As for Toronto Teens Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind) in Netflixs new series “Willful,” The word that the actors behind the characters repeatedly use in the conversation is “co -dependent.” Yes, the duo are best friends and chosen family – but they cannot survive without each other in a way that has already affected their future, especially at Disqueting Tall Pines Academy.
Abbie and Leila’s need for each other are set up from the beginning of There is MartinThe Netflix thriller series, which sees the girls locked and subjected to abusive behavioral therapy when they reach the academy. Before that, Abbie is ruthlessly examined and controlled by her parents, while Leila’s mother has mostly checked out after her older daughter’s sudden death.
“When you don’t have that love from a family member, or from someone who is blood -related in your life, you are looking for the kind of it elsewhere,” Lind told IndieWire in a joint interview with Topliffe. “I think she found Abbie at a very young age, and just was like” you’re mine “and blocked her.”
The chosen family is a major theme in the series, from Abbie and Leila to their comrades at the academy to Alex (Martin) and his experiences that grew up Queer in the Midwest and wife Laura (Sarah Gadon) remained close to her own Akademikohort.
“You may have a family that is your blood, but at the end of the day it is about the people you choose to be in your life and people you love that way. Abbie is Leila’s chosen family,” Lind said.
The theme was, of course, reflected behind the scenes, where the young role is quickly tied and transformed its traumatic experiences on the screen into Canadian summer camps with the cameras off. As scary as the academy set was (“I love ghosts, it felt haunted,” said Lind), it helped actors to use the right main space before they clocked out to enjoy the field trip an hour outside Toronto.
“When you are in a really serious position, especially with these two girls, they find the levity in it, even in a horrible situation,” Topliffe said. “There were a couple of scenes that were really intense, which the hot place’s stage days were difficult, it was long days.”
Section 6 captures the teens in the academy for what corresponds to a prison uprising, with many of the students and staff played by actual stunt artists. Before that, Topliffe was among the actors who took an outdoor adventure when the academy’s staff leave them in the wilderness.
“It was a lot of fun. We would climb these hills like on the stomach, and then we would just find empty beer bottles and break ours – yes, I probably shouldn’t say it for insurance,” Topliffe said. “But it was really fun. We all got many mosquito bites, but it was fantastic. I loved to be dirty.”
After filming the pilot together-not to mention going through his last round of auditions, switched between Abbie and Leila and not realized that they had nabbed the Roller-reflected Lind and Toplife’s fate on site their characters because they had to work separately.
“In the story we are each other’s safety blankets, so it feels strange when we are not together. It came through in reality,” Lind said. “In the second section, was it that,” Wait, where is my friend? I don’t know how I do it without her! “It was like starting a brand new show.”
“Wayward” hits a sweet place for both actors; Topliffe plays a high school students in Aura Entertainment’s “Doin ‘It,” Now in theaters after their 2023 SXSW premiere, and 18-year-old Lind has somehow logged his third time and played a teenager who struggles with addiction.
“I don’t know why I continue to get TypeCast like this, but … I like to be able to sink my teeth in it, so keep throwing me like it,” she said. “I will try to deliver in the best way. It’s good. Simple roles are boring, so it’s really fun.”
With “Wayward” out in the world (and a little potential for a second season), the bullet is exactly what both actors remember and what they hope to find in future work.
“I’m sure the crew hated us because we were just so annoying,” Topliffe said. “We took the job seriously, but we didn’t want to sit in it all day, so we would make stupid movies.”
“We would cry and cry and upset in a scene and go through all these feelings – and then Sydney would be like,” Do you want to pretend to be Zac Efron on that hill over there and invest in it “?” Lind recalled. “I would be like,” Yes, I do! Bet on it, bet on it!“That was my favorite part of the whole experience. It was so fun.”
“Wayward” is now flowing on Netflix.
