Two days after celebrating her 24th birthday, Sophie Thatcher is taking a much-deserved breather. She recently wrapped filming on the third season of Showtime’s hit survival thriller “Yellowjackets” and released her debut album, “Pivot & Scrape.” Now, she’s headlining Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ horror flick “Heretic” as Sister Barnes, a Mormon missionary whose attempt to convert a stranger (Hugh Grant) becomes a deadly proposition. Here, she discusses the challenges of playing a scream queen and what it’s been like to grow up alongside her “Yellowjackets” character.
1. You were raised in the Mormon church. How did that affect your approach to your role in “Heretic”?
I think it was natural for me to tap into myself when I was younger and more insecure, and that really was therapeutic. My character is very fidgety, and there’s a stiffness to her. Putting on that costume and having that tight braid immediately reminded me of feeling different when I was younger, and I think it shows in little parts of my performance that I probably wasn’t even aware of. I grew up loving horror, so there’s something satisfying about playing the final girl; but I hope to not always live in complete darkness.
Sophie Thatcher in “Heretic” Credit: Kimberley French
2. What’s the biggest challenge of horror acting?
When you have to [project] heightened emotions and act really scared, it’s very much about being aware of your breathing. With “Heretic,” it was about finding different levels of fear and plotting out a fear map; if you get to the highest of your emotions early on, you have nowhere to go. It’s funny—I see myself onscreen now, and I’m so used to seeing the quiver of my lip and other little things I do when I’m scared. And I’m like, Oh, there it is again! [Laughs]
3. What has it been like to perform on “Yellowjackets” alongside a cast of fellow young actors in the early stages of their careers?
I feel like we’re growing up together, and it’s a blessing to have a built-in family in this industry. We’re all extremely different people and have extremely different approaches to acting. I just feel lucky to have them. Because we shot the first season in the pandemic, it was a dark time for a lot of people. It sounds terrible, but that’s also why Season 1 was so good: It felt like we were actually living in [isolation] and didn’t really have anyone but each other. It brought us together, [and you can] sense that closeness onscreen.
Nuha Jes Izman, Sophie Thatcher, and Samantha Hanratty on “Yellowjackets” Credit: Kailey Schwerman/Showtime
4. You’ve played Natalie on “Yellowjackets” for three seasons now. What impact has she had on you personally?
Toward the end of this season, I would read the scripts and just cry, because I love my character so much. Natalie feels so close to me, and I feel like I am strangely turning into her. I admire her, and I’m scared of her, too. She’s brought out different feelings in me that I’ve never felt before. So I feel like I’m learning about myself
through her.
5. What’s your worst audition horror story?
I had to scream on a self-tape, and I had this fear of screaming. I think it’s because I grew up singing and I’m so aware of, like: I can’t damage my throat! So I locked myself in the basement, and it took, like, 30 times of me trying to scream. I couldn’t get anything out, so I had to look up “woman screaming” on YouTube just to see what a normal scream sounded like. I thought nothing would come out of my mouth, so it was, like, a fake-ass yell; I didn’t get there. But now I know how to scream!
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This story originally appeared in the Nov. 14 issue of Backstage Magazine.
