Interview: Dominique McElligott from ‘Hell On Wheels’

We had the opportunity to interview Dominique McElligott who is the lead female in the new hit series ‘Hell On Wheels’ – Dominique is an Irish actress that has worked in popular movies like, Moon and Leap Year.Now she plays Lily Bell, who is somewhat a damsel in distress but a fighter at heart – through out the show, we see how she fights her struggles and earns her rights around the areas.

Just to get to know more about Dominique and her character, Lily Bell – we asked her how she prepared for this roll, how it felt like to be surrounded by men half the time and even a couple of questions about how she prepared for the ‘sex scenes’. Let’s see what she had to says:

Q: Could you describe to us, what kind of character Lily Bell is.
A: Lily is a very strong woman, she’s a woman ahead of her time. She’s an English woman who goes to America because her husband’s an American, working as an engineer on the rail road. But he gets killed in the pilot episode and she’s left on her own to fend for herself and she’s a survivor. She’s strong, independent and courageous.

Q: Would you say that you and your character Lily Bell are alike in a way?
A: I don’t know, I aspire to be more like her. She’s very smart and ambitious but I don’t know  if I’ve the same drive as Lily, but i admire her character.

Q: What convinced you to take this role?
A: I loved it when I read the script, the writing was really great. Characters are so diverse and different from each other. I’m very privileged to be part of Hell On Wheels because AMC has a great reputation, and the series is great. It’s a Western series, but it’s a Western with different elements and great entertainment. I’m proud to be part of it.

Q: Being one of the only main female characters on Hell on Wheels, does it ever get a little imtimidating to be surrounded by men all the time?    A: Yes, a lot of men were on set, even behind the camera there are a lot of men too. It can be intimidating. I like women, and it would be great if there were more on set. There were 2 female directors, one in the first season, and one in the second and I loved it! I love having out with them there and things should be 50-50 because women are just as talented as men, it should be evened out a little bit.

Q: What is the most challenging aspect on being on this this show?
A: I think the most challenging aspect is weather conditions. We’re outside shooting in Canada, in Calgary, and it has unpredictable weather patterns. We shoot outside for rain,wind,sand and dust every single day has different elements and different costumes. I wear a lot of corsets and petticoats which have heavy material but the costumes help you get into character, it helps with the process of acting.

Q: What attracted you to acting? Is it something you always wanted to do?
A: Yeah, when I was young I was aware of actors and film, never thought acting/being an actress was conceivable, but it happened very organically for me. I went to drama class after school and I had a very good drama teacher. She would get phone calls about television shows and commercials that I would go casting for. One day I was sent for a TV show in Ireland which is where I’m from, and drama’s something I really enjoyed, so it happened very organically. I stopped for a while and went to university and got back into it again. I feel very blessed.