Bethany Brown: Close Enough to Burn

Actress Bethany Brown, photographed in Central Vietnam by Iulia Agnew. Stylist: Heather Jude x Jude Canada.

Based between set life and creative exploration, Bethany Brown is stepping into a defining moment in her career. With her lead role in A Safe Distance, which debuted at SXSW in March 2026 and went to market at Cannes in May 2026, as well as showings at Frameline Film Festival and Fantasia Film Festival and the highly anticipated Season 3 of Murder in a Small Town airing this February 2027, she is carving out a space that feels both emotionally precise and intriguingly magnetic. Her work leans into tension. The kind that lingers in silence, in longing, and in what is left unsaid.

For this exclusive cover story, Brown was photographed amid Vietnam’s timeless landscapes and historic architecture.

HBZVN: When you first read the script for A Safe Distance, what was your immediate emotional response?

BETHANY BROWN: When the offer came through to play Alex, a woman abandoned in the forest by her boyfriend in an “Alpine Divorce” who then gets pulled into this dangerously intimate dynamic with a couple on the run, I was honestly a bit intimidated by how quiet she was. I usually play women who take up space. She doesn’t. She’s small. Contained. Very aware of how she’s being perceived. What hooked me was how familiar her restraint felt. That constant recalibration, reading the room, adjusting yourself to be accepted. I didn’t feel like I had to chase her. I felt like I had to get quiet enough to hear her. She already spoke much of my language – just under her breath. And the film was described as a queer, erotic thriller and I was like, okay, we need more of those immediately.

HBZVN: A Safe Distance explores intimacy in a way that feels both sensual and restrained. How did you approach that balance?

BETHANY BROWN: For me, sensuality starts with attention. Not just physical touch, but emotional curiosity. Someone wanting to know you, your inner world, your desires, the parts you don’t offer up easily. That’s what feels intimate to me. Someone seeing you in a way that makes you feel a little exposed… and a little lit up. We built that through trust, very clear boundaries, and a lot of communication and respect. And once that container was solid, we could have fun. The tension lives in the almost. In watching two people want something and edge their way into taking it. For me, that’s when the chemistry really ignites.

HBZVN: The idea of “safety” is central to the film. How has your understanding of it shifted?

BETHANY BROWN: The film really challenges the idea that familiar equals safe. A boyfriend, a mortgage, a life that looks “stable” on paper, heteronormativity… that can actually become a cage. You can be completely protected and completely disconnected from yourself at the same time. And then you have something that looks objectively unsafe, like being entangled with fugitives, but emotionally, it’s the most honest you’ve ever been. For me, safety has shifted from control to truth and authenticity. It’s not about being protected, it’s about being real.

HBZVN: Some of your most powerful moments are incredibly still. What draws you to that?

BETHANY BROWN: Stillness is ruthless. There’s nowhere to hide. But that’s also where everything happens. A breath, a glance, the quiver of a lip, a shift in energy. It all gets amplified. I think of it like holding your breath. The longer you hold it, the more people lean in. And that tension feels so intimate.

HBZVN: Your performance feels both inviting and distant. What is the power in holding something back?

BETHANY BROWN: If you give everything away, the audience can just sit back and watch the performance land on your shirt. But if you hold something, even a fragment, they move toward you wanting more. They have to participate. Which feels very true to intimacy. It’s like that moment before a first kiss, when you lean in halfway and wait. You’re not offering everything. You’re asking if the other person is excited to meet you half way. That’s also where trust starts building, in the risk of reaching.

HBZVN: How excited are you for Season 3 of Murder in a Small Town to air February 2027?

BETHANY BROWN: Legit couldn’t be more excited. We have incredible guest stars and new cast members joining us and the stories are super dynamic. I wish I could say more but you’ll just have to tune in to see. Laila really evolves this season.

HBZVN: Off set, how do you come back to yourself?

BETHANY BROWN: I get simple. Nature, movement, quiet. Time with my partner, being near water, kayaking, paddle boarding, anything that brings me back into my body. Because the work can be so emotionally heightened, I need realness. I need things that don’t ask for performance out of me. Although… this hiatus might be less “quiet retreat” and more festival circuit vibes with A Safe Distance. So I’ll be carving out little pockets of stillness where I can. And clearly trying sourdough in San Francisco and poutine in Montreal (laughs).

HBZVN: What’s always in your bag on set?

BETHANY BROWN: My script, heavily marked up. Water, roasted dandelion root tea, pastel highlighters, a notebook. Nin Jiom for my voice. A tennis ball to roll out tension. And something for the vibe – sage, incense, a candle.

I like the space to feel good and smell correct.

HBZVN: Do you see acting as storytelling or something more personal?

BETHANY BROWN: It’s storytelling, but it’s also translation. You’re taking something internal of your own that often something you don’t fully understand yet and finding a way to express it through a character. It’s a very collaborative process, but it also asks for a lot of honesty.

HBZVN: How do you create safety for yourself in such vulnerable work?

BETHANY BROWN: Boundaries are everything. When I say boundaries I mean knowing my limits. Some things we are asked to do will leave bruises (emotionally and sometimes physically) – knowing when I can take that on and how to balance the rest of my life to be a soft place for me to land after. Working out what is mine and what belongs to the character. Some of the storylines can linger inside and the feelings can get confusing so having someone safe to talk it through with helps. And working with people who respect that line. To me, vulnerability always feels like shining a light on a secret, and it’s just a little less painful when it’s safe.

HBZVN: What makes a performance compelling beyond technique?

BETHANY BROWN: Presence. Spontaneity. A willingness to risk failure. I love working in a way where you know where you need to go but you aren’t locked into how you get there. That unpredictability, that slight danger of messing it all up, that’s what crackles.

Perfection is boring. Risk is alive.

HBZVN: If you could describe this moment in your career as a feeling?

BETHANY BROWN: It feels like I’ve spent the last two years sprinting up the side of a mountain, and I’ve finally reached a summit. For one of the first times, I get to sit beside a quiet lake, catch my breath, and truly take in the view before packing up and beginning the climb again. More than anything, I feel deeply grateful.

Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam