The Lady: Why Ed Speleers Blasted Disco Before Dark Scenes | Set Stories

Ed Speleers breaks down how The Lady pushed him to rethink his entire acting process, revealing how trust, collaboration, and letting go shaped his performance as Thomas Cressman. In this Collider interview, Speleers dives into the challenge of portraying a character rooted in true events, explaining why he “threw everything out the window” in terms of his usual approach. He shares how music—from funk to disco—helped unlock Tommy’s vibrant personality, making the character’s emotional journey hit even harder. Speleers also highlights the impact of working alongside Mia, whose “infectious positivity” transformed his usual, more internal process into something freer and more collaborative. He discusses how director Lee Foster created a calm, trust-driven set environment, and why that sense of freedom was essential when navigating such heavy subject matter. From honoring real-life figures to embracing creative interpretation, this behind-the-scenes conversation offers insight into Netflix-style true story storytelling, performance craft, and the evolution of an actor learning to trust himself. 0:00 Introduction – Ed Speleers on The Lady 0:32 Playing Thomas Cressman & true story weight 1:20 Building Tommy’s personality through music 2:09 Working with Mia & finding on-set freedom 3:30 Balancing fact vs. interpretation of real events 5:05 Handling difficult themes with care 7:26 What Speleers learned: trust and relax Our Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/collider/ www.x.com/Collider Our Website https://www.collider.com Video By Maggie Lovitt & Rola Araya For copyright matters, please contact us at: [email protected] #thelady #edspeleers #collider