Since at its heart, “Station Eleven” is a story about connection and community, it makes sense that Lawler has a lot of thoughts about both. The idea of found family runs deep in the show’s DNA, as communities spring up throughout the countryside of pandemic survivors. Something that stays consistent throughout is the character’s ability to connect with other people and, further, to keep connecting. They are holed up for months until finally venturing into the wilderness in an attempt to stay alive. She is looked after by an aimless young man named Jeevan (Himesh Patel), who had previously agreed to take Kirsten to her parents, but the global health crisis strikes while they’re together, and the two take shelter at a secure apartment with Jeevan’s brother. As a child, the sudden death of her mentor mid-performance of King Lear coincides with the spread of an unprecedented flu that spreads so quickly that few are left in its wake. As an adult (played by Mackenzie Davis), she travels with a group known as The Traveling Symphony, performing Shakespeare on a route that loops around the Great Lakes. Kirsten’s journey within the series is harrowing and the story regularly bounces between the past and the present. While Lawler and all of the actors in “Station Eleven” were overlooked at the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, that doesn’t make her performance any less remarkable or any less worthy of awards consideration.

In ‘Love & Death’ and ‘Candy,’ the True Story Doesn’t Always Provide the Truth As Kirsten is faced with escalating calamities in the wake of a pandemic that wipes out the vast majority of the world’s population, including her own parents, Lawler occupies the character with such perspicaciousness that it’s nigh impossible to remember you’re watching an actress and not a young girl - even while, in truth, you’re watching both. Throughout our conversation, she dropped such profound observations about herself, her role, and her part in the show’s greater creative experience that by the time I disconnected our Zoom call I was a bit dumbfounded by what had just transpired.įor those who’ve watched “Station Eleven,” which released its final episode January 13, this should come as no surprise. It’s not that Lawler isn’t wise beyond her years - she is - it’s the fact that she’s wise beyond most adults’ years. After speaking with the actress, who shares the central role of Kirsten in HBO Max’s exquisite limited series “ Station Eleven,” I’m inclined to disagree. “People always tell me that I’m an old soul,” Matilda Lawler, age 13, said midway through an interview with IndieWire.

Mathilda 2022