Where the solicitor sings
Eric Ladin is the nice Jewish boy who tries to put an abandoned girl in prison in Where the Crawdads Sing
Talk about a culture clash. New film Where the Crawdads Sing, about a six-year-old left completely uneducated and entirely to fend for herself seems ridiculously far-fetched for Brits who get fined if we dare take our children out of school for longer than two weeks.
Based on the best-selling book by Delia Owens, the story focuses on Kya Clark, whose mother has left, whose siblings have run away, and whose alcoholic and violent father disappears. Known as ‘marsh girl’ by her nearest neighbours, she survives by catching mussels and selling them to a nearby shop and is taught to read by her only friend. Finally, she appears to find love and even the start of a career but then fate has another blow in store for her and when we meet her, she is charged with murder.
But for Texan Jewish actor Eric Ladin, who stars in the film as the solicitor tasked with prosecuting the marsh girl, the idea isn’t surprising at all; this is a very American tale.
“This is definitely something that happens, it is not far-fetched at all,” says Eric, when we speak. He’s surprised by my surprise. “It is not terribly unlikely in America that a child could be left abandoned. Growing up in Texas I knew lots of kids who that lived on ranches and stopped going to school when they were 13.
“My dad and I would spend a lot of time hunting at weekends and we got to know people who lived on ranches – their sons worked with them. And then they would drop out of school and learn their trade. I’m shocked to hear that in rural parts of the UK that doesn’t happen.”
Eric, 44, grew up in Houston where his teacher mother and furniture-salesman father were at the heart of the Jewish community. “I had a lovely experience growing up in Texas,” he says. “We were a small community and it felt very inclusive. Most of my parents’ friends were Jewish and I would go to Hebrew classes and hang out with friends I made there. I was never picked on because of my religion and I felt pretty popular at school – well, as popular as a drama geek can be.”
Eric first started acting while at primary school. “I just fell in love with it. I found my space on stage like some people do on the football field,” he recalls. “I realised I loved to make people laugh, I loved to entertain them and I was fortunate to have really good teachers who taught me so much.
“I feel like I always knew that it was something I wanted to pursue as a career and my parents were totally behind it. I have two boys and I hope I will be as encouraging with them as my parents were with me.”
He moved to California to study drama at university there and never left. “Coming as a Jewish man from Texas to California was kind of cool,” he says. “All of a sudden, I didn’t feel like I was a minority any more. I found a phenomenal synagogue with a great rabbi and a very young congregation – it was pretty awesome.”
Eric has starred in Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Ozark and American Sniper, and can presently be seen as Scott Anderson in Bosch, but is best known for playing political campaign manager Jamie Wright in the American version of hit Danish show The Killing. He was a fan of the book of Where the Crawdads Sing for years, so when he heard a film was being made, he rallied to ensure he was in it.
‘”I really fell in love with the book – and even when I was reading it, I thought it would make a great movie,” he says. “So as soon as I saw that it was finally being made, I called my agent and said, ‘There are only a couple of roles that I could play but please let me know if I can read for it.’ I was thrilled to get the chance to get on board.”
Although the story is set in North Carolina, most of the filming took place around New Orleans, which has a similar marshland. Eric didn’t get to enjoy any of the beauty of the marshes, though, as all his scenes took place in the courtroom, which was filmed just outside of New Orleans.
The key role of Kya is played by north Londoner Daisy Edgar-Jones, who first found fame in Normal People . Eric says he was in awe of her poise.
“My goodness, she’s so talented,” he says. “There are so many Brits who are brilliant. This is a very American role, but I appreciate good acting and specific detailed performances and there are so many fantastic British actors who deliver these, time and time again.
“Her accent was spot on, but I was most impressed with the quiet moments when I was working with her in the courtroom scenes. For most of the time she didn’t have much dialogue; she just had to be present. Often it is difficult to remain in character for that amount of time when you are not engaged with dialogue. You have to purely listen and trust your instincts and that’s where she was brilliant.’
The story’s characters all have shades of grey but Eric loved playing one of the baddies – who is, after all, trying to put our heroine in jail.
“You can see that he sees this an opportunity to put himself on the map because it’s a big trial in a small town,” says Eric. “I think he is also sure that she is guilty. I loved the role because playing the antagonist is always the most fun; you get to do things you don’t get to do in your everyday life.”
As well as acting, Eric is now trying his hand at producing and is making a documentary about Bourbon – another very American tale.
“I am a big fan of Bourbon and I am planning this show about what has been called a Bourbon boom,” he reveals. “Bourbon is in such high demand that bottles that are regularly priced at $69 are now selling for upwards of thousands. I want to look at why.’
Where the Crawdads Sing is in cinemas now.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
