Emily De Margheriti – Sissy

By starrymag | December 14, 2022

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

Q) Please tell us the premise for the film Sissy.

 

A) Sissy is a satirical horror that follows Cecilia (a/k/a Sissy), a self-proclaimed mental health advocate/ social media influencer. Desperate to keep the dopamine hit of ‘likes’ rolling in, she has built an online persona through which she can do no wrong. She thrives off the admiration of her followers.

She’s invited to a Hen-do weekend by Emma (Hannah Barlow) her childhood bestie at which she’s confronted by Alex her childhood bully and a source of deep personal trauma (a/k/a me! But hey, Alex and Sissy [Aisha Dee] have some history – so might not be so one sided).

How will Cecilia balance both her need for validation and the presence of people who know her darkest secrets.

 

Q) What attracted you to being a part of the movie?

 

A) Everyone who has social media presents an online persona to the world. For some people it closely resembles their actual lives, but for others they selective choose content to misrepresent themselves. I’m aware we all do this to some degree as it’s the nature of social media, but sometimes it goes too far. People prescribe too much of their self worth to their online persona and end up living their lives purely based on the opinion of others and never for themselves. This is a horrible situation for one’s mental health.

When I read the script of Sissy I found that it exemplified my thoughts for this issue.

We all jump on this hamster wheel of social media but at what point is your mental health no longer in your hands? Is it in the hands of those who you seek validation from?

I knew this movie had to be made.

 

Q) How was your character Alex originally described to you?

 

A) Alex is the primary antagonist in a story told from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. She has strong boundaries and she’s fabulous, but clearly gone through her own struggles and coming to terms with the trauma of her past.

I would argue she is the true victim in the story. Not without her faults though, that’s for sure!

 

Q) Was there anything you added to the role that wasn’t in the initial breakdown?

 

A) I think actors must bring their own flare to a character. Alex wasn’t just a bully, but a victim with her own story and pain. I hoped to bring a deeper vulnerability to Alex, rather than just hatred for hatreds sake.

Chatting to the directors – her scar was meant to be quite big, but her external wound became more of an internal one. As she comes from money, she would get it fixed, and thus me making it more of an internal scar and it being subtle externally.

I had the opportunity to suggest changes to some of the scenes prior to filming. For instance, there was a moment where Cecilia was overhearing a conversation in which she was being made fun of her behind her back. The change I suggested was that Alex would notice Cecilia prior to her hearing the others speaking badly about her and thereby allowing Alex the opportunity to try to encourage the others to say more hurtful things. This changes the tone of the conversation away from everyone just being generally bad gossipy people and towards Alex being a little more insidious.

 

Q) Were you familiar with any of your costars before working with them on the movie?

 

A) No, I got to know all these lovely creatives on set!

 

Q) Talk about working with directors/writers Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes.

 

A) Working with Hannah and Kane was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. They are two wonderfully creative individuals and I adore them.

I really do admire creatives who are multidisciplinary – I think it takes a lot in the industry and it’s impressive when people can switch hats so seamlessly.

 

Q) What scenes did you find the most challenging or the most memorable to film?

 

A) The dinner table and rockpool scenes were the most challenging for sure. These are scenes where Alex is seething in bitterness and is in a lot of pain. Generally, it’s quite difficult playing someone who’s life view is so different than my own. To know what it was like to be Alex I had to do a lot of research into her world. On set, I couldn’t really jump from who I am to her – so staying in her mindset was challenging as this is not who I am.

Spoilers – there’s apart were I’m being buried alive. That’s actually me being buried! I said it was OK because I wanted the shot.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. What kind of feedback have you been receiving to your work on Sissy?

 

A) I’ve had pretty universal validation for my work (which is pretty ironic). Some people really hated Alex as a character, whereas others were team Alex.

We have won numerous audience choice awards and I have the AACTAS this week as we have three nominations for Sissy. This includes Best Film up against incredible filmmakers such as Baz Luhrmann and George Miller.

 

Q) Sissy shows the harmful side of social media, friendship conflict & growth, mental health awareness and so much more. What do you hope viewers take away from the film?

 

A) The biggest take away from Sissy would be how harmful it is to base your own value on the comparisons to ‘others’. Social media is an environment where you see the highlights that people have chosen to show you, we don’t see their struggles or the hardship that is going on in their lives, we also often don’t fully know the people/personas we are following. Sissy is an exploration of extremes and not entirely realistic, but the core themes touch on pains endured by many and I hope that it helps people recognize that.

 

Q) You’re also a producer. What are the recent projects that you have been busy working on lately whether on-screen or behind it?

 

A) I am in the process of looking at developing projects, so I have a few in the pipeline, while also looking for new scripts to produce.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters of the work you do?

 

A) In this lifetime all I can ask is that I can tell stories about people to better understand the human condition and I’m so blessed to have an artform I love. So, thank you for your support and love! If you want to follow my journey, feel free to add me on social media (there’s that irony again) free to add me on Instagram @emilyjanede and my production company @demsentertainment!