On Her Worst Behaviour: An Interview with Jana McKinnon

Photo: Roman Goebel

Jana McKinnon is finally working in her second home. 

The daughter of an Austrian mother and Australian father, McKinnon has made a name for herself as an actor in Europe from a very young age. At only 24, she has a wide-ranging oeuvre that often centres on challenging and, in some cases, outright controversial topics. She starred in the critically acclaimed science fiction drama The Trouble With Being Born — a film that was removed from the Melbourne International Film Festival after its content sickened two forensic psychologists. She also portrayed Christiane F, a poster child of teenage drug use, in the Amazon Prime series We Children From Bahnhof Zoo. 

Now, McKinnon is extending her list of complicated characters, playing Jo McKenzie, the lead role in Stan's upcoming original series Bad Behaviour. Based on the memoir by Rebecca Starford, it follows a group of teenage girls attending Silver Creek, a prestigious boarding school located in the Victorian bush. Jo is told that the school will provide her with resilience and confidence. Instead, she finds herself part of a dormitory powered by shifting loyalties, plays for supremacy, and various forms of abuse. And in an environment of bully or be bullied, Jo's choices leave lasting consequences. 

It's another almighty role for McKinnon, and I spoke with her about working on an Australian production, developing the sexuality of her character, and her family's unique occupation. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

CONNOR DALTON: How did Bad Behaviour come into your life?

JANA MCKINNON: Well, I grew up in Austria, and I've mainly done work overseas up until now, and I came to Australia in mid-2021 just to spend a bit of time with family. Then I thought, 'Oh, I might as well reach out to the industry and see if I can get an agent or something while I'm here.' I didn't expect much, just thought I'd do that, maybe. I was really lucky and got to sign with an agent, and [Bad Behaviour] was pretty much the first audition I ever got in Australia. I put my self-tape down and got the role. I did not expect that, so that was really amazing. And especially because I was in Queensland at the time, but Melbourne was still in lockdown, or the lockdown was just over or something like that, so they weren't actually able to bring the cast in the room together. So the casting director, Alison Telford, the producer, Amanda Higgs, and the director, Corrie Chen, had to cast the whole red house girls' dorm and all the [others] just from self-tapes, which must have been hard. But we basically then all met up in Melbourne and started shooting a few months later.

DALTON: What stood out to you the first time you read the scripts?

MCKINNON: I couldn't put it down, and that doesn't happen ever so often to read a script where you're like, 'Wow, okay, I should be doing the laundry or whatever, but I just don't want to stop reading' (laughs). I think it was the intensity of the female relationships that really drew me to the scripts. Then I did a lot of research on Corrie and watched her short films and just thought they were amazing. So I got really excited, and I wanted to work with her.

DALTON: You mentioned that most of your credits are from European films and television. What did you relish about being able to film down under?

MCKINNON: I love shooting in the bush. I love how in Australian film and TV, it's like the landscape is another character in the story. The environment that these girls are in is so important because it can be quite threatening, or it can be really stunning and beautiful. So it's a character in the show, I feel.

DALTON: The series is based on a memoir written by Rebecca Starford. Your character, Jo, represents a fictionalised version of Starford. Did you have any communication with her?

MCKINNON: Not so far. She was meant to come to set and spend a bit of time with us, but I think she got stuck in the floods back then or something. Something happened, and she couldn't make it, which was really sad. But I do hope that I can meet her now that the show is coming out. I did hear she's quite happy with the show, so I was very relieved to hear that. Of course, it's always a bit daunting to play someone who exists in real life or even a fictionalised version. You just want them to be happy.

DALTON: You play Jo during two different parts of her life. What was your approach to crafting two contrasting versions of the same character?

MCKINNON: It was a lot of fun. I was a bit scared if I could actually pull off looking 25 because I do look quite young. So that was one of the challenges that I thought, 'Oh, it'd be so interesting to see if I can do that.' I will say that hair and makeup and costume really helped. They did an amazing job, and seeing the transformation literally being painted onto your face is so helpful and just switches something immediately. I think it makes the biggest difference in how you even carry yourself. And just being in a different environment, being with different cast-mates, and having this difference in costume, hair, and makeup really helped me to know exactly where I was and craft the arc of the two different storylines.

DALTON: The students of Silver Creek all have very unique relationships with one another. What did you and your fellow actors do to nail that group dynamic?

MCKINNON: We had a lot of rehearsal time, which is just a gift because it makes the biggest difference. We got to sit down and flesh out all the different dynamics between the characters and sit down with the director and read through scenes together. We did that in different constellations, so, for example, I had read-throughs with Daya [Czepanski], who plays Saskia, and then Markella [Kavenagh], who plays Portia, and then Bronte Locke, who plays Sarah, and ask what's the relationship between those two. And I think the three mean girls had their own rehearsals that I wasn't included in. So it was all about crafting the dynamics with the director and also with the intimacy coordinator to delve into the sexuality and obsession and power dynamics and really flesh out the differences there. It was just amazing to work with the intimacy coordinator, Amy Cater, because she blew my mind with the work she does. She really changed the whole process I go through to build a character. I had never thought about a character's sexuality in such depth. It was really interesting.

DALTON: Silver Creek is one of the most hellish depictions of school we've ever seen. How did your schooling experience compare to Jo's?

MCKINNON: My school experience was very different because I grew up in Austria. We don't have all-girl schools. We don't wear uniforms. I actually got to wear a school uniform for the very first time in my life, which was fun (laughs). And I don't know the intensity of living together with your classmates. I haven't experienced that myself, so I wonder what the experience would've been if that would've been the case. But overall, I had a pretty positive school experience. I always liked going to school. I loved learning; I was a bit of a nerd (laughs). 

DALTON: The series begs the question, is it better to be the bully to avoid being bullied? Is that a position you've ever found yourself in?

MCKINNON: I think to be kind is always the way in any circumstance. Look, I think that a lot of people can relate to those circumstances, and I know the feeling of not fitting in and feeling like I don't belong somewhere. I can definitely relate to that.

DALTON: Bad Behaviour delves into the idea that everybody has something from their past that has stuck with them to this day. Is there anything from your youth that has remained with you that you would be willing to share?

MCKINNON: Well, I was trying to channel this feeling of everything being so existential all the time when you're a teenager. It's not a feeling I like to tap into particularly, but luckily I was still able to access that. I went to a school that was actually focused on film and photography, so I think photography has stuck with me a little bit. I do like taking snapshots of people on set and stuff like that.

DALTON: What have you gained most from the experience of making this series?

MCKINNON: As I mentioned before, the work with Amy Cater, the intimacy coordinator, completely shaped and changed the process of building a character for me. And working with Corrie Chen was such a gift because she's so precise. She knows exactly what she wants. She's so good at talking about feelings, which is really hard for some people and also some directors. And just the accuracy and the willingness of going so deep into emotional states and feelings and thoughts — learning to work like that was really, really amazing. I've made a lot of friends on this set as well. I don't think I've ever made that many friends on a set. We were really supportive of each other. People would check in on each other all the time when we had really tough heavy scenes. Everyone would be like, 'Are you okay? Do you want to talk about something?' (laughs). So I definitely take that away as well — to just be so accessible to cast-mates and to make sure that everyone is okay. That is something I want to continue doing.

DALTON: Do you see yourself doing more Australian projects in the future, or do you plan to return to Europe?

MCKINNON: I would love to be able to film more things in Australia. I genuinely enjoyed the experience. We're going to have a premiere at Berlinale [Berlin International Film Festival], which is amazing, and it's a bit of a clash of the two worlds that I work and operate in. It's going to be confusingly fun. I'm really excited to see what will happen when these two worlds sort of join. It'll be very interesting. I'd love to do both! I love European cinema, and I also love Australian cinema and TV.

DALTON: I do have one more question. When I do interviews, I do as much research as possible on the person I speak with. I read that both your parents are fire dancers; is that correct?

MCKINNON: (laughs) Well, they were when they were younger. My mum and my father were both street performers at some stage of their life. That is true.

DALTON: That is very cool!

MCKINNON: Yeah, it's very cool because I grew up in an environment where it was just totally normal to have people around me who juggled or did acrobatics or fire dancing. When I grew up, I thought it was really uncool, and I would've preferred my parents to be teachers or something normal, but now I think it's pretty rad (laughs). I wish I would've been open to learning more from them in that regard. I didn't learn a lot of acrobatics and circusy kind of stuff, unfortunately, but that's entirely on me

DALTON: Hey, it’s never too late!

MCKINNON: I guess. I am quite good on the poise, so … (laughs)

This article was originally published by FilmInk