- Hi, I'm Sophia Lillis.
I play Nancy Drew in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase,
and I'm here at Buzzfeed, going to talk
to you about my firsts.
(soft music)
First embarrassing moment on a set.
For the first week of shooting It,
we had a rehearsal, and we had to do a lot of getting
to know each other, and with the rest of the kids
and we had to do some acting exercises.
A lot of those exercises had to do with like
getting out of your shell, doing some weird trade games
and I was so embarrassed, I do not know you people.
It was a little uncomfortable and kind of embarrassing,
so that's what I remember with that.
My first impression after meeting Amy Adams.
I was terrified of meeting Amy Adams.
I didn't really hang out with her a lot
because we were kind of playing the same character.
I remember one time I got locked in a room
with her for two whole minutes
and I just felt bad 'cause I had no idea what
to say to her, and she had no idea what to say to me,
so kinda like a lot of nodding involved
and nice weather, eh, it's okay.
Hopefully I didn't ruin it.
First reaction when you landed the role of Nancy Drew.
It all happened kinda quickly.
I remember talking to the director
and we went through the script a little bit.
She was really funny, it was really fun.
It was really fun to do, but when I left,
after like 20 minutes, my mom got a call saying oh,
by the way, you got it.
First celebrity you ever met.
Bill Scarsgard, the person who played the clown.
He is super tall, that's the first thing I noticed
out of him, they kinda tried to hide him
from us to kind of when we were acting scared
it's gonna be genuine, but I wasn't scared at all.
I mean, they kinda tried to hide him,
but they were really bad at it,
so I remember I walked in through a door
and he was in this room and he was supposed
to be hidden, but he was in this room like half makeup on
and sipping tea or coffee through a straw,
and he kind of awkwardly said like, hey.
(laughing)
First thing you do when you're preparing for a role.
Well if it's a book or a series,
I read the book or I try not to watch the films,
'cause I don't want to like copy what the other people do,
but I do read the books if it's like,
for instance, Nancy Drew or It or Sharp Objects.
That was a book, so, I kinda, I do that
and just kind of see what my character's going through
and why they do what they do.
First time getting recognized in public.
Oof, oh that's hard.
Oh no, I live in New York, so a lot of people do recognize,
some people do recognize, I wouldn't say a lot,
but a few people do recognize me, but a lot of them
don't do anything, they kinda stare at me
and they, and I kinda nod, and they're like okay,
I'm just gonna go continue doing what I'm doing.
First friend you made in the industry.
Oo, that's hard, 'cause I mean I worked with all the boys
in It and I guess technically they're all my friends,
so I guess it's kind of like a first one
and then it was kind of all of them.
My first friend was actually on Sharp Objects
who played my sister, her name's Lulu Wilson
and we connected really quickly.
She was a big ukulele player, and I actually
bought a ukulele because she had a ukulele
during our free period we'd get together
and we'd play the ukulele together.
She'd kinda teach me.
I suck, I still suck so bad on the ukulele.
She's great, she got even better.
She has like a whole collection now.
She even has a banjo.
I miss her.
Yeah, that's kind of my first friend in the industry.
First big red carpet event.
I think it was for It.
Yeah, it was for It, so yeah,
that was my first big carpet event.
Oh, I am terrified of those.
I'm still terrified of those,
so I'm trying to remember like a specific moment in that
'cause all of them are kind of the same.
You kind of walk down, and you really have no idea what
to do with your body and some people go up
and talk to you, no I'm fine.
Don't do that.
Good I thing I had the guys, 'cause whenever we had
the interview, they were the one who talked
and I kind of nod and sit in the back
and so it was easier for me.
First memory of reading or watching Nancy Drew.
I've definitely heard about Nancy Drew
before the project, I never actually read the books.
Once my family members, like my aunts and uncles
and my friends heard about this project
they gave me a lot of Nancy Drew books.
A lot of first and second ones,
but never the third, fourth, or fifths.
I had to buy those myself,
but now I have a whole collection
of just the first and second books,
and I still have them just in the corner of my room
just a whole pile.
First acting gig.
I guess the first one that really counts is I used
to do a lot of NYU thesis films
before I actually like acted in like big things.
Let's see the first one I did was
this very depressing story now looking
back on it, it was my mom left me
and I was living with my dad
who also worked at a funeral home.
Not a happy story, I had fun.
I had no idea what was happening throughout,
but that's normal for me.
(upbeat music)