The Directors of ‘Talk to Me’ Took a Gamble on This Young Actress—and It’s Paying Off

A24’s latest horror film Talk to Me, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, made a splash at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Now, with the film’s upcoming wide release on July 28, the Philippou brothers visited San Diego Comic-Con 2023 to talk about making the movie—and revealed that they had to fight to stay true to their vision.

Talk to Me tells the story of a grieving teenager, Mia (Sophie Wilde), who finds out that other local teens are posting what look like spirit possessions to social media. When Mia and her friend Jade (Alexandra Jensen) go to a party to see what’s going on for themselves, they find out that the possessions are very real. Using the embalmed hand of a dead psychic medium, the teens invite the souls of dead people into their bodies, making sure to film and post every bizarre encounter. However, the fun ends when the teens end up unleashing a terrifying presence.

Wilde is, without question, the breakout star of the film, shifting seamlessly between a frightened young girl and a parade of malevolent spirits. In fact, the directors revealed, her performance set the bar for the rest of the cast.

“[Filming the possession scenes] was so much fun,” the Philippous said at their Comic-Con panel Thursday night. “In the rehearsal process, all the actors did each others’ possessions. Everyone did a version of it, and that way, everyone was comfortable with it. Everyone had to do it—the producers, us, everybody. That way, the actors were able to comb through each other’s possessions for elements that they were able to put into their own. Sophie was the first to get possessed, and she really set the bar. From there, when we filmed the next possession scene, everyone was like, ‘This is what we’ve got to try and match.’ She really set the bar high.”

However, although the directors knew they wanted Wilde in the role, those higher up were cagey about casting an unknown actor as the lead.

“We got two years of casting because of Covid, and we were able to look through so many more tapes, and that’s how we found Sophie, towards the end,” they said. “Everything just clicked into place. We lost a million dollars out of the budget for casting Sophie because she wasn’t a name, but we just really, really believed in her, and her performances in the audition takes. And after talking to her, and [seeing] what she was able to bring to the role—even in the rehearsal process, she just blew us away. It was just so worth every dollar.”

(featured image: A24)