Just outside Pittsburgh lies the town of Hemlock Grove – in the fictional world of Netflix, that is.

And Laurie Fortier is excited to be a part of that world.

A New Opportunity

When I recently had the chance to chat with her, Fortier told me, “Being on Netflix gave the producers and writers of Hemlock Grove a freedom that radiated down through them to us, the crew.  Moreover, as an actor, being on Netflix gave me permission to twist the boundaries and extend the story in a way that I couldn’t with network TV.”

She continued, “On Hemlock Grove, I play the part of Marie Godfrey, wife of Norman Godfrey (Dougray Scott), and mother of Letha Godfrey (Penelope Mitchell).  Marie came from a coal mining family and basically married into the powerful and wealthy Godfrey family.  The Godfrey family is basically the cause of her father losing his job in the coal mines.”

All About Marie

“Marie is a wife and a mother that struggles to keep her family together.  I have children, and I understand that fight that Marie has that she would do anything for her child, her teenage daughter.  I do feel that part of her is also in me.

“And I love this role.  I feel that it’s really one of the most mature parts I’ve played in terms of having a teenage daughter and having to try and hold everything together.

“But, I think Marie comes full circle and comes to some hard realizations.”

A Part Meant to Be

Fortier told me the irony of the part is that originally she read for a different role, a smaller one.  She said, “But when the producers and writers saw my tape, they thought of me for this role, which was not written in the original pilot, but was written in later episodes.

“The producers and writers knew where they wanted the story to go.  They knew what characters would be in the 13 episodes.  I didn’t really know the character of ‘Marie’at the time I did my original reading, because I didn’t really know who she was in terms of the story.  It was just the pilot script I had my hands on.”  She added, “And that was exciting for me.”

Dare to Be Different

I asked how Fortier might change her character if she had the chance, and she said, “I think it may have been funny and interesting to see Marie unleashed and completely out of control, because she is always very much in control of things and her place in the family.  Or, maybe a confrontation with Olivia (Famke Janssen), something unleashed, may have been fun.”

Hemlock Grove was shot in Toronto, and Fortier described the setting as “lovely and fantastic, with a hard-working crew and very generous locals.”