Eloise Mumford — The Bare Magazine

Eloise Mumford hung out with us in Brooklyn for a spell and it was pure joy. She stars as Shannon Witmer alongside Aldis Hodge and Ryan Eggold in the highly anticipated detective thriller “Cross” on Prime streaming now. We captured her cool sense of style and went from fresh to an edgier mysterious vibe inspired by the darkness of the show. Scroll on down check our pics and find out more on her character, challenges of the role, her love of dressing up, Korean skincare, hiking, gardening and nerding out on a good podcast.

The Bare Magazine: we want to get to know your Cross's character Shannon Witmer better...please tell us about her and what you loved most about playing her.

Elosie Mumford: Shannon Witmer is an art lover and an aspiring art curator. She's got big dreams, and she's a hopeless romantic. And then she goes on a very bad date.... Playing her was such a beautiful challenge: her journey is harrowing, but finding her strength and resilience, her humanity in the most nightmarish of situations, and her belief in herself taught me a lot about myself along the way. I wanted her journey ultimately to be about what in our dear life is worth fighting for- and I can't wait for audiences to see it.

Bare: the show is deep and dark. in what ways did it challenge you as an actor? was the cast supportive and inspiring?

EM: This role was exceptionally hard, both physically and emotionally. But for everything hard that you see me go through on screen alone, there was a village of people off screen making sure I was safe and tenderly taken care of. I was able to go to such dark places because of the love I was shown by the cast and crew. In particular, Ryan Eggold was my trusted companion and twisted dance partner- and I couldn't be more grateful it was him. And the whole cast was headed by Aldis Hodge, who I am in constant awe of. He is a brilliant actor, and a tremendous human who lead by example every single day. Also, very important to me on the shoot were the two women who did my hair and makeup: Verity Fiction and Natalie Nelson. They not only collaborated to create Shannon from the ground up, but they also took such good care of me on a human level. I am in their debt forever for not only their artistry, but for their kindness and friendship.

Bare: seemed fitting to incorporate moments of moody mystery during our shoot - in your real life what helps you get through the darker moments?

EM: Really good music, a candle flickering on the table, and leaning on my friends and my family. Here's a love letter to voice memos, to facetime, and to a good old fashion phone call. Friends and family are everything.

Bare: we also explored your real life personal style! it's so good. please describe it and some of your favorite brands and shopping destinations including vintage loves.

EM: Thank you! I love dressing up- I consider fashion a way I can be artistically creative, even when I'm not being an artist in other areas of my life. I would describe my fashion as Brambley Hedge books meets 1950s fisherman meets 1970s mom. I love color, vintage prints, and architectural shapes, and while I aspire to dress like I live in Copenhagen, I feel like more often I look like a vintage PNW scientist.

Bare: you have incredible skin and freckles! what is your skincare regime all about?

EM: I've recently gotten very into Korean skincare- I'm totally in love with a million steps every morning and night, it makes me feel all glistening and cozy. I also love doing gua sha every morning. But my real regime is about very little makeup daily, unless I'm doing something where I want to feel dressed up (which is also very fun!).

Bare: you were game to explore different looks with hair/makeup. would you love to transform for a period piece? what eras are you drawn to?

EM: It's my absolute dream to work on a period piece. I was in tv show THE RIGHT STUFF and got to dress in late 1950s/early 1960s hair/makeup/costumes and I fell in love. I would love to do more of that era, along with the 1940s, but also would love to go older: the early 1900s, or even late 1800s. One of my very favorite parts of being an actor is getting to play with transforming completely- and there's no better way to do it than through period pieces.

Bare: you seem to strive for balance in your life outside of acting. what do you enjoy filling your time with?

EM: I've been doing this a long time now, and I learned very early on that while I really love acting, I need to stuff my life with lots of other things that I love to not just fill all the moments in between, but to make sure when I am acting I have the life experience to bring depth to different characters. My biggest joy is time in nature: hiking, back packing, camping, exploring. I'm from Washington state, so it's in my blood, and I was raised with time reveling in the outdoors as my north star. I also love pottery, and gardening, nerding out on podcasts, reading, and games (card games, board games, puzzles, you name it). Oh and cooking and eating yummy meals, of course!