Rising star Amelie Zilber is stepping into bold new territory with her latest role as Olivia Hammond in the brand new body horror comedy Slanted. Blending unsettling physical transformation with sharp, offbeat humor, the film marks a striking departure from conventional genre expectations—and from Zilber’s previous work. I was lucky enough to sit down with her for an interview recently, where she opened up about the challenges of navigating such a unique project, the emotional layers beneath the film’s surreal premise, and what drew her to a character as complex as Olivia.
When we first meet Olivia in the movie, she seems like a stereotypical popular girl character. But as the movie goes on, we see just how layered she actually is. Is that something that surprised you as well?
Amelie: “Definitely. When I first read the script, I did kind of see her in this one-dimensional light which I think is pretty standard for the ‘mean girl’ character. But she does have so much nuance and so much complexity, but it does kind of make sense from a human standpoint because, weirdly enough, my mom always used to tell me that ‘mad comes from sad’. That could not be more true for this character. Generally, when people treat others poorly, it comes from a real depth of pain in themselves, so as surprising as it was, it does really make sense from a human standpoint.”
When you first read the script for the movie, what was your reaction to that universe and that world that Olivia inhabits?
Amelie: “Yeah, I was scared. I’m not gonna lie. When I first read the script, I was like ‘I don’t know about this. I’m definitely really nervous to be a part of this.’ It sparks a really important conversation, but playing such a villain in such a kind of white power film was kind of scary to me. But ultimately, that is what art is, right? I am not this character in my real life, but this movie is a piece of art that creates a really important dialogue about issues that are really quite culturally important right now, especially. After kind of thinking about it, I was like ‘it would be silly of me to not want to be a part of this project’ because even if the character itself kind of terrifies me, the project itself is really, really important and it would be an honor to be a vessel in that universe.’
If you’re interested in checking out my full interview with Amelie, you can watch the full video below:
Slanted is now playing in theatres courtesy of Bleecker Street and Fox Entertainment Studios.
