In 2014, the number of blog posts on Tumblr surpassed 100 million per quarter. FKA twigs released her debut album LP1. Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent was Kering’s best-selling brand, and The Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner sat front row at the shows. VSCO Cam was every indie teen’s favourite app, and Instagram still listed the full usernames of the first 11 people who liked your post.
On the outskirts of Chicago, Sophie Thatcher was in her early teenage years, being raised in a Mormon household and binging episodes of Skins. Season two’s protagonist, the infamous and elusive Effy Stonem – played by Kaya Scodelario – laid the blueprint for what it meant to be cool. Every girl wanted to be her, Thatcher included. The actor is the first to admit that she grew up “chronically online”, trawling questionable corners of the internet for grungy inspo, which you can still see traces of today.
When we meet inside a stark, bright studio in central London, Thatcher is curled up in an armchair, clutching a Diet Coke with her legs tucked underneath her. The actress’ rare combination of piercing blue eyes and shaggy dark hair bears a striking resemblance to Effy, not to mention the thick black eyeliner. If 2014-era Tumblr could see Thatcher’s look today, she’d be reblogged a million times.
What have you been up to since being in London?
Sophie Thatcher: I’ve been to some museums. I went to the V&A – I was looking at medieval children with bowl cuts, getting inspiration. I went thrifting. I went to Camden, that was cute.
You were just in Paris for the Valentino show too…
Sophie Thatcher: Alessandro Michele is so cool. I have a contract with Valentino and I think it’s a really good fit. It’s doing something different but also very classic, very 60s and eclectic. The red carpet looks are never safe. I think [Michele] and I have very similar tastes, so it’s perfect.
So, Yellowjackets season three is currently streaming. You first started playing Natalie when you were 18 years old, you’ve grown up with her. What have you learnt about yourself through playing this character?
Sophie Thatcher: I have always been pretty resilient. I think you have to be in this career, with so many auditions and so much rejection. Natalie solidified that feeling for me. She’s given me strength and vulnerability. She has a lot of warmth and it’s sad to see her lose some of that this season. She’s getting darker and darker. It felt like Yellowjackets was my college or university. It’s weird growing up with a character but still playing a teenager. I’m not 18 anymore, so it’s hard going back to that.
“Skins was for the children that were on Tumblr. For the kids that were chronically online, and that was me” – Sophie Thatcher
What’s it like switching your mindset back to being 18 years old again?
Sophie Thatcher: At 18 I was in a pretty unhealthy mindset, I just didn’t know how to live alone. I had a lot of anxiety. So going back to Yellowjackets is sometimes… I try not to go back to that darkness, because it’s really hard with a show that is so covered in darkness.
How do you pull yourself out of that darkness?
Sophie Thatcher: After a really rough day the first thing I’ll do is just call somebody, just to remind myself that I’m a human being and I’m not Natalie. That’s the hardest thing, it can be easy to mesh the two. It’s hard growing up with a character and having people know me from the show, they assume that I’m similar to my character and I’m not. So talking to people, like my family, can just ground me.
If you met Natalie, what would you say to her?
Sophie Thatcher: I would remind her to find things that ground herself, because once she leaves the wilderness she seeks out any distraction, and you don’t have to seek out distractions, sometimes you have to look inwards. But I think that’s the last thing she wants to do.
In the past you’ve described the Yellowjackets aesthetic as being quite grungy or Tumblr-coded. You even once referenced Effy Stonem from Skins…
Sophie Thatcher: Oh my God! It shaped me! It totally did.
That’s so wild, it’s such a British thing…
Sophie Thatcher: Skins was for the children that were on Tumblr. For the kids that were chronically online, and that was me.
Is that how you discovered it?
Sophie Thatcher: Yeah. Just being online 24/7. I was always doing something on the internet. Effy, Skins, Peep Show. I watched Skins way too young, I think that really changed my idea of what high school was like and how fucked up people are.
Lots of the projects you’ve worked on have been within the horror genre. What were the movies that terrified you growing up?
Sophie Thatcher: Pan’s Labyrinth. I walked in on the hand scene when my dad was watching it when I was seven or eight years old, which is too young for that. I watched Rosemary’s Baby after taking an edible when I was 15 and I’ve never been more terrified in my life. That stuck with me, but also in a beautiful way. 28 Days Later, any zombie movie, The Walking Dead. Oh and The Woman in Black! That movie fucked me up. That’s an underrated movie. I was sobbing for days.
“I watched Rosemary’s Baby after taking an edible and I’ve never been more terrified in my life”
Apparently watching horror can reduce anxiety levels because they provide a safe and controlled way to experience fear – plus they’re super distracting. Is horror ever a therapeutic experience for you?
Sophie Thatcher: I find that acting in horror films is really therapeutic. You get to release everything. All those emotions that you don’t get to go to everyday, that aren’t normalised. But watching horror is really exciting because over the past 10 years, horror has become really elevated and artistic. It’s become political and is actually saying important and timely things about the state of the world.
It does feel like horror is finally getting the respect it deserves.
Sophie Thatcher: It does! I mean, so much of America right now feels like it’s already a horror movie, so it’s not too far from reality for a lot of people.
That’s interesting, you’d think people would use it as an escape.
Sophie Thatcher: Yeah, I think it’s both.
If you could play any character in a classic horror remake, who would it be?
Sophie Thatcher: I don’t know because there are so many remakes now and they’re so hard to pull off. I really liked the Suspiria remake because it had a different approach. It has to be timely, it has to make sense. This is a shallow answer, but Shelley Duvall in The Shining. Her hair, her outfits, her everything. Shelley Duvall in anything, I’m a huge Shelley Duvall fan. I think she’s amazing and she’s so strange. You don’t find a lot of actors that are as strange as her and so specific. She’s a fucking style icon.
A lot of the characters you play are forced to face some of society’s biggest fears. What are your own biggest fears?
Sophie Thatcher: I have pretty bad anxiety in general, so every day there’s something. I love being alone, but full isolation is really terrifying to me. That was hard during COVID, so I think I’m always craving human connection and I think we’re steering away from that with devices and such, I feel like everyone is very isolated right now.
Do you live with people?
Sophie Thatcher: Yeah I live with my boyfriend. But even this week [being away from home], I’m like, ahh I need another human being.
As a horror fan, were you rooting for The Substance at the Oscars?
Sophie Thatcher: Um, yeah. Actually no, I mean Anora was fucking… I’m a huge fan of Sean Baker. I mean there are people like him, but nobody is getting that kind of attention. I love the whole cast and everyone behind it is just really special.
Ok, despite the fact you were backing Anora, was it nice to see a horror film get that kind of recognition?
Sophie Thatcher: Oh totally. And to have it be art house and have it be somewhat independent, plus it was cool to see MUBI having a moment – MUBI has been putting out the best movies – but yeah, for me the best part about The Substance was the practical effects. It felt reminiscent of another time.
“I have pretty bad anxiety in general… I love being alone, but full isolation is really terrifying to me”
As well as acting, you also released your debut EP last year. How did it feel to put that out into the world?
Sophie Thatcher: It felt great. I’m still figuring out my sound and what resonates musically. It’s kind of hard doing both and I don’t want to feel like I’m half-assing both music and acting. Right now it feels like I haven’t fully delved into music yet, but that’s exciting. I know that I can make music, I’ve been doing it my whole life and I finally put it out there, so that felt good.
Will you get the chance to delve in fully?
Sophie Thatcher: Right now I’m riding a wave with acting and I have a couple of projects coming out that I’m excited about – nothing set in stone. But I wanna ride that out. I’m in a good spot right now I think. I can sense things are going up and I feel very lucky for that, because it’s really hard to get a job.
What does the rest of your year look like?
Sophie Thatcher: I haven’t signed any contracts for these projects, but I’m very excited.
And what about when you’re not working?
Sophie Thatcher: I sleep in until noon and work on music. I work on music every day. Me and my boyfriend watch everything. I make art. I draw and journal. That always centres me, so I want to lean more into that.
Yellowjackets is streaming now
