The idea of a series centered on the computer world of the 1980s was always going to be a hard sell. Yet, over the course of its two seasons, AMC’s Halt & Catch Fire slowly but surely distinguished itself as a force to be reckoned with. A big part of the appeal lies in the show’s focus on the strong female figures at its center. Certainly, when it comes to memorable characters, it’s hard to ignore the likes of Cameron Howe, the shaggy-haired, punk rock coder played by Canadian actress Mackenzie Davis.
Halt & Catch Fire marks Davis’ first stint as a TV series regular after several years of supporting roles in independent fare such as Smashed, Breathe In and The F Word. This season in particular has given the talented young actress a lot to chew on, as Cameron finds herself fighting tooth-and-nail to keep Mutiny, her burgeoning gaming computer, afloat in the face of a massively fickle industry. This task brought no shortage of ups and downs for the hacker-turned-company-head, leading to some difficult decisions along the way. This all came to a head in the season’s penultimate episode when, in a last ditch attempt to save Mutiny from being pushed out of business by a large corporation, Cameron tricked her former lover Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) into accidentally infecting the corporation’s system with a vicious piece of malware. This underhanded technique rescued Mutiny, but effectively put the kibosh on her ex’s road to redemption.
Paste caught up with Davis to discuss Cameron’s Machiavellian turn, her candid thoughts about the character’s punk rock tastes and how the show made her self-conscious about her typing abilities.
Paste Magazine: Let’s talk about episode nine [“Kali”], which I thought was one of the best episodes of the series. It’s a story that heavily features you, so congrats on that!
Mackenzie Davis: Thank you so much! I like that episode a lot. It’s really heartbreaking.
Paste: What was your reaction when you got those scenes and realized what you would be doing in that episode?
Davis: Happy, because I’d been waiting to see Cameron own, for better or for worse, the direction she’s been going towards all season, which has been this sort of autocratic, full-fledged boss figure, who is shrewd and savage and will stop at nothing to save her baby. I think she has done so much negotiating over the course of the season with her naïve ideals and mission, and I like seeing the cynical side of that. I like that scene between her and Donna, where Donna tells her Joe didn’t have anything to do with this and Cameron says, ‘Does it matter? We’re out for blood, I don’t care. We’re going to survive and not going to fail and I don’t care who has to go.’ I was thrilled. I thought it was cool to embrace that darkness.
Paste: For Cameron, this is a justified move. But, as an audience member, you’re just like, ‘It sucks, because Joe really did have nothing to do with it.’ Was there a disconnect there for you? Was it like, ‘I feel sorry for the guy but, as the character, I have to hate him?’
Davis: Yeah, it was weird shooting that scene with Lee where Cameron comes in and sort of manipulates the hell out of him. Going into that scene, I was so laser-focused on going in there as Cameron, manipulating the shit out of him and completely selling this loving performance. [For Cameron], it’s all about Mutiny and all about the end goal. But over the course of shooting that scene, Lee’s performance became so heartbreaking. I didn’t realize how many feelings were still between the characters that weren’t just shrouded in backstabbing. These weren’t just reactive feelings; these were real legitimate things that existed. So, yeah, shooting that scene made me feel differently. But, I don’t know, I think Cameron compartmentalized it a lot, and really had to decide what was worth it, and what wasn’t and put those [feelings] aside and be a ruthless leader.
Paste: It’s interesting watching that scene with you and Lee when you start to seduce him. At first, it seems out of character, then when you realize what’s happening you’re like, ‘Oh oh, there we go!’
Davis: Yeah!
Paste: Did you have a similar reaction reading that scene?
Davis: Totally. I was like, ‘Oh no, she is a really good actress right now.’ She is giving [Joe] exactly what he wants. Bosworth said to me a few episodes ago, ‘What Joe wants from you is forgiveness and you can hold that over him.’ This is the culmination of that—the execution of the ultimate con. She’s absolving him of guilt, because that’s all he wants, so his defenses are down and she can really hurt him.
Paste: This year has been an interesting shake-up. In the first season, you spent a bunch of your scenes working with Joe/Lee, a few with Gordon, some with Donna. This year, you’re almost working exclusively with Kerry Bishé and Mark O’Brien. How has that been? Is it almost like a different show for you?
Davis: Totally. Even last season, most of my scenes were me by myself in a basement storage locker [laughs]. It was a really different experience. It was also a lot more fraught. Obviously, there are a lot of calamities around me this season, but it’s been a lot more fun and there are all these reprieves from the anxiety and the failure and the fighting. And also, it’s been interesting to chart the evolution of this not-perfect but kind-of-healthiest relationship Cameron has in her life, which is with Donna. They are certainly complicated, but they truly want to work together on a professional level. That’s an interesting dilemma, rather than a relationship as reactive or underscored by deceit as it was between Joe and Cameron last season.
Paste: Did you miss playing scenes with Lee and Scoot McNairy?
Davis: Yeah. It’s so great with Kerry and Mark. I love working with all of them. Working with Lee was the focus of all my time last season, and it was so bizarre that it wasn’t until like episode six [this season] that we even crossed paths. So yeah, just on a lifestyle level I was like, ‘Wow, this person was my partner, and now I don’t even see him anymore.’
Paste: The Donna/Cameron relationship is a fascinating one. Donna is someone who is very good at keeping her emotions close to the chest, whereas Cameron can be a bit of a raw nerve. She more frequently yells or throws things. As an actress, how is that to play? Is it fun or just kind of exhausting?
Davis: I think it depends how much catharsis there is in it. There’s a lot of Cameron being frustrated and bottling up her emotions as well, and that can be a little exhausting in a way I didn’t even realize. I would go home some days and just be like, ‘I’m sad’ [laughs]. I think the more expressive, cathartic sides of Cameron are fun to play. I don’t really throw many tantrums in my real life, so it’s very therapeutic.