3 Actors on How to Act in an Indie Film

The year 2016 was bursting with breakout performances in independent cinema, including the three below. We delve into their audition processes, how they handle early-career success, and working alongside Oscar nominees.

Mackenzie Davis, “Always Shine”
You know her from “The Martian” and “Black Mirror,” but Davis is just getting started. Take the feminist-minded psychological thriller “Always Shine,” about two competing female actors who go away for the weekend with terrible results, as proof. “Reading the script, I felt like somebody was telling my secrets and treating it with a lot of weight, which felt really personal,” Davis tells Backstage. “And then [director Sophia Takal and I] Skyped, and the point that our minds were at at that time was very similar about feminism and being female and what our experiences being women [in this industry] were like. It felt like a very fated meeting.”

Davis and Takal’s collaboration earned her a best actress win at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and an AFI Fest New Auteur nomination for Takal. Playing Anna, an unemployed actor grappling with the career success of her best friend (Caitlin FitzGerald), Davis proves why she’s one to watch. “I like purposefulness [in roles],” she says. “And that doesn’t always have to be political or really intense and tortured, it’s just this—I like things that feel like they had to be told in some capacity, and you can feel that when you read scripts.” The film features two great audition scenes from both leads. When asked for audition advice, she advises actors to avoid one thing in particular: “Audition classes, mastering your angle for the camera—all of these really technical things can only fuck up your audition. Coming in with a plan or a schtick or a way of mathematically tackling the problem feels really counter to what you’re trying to do.”

Sasha Lane, “American Honey”
In true rags-to-riches fashion, director Andrea Arnold approached Lane on a Panama City, Florida, beach and offered her a part in “American Honey.” Stepping into the coming-of-age tale centered on a group of ragtag hooligans driving across the country and scamming people into buying fake magazine subscriptions, the first-time actor had to quickly settle into her own process.

“I like to create my own little vibe, so I’m really big on doing that through music...just whatever I felt would match my character’s mood,” she says, adding, “After I saw the movie I [was] proud of myself for this and I’m proud of this film. I know that I always have a lot to learn, but I can be who I am and do things that I can be proud of, regardless.” Lane has reason to be proud. The critically acclaimed indie hit premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to raves, scoring Arnold the Jury Prize and a Palme d’Or nomination. Lane also received a Gotham Award breakthrough actor nomination for her work in the drama.

Alex Wolff, “Coming Through the Rye”
From “The Naked Brothers Band” to going tête-à-tête with Chris Cooper in “Coming Through the Rye,” Wolff has accomplished a lot for age 19. But “[my age is] the biggest crutch and the biggest advantage,” he admits. “When I [made] movies when I was 16, it was like, ‘And he’s 16! That’s kind of impressive!’ But then it’s got the other thing of, ‘Well, it can’t be taken seriously because he’s 16.’ It’s really bullshit.”

Now starring in “Coming Through the Rye,” about a young man who feels destined to play Holden Caulfield and writes a play based on “Catcher in the Rye” as a result, it seems Wolff’s age is no longer holding him back. The film premiered at the Austin Film Festival in 2015 before going on to play at other regional fests in Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, Houston, and Omaha, Nebraska, and earned Wolff, as well as editor Todd Holmes and writer-director James Steven Sadwith, accolades.

Wolff appears opposite the Oscar-winning Cooper—one of the young actor’s career highlights, according to him. “That was probably the greatest acting experience of my life,” he says. “What I noticed is he’s so not restricted. I learned [to] really just be free and try stuff.”