In terms of Toronto teenagers Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind) in Netflix‘s new sequence “Wayward,” the phrase the actors behind the characters repeatedly use in dialog is “codependent.” Sure, the duo are greatest pals and chosen household — however they’ll’t survive with out one another in a method that has already impacted their futures, particularly on the disquieting Tall Pines Academy.
Abbie and Leila’s want for one another is established from the beginning of Mae Martin‘s Netflix thriller sequence, which sees the ladies locked up and subjected to abusive behavioral remedy as soon as they attain the Academy. Earlier than that, Abbie is being ruthlessly scrutinized and managed by her mother and father, whereas Leila’s mom has largely checked out after her elder daughter’s sudden dying.
“Whenever you don’t have that love from from a member of the family, or from anyone that’s blood-related in your life, you then sort of seek for it wherever else,” Lind informed IndieWire in a joint interview with Topliffe. “I believe she discovered Abbie at a really younger age, and simply was like, ‘You’re mine,’ and latched onto her.”
Chosen household is a significant theme within the sequence, from Abbie and Leila to their friends on the Academy to Alex (Martin) and his experiences rising up queer within the Midwest and spouse Laura (Sarah Gadon) remaining near her personal Academy cohort.
“You could possibly have a household that’s your blood, however on the finish of the day, it’s concerning the individuals that you simply select to be in your life and other people that you simply love in that method. Abbie is Leila’s chosen household,” Lind stated.
The theme was naturally mirrored behind-the-scenes, the place the younger solid shortly bonded and turned their traumatic on-screen experiences into Canadian summer season camp with the cameras off. As creepy because the Academy set was (“I really like ghosts, it felt haunted,” Lind stated), it helped actors faucet into the best head house earlier than clocking out to benefit from the area journey an hour exterior of Toronto.
“Whenever you’re in a extremely severe place, particularly with these two women, they discover the levity in it, even in a horrible state of affairs,” Topliffe stated. “There have been a pair scenes that have been actually intense, just like the Scorching Seat scene days have been exhausting, these have been lengthy days.”
Episode 6 traps the kids within the Academy for what quantities to a jail riot, with lots of the college students and employees performed by precise stunt performers. Previous to that, Topliffe was among the many actors who took an out of doors journey when the Academy employees leaves them within the wilderness.
“That was quite a lot of enjoyable. We’d be climbing these hills like on our stomachs, after which we’d simply discover empty beer bottles and break our — nicely, I most likely shouldn’t say that for insurance coverage,” Topliffe stated. “However that was actually enjoyable. All of us received quite a lot of mosquito bites, however it was nice. I beloved being soiled.”
After filming the pilot collectively — to not point out going by their remaining spherical of auditions, switching between Abbie and Leila and never realizing that they had nabbed the roles — Lind and Topliffe’s on-set destiny mirrored their characters’ as they needed to work individually.
“Within the story, we’re one another’s safety blankets, so it seems bizarre after we’re not collectively. That got here by in actual life,” Lind stated. “By the second episode, it was like, ‘Wait, the place’s my buddy? I don’t understand how to do that with out her!’ It was like beginning a complete new present.”
“Wayward” hits a candy spot for each actors; Topliffe performs a highschool scholar in Aura Leisure’s “Doin’ It,” now in theaters after its 2023 SXSW premiere, and 18-year-old Lind has by some means logged her third time enjoying a teen scuffling with dependancy.
“I don’t know why I hold getting typecast as this, however… I like with the ability to sink my enamel into it, so hold casting me because it,” she stated. “I’ll attempt to ship in the easiest way potential. It’s nice. Straightforward roles are boring, so it’s actually enjoyable.”
With “Wayward” out on the planet (and a few potential for a second season), the enjoyable is precisely what each actors keep in mind, and what they hope to seek out in future work.
“I’m positive the crew hated us as a result of we have been simply so annoying,” Topliffe stated. “We took the work significantly, however we additionally didn’t need to sit in that each one day, so we’d make silly films.”
“We’d be sobbing and crying and upset in a scene and going by all these feelings — after which Sydney could be like, ‘Do you need to faux to be Zac Efron on that hill over there and do ‘Wager on It’?” Lind recalled. “I’d be like, ‘Sure, I do! Wager on it, guess on it!‘ It was my favourite a part of the entire expertise. It was a lot enjoyable.”
“Wayward” is now streaming on Netflix.
