Addison Timlin accepted the role of Hillary Clinton in the upcoming When I’m a Moth biopic when the winner of the 2016 election was yet to be determined. Now, the 25-year-old actress is discussing what it was like to portray a young version of the Democratic nominee after such a contentious race.
“I was so, so heartbroken,” Timlin told Buzzfeed of Clinton’s loss. “I was so sad for her. Playing her and thinking about her and reading about her and listening to her when she was a young woman, she is f—ing remarkable…I don’t think any of us expected what happened to happen — but in that way, it kind of gives the movie another shape.”
Set in 1969, during the gap year Clinton spent working in Alaska after graduating from Wellesley College, Timlin says When I’m a Moth will explore how the beginning of Clinton’s career shaped her as a politician.
“It’s less about that time in her life and [more] about…this young woman starting to have the understanding that her life from that point forward will be lived in a very specific way as to not disturb anyone — to become a very well-liked person. I think it was all intentional, but I don’t think it was disingenuous,” she said. “This is the story of a woman who is just starting to turn this corner where she’s not afraid of being intimidating and she’s not afraid to be the smartest person in the room.”
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Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com