Is it easier now to make the characters more believable simply because acting styles have changed?
I think probably so. The public wants the characters to be fully explored and explained psychologically. We’re in an age now where things aren’t quite as hidden. Did you have to imagine a past for Mrs. Danvers? I did — not so much in detail but the sort of past that is made visible in the woman that you see now. In those days, all the housekeepers were called ‘Mrs.’ whether they were married or not. It was the custom. I suspect that Mrs. Danvers was not married and had never been married. She had looked after Rebecca since Rebecca was 12. I suspect that Mrs. Danvers’ love for Rebecca probably bordered on the lesbian, but Mrs. Danvers was not aware of it herself. I hope that’s what comes across. What was Mrs. Danvers’ relationship to Rebecca’s cousin, Jack Favell? She was an enabler. She turned a blind eye to what was happening between Jack and Rebecca. I don’t think she liked him particularly. I think she tolerated him for Rebecca’s sake. There’s one scene in which Jack says that Rebe
