Jessie Buckley says she ‘loved’ giving the Bride of Frankenstein a voice

Award-winning Irish actress Jessie Buckley has said she “loved” giving the Bride of Frankenstein a voice after the character was largely silenced in the original film.

The 36-year-old stars alongside Christian Bale in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s horror film The Bride!, which follows Frankenstein (Bale) as he travels back to 1930s Chicago to ask scientist Dr Euphronious to create a companion by reviving a murdered young woman, The Bride (Buckley).

The upcoming film is inspired by the 1935 original The Bride Of Frankenstein which starred Elsa Lanchester.

Speaking at the film’s world premiere in London, Buckley told the Press Association: “Elsa Lanchester is on screen for about three minutes in the 1935 version, and she makes such an impact.

“Still people dress up at Halloween as her, but she doesn’t say anything.

“She’s on the precipice of it, she wants to say something. And I think that was Maggie’s first curiosity – what if this woman has something to say?

“To be able to give voice to that ‘what if’ and to really find all the colours of that curiosity and self-discovery and voice, and let the things that maybe have been silenced or we didn’t give ourselves permission to say at the time.

“You can only imagine, I loved it.”

Buckley recently picked up the leading actress Bafta award for her portrayal of Agnes in Chloe Zhao’s film adaptation of Hamnet.

The Bride! was written and directed by Gyllenhaal, who emphasised the need for new voices to take the reins behind the camera in order for new stories to be told.

She told PA: “Someone told me recently that only 7% of the movies made last year were made by women, but so many of the movies we are talking about this year are those 7%.

“I think that people are interested in a new voice and a new perspective and a new language, and when you let different people behind the camera, you will get something new.

“Everyone says they want something new, well, then different people have to make the movies.”

Gyllenhaal was behind the film adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter, which also starred Buckley along with Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Paul Mescal.

The Bride!, which also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penelope Cruz, will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland from March 6.