what we were doing it really built this feeling of family because everybody mucked in.”
Fulton recalls teaching on-screen enemy, Michael Coombes, how to waltz while another co-star, Pete Bird, would cook for the team.
Fulton says, “He’d run off and cook the lunches and we just talk about food all morning and if he is going to make these pork rolls, which were the best.”
The strong relationships on set helped Fulton tackle some of the more challenging aspects of filming.
Derelict contains the first intimacy scene of Fulton’s career which was made possible by her positive relationships with the cast, director, and intimacy coordinator.
Fulton says, “All of those things together just took away the pressure and any worries that we had and then it felt like a huge achievement.”
Another challenge Fulton faced was filming with special effects makeup and bandages.
“What was really disorientating is for so much of the filming, I could only use one eye because I had this patch, and my own spatial awareness became an issue.
“In between shots to take it off and get my bearings before I fell down. But it was really cool and the special effects they had were absolutely brilliant.”
A highlight of Fulton’s experience was attending FrightFest, an annual horror film festival where Derelict was met with acclaim.
She described watching herself on the big screen: “It’s a difficult thing to get over, the little things that you see about yourself. Whenever I see myself on the screen I’ll think why is my hair doing that weird thing?
“But once you get past that, it’s watching the story, and it’s such a great story this film.
“Then when you see it all together, it’s like, wow, that’s it. That’s what Jonathan saw. It’s brilliant to watch.”
“I love now even more than ever supporting independent film and seeing as much as I can because I just think what people can achieve with so little is really admirable.”
Alongside her incredible experience, Fulton was also able to take away a piece of Abigail’s wardrobe.
“I had seen these boots online not long after reading the character and I said I just feel like Abby would wear these biker boots,
“I did keep them at the end. Don’t tell Jonathan!”
Fulton began her career as a dancer and stage actor, and even after completing three feature films in the past five years, she still loves the theatre.
She is currently working on a musical produced by her own production company, Parallel Productions, which champions women’s voices from the north.
The musical, You Can Have It All … Can’t You?, is a comedy sketch show that explores societal pressures and the biological clock.
Fulton will also be starring in a pantomime with Anton Benson Productions at the end of the year.
To aspiring Mancunian actors Fulton says: “Keep going. It can be very disheartening to get no’s all the time, and it is a huge part of the job.
“Just be ready when the opportunity comes and don’t lose faith in it because it’s an amazing career.”
Derelict is on digital now from Miracle Media and on Blu-ray 22 September from 101 Films.
Main image: Derelict still courtesy of Miracle Media
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