Sophia is on the cover of L’Officiel Australia Fall Winter Fashion Book. Photography by Mike Ruiz.
SOPHIA LILLIS BY MIKE RUIZ – FALL/WINTER FASHION BOOK (COVER ONE) AND INTERVIEW
How have you been socializing during the quarantine?
Zoom calls mostly. A lot of my friends have gone to college or are doing classes at home. I have one friend I go skateboarding with sometimes. My brother’s at school in Scotland so we mostly just FaceTime or text.
Your breakout role as Beverly Marsh in Stephen King’s thriller IT, were you anxious stepping into such a major role?
Yeah, I was nervous for a lot of reasons. I had no idea what to expect. I’d never worked on a big studio film, just smaller independent/student films. Maybe it was better that I didn’t know what to expect!
Another notable performance was in Sharp Objects directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, can you tell us about Jean-Marc’s direction for your character Young Camille?
Jean-Marc has a very distinctive style and the show, on the whole, was so complex and I was sort of like a piece in the puzzle so his direction was very specific — very visual. I was really just in flashbacks — so it was very loose and dreamlike and spontaneous. A lot of it was just playing in the field or skating down a hill.
This year you can be seen in Uncle Frank opposite Paul Bettany in a film written and directed by Alan Ball. What was your experience like working with those two and tell us about your preparation to play Beth?
I was very lucky to work with both Alan and Paul. I was a huge fan of Six Feet Under so I was honored to be offered the role of Beth. Alan is great to work with — he’s incredibly empathetic and really gives the actors time and room to find their characters. Paul is such a great actor — he’s very thorough and diligent and I learned a lot watching him work. To prepare for the role, I had to work on a southern accent so I had a dialect coach and then Paul, Peter (Macdissi), and I met with Alan for two or three days for rehearsals to go through the script. Most of the focus was on the story of Frank and Wally because I’m really the storyteller, I mean my character has an arc but the core of the story is really Uncle Frank’s story and his relationship with Wally and his family.
You seem to have quite dramatic roles, do you prefer these characters or would you like to play lighter, more comedic roles in the future?
I like dramatic roles, but comedy roles are also fun. I had a good time playing Nancy Drew, for example. You can kind of go more outside the lines with a more comedic role. A lot of my roles have been sort of a mix—there was actually quite a bit of comedy even in IT.
Do you prefer feature films or limited-series to star in?
They both have their plusses and minuses. On a film, it’s fun to go in, do a character, and move onto something else. With a series, you have more time though to develop the character so that can be interesting as well. I was really fond of my character Sydney in “I Am Not Okay with This” and really felt like I was starting to develop her — unfortunately the show was canceled due to difficulties because of the pandemic. I was really looking forward to having the chance to play her again.
It’s not easy during a pandemic, are you looking forward to getting back to the set?
Yes. I can’t wait. I’m trying to make the best of the time, though, working on scene study and dialect coaching — I also take classes in guitar, drawing, and Norwegian (because why not).
Do you have any upcoming projects that you can share with us?
Not at this time. Other than “I Am Not OK With This,” I was also supposed to start filming a western called “The Thicket” which is also still on hold due to Covid. I’m hoping it will go forward. Other than that, I’m discussing a few other projects but so much depends on what can get done while we’re dealing with the pandemic.
If it wasn’t for acting, what would be your profession otherwise?
Definitely, something in the arts. Maybe I’d go to art school but I love being on set so maybe set design or special effects. If I didn’t work in the film/TV industry, maybe I’d be an illustrator.
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