FROM: Donna's Boisterousness Frightened Elizabeth Saunders
If there is one thing that frightens Elizabeth Saunders about mysterious tv show, "FROM," it's not actually what you would expect. In a town that you literally can't escape, the citizens also have the added pressure of ghouls coming out at night and wanting to rip your guts out. The concept is intriguing and many questions are begging to be solved. But that isn't what concerns the actor who plays Colony House leader, Donna. Even in a horror-defined pocket universe, there is a subculture. Saunder's character is den mother to the alternative lifestyle in Colony House and takes no nonsense from anyone. And that is the biggest challenge for the actor.
"She is not afraid to fill the world up with herself," Saunders told PopCulture. "As a woman, I will say I, like many people, are told to be quiet, shut up, don't speak up. Don't take space in the world. And for some reason, Donna can't help but do that. She will just take her space, which is sometimes, when I get scripts, frightening to me because I go, well, I'm going to have to go on set and be loud in front of everybody." You wouldn't know it to look at Donna's scenes. She never backs down, even to conflicted sheriff, Boyd, played by "Lost" cast member, Harold Perrineau. Saunders gained confidence over the course of the show, finding ways to anchor herself in the unapologetic character.
Elizabeth Saunders developed Donna over the course of the show
"FROM" has joined the list of mysterious shows with an ensemble cast, and like fellow mystery series "Severance," many unanswered questions are carefully guarded in the MGM+ series. This was a challenge for Elizabeth Saunders at first.
"I had very little to look at when I auditioned. I did manage to get [scripts for] two episodes, so I got a pretty good sense of who she was and that she was a bit of a counterpoint to Boyd. There was a lot that I learned along the way," she told TVGoodness. Unlike "Lost," which is meticulous in detailing almost every moment of the characters' lives, Donna was a learning process. Series creator John Griffin gave the actors a smattering of details so they could understand the assignment, but that is a far cry from knowing where the character comes from. The role may have been anxiety-producing for Saunders, but she had some meaty scenes in the first season. She is the first to tell Tabitha (Catalina Sandino Moreno) what is lurking in the woods and that they can't leave.
"That was a real treat because it was a [...] load of information to build Donna on," Saunders explained. "It was also just a real gift as an actor to have that voice and a little frightening because it was my second day of shooting. And I hadn't quite figured John out at that point. In a way, I was dropped into it."