real life
"Hello Stevie. Welcome to The Story So Far. So. You're 23 years old?" Ali Plumb introduced the interview. Her agent had called her after the Sheffield concert to tell her that Ali had heard that she was going to be in London and wanted to interview her for BBC Radio One.
"Hi. Yes." She smiled, nodding. She had met Ali before whilst doing press for Little Women. He had spent the entire interview fawning over Stevie's work when Timothée was sat right next to her. He was possibly the most polite interviewer she had ever had.
"You had your debut in The Nice Guys in 2016, you then starred in Novitiate, had minor roles in Assassination Nation and Fighting With My Family. Then more starring roles in Outlaw King, Midsommar and Little Women. You're in HBO's Euphoria. This year you are starring alongside Scarlett Johansen in Black Widow and finally you are working with Gia Coppola on Mainstream." He recited her entire showreel to her.
"Yes." Stevie nodded.
"So. My question is: Have you ever had a day off?" He joked.
Stevie laughed loudly and relaxed a little into her chair. "I don't really like to take days off."
"Not even weekends?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Especially not weekends!" Stevie shook her head, still chuckling. "Weekends are so boring. I love being busy, I'm a very energetic person."
"I did actually see on Twitter a fan asked you where you lived and you just replied nowhere."
"I mean at the time I didn't actually live anywhere. All of my stuff was at my parent's house because I wasn't ever staying anywhere long enough to warrant paying for a place to stay there." She explained.
"Well, that's even true now, isn't it?" He enquired, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Yes, but I do have a bedroom now, in a flat with my friends Charlotte and Lily in New York. But like right now I'm living on a tour bus." She nodded, smiling.
"Right, this is something I wanted to ask you before we get on to talking about your films. What is singing to you? Are you breaking away from acting? Are you just going to be a singer now or?" He spoke with his hands a lot.
"No. I know that I want to keep acting as long as I can. That's my priority. I'm just taking a little break from it for now. As you said, I haven't really had a break since I started. Singing and making music, for me, it's a creative outlet definitely, but not a career."
"Well, as much as I love your music, I love your films more so I'm very happy about that."
"Thank you!" Stevie blushed.
"So, I want to start at the beginning. You went to the Fame school, right?" Ali enquired.
"Yes. I went to La Guardia." She confirmed.
"Did you ever feel a certain pressure going to a school like that?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Definitely. It's weird looking around your math class and thinking everyone here has the exact same dream, the exact same career aspiration. It really forces you to self-reflect constantly. You are always thinking, what will set me apart from them? Why would someone want to hire me over my lab partner? It's crazy." Stevie explained, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Arguably, it goes to show that there is room for all of you out there. Sonny, your brother, 3 grades above you, Timothée Chalamet was in the grade above you, Grace Van Patten was in the same year as you. A lot of success coming from just one place." Ali mentioned.
"What can I say? I'm in very good company." She smiled politely.
"I always see people asking Sonny and Timothee what each other were like in high school, but what were you like in high school?" He asked, causing Stevie's heart to flutter in gratitude. Someone finally cared about her life.
"I was... confident, shall I say? I made an effort to speak to everyone. If they didn't want to be my friend then I just talked to them until they had no other option to be. I guess I could be a little bit superficial too, but who isn't at that age."
"And am I right in thinking that you didn't actually do drama there?" Ali questioned.
"No, I majored in vocal music."
"So, why didn't you want to go into music from the get-go?"
"I actually wanted to be a politician in high school, which is crazy I know. But obviously, I became an actress instead."
"Right, The Nice Guys. How did that come about as your first-ever acting experience?
"I've actually spoken about this before, so I won't go on about it too much, but I was just going through a very tough time and I went with Sonny to audition for Chet. Obviously, he didn't get it. But Shane Black took a liking for me and asked me to audition for Amelia, I got it and just went for it. It was like my therapy, escaping to Los Angeles for a couple of months to film and then also audition for new projects. It really helped me to step into adulthood and get to know myself better."
"So Novitiate came after that? And to anyone who hasn't seen Novitiate, I would highly recommend watching it. It's very underground, but 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, speaks for itself. How did you feel approaching such a controversial and obscure subject like that in your first starring role?"
"86%? I had no idea it was that high. Gosh. Well. When I took on the role of Sister Cathleen, I knew that the entire crew had to be educated and respectful of the subject matter. I would feel disgusted if the film was considered a mockery to Catholicism in any way. I'm not religious, so Maggie gave me a reading list of books and they really transformed my understanding. When reading the script I knew that the film was going to be beautifully authentic and rooted in realism. You see the sisters waking up in the morning, you see them dressing and undressing, covering themselves even while alone, shy to be naked in God's view. You see them alone with their self-loathing, crying and berating themselves, both verbally and physically. You see them touch themselves, overcome by the force of their suppressed longings. Something that was really important to Maggie was making it feel like the relationship with God was a first boyfriend–a real love. I think there's a limit to how much love you can project onto someone inside your head. That can only take you so far. She needed love and comfort and connection and she found that in Sister Emmanuel."
"Next was Assassination Nation. You played the minor role of a Grace, who decides to murder her best friend for sending nudes to her boyfriend. Is it wrong of me to ask how exactly that opened so many doors for you?"
"It was the first role that required me to dig deep within myself to find the character. My films before that one had been me playing a character that I had nothing in common with, but I could kind of understand Grace in a way. And then obviously after working on the movie, Sam Levinson wrote me a role in Euphoria."
"So Lexi Howard didn't exist before Assassination Nation."
"Sadly, not."
"When do you start filming Season 2?"
"They've actually already started! I'm going out there to join them in a few weeks and I can't wait."
"I get the impression that the vibe on the set is like one big family."
"Yes, definitely. It's one of those things where I have to step back and truly appreciate the moments that I'm with them. Every single cast member has my back and I have theirs. I love them all."
"Right, so next was Outlaw King, and I have to say, I never would have expected you to go for this role. What made you want to audition?"
"I'm honestly just a sucker for a period drama. It really had it all. Romance, war, royalty. And I got to do a British accent too, which I'd been practicing forever. I just wanted to try my hand at it and see if I got the role and I did."
"What was that like to film?"
"Cold. I'd never been to Scotland before so I didn't really know what I was in for. And it was September. I had to wear leggings under my dresses in all of the outdoor scenes because I was genuinely fearful of losing all feeling in them. It was horrific. But I loved acting alongside Chris Pine."
"So. Next came Fighting With My Family."
"Yessss."
"How did that happen?"
"My agent knew how big a fan of Stephen Merchant I was, so she requested the audition script and read the character profile and the casting director almost didn't give it to us."
"Really?"
"She told me that I had the right look, but that she doubted that I would be able to do the accent. So I decided to hire a dialect coach and audition. They told me if I could get the accent during the pre-production period that I could have the role and I did."
"How did it feel walking onto that set, entering a family dynamic with Florence Pugh, British. Lena Headey, British. Nick Frost, British. Jack Lowden, British, and then you, American. Were you nervous at all?"
"I think it'd be weird for me not to be! The only thing that made it slightly better was that none of them were from Norwich, so we were all in the same boat in tackling the accent. I'm very aware the culture and humour is vastly different between the US and the UK, but I'm quite a dry person anyway, so we all got along straight away. I also watch a lot of British TV, like I love The Inbetweeners, This Country, Gavin and Stacey, so I think that also helped me to connect with them all a bit more."
"Right. So then came the big break: Midsommar. Where do I even begin?"
"I couldn't even give you a prompt?"
"Do you watch it back and think: is that even me?"
"I've only seen it twice. I can't watch it. It seems too real like I feel like it's actually happening to me."
"Your character is an extremely intense role. Did you struggle to reach that level of insanity? And are you the type of person who stays in character when the camera cuts?"
"I was definitely very apprehensive to get into character as Dani because I've never witnessed anything close to the trauma that she has. Thankfully, it's not like I had lots of scenes alone, so we were all going through similar stuff. I wasn't being Dani all the time, but, yeah, she was a very heavy person to play. It was so sad and depressing and emotional to play her, and I knew I couldn't just wing it because it is so important to the storyline that she is struggling. I listened to a lot of music, and I had my headphones on just before I had to do big scenes. Jack helped me through a lot of stuff, and he held my hand. But when you do something this big, you have to expect it's going to hurt somewhat."
"How did you unwind after those big scenes?"
"Well, I'd go back to the hotel and I'd listen to a funny podcast, or watch Brooklyn 99. Then I'd pour myself a glass of wine, I'd have a bag of Skittles and I'd just be like, Okay, I'm dealing with this. Honestly filming Little Women was kind of like therapy for me as well. Midsommar was so intense and heavy and then I got to be Amy, who is the most amazing, yet ridiculous character. I'd be thinking "Oh, this time last month I was part of a cult and now I'm 14 and I don't have a care in the world except for the size of my feet and nose and whether or not Laurie loves me."
"Little Women. Amy isn't always the most popular March sister. How did you initially feel about taking on the role?"
"I've never disliked her. I mean, hello! I am her. I'm the youngest of four and my siblings would probably label me as bratty sometimes, so I find it very funny that people are like, "Oh my God, you're playing the worst sister ever!" I always liked and rooted for the bratty kid because we all know someone like that. They always represent the worst and the best sides of all of us. There's something quite endearing about someone that just says exactly what they think."
"Amy and her relationship with Jo get much more focus in this version. How did you, Saoirse and Greta approach that?"
"I can imagine that people hate her because she's never really been beefed out. You never really understand why she and Laurie get together; you wish that it was Jo and Laurie, so it doesn't really make sense. As fairy tales go, that's not the ideal way: to let the annoying, ungrateful sister win the guy. So I understand why she's a frustrating character. But coming to this job, it was always laid down that this was very much an ensemble cast, and Greta really wanted to tell a story of these girls, not just one arc. When we got to set and we started working together, we found our own dynamics. We formed our own relationships."
"So what next? You have Black Widow coming out and then Mainstream?"
"Yes!"
"Without giving too much away, what can we expect from both of them?"
"A Russian accent and a love triangle." Stevie nodded, chuckling under her breath."
"Well, thank you so much for coming and sitting down with me, especially so last minute."
"It's my pleasure. Thank you for such a great interview." Stevie beamed, reaching forward to shake his hand.
"Thank you." He smiled back.
...
Stevie walked through the foyer of the building and handed her visitor pass to the man at the front desk. After finishing her interview she had recorded a cover of Falling by Harry Styles and also a live version of Truth is a Beautiful Thing with her band for the BBC Radio One Live Longue. They had stayed behind to watch Michaela record her performances and as much as Stevie wanted to stay she had promised Timothée that she would come and meet him on his lunch break.
She pushed open the front door and was met by flashes from the cameras of various paparazzi. She put her head down and beelined for the car that Timothée had let her borrow for the day whilst he was in rehearsals. The theatre was only a 30 minute walk away, but with how the paparazzi had just reacted Stevie would much rather take the car. Normally when she was doing press she had someone from her team with her, but this time it was all her.
The journey to the theatre was quick and when Stevie got out of the car she was thankfully met by a few of Timothée's fans instead of rude and abrasive paparazzi.
"Stevie?!" One of the girls called as she saw her getting out of the car.
"Hi guys." Stevie smiled and waved. She never knew how to react to Timothée's fans on the street; they either adored her or despised her. There was no in between. "How are you all doing?"
"We're good." They all seemed to chime simultaneously.
"Are you here to see Timmy?" A girl asked.
"Yeah." Stevie chuckled. She always forgot that her and Timothée weren't fully public yet. Sure, everyone assumed that they were together, but neither of them had actually confirmed it yet. "Has he been out to see you guys yet?"
"No." The first girl sighed. "We've been stood here since 10."
"Oh, really?" Stevie clicked the side button on her phone to show the time. It was 1:30 in the afternoon. "Well, I think he'll be on his lunch soon so I'll ask him if he can come out and say hi to you all."
Stevie was met by a chorus of "Oh my god, really?" and "Thank you so much."
"Of course, no worries." She smiled in response.
"Can we actually get a picture with you, please?" A new girl asked.
"Yeah, sure!" She beamed. Stevie took pictures with each fan in turn, having small conversations with them as she went. After she had smiled and posed with each of them, taking presents for Timothée that some of them had brought with them, she decided it was time to find the man of the hour. "Thank you so much guys. I'll make sure to ask Timmy about coming out to see you guys." She smiled and waved goodbye as she disappeared behind the stage door.
Timothée's assistant met her on the other side of the door and signed her in as a guest. They walked around the theatre, making polite chitchat as they went. They found themselves at the back of the room, approaching the stage front on. Timothée and Eileen were still rehearsing a scene, so Stevie slipped into the front row to watch.
"You're going to go all the way back West on that bike?" Eileen asked in a thick New York accent.
"That's the plan." Timothée chirped in response, causing a long pause from Eileen.
"Maybe if you called Rebecca today, she... since it was the middle of the night, she may not have—" Eileen started.
"It's not about—" Timothée interjected.
"Seeing as you came all this way to be with her—" Eileen interrupted him.
"I didn't." Timothée interjected again. "I didn't come all this way to be with her."
"Well, I know it wasn't to be with me." Eileen huffed.
"It was to finish something I started. Micah and I started something. I finished it. That's it. People want to make it really complicated but it's not." He smiled widely at his fake Grandmother.
"If you stayed more than a couple days..." Eileen started. "I wouldn't know what to say to your mother. I don't know what to say to her as it is. So we're in agreement. I keep the money in Joe's study." She tried to get up from the chair she was sat in and fell back. She tried again and made it this time. She hobbled off of the stage, whilst Timothée stayed seated.
"You comin' on what?!" She yelled from off stage.
"Perfect!" The stage director called. Stevie stood up and gave a round of applause, catching Timothée's eye and giving him an encouraging smile. Eileen walked back onto the stage and demanded they took a break for lunch.
"Okay, you all get an hour for lunch." The director announced to the group. "After that, I want to practice the Leo and Amanda hook up scene with the understudies."
Timothée eyed Stevie from across the room and gave her a thumbs up. He was free for at least 2 hours. Before he could make it over to her, Stevie found her face being grabbed by a pair of sandpaper hands.
"You're Stevie!" She turned to find Eileen, gripping her tightly, a huge grin spread across her lips. "My love, I have been waiting for this day for months."
"Oh my god, Eileen, stop it!" Stevie opened her arms to Eileen for a hug. "You're an absolute legend. You were amazing just then."
"Thank you!" She hugged her back. "I'm delighted to finally meet the second most important woman in Timmy's life, after me of course."
Stevie chuckled audibly and the two woman pulled back. Timothée appeared at Eileen's side. "I see you didn't need me to introduce you."
"Timmy. I am 85 years old. The last thing I need is your help making friends." She pointed out, causing Stevie to chuckle.
"Noted." He nodded at Eileen, before giving Stevie a quick kiss. "Hello."
"Hey." She grinned at him. "I met a lovely group of your fans outside. I told them I'd ask you to come out and see them. They also gave me this." Stevie lifted her hand to show the wad of envelopes she was holding.
"Oh, wow!" His face lit up and he took the presents from Stevie. "How long have they been out there?"
"Since 10." She nodded, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, shit. Really?" He winced at her, his forehead creasing in concern.
"You should go out and see them." Stevie nodded, gesturing towards the stage door.
"Are you sure?" Timothée asked, the concerned expression never leaving his face. "I can wait until after I finish?"
"What?" Stevie scrunched her nose at the idea. "And leave them waiting out there for another 4-5 hours? Just go now. I'm sure Eileen and I will have much more fun without you." She teased sarcastically.
"Well, okay then." Timothée held his hands up in surrender, before walking towards the exit. "I won't be long."
"That means he's going to be half an hour minimum." Stevie shook her head at Eileen.
"How do you do it?" Eileen asked, causing Stevie to shake her head in confusion. "How do you cope with all of those girls fawning over him? Do you not get jealous?"
Stevie stopped for a minute and wondered. She had never once felt insecure or threatened in her relationship with Timothée. He had only ever had eyes for her. She smiled at the thought and turned to Eileen. "That's how I know he's one of the good guys. He's never given me a reason to."
user1
@user1
no way did we just bump into stevie whilst we were waiting outside the theatre for timmy 🤩🤩
13:37 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
174 Retweets 356 Likes
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user2
@user2
OMG WHAT HAPPENED
13:37 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
2 Retweets 5 Likes
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user1
@user1
we were just stood outside the stage door & she got out of a car and just came and said hello to all of us
13:39 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
12 Retweets 43 Likes
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user3
@user3
is she as much of a bitch irl as she seems online
13:40 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
17 Retweets 32 Likes
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user1
@user1
wtf no 🥴 she was literally the sweetest she took pics with all of us and told us she'll ask timmy to come out and say hi
13:40 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
23 Retweets 47 Likes
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user4
@user4
she was def just lying to u so that u guys would like her... something is off about this bitch n i cant put my finger on it
13:42 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
14 Retweets 27 Likes
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user1
@user1
GUYS IM CRYING
13:51 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
10 Retweets 48 Likes
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user1
@user1
OMG
13:52 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
19 Retweets 77 Likes
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user1
@user1
Y'ALL... timmy just came out & lit spent about half an hour just chatting with us!!! he said he was going to come out after lunch but stevie forced him to come out now 🥺🥺🥺🥺
14:28 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
203 Retweets 472 Likes
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user5
@user5
yet again... stan stevie elgort for clear skin ✨
13:37 • 21/04/2020 • Twitter for iPhone
1.8K Retweets 7.8K Likes
giaburton 1h ago
...
stevieelgort 1m ago
hi everyone
since this story gets about 1k reads per chapter, i wanted to talk to you about the real pandemic threatening our world right now: institutionalised systemic racism.
on monday, an unarmed black man named george floyd was murdered in minnesota in broad daylight by a white police officer for "writing a bad cheque."
this isn't an isolated incident. and if you aren't angry then you are part of the problem. WE DEMAND JUSTICE.
52% of the readers of this story are from the united states of america, but this is not and has never been a solely american issue. IT IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY TO SPEAK UP ABOUT THIS. GET EDUCATED. GET ANGRY. GET POLITICAL.
text "FLOYD" to 55156
call DA Mike Freeman & DEMAND that these men be arrested and charged with murder
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SAY THEIR NAMES.
#BlackLivesMatter