Post-'Schitt's Creek,' A Busy Emily Hampshire Captivates in 'The Mattachine Family'

Andy Vallentine's "The Mattachine Family" is a heartfelt exploration of what it is to be queer and have a family–with all the nuances and complexities therein.

Hunky photog Thomas (Nico Tortorella) is in a strained relationship with his lover Oscar (Juan Pablo Di Pace), especially after their foster son is taken from them and given back to his birth mom. Oscar's acting career begins to take off as Thomas realizes he really does want a child, causing further friction. This insightful and loving film smartly focuses on Thomas and his journey. And he is surrounded by a gaggle of supportive friends, especially his bestie, Leah (Emily Hampshire), who has been trying to conceive a child with her wife Sonia (Cloie Wyatt).

Totorella and Hampshire are the heart and soul of "The Mattachine Family," friends who could easily have been siblings or spouses. The bond is that solid. Tortorella is at his best. And Hampshire delivers a sharp and edgy performance, showing just the right amount of vulnerability.

The film has been a Festival favorite for well over a year now and currently has a 100% approval on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hampshire, a true thespian enchantress, invigorates every role she plays, whether it's everyone's favorite sardonic motel manager, Stevie, on the wildly popular comedy, "Schitt's Creek" or Jennifer the unhinged (or is she?) mental patient in the highly underrated SyFy series, "12 Monkeys."

Canadian-born, Hampshire has been acting since she was a teen. Her film credits include Jacob Tierney's "The Trotsky" and (2009) "Good Neighbours" (2010), David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" (2010), Darren Aronofsky's "Mother!," Xavier Dolan's "The Death and Life of John F. Donovan" (2018), Sean Garrity's "The End of Sex " (2022), Jake Johnson's "Self-Reliance" (2023) and Caitlin Cronenberg's upcoming dystopian horror film, "Humane."

Her eclectic and abundant TV work includes major featured roles in "12 Monkeys," "Schitt's Creek," "Chapelwaite" and, most recently, "The Rig," to name just a few.

EDGE had an absolute blast chatting with Hampshire about the new indie as well as her career.

EDGE: Emily, you're one of those actors who pops up in a show or in a film and you just blow us away with how diverse you are. And your character is usually the one we enjoy most.

Emily Hampshire: That's so sweet. That's really very special. Because (with) every part I do, for the most part, there's something in the character that I want for myself that I don't have. It's less about me putting myself into the character and more that I think they're either the coolest or they're more confident than me or more something than me.

EDGE: Let's talk about "The Mattachine Family." Love the relationship between you and Nico. It's the heart and soul of the film. Can you tell me about establishing that important bond with him?

Emily Hampshire: That's what I love about the script when I read it. And the minute I met Nico there was no work that had to be done. It was really instant. I feel like I naturally get along with people like Nico. It was just instant. And I don't know why, but I feel like we've known each other forever.

EDGE: How did you get involved in the project?

Emily Hampshire: I was going to L.A., and I was sent the script. And at the time, I was very busy. Fortunately. And I was like, I can't do anything. But my agent really pushed me to read the script because he thought it was really special. And I read it on the plane. And I could not stop crying. And I sent the director a video of my destroyed face after reading the script. And I was like, all I wanted was a one-day break, but now I have to do this movie. (laughs) I just felt it was so special. It was so authentic and true.

They made this video, Andy, the director, and the writer (Danny) are a couple, and they wanted to have a baby. It was really personal to them.

EDGE: The film asks these interesting questions about the definition of a family. Really important today when it feels like we're going backwards in so many parts of the world and our country, which makes it all the more relevant.

Emily Hampshire: Yeah. I'm so happy this movie is getting out there now, because we did it a long time ago. And I did a lot of movies since then and this was one that just kept sticking with me. I'm like, when is this coming out? I've seen it and I think it's so important...For me, personally, chosen family is everything. I don't know how you can dispute that...

EDGE: You've always been a great champion of LGBTQ work. Can you speak a little bit about the importance of queer-theme projects to you?

Emily Hampshire: It's the importance of anyone's story being told authentically... There are so many movies out there that are very specifically a cis het person's story. And it's told in a way that then makes it universal. As an actor, that's always a mantra of mine, that when you make something really specific, it becomes universal. And I think that with queer stories it's the same. It's telling a really personal, honest story. The only difference that makes it more important is that it hasn't been done enough. And I think visibility is really everything when you can see something on screen and be like, oh, me too. To be seen just takes any ridiculous shame away and makes it okay to be you.

EDGE: You do a lot of comedy and you're also incredibly adept at drama. I'm wondering if your process and your approach differs for each project.

Emily Hampshire: It does differ for each movie. But there are some tent poles that are always the same, that are usually embarrassing because I do things like make a playlist for my character and, well, I used to cut out magazines, but magazines don't exist anymore, but I make a Pinterest board. There's a lot of nerdy things I do, because that one of my favorite parts. Two favorite parts of acting. It's the before -- the creating and getting ideas and collaborating. And then the 'in the moment,' the chasing that that tiny magic that can happen when you feel something real. But I guess the only difference, though, for comedy and drama is that I think in comedy, I look for the serious thing and in drama, I look for the funny.

When I was shooting "Schitt's Creek," I was doing this other show at the same time called "12 Monkeys," a sci fi drama. But I think I had funnier things in "12 Monkeys" and more heartfelt things in "Schitt's Creek." Because they're not mutually exclusive. When the worst things happen, you need comedy the most. That's usually what I turned to, inappropriately usually, and I get in trouble, because I'm laughing at dark things. (laughs)

EDGE: It's interesting you were filming both together because I recall you're being quite moving in many episodes of "Schitt's Creek," and you were often hilarious on "12 Monkeys!"

Emily Hampshire: I'm so glad you've seen "12 Monkeys," because I love that show so much. That character. I keep feeling like I'll never get anything as great as having both Jennifer, who could be anything, and Stevie at the same time. Yeah, I'd shoot "Schitt's" during the day and 12 Monkeys" at night. That's why my brain, to this day, doesn't work very well. (laughs)