S o u n l e s s I a m m i s s i n g a n y i n f o r m a t i o n , S t r a n g e r T h i n g s w a s
a c t u a l l y y o u r f i r s t r o l e - p r i o r t o t h a t d i d y o u h a v e a n y i n t e r e s t o n
a c t i n g o r w a s y o u r f i r s t r e a l e x p e r i e n c e o n t h a t s h o w ?
I've loved acting ever since I was a kid doing plays at church and
school. There was something so fun about being able to get on
stage and be someone else. It's kind of liberating. As I got older, I
got more into musical theater and got involved in community
theater. It wasn't until I was about 1 5 that I signed with an agency
and started pursuing acting as a career. actually met the showrunner Roberto and the rest of the writing
team while I was at another meeting and we hit it off.
A t t h e t i m e o f i t s r e l e a s e W a y w a r d P i n e s h a s b e c o m e a n e s s e n t i a l
p a r t o f M . N i g h t S h y a m a l a n ' s r e n a i s s a n c e , h o w e v e r m a i n s t r e a m
a u d i e n c e h a d n o i d e a w h o t h e D u f f e r B r o t h e r s w e r e , o n l y w e l l -
k n o w n a c t o r w a s W i n o n a R y d e r - s o , a f t e r s i g n i n g u p t o t h e s h o w
d i d i t e v e r c r o s s e d y o u r m i n d i t w o u l d h a v e b e c o m e s u c h a
p h e n o m e n o n ?
I don't think any of us quite expected Stranger Things to become
the phenomenon it did. I do know that we felt we were onto
something incredibly special, or at least I definitely did. I
remember reading the scripts and being so blown away by the
writing and then meeting the incredible cast and the brothers
really cemented that faith in the show. M o v i n g o n f r o m a d a r k a n d s o a p y - i s h t e e n a g e d r a m a t o a m o r e
i n s p i r i n g s e r i e s - t e l l u s m o r e a b o u t y o u r r o l e i n R i s e ?
Rise is about a high school in a small town that gets shaken up
when the theater department gets a new teacher. My character is
Anna belle. She's pretty reserved in some ways but she's confident
and really loves theater.
A s s e a s o n 2 a p p r o a c h e s , w h a t c a n f a n s e x p e c t ? E s p e c i a l l y f o r
E t h e l ?
I actually know about as much about season 2 as everyone else
does right now. I'm hoping to get some of the scripts soon cause I
definitely want to know what's going on! I'm not sure what they
have in store for Ethel but I'm excited to find out.
T h e s h o w s t a r s H o w I M e t Y o u r M o t h e r J o s h R a d n o r , s o c a n w e
e x p e c t s o m e g o o d h u m o r t h r o w i n o r t h i s i s a f u l l y s e r i o u s s h o w ?
There's definitely some humor. It's really done a great job so far of
capturing the high school experience and the inner worlds of
teenagers. So there's really a bit of everything. I do think it takes a
bit more of a serious approach than a lot of shows aimed toward
S o B a r b w a s a n a w e s o m e g r e a t f r i e n d a n d c e r t a i n l y y o u r d e a t h the teen/early twenty audience though.
w a s v e r y s a d a n d o n e s i d e o f m e s t i l l h o p e s t h e y b r i n g y o u o u t i n
a n y s h a p e o r f o r m . W h e n y o u w e r e k i l l e d , d i d i t e v e r c r o s s y o u r B e f o r e t h o s e s h o w s c o m e b a c k , y o u a r e s t a r r i n g o n W i s h U p o n -
m i n d t h a t s o m a n y p e o p l e w o u l d c o n n e c t a n d m i s s e d y o u T H A T t h e p r e m i s e g i v e s m e t h i s n i c e D e a t h N o t e v i b e . W h a t w a s t h e
m u c h ? I m e a n , a f t e r E l e v e n , I w i l l d a r e t o s a y B a r b w a s , i s a n d t h i n g t h a t c a u g h t y o u r a t t e n t i o n t h e m o s t a b o u t t h e f i l m ?
I've always loved horror movies so I was definitely excited to get
m i g h t r e m a i n t h e m o s t b e l o v e d c h a r a c t e r s i n t h e s e r i e s .
That's still so funny to me. I had absolutely no idea people would to be a part of one. I really loved the psychological aspect of the
love Barb as much as they did. I was so so grateful to even be film and how it makes you question yourself. You start to wonder
there. And when you think about it, Barb had very little screen how far you would go to get what you want. I'd also been a fan of
time. I thought people would just forget about me, but then all our director, John Leonetti for quite a while. His work on the
these tweets start flooding in. I was so blown away. I'm really just Conjuring and Annabelle is great.
incredibly thankful. I put my heart and soul into Barb and it means
D i d y o u t a k e a n e w a p p r o a c h f o r t h i s r o l e o r d i d y o u b o r r o w f r o m
the world that people have noticed that.
a n y p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e s ?
I t ' s c l e a r y o u h a v e e m b r a c e t h e w h o l e " B a r b i s n o t d e a d " j o k e s - a t It's very important to me that every character I play feels authentic
and well developed. I always focus a lot of attention on making
s o m e p o i n t , d i d i t e v e r b o t h e r e y o u ?
I don't think it ever bothered me too much. I mean, it was definitely sure that there's a lot going on in their heads. My character June
very flattering that people wanted Barb to be ok and come back specifically has some similarities to Barb. She's a loyal friend and
from the Upside Down. But the creators have made it pretty clear is sort of the mom of the friend group.
that Barb is very dead, unfortunately, so I think we're all going to
M o v i e w a s d i r e c t e d b y J o h n R . L e o n e t t i . I s i t s i m i l a r t o A n n a b e l l e ?
have to move on at some point.
Wish Upon feels very unique to me so I don't really associate it
L u c k i l y , y o u h a v e f o u n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l s u c c e s s a n d m o v e d o n t o too much with Annabelle, but they're both terrifying and involve a
o t h e r p o p u l a r s h o w s l i k e R i v e r d a l e - w h a t w a s i t l i k e t o p l a y a l e s s creepy object that should NOT be played with.
" i n n o c e n t " c h a r a c t e r i n a m u c h d a r k e r t e e n d r a m a ?
Riverdale has such a cool, dark vibe about it that I really enjoy. My W h a t e l s e i s h a p p e n i n g n e x t i n S h a n n o n P u r s e r ' s w o r l d ?
character Ethel seems very innocent on the surface, but I Well I'm about to go to Vancouver to shoot season 2 of Riverdale
definitely think there's much more to her than everyone thinks. I and then I'm going to continue shooting Rise in September! It's
love played complex and complicated people and it's been really going to be a busy year and I'm ready for it!
fun to tap into that dark side.
W e r e y o u e a g e r l y l o o k i n g f o r a r o l e l i k e t h i s o r d i d t h e o p p o r t u n i t y
c a m e o n t h e r i g h t m o m e n t ?
I was definitely very eager to keep working and Riverdale is up my
alley in a lot of ways, but getting cast was a bit of a lucky break. I