Curry Barker’s successful summer flick, Obsession, became a word-of-mouth sensation that left many horror fans themselves obsessed. One major element that critics all agree makes the film memorable is its lead, Inde Navarette, who gives a truly nightmare-inducing performance scene after scene. If you want to know how dedicated Navarette was to giving audiences chills (and her director), the talented actress said she refused to rehearse one surprising scene.
Bear’s wish for Nikki to love him more than anyone goes back to the adage, “Be careful what you wish for.” Through Nikki’s supernatural transformation, Navarette brought maniacal terror to each spine-chilling scene. None of those moments were done without rehearsal, except apparently for one scene. During an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Navarette recalled director Curry Barker being shocked when she said she wouldn’t practice a key moment:
We shot when they’re making out on Bear’s bed and she goes, ‘What the—?!’ and then she shoots backwards. That was our first day. And that was a pretty big task. Before going in, I told Curry, ‘I’m really sorry, but I’m not going to show you any of the freakouts in rehearsal.’ And I think I saw him die, because… it’s very important for the character. I felt like if I gave it away too early, it wasn’t going to be as authentic as I needed it to be… I really wanted to keep that safe before it needed to come out in order to play it true.
The Critic’s Choice Super Award winner took a bold stance by not rehearsing that bed scene, but her rationale made sense. After all, what makes Nikki’s freakouts so horrifying to watch are how spontaneous they are. So, naturally, the versatile lead wanted to save the freaky Nikki scenes for when the cameras rolled to make it a genuine performance. I mean, I personally didn’t see it coming whenever the Nikki would make an appearance and freak out after her makeout session with Bear. So, I’d say a job well done.
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It may be typical for actresses to leave it to rehearsal to see what works and what doesn’t. But, for Navrette, she needed to let her instincts take over on set, compared to letting everyone see what she was going to do first. She explained:
And so we’re in the first day, I know Curry’s nervous, I know that I’m really being a dick by saying ‘I’m not going to show you anything.’ But I mean, he’ll even say now that it was a weight lifted off of his shoulders when we did that first freakout, because he was like, ‘Oh my God, OK, she can do it! She just needs privacy with these things.’
While we don’t need any directors to “die” here, Navarette created quite an impressive strategy to avoid revealing Nikki’s haunting nature until “action” was heard. It clearly worked, as it apparently brought chills to the YouTuber and box-office-smashing director. I can imagine that in those unexpected frantic moments, the indie filmmaker knew he made the right call by casting Navarette for his horror flick.
Not only did Inde Navarette go method actress in keeping Nikki’s freakouts a secret until filming, but she also emotionally distanced herself from her co-workers to focus on her performance instead of worrying about offending anyone through her Nikki portrayal. With all of the hard work and effort that the X-Men star brought into Obsession, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw her name during this year’s awards season.
What Navaratte’s behind-the-scenes story shows is that she’s not just committed to her craft, but she’s also willing to advocate for herself when it’s necessary. Considering that, I have a feeling we’re going to be watching this true talent on screen for some time. If you haven’t had a taste of Nikki under the One Wish Willow, Obsession is streaming now with a Peacock subscription.