Katherine McNamara on What Attracted Her to ‘Natural Selection’ and Film vs. Television

Sandra Miska

Actress Katherine McNamara has a lot on her plate these days. With a new film “Natural Selection,” coming out, she’s also in the midst of shooting the second season of “Shadowhunters,” the Freeform cable network series in which she stars and is also working on a university master’s degree. McNamara spoke with Entertainment Voice about “Natural Selection,” a drama tackling issues facing teens today, what to expect next year on “Shadowhunters,” balancing work and school, and her role in the hit film “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.”

“Natural Selection” tackles important, topical issues like bullying and school violence. What attracted you to the script?

What initially attracted me was its sense of realism and how it presented the issues and situations in a way that was very close to home, very realistic and not over dramatized in anyway. It presents the situations in a way that’s very poignant, but it doesn’t comment upon them. It’s more of a piece of self-awareness, and less of a piece to forward any particular agenda.

The film is emotional, but also, like you said, realistic. How did you prepare?

Honestly, it was a very collaborative process with the cast and the director and everything else. Because it was an indie film, because it was Chad [L. Scheifele], our director, his first full-length feature, it was a piece that we all sort of did together, in the sense that we’d get to set every day and figure out sort of what the scenes were, what needed to be said and how they needed to be presented based on what each of our perceptions and interpretations were on that particular aspect of the story, which made it a lot of fun to work on. It was a team sport.

Did you watch any films to prepare? What are some high school films that inspire you?

It goes back to films, I guess if I had to pick anything, “The Breakfast Club.” Even films like “Silver Linings Playbook” that are very slice-of-life in the way that they present people that are dealing with situations in a very real manner.

The core of “Natural Selection” comes down to the fact that everybody has a dark side, and everybody has obstacles that they go through in their lives, and everybody has skeletons in their closet. But it’s how do you deal with things, and it’s how you address them and how you take them on are what shapes you and what ultimately shows the world what kind of a person you are.

You mentioned “The Breakfast Club.” Did you get a chance on set to talk with [co-star] Anthony Michael Hall about the film?

Yeah, I had a really good time with him. He and I were only on set one or two days together, because most of my scenes were not with him. He was so kind and so fun, and just a great person to have around.

You’re starring on the TV show “Shadowhunters.” What’s that experience like for you, working on a series every day? Is it very different from working on a film like “Natural Selection?”

It’s very different. With a television series, there’s a much more regimented schedule. We have things we have to get done because we have to get them to the editors, we have to get them ready for the next episode, or we have to stop for this fight, or do a wardrobe fitting for something that’s coming in three weeks while we’re shooting the current episode. We only have 42 minutes of airtime because we have to fit in commercials. Whereas when you’re working on an indie film, it’s very much more of a lax process and an intimate process. You have that time to spend if you need a couple extra hours to work out a scene, you can. …You have a lot more freedom. I love them both, simply because it works a different set of muscles and it allows for different experiences.

“Shadowhunters” is based on a book series. Do you feel pressure to stay faithful to the novels, or is it not an issue?

Yes and no. I do feel a responsibility, in a sense, because so many people care about these characters and so many people care about these stories that I do feel a responsibility to do justice to them. But, as we’ve been saying about “Shadowhunters” since day one, we’re not a carbon copy of the book. Yes, we stay true to the story in a sense and we definitely stay true to the characters, but it is a new interpretation of the story. It is taking these characters and putting them in a different light and in a different perspective. Especially in season two, because we’ve departed a little bit from the plot of the books. In season two we have even more of an opportunity to put these characters into new directions and see them in new lights and explore different faucets of the characters that you never got to see in the books.

You’re in school right now. What’s that like, balancing school commitments and working on set?

That’s something that I’ve been doing for years, so it’s kind of the norm for me. Yes, it can be difficult, and yes, in a sense it’s a challenge in and of its self, trying to make the time and make things work, but it’s all worth it in the long run.

Do you have any other projects coming up we can look forward to?

I have another indie film that I did called “Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?” that’s coming out later this year. It’s a rom-comedy about a small town in Texas and how they deal with the gun violence issues that are happening right now.

Sounds like another interesting topical film.

Whereas “Natural Selection” [deals with a serious issue] with a sense of realism and gravity, “Gun in Your Pocket” explores it with a sense of comedic levity and sort of slight absurdity that makes it very fun.

You worked on “The Scorch Trials.” What was that experience like?

That was one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. It was such an interesting project to get to work on with that group. They’d already done [“The Maze Runner”] together and coming into the family and receiving such a warm welcome from the cast and the fandom and the producers, it made it really special. It’s such a great project, and one that, again, a lot of people care about, so it makes a big difference to be accepted into that in such a cool way.

It was a month and a half of nigh shoots and it was long and hot and cold, but it was so much fun. We were out in the middle of this beautiful wilderness in New Mexico running around and having this giant fight scene with helicopters exploding and all these things happening, but ultimately it was made fun by the fact that the cast became very close.

“Natural Selection” opens in select theaters and VOD Aug. 26. It can been seen in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Monica Center.