Her latest film may be the stuff of nightmares, but Annaleigh Ashford will be the first to tell you horror movies aren’t really her thing.
“I’m a scaredy cat,” she says. “It’s not always a genre I’ve been attracted to.”
Ashford’s journey to the screen started with stage lessons as a kid on the Front Range. The Denver-raised artist performed across the region at places like Littleton’s Town Hall Art Center, the now-defunct Country Dinner Playhouse in Denver and the Boulder Theater right here in the People’s Republic.
“I just always loved stories,” Ashford says. “They help you understand the world and understand yourself. That’s at the heart of everything I do creatively.”
But while scary movies might not have been high on Ashford’s list of favorites — she was more shaped by the works of Bob Fosse, Mel Brooks and Martin Scorsese — the 39-year-old artist was ready to throw her talents behind the new psychological horror film, Hold Your Breath.
Set during the Dust Bowl on the desolate high plains of Oklahoma, the film revolves around young mother Margaret Vellum (Sarah Paulson) who, haunted by her past, becomes convinced that a mysterious presence in the dust storms is threatening her family.
Despite her usual aversion to horror movies, Ashford immediately signed on for the role as Margaret’s sister Esther, thanks in part to how writer Karrie Crouse — who co-directs Hold Your Breath with Will Joines — plays with the form.
“There’s such a heartbeat of humanity through the film that makes it even scarier,” she says. “It’s so smart. It’s genre bending, it makes you think and it’s thoroughly entertaining.”
Mother nature’s daughter
Ashford was grateful for the role, because it gave her a chance to deepen a bond with her great-grandparents, whom she had a “sweet relationship with” growing up. They would regularly tell stories about the trauma of living through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl in the 1930s.
“The way they spoke about what happened to them was really striking and it really informed the role,” she says. “It was really special to feel close to my ancestors.”
But family ties aren’t the only thing binding Ashford to her role as Esther. The importance of environmental stewardship was also on her mind.
“When I read the script, I was immediately struck by this idea that if you treat Mother Nature poorly, she’ll tell and show you she’s not well,” she says. “In this case, it’s set in the period of the Dust Bowl, when we massacred her land in that part of the country.”
Ashford always felt a connection to something “bigger than us as human beings.” She credits this worldview to her upbringing in Colorado, where a love for the outdoors was instilled from an early age.
“It was something so normal to me. I’m so grateful I grew up in a place where I got to put my feet in the river and learn how to fly fish,” she says. “If you put me in the woods for a week, I think I could make it. There’s just a connection to nature from growing up in Colorado.”
‘Play in all the playgrounds’
But while her love for her home state is clear, the siren call of New York beckoned the artist from an early age. Her young dreams of stardom were guided by idols like Carol Burnett, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland.
“These were women who were character actresses, played leading ladies, but were also not the norm. They were in films, television and theater,” she says. “That was my goal. My dream was to play in all the playgrounds you can play in.”
Asked how she looked to achieve that, Ashford quips: “prayer.” But the real driving force was a desire to soak up as much knowledge as possible. “I always believe that learning the most you can about your craft helps you explore your craft.”
This was a lesson she learned from legendary actor James Earl Jones, who died in September at age 93. Ashford co-starred with the acting legend in You Can’t Take It With You on Broadway in 2014.
“Every day he looked at the play as an opportunity to learn something new and grow,” she says.
Those opportunities for growth aren’t limited to performers on stage. Ashford sees Hold Your Breath as a chance for audiences to not just learn more about the Dust Bowl and its parallels to how we’re “navigating climate change right now,” but also to help us process the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The idea of the characters having to stay inside because they’re afraid of what’s outside was really fascinating to me,” she says. “It’s about what isolation feels like and the mental health issues it causes.”
Ultimately, Ashford hopes Hold Your Breath won’t just terrify and enrapture viewers, but will give people a deeper compassion for how they treat the Earth and those struggling with their mental health.
“These two narratives are explored so beautifully through the film, especially how they were navigated in the 1930s,” she says. “That’s the great thing about history: It teaches us and warns us about how to navigate the present and future. While this is a horror film, it will make people think and feel something, too.”
ON SCREEN: Hold Your Breath is streaming now on Hulu and Disney+.