The Haunting of Bly Manor's Tahirah Sharif Explains What Was Up with Rebecca Jessel
Miss Jessel—as she's referred to by the wide-eyed, "perfectly splendid" Flora—is a curious character, even among the eccentrics that The Haunting of Bly Manor's eponymous estate seems to collect. She arrives at Bly to care for the recently-orphaned Miles and Flora, but is really angling to make it as a lawyer—until Peter Quint comes along.
Quint, played by Hill House alum Oliver Jackson-Cohen, arrives with a veritable mountain of red flags, but Rebecca Jessel, portrayed by up-and-coming actress Tahirah Sharif, sees the good in him. In a normal series, Jessel's life might have been ruined—but thanks to Bly Manor's paranormal twists, her fate is much worse than that.
After Jessel's death (murder? suicide?), her decisions become even more opaque, as viewers see her repeatedly take over Flora's body—a seemingly sinister act, out of character for the once caring nanny. So what, exactly, is going on with Rebecca? Below, Sharif breaks it all down—and offers a few clues for any fans struggling to solve the mystery behind the show's hidden ghosts.
What was it about the role of Rebecca Jessel that first caught your eye?
At the audition stage, the information we were given was quite limited, but I really loved how she came across... Then when I got the job and learned her story arc, I was so excited. I just thought this particular character, she’s kind, she’s trusting, and she’s a very determined person. And those are traits that I think anybody can relate to, and of course I can. I thought wow, I can really take this character and mold her into something really exciting.
Exciting how?
When you’re given a script, it’s quite a two-dimensional character on the page. And the exciting part about any actor’s job is bringing characters to life, making them believable, relatable, watchable, interesting. Giving them interests and wants and desires and fears that might not necessarily be on the page.
Were there any tidbits that you came up with that you think would help audiences understand Rebecca?
From what I remember of what I wrote down, her father never really encouraged her. Never believed in her, and never pushed her to want or do anything more than he did. And I think that’s where her drive came from. Instead of going, "Okay, yeah, I can’t do anything more than what my dad’s telling me," I think that’s what pushed her to go, "No, actually I’m going to go the other way, and I’m going to succeed and I’m going to surpass your expectations of me." And I hope viewers will see that.
Do you think that’s part of why she’s so attracted to Peter, even though he has a lot of red flags?
Yeah, definitely. It was a decision that myself and [Oliver Jackson-Cohen, the actor who plays Peter] made—and you have to remember, again, that it’s set in the '80s, it’s a very different time for women and so on—that [meeting Peter] was probably the first time that a man has actually looked at her and gone, yes, you are intelligent and smart and determined, and not just pretty. That’s a major attraction to Peter. And you know, they have a lot in common; they don’t come from super-wealthy backgrounds, and they’re kind of battling against that to get where they want to get.
It seems like even after he’s effectively killed her, she still has a little affection for him.
I was trying to figure that out even at the time, and actually… I don’t think you can ever really turn your feelings off so suddenly for somebody, especially when you’re so wrapped up in them. But I think she makes up her mind when she finds out the truth of what happened—because she doesn’t realize what happened until it’s really revealed to her, the horror of what Peter’s done—that he’s just, he’s selfish. And I think that she still loves him, but I think she pities him, and feels sorry for him, that he could do something like that to someone he supposedly loved.
It seems like she’s still a little of afraid of him too. I mean, she pretends to go along with his plan before doing what she can to save Flora—but she also doesn’t head Peter off, exactly.
I think definitely there was fear there, because he’s quite erratic and acting quite irrationally, especially with two small children involved. But on the flip side of that, I think she’s trying to be smart, because if she reveals to him what she’s planning to do, she knows that he’ll find a way to stop her. So she probably thinks, if I just keep quiet, I can at least save one of the children.
And what exactly is she doing with Flora, since she does take her over sometimes?
I think the times when you see Rebecca take control of Flora, I think that’s her learning. She’s learning, and probably taking Peter’s lead at that point, as Peter’s been dead for longer than she has. But I don’t think she fully understands what she’s doing. And what I loved was as soon as Flora says to her she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t like being pushed away, Rebecca never does it again. She never does it again until the very end, of course, when she actually does it because she doesn’t want Flora to endure the awfulness of drowning. I think Rebecca doesn’t understand exactly where Flora’s going and for how long, and she doesn’t realize that Flora doesn’t like it until Flora tells her.
The Haunting of Hill House was famous for its hidden ghosts and Easter eggs. Is there anything like that in this series that viewers should be looking for?
I think [showrunner Mike Flanagan]’s done really well in that. There are hidden ghosts again in this series—but the hidden ghosts in this series will be really interesting for viewers to pick apart. They’re not random; they all mean something to the story. So people can really watch it back and see which ghost was in which scene and link it to the last episode and stuff like that. And also, there are various references for all the film buffs.
References to what?
To other famous or iconic movies, other gothic romance ghost stories. So people might be able to see those as well.
Do you feel like you can relate to Rebecca more at all after spending some months in lockdown? I feel like the ghosts being trapped on the grounds of Bly has a whole new resonance post-pandemic.
Even pre-COVID, there were many things that I could relate to her about. But I think the feeling of being stuck somewhere, definitely, during quarantine or during lockdown, was kind of magnified.
She obviously did have grounds to roam and a massive country manor and a lake. [Laughs.] I can’t say that I had any of that.
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