Annabelle Wallis Says ‘Unabomber’ Is About One Question — and She’d Love to Work With James Wan Again

Annabelle Wallis has spent her career moving between the worlds of prestige television and blockbuster horror, and she has always seemed to land somewhere unexpected. Now she is back on Netflix with Unabomber, a thriller about the psychologist whose tests may have shaped the mind of America’s most notorious bomber. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wallis talks about the role, her history with the actors she works with, and what she thinks really happened to Ted Kaczynski.

The defining question of Unabomber is simple: did the TAT study change the man who became the Unabomber? Wallis plays Christiana Morgan, the co-creator of the Thematic Apperception Test, a psychological tool that asks subjects to interpret ambiguous images. The test was administered to a teenage Harvard student named Ted Kaczynski over a series of sessions spanning 200 hours, and Wallis believes the experience left a lasting mark.

“In my opinion, I do believe that the study had an impact,” Wallis says. “Adolescence is such a pivotal moment in all our lives. If you were subjected to that kind of pressure at 16, what would become of you?”

From Oxford to Peaky Blinders

Wallis was born in Oxford and grew up in Portugal, where she says her life was “very Latin.” That background made her early casting efforts difficult. “I was expected to be a very classical, conventional period drama actress, but I had a very Latin life,” she explains. “So it became very confusing for me to understand why casting directors found it so hard to place me in things.”

Her breakthrough came in 2013, when she debuted as Grace Burgess in Steven Knight’s BBC series Peaky Blinders. She posed as a barmaid at Tommy Shelby’s favorite watering hole, fell for the gangster, and became the love of his life. The first season was critically well received, though it was not yet a ratings juggernaut.

The Conjuring Universe

Wallis’ work with Cillian Murphy on Peaky Blinders established her as someone who could navigate intense creative partnerships. Murphy is famously introverted, and Wallis credits her tomboy childhood in Portugal, plus growing up in a social household, for giving her a natural way into his world.

“People say, ‘Annabelle’s great with these big alpha males,'” she says. “I want to connect to who they really are in their essence, and you can’t avoid it with me. There’s no escaping it. I will etch away at their being until they give me that kernel of humanity. It’s a je ne sais quoi that I’m very comfortable in, and it’s become a niche.”

That skill served her well when she took on the lead role in Annabelle, the first spinoff in the Conjuring universe. The film grossed $257 million against a $6.5 million budget, and it launched a franchise that now numbers seven films. Pound-for-pound and dollar-for-dollar, the Conjuring series might now be the most successful cinematic universe outside of Marvel.

Grace’s End

The Peaky Blinders story took a dark turn in season three. Wallis’ character, Mrs. Tommy Shelby, was murdered in heartbreaking fashion. The show’s creator, Steven Knight, has since expressed regret about the decision.

“Steve and I remain very close, and he has always said to me, ‘I think I messed up with Grace. If I had known Grace and Tommy would be a dynamic that people longed for all these years later, I would’ve perhaps done something very different,'” Wallis shares.

Wallis returned as an apparition in season five, but the character’s fate remains unresolved for many viewers.

Crowe and Wan

Wallis has worked with Russell Crowe twice before. She played Laurie Luhn, the Fox News booker who accused CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment, in Showtime’s The Loudest Voice. Wan saw her performance and hired her to lead Malignant, his bonkers horror movie that became a cult hit despite being released as part of Warner Bros.’ pandemic-era day-and-date experiment, dubbed Project Popcorn.

Now she is working with Crowe again in Unabomber, directed by Janus Metz Pedersen. The film explores the TAT study and its possible effect on Kaczynski.

“James actually sent me a message the other day: ‘Annabelle, watch this space. I’m about to tell you something.'”

So, for the fans out there, who knows? He might ask me to trust him again, and I bloody will. I cannot wait to see what James brings to me.

The Study’s Aftermath

The real Kaczynski has referred to the study as the “worst experience of his life,” but he denied that it helped turn him into a domestic terrorist. Wallis disagrees.

“In my opinion, I do believe that the study had an impact,” she says. “Adolescence is such a pivotal moment in all our lives. If you were subjected to that kind of pressure at 16, what would become of you?”

“So, of course, he would deny its impact. He became so unwell that how would he even know?”

The Career Timeline

1. Debut as Grace Burgess in Peaky Blinders
2. Lead role in Annabelle (Conjuring universe)
3. Laurie Luhn in The Loudest Voice
4. Malignant
5. Return as apparition in Peaky Blinders season five
6. Christiana Morgan in Unabomber (currently)

Wallis has built a career by refusing to fit expectations. She moved from Oxford to Portugal as a child, then back to the U.K. at 17 to pursue acting. Her work has spanned historical dramas, horror blockbusters, and prestige TV. Now she is asking audiences to consider whether a psychologist’s experiment reshaped one of America’s most notorious criminals.

The answer, according to Wallis, is yes.

Source material: “Annabelle Wallis on the Defining Question of ‘Unabomber,’ a Potential James Wan Reunion and ‘Peaky Blinders’ What-Ifs,” The Hollywood Reporter.

Annabelle Wallis · Conjuring Universe · Netflix · Peaky Blinders · Russell Crowe · Unabomber