Living in fear does something to the body – even if you’re pretending. “When you build yourself into such a panic, it’s hard to come down,” says Sophie Thatcher. She should know – the 24-year-old actor has spent much of her career running for her life. She has been terrified, petrified, and horrified in Stephen King adaptations (The Boogeyman), Emmy-nominated shows (Yellowjackets), and reboots of cult classics (The Exorcist). “I’m sick of looking at myself on screen looking scared,” she grimaces. “I’m not joking.”
Wary of being pigeonholed (“Everyone’s a scream queen nowadays”), Thatcher has one foot out of the blood-splattered door, but not before a breathless take in Heretic, the buzzy new film from A24, the indie film studio behind almost every horror hit these days. It was a matter of time before Thatcher was recruited into their ranks. On screen, she is quietly transfixing – an exposed nerve capable of immense vulnerability, or a frayed live wire flickering with danger.
In Heretic, she is more than a match for Hugh Grant, who is on devilishly good form as the film’s sadistic theologist. Thatcher plays Sister Barnes, one of two Mormon missionaries (the other’s played by The Fabelmans’ Chloe East) spreading the good word. Their mission leads them to the front door of Mr Reed, a middle-aged man (Grant) who wears cosy cardigans and speaks in a bumbling British accent. Mr Reed is, on first impressions, an ideal candidate for conversion: curious and well-read on religion. Quickly, though, it transpires that he has other plans in mind for the two girls, in what becomes a thrilling, and surprisingly talky, game of cat and mouse that probes at larger issues of faith and organised religion.
Every facet of Sister Barnes posed an opportunity for a deep dive. But for Thatcher, it was a shallow descent. Born in Chicago, an identical twin, she was raised Mormon. She left the church at 13, the same age she started acting seriously. “I was dedicated to acting, and church was getting in the way of that” she says now, sounding a little mournful. “It’s sad, but it simply came down to the fact that I was doing two shows every Sunday [when I also had church].”
If she wasn’t an actor, would she still be Mormon? “I don’t think so,” says Thatcher, more soft-spoken than you’d think, video-calling from her home in Los Angeles. Her older siblings had already left the church by then, and were exposing her to music and art outside that world. On a deeper level, too, the teachings never resonated with Thatcher. “I was always very questioning and very removed from it,” she says, adding that she saw church as more of a social thing. “It felt like a necessity, but I was always a bit disconnected. I felt I had found my calling [in acting] so I just wasn’t very focused.”
That said, Thatcher ensured her portrayal of Mormonism was true to her experience of it, which was by and large positive. Much of her family – milling out of sight in the background of our call – is still religious. “People have an image of what a Mormon is, and I wanted to show that they can be very educated and open-minded,” she says. “I just had to channel my family and the people I know.”
These days, she can count Grant – a confessed childhood crush – as part of that camp. Thatcher grew up watching Grant’s films: About a Boy and Bridget Jones mostly. “My mom is a big fan of his,” she says. “He always intimidated me, so I was a little nervous when I heard it was going to be him in the film. I grew up very much idolising him and thinking he was just some British god.” Grant assuaged her nerves, to an extent. “I love that he’s a very honest person – and you get that right away when you meet him. There’s no sugar-coating. I feel like that’s rare to find in people, and I really appreciate that.”
He was very open, Thatcher says. “He always asked us questions about ourselves and was naturally very engaging,” she adds. “He just made us feel like normal people, and that this was a normal work thing.” He also took the time to watch some of Yellowjackets, which Thatcher thought was kind of him.
Grant is far from the only one tuning in to Showtime’s psychological thriller, which set Thatcher’s star soaring when its first season premiered in 2021. The series, which earned seven Emmy nominations and caused a ruckus when it won none, sees Thatcher play Nat – one of a gaggle of high-school girls fighting for survival in the wilderness after a fatal plane crash. Think Lost but more cannibalism. “It’s hard to do these shows when you’re working on something so dark,” says Thatcher. “It stays in the back of your head for a couple of years.” She finds it harder, she says, when the character cleaves close to herself – which Nat, a wounded goth and reticent leader, certainly does. Interpret that as you will.
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Season two saw the unexpected departure of Juliette Lewis, who played the older version of Thatcher’s character in a coup of casting. The two actors, 27 years apart in age, possess the same glimmer of danger and vulnerability – a kinship that smudged eyeliner and Thatcher’s best vocal fry alone can’t explain. “I remember when we did the table read for the episode where she passes, I was just sobbing,” says Thatcher. “It just felt really tragic. I love Juliet – it was sad to know she wouldn’t be part of it any more. And to hear how random and tragic the death is… Oh, man.”
The pair stay in touch, though. “We texted yesterday,” says Thatcher. “I feel like if I ever have any questions or really need advice, I can go to her, and she’ll be there. That’s really nice to have in this industry.” Certainly, there have been times when Thatcher has needed it.
Baptisms of fire don’t burn much hotter than the fiery fandom that shrouds Star Wars. When Thatcher appeared in The Book of Boba Fett in 2021, she became a fast target by virtue of simply being in it. “It was pretty awful,” she says, shaking her head. “Obviously Star Wars is the coolest thing, but as soon as I was in the world, it was pretty frightening.” To make matters worse, the series was released during the pandemic. “I had nothing better to do than scroll on Reddit… it was bad,” she says. “It forced me into a tough position immediately, which I’m grateful for.” Toughening up ahead of Yellowjackets – another series with a vocal fandom – was a good thing. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ve done this before. I can do it again.’ I think Star Wars is probably as bad as it could be,” she says.
Thatcher had initially auditioned for the role of bubbly, bright Sister Paxton, in a conscious effort to depart from the darkness of her work so far. “I knew it was a bit of a stretch, and I was excited because I thought it would show a really different side of me,” she says. It wasn’t long before Thatcher ended up doing a call back for the more reticent, spiky Sister Barnes instead. The dark side called, and she was powerless to resist. She laughs, retelling the story of how her effort to diversify was in vain. “But I don’t want to keep playing the same roles,” she insists. “I want to show I have range.”
‘Heretic’ is out in cinemas now