Sweety High had the opportunity to speak with actress Sarah Yarkin following the SXSW debut of her short, Visitors. Sarah is credited as a producer for the short, along with an all-female-led production team spearheaded by writer/director Minnie Schedeen.
Best known for her role as Rhonda in School Spirits, Visitors shows Sarah’s versatility as an actress, stepping into Iris, a much different role from her School Spirits counterpart. Speaking of School Spirits, we manifested news of a renewal— Season 4 is a go!
Visitors follow a young woman in the throes of early pregnancy who starts to question her own reality when strange things begin to happen to the people closest to her. In this interview, we dive into her process working on both Visitors and School Spirits, how prep differs when you’re also on the other side of the lens, and so much more.
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Sweety High: For Visitors, you’ve talked about how meaningful it was to be in every conversation as a producer. What’s something behind-the-scenes you now understand that completely changed how you approach acting?
Sarah Yarkin: There’ve been very few times in my career when I’ve gotten to be on the other side of auditioning. I’m so used to auditioning, and it’s part of the process that I honestly really don’t love. But to be on the other side of it, knowing what we’re looking for. We just want someone who’s confident, who knows what they’re doing, who is the character. Someone you trust has done this before.
And there are auditions where I have that energy, and auditions where I really don’t, and I’m freaking out. And so I feel like just a reminder that you also want to hire someone who can hang; we should get along. And also, do I want to go shoot a movie with them for a month? I just want to be shooting with someone who is a good actor, but also a cool person that I want to hang out with.
(Visitors via Tinygiant)
SH: There’s something really powerful about building a project with people you love. How did your real-life friendship with Minnie [Schedeen] shape the tone or emotional core of Visitors?
SY: Minnie and I have known each other for many years, we’ve been close friends, and we’ve talked about working together for so long. She writes mostly grounded sci-fi, which is not something I have much experience with. But everything I’ve read of hers is phenomenal, I’m just such a fan. So to get to work with someone that you’re such a fan of and that you’re also friends with is kind of the best experience ever.
They always say, “work with your friends, hire your friends.” This is hands-down one of my favorite experiences. We had this amazing group of female producers. We all went to South By together, and we were like, “This is the best week of our lives. I just want to hang out with you guys forever.” But to be directed by your friend, where she was sending me drafts when she was writing this and coming up with these ideas together, was kind of a dream come true because I really, really admire her as a writer.
For her to ask my opinion meant the world to me. And then to have these ideas and go back and forth was an amazing kind of collaboration. And then when we were on set, working with a close friend, there was a shorthand where I knew exactly what she meant. If she was saying, “Oh, kind of like this,” I was like, “Oh, I know exactly.” With some directors, you have that, some you don’t. But to be working with such a close friend where we’re like, “We know exactly what we want this to be,” it kind of felt like a built-in language there.
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SH: If Visitors is the beginning of this new chapter for you as a creator, what kind of stories are you most drawn to telling moving forward?
SY: I think the dream is to be a creative producer, have a production company and to continue making projects that I want to be in and stories I want to tell. I’m thinking about, like, Dakota Johnson and Kristen Stewart. They’re making amazing stuff, and they get to put their name on it and also say, “I want to be in that.” That’s kind of the dream, I think, as an actor, at least for me. Female-focused work is a goal.
I would love to be telling more queer stories. I’m working on a multiverse bisexual show right now that I’m developing with a friend. Like, what other things do I want to be telling, that I can pull from my experience, or characters I want to be playing?
Erin Brockovich is one of my favorite movies, and I would love to play sort of a bad***. Just more stories that are about women.
And even with this short, about this pregnancy and this otherworldly thin—the idea of getting pregnant and having this thing growing inside of you. And obviously, there’s a sci-fi element, but there’s also a very grounded reality there with Iris being pregnant. The fact that she’s looking at the ultrasound, and there’s a creature in there, is horrifying.
SH: What did “success” look like for you with Visitors? Was it the final product, the process, or something more personal? And any hints you can give on a feature?
SY: It’s such a good question. It was genuinely great being on set. Those four days were the best ever. And it’s obviously stressful; we’re working with very little money. We don’t have the means like School Spirits or a feature, but obviously, the process and kind of getting to be in these conversations and create this team, I think, was such a win.
I’m so proud of the work. It’s very hard for me to watch myself objectively as an actor, but to get the feedback that we’ve been getting and be proud of myself in that performance is such a win. And then we just premiered it at South By. That’s literally my dream. I’m still processing it.
We just got back, and I’m still coming down from this feeling of like, ‘Oh my god.’ This is exactly what I want to be doing.’ To have recognition at a festival like that and to be surrounded by people that I really admire, their work, and to all be together, talking about stuff we want to make, is kind of the dream. And to be there was a dream, and to be there with something I produced, and I started. I mean, all of it was such a win. And we’re waiting to hear back from other festivals, and just sort of like traveling this next year, with the short. This is the stuff we want to be making.
SH: What’s your favorite moment from your time at SXSW?
SY: Oh God, it was such a blur. I am not a party person. I don’t drink. I was rallying, staying up till 2 a.m. every night. Every night it was like, “What’s now? We’re going to this premiere? Just like, go, go, go, go, go.” It was so fun.
And running into people from like 10 years ago was a highlight. Every day truly was the best. We went to something, and I was like, “I don’t know if we’re gonna know anyone here, and like, five to 10 people came up to me, and it was genuinely people I knew from my entire career. I’ve been working professionally for like 10 years in this industry, and I think it’s so easy to gaslight myself and go, “I’m not of this community, I’m on the outside,” and “Oh, I’ve done this, but I’m not in that world.” And so to kind of have these people come up to me and I’m going, “Wait, we’re all in this together?”
It really was this moment of feeling this sense of belonging with this filmmaker community, and indie film, especially. I feel like that’s a huge thing for me going forward, not gaslighting myself to think I’ve never done anything. I’ve been working, and I’ve made these connections, and I’ve met all these people. And here we are, 10 years later, still working. I think that was such an invaluable realization for me. Going forward, I want to make indie films and continue working on big-budget stuff, too, but realizing, “Oh, I am of this community,” was very valuable to me.
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SH: You’re playing two very different characters with Rhonda in School Spirits and Iris in Visitors. How would you describe the biggest difference between them, both emotionally and in how you approached building each character?
SY: With any of these characters, I’m approaching it in a similar way, asking what is the truth here? What is she feeling? What does she want in the scene? Just sort of breaking it down and distilling it into very simple, relatable feelings.
Rhonda’s 18, I am not, and she can’t age. I think there are obviously sci-fi elements in both, these otherworldly things. But the things that Iris is worrying about, like settling down and maybe having a baby, are things I’m wondering about as I’m in my 30s now. So I think that’s a little more of what I’m dealing with and the things Minnie and I are thinking about.
And Rhonda obviously is a ghost who’s been dead for 62 years, and she’s 18 and stuck in that body. And I think there are elements I relate to with that as well. But I think when I’m thinking about Iris, they’re sort of to me, and Visitors is a transition into probably the kind of stuff I’ll be doing next.
SH: Rhonda is such a standout character in School Spirits. What was your initial entry point into understanding her when you first read the script?
SY: You know, for my first audition, which was now four years ago, I was a completely different person. My hair was eight inches shorter.
I remember reading it, and I think I had been sent the pilot to read and some scenes from the first couple of episodes. One of them was her monologue about Mr. Manfredo. I remember her character description being that she’s sardonic, and I remember reading that monologue thinking it’s such a sad monologue. She’s talking about how everyone forgot about her after she died, and he murdered her. But I remember having this instinct of like, I just got to throw this away. She’s been dead so long, she doesn’t care. And I looked out the window because I had taped my lines onto the window.
She’s saying these lines about how like they’re going to eat jambalaya or whatever. And I’m not very good at throwing stuff away because I really care, but for Rhonda, I was thinking, “Keep it down here and throw it away each line.” And then when I booked it, that was literally the direction they were pushing me in even further. The no energy, nothing fazes her vibes. I’m a naturally very energetic, expressive person, so I think this entryway of being like, “No, she’s down here (mood and tone-wise).”
And really understanding that none of this is new. She’s seen it all. She’s not going to get emotional because what is there to get emotional over? So I think that her arc throughout the seasons was exciting to explore. The entryway, I think, is me when I’m just f***ing done. I know that feeling, and let me just like channel that for Rhonda. The burnt-out energy. You’ve got no time. I don’t care. That’s me, sometimes. So how do I do that every day here?
SH: If you could drop Rhonda into the world of Visitors, how do you think she’d survive or vice versa, with Iris in School Spirits?
SY: Iris is a blueprint of me. So I feel like if I were in School Spirits, I’d probably be similar to Rhonda. Honestly, here’s my secret to acting. I’m just me for all these characters, haha. The reality is, Iris is a lot older than Rhonda. It would be fun to see Rhonda in Visitors because that means she’s left the school. That means Rhonda’s living in Brooklyn in 2025. So I’d be excited to see that. I think she’d like aliens visiting us for the first time. She wouldn’t care; she’s got nothing to lose; she’s dead. She’d honestly be good in Visitors.
The idea is that it’s the first day we’re being visited by aliens, and that’s sort of the inspiration. So, in the future, to kind of explore, why Iris? And I think Rhonda would also be good at getting to the bottom of that, if she wants to. She also might not want to. She might just want to go hang out. Maybe she’s going shopping, going to Bushwick, going to a vintage, going to the mall. She’s going to go see some things, and she might not care about the aliens.
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SH: The show has a really passionate fanbase. Have there been any fan theories or reactions that genuinely surprised you?
SY: I love looking at Reddit. Those people are thinking more than I’ve ever thought in my life. There are some things where I’m like, you have so overcomplicated something that I thought was supposed to be so clear, your brains are working at high speed. I don’t want to tell them if they’re right or wrong, but they’re thinking hard, and I respect that. There was something that I read that made me LOL. There was a scene at the beginning of this season where Rhonda says something to Simon where she’s like “Don’t mess it up.” It’s a little sassy line. And someone on Reddit was like, “Did you guys pick up on the chemistry?” And I literally sent it to the creator of the show, and I was like, “Oh my god, they’re looking for ships,everywhere.” So that made me laugh really hard because I can’t think of something more untrue. I think Rhonda would physically hurt Simon. But that really cracked me up.
I’m wondering if I should just go in there and tell people when they’re really wrong. They also love to diagnose us with stuff. And then there was someone who outed all of our real ages. Everyone was actually quite nice about me. They had no idea I was 32, and then I was sitting here being like, “Thanks, guys. Thank you, guys, so much. I love that.”
SH: What’s a moment from filming School Spirits that either challenged you the most or stuck with you emotionally?
SY: Visitors was only, a three or four day shoot. School Spirits, we shoot for three months, and it’s been the last three years, so the challenges are different, obviously. It’s just such a longer shoot. For so many years, I’ve never been on a Season 3 of a show. I’ve done movies, or I’ve done a season of a show or whatever, but to come back year after year has been a very interesting experience, in terms of how I’m growing and progressing in my own life as an adult. And then you come back, and you get a new script, but it’s the same character who’s not supposed to age, and the show was only supposed to take place in like three weeks. So that has been a certain challenge in terms of how to approach her with a fresh lens, but also to keep her consistent, because no time has passed.
And although she’s growing and having these experiences and traumatic things, she’s still only three weeks older from what we’ve seen her, you know? So I think there’s an element of the challenge there of how to be consistent, and stay true to myself as an actor, and push myself. But it still distances her from who I am and how I might approach a situation, because she’s really different from me. I have to remember this is Rhonda. And I wouldn’t agree with how she would do that, maybe. Or I wouldn’t say it that way. Or I might not approach that situation that way, but Rhonda would.
But she’s a handful, and she’s been through a lot, and so I think to go back after I’ve been growing and changing, and to keep her consistent but also infuse things I’ve learned from my own experiences. That’s been such an interesting experience having this symbiotic relationship over these past four years.
SH: Anything else you want to add or mention that we haven’t touched on today?
SY: Well, I’m excited. I hope we get a Season 4. I hope we hear more things, and I hope we get to do a feature of Visitors. Minnie has these amazing ideas. She edited that script down so much because she had so many ideas, and she said she had to save these all for the future. With the short, we were selected for a special award that Andrew Scott picked from five shorts. It was a huge deal. So I think the momentum that we have, I’d love to just keep building on that and try to get people excited and give us money to make this feature, because that would be the dream.
For more on the actresses who inspire us, click HERE to read our interview with Avianna Mynhier on her new role in Disney’s Armorsaurs.
