Sofia Hublitz is on a call to us from a house deep in the woods of Virginia in the US where she grew up. Despite a really bad phone signal causing weird delays, and the almost mesmerising sounds of wind chimes in the background, the 22-year-old actress tells us all about being part of the hit Netflix crime drama, Ozark, in which she played Charlotte Byrde - a misguided moody teen-turned-serious extortionist. As the finale of the fourth-season series bids a tearful goodbye to audiences, Hublitz reveals she’s actually quite a funny person in real life; doesn’t know what all the fuss about pistachio ice-cream is, and totally obsesses about 90s style icon, Carolyn Bessette. Join the club right?
Top & pants Loewe, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, rings Versace & Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
Are you living out a childhood dream now, did you always want to be an actor?
No, I was a really ‘in the moment’ kind of kid, I had a lot going on, my parents were both very free thinkers and carved out life their own way and were very successful. My Mom is a Chef and has owned many restaurants and and neither went to college - so they taught me everything I know about art and music and film. My Mom raised me on her own too, and she taught me a lot about independence and self-wealth and getting what you want in this world. I never really thought I would be an actor, you know when you’re a child, everything is so fantastical and out of reach, and I didn’t get my first job until I was 15, so I feel very removed from the child actor aspect of it all.
As your breakthrough TV role, what was it like playing Charlotte, how did you prepare for it?
I think just being in Atlanta, making friends with everyone I was shooting with and just throwing myself into it and getting to know the story in advance, that all helped to build the chemistry and familial aspect of it all. But one physically demanding pre-cursor was that I took swimming lessons every weekend with the coach of the swim team at Emory University, as they have a really big swim team there in Atlanta, and the coach John was really patient with me, because I didn’t know how to swim like a professional swimmer! So he really helped me to make it look real, and you know, they’re pretty useful life skills to have, not drowning and all that, ha ha!
Left Top Rui, shorts Tod’s, shoes Dior, socks Pantherella, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, ring Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
Right Dress Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, rings Repossi & Tiffany & Co
And you got to work with amazing actors, like Jason Bateman and Laura Linney who play your parents in the series. Was it nerve-wracking working with actors of that calibre and of a different generation?
Jason and Laura are lovely people and from the moment we met, they always included us - meaning Skylar Gaertner, who plays my brother in the show - in all of the conversations that were going on, as if we were their peers - everything was always a collaboration.
And as an only child in real life, how did you find it having to manufacture that whole sibling love and rivalry thing between you and Jonah (Skylar), where did you pull your experiences from?
Just getting to spend time with him really, pretty much eighty percent of my scenes were with him, and so getting to know Skylar over the years, it manifested as a kind of sibling dynamic, and building that fondness and kinship you feel with someone younger than you.
Left Top Givenchy, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co
Right Top Rui, shorts Tod’s, shoes Dior, socks Pantherella, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, ring Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
Do you all still keep in touch and hang out now that the show has ended?
Well Charlie (Tahan) and Julia (Garner) are like Brother and Sister to me, and we’re are still really close because every year of filming, we made a point to always live together in the same building, so I saw them the most outside of work every day, going out for dinner or visiting museums. We’re kind of inseparable, even though the thread that tied us together is no longer there, them along with other crew members and of course Jason and Laura, we’ll all be in each others lives forever. We can’t erase that bond we all had just because the show is over.
Jacket Acne Studios, top Rui, shorts Zadig & Voltaire, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, ring Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
So I read that you’re really into reading and writing, are you working on anything yourself now, perhaps writing a script?
I’m always reading, like three two or three books at a time, and with writing, in Atlanta I actually started writing a lot, during the sporadic time I was away from home filming and my boyfriend and family weren’t with me. Charlie (Tahan) and I actually started developing a TV show when we there, and it’s about three best friends who are really wild people kind of going in and out of reality, while trying to make it in Hollywood. It’s been really fun to make up a completely made-up world and put all the humour you want into it, and it might hopefully be visualised into something one day, who knows, but at the moment it’s this dreamscape project really.
I love the freedom of creating your own world and having characters that make choices and it’s a sort of pick your own adventure, so I’m currently also working on polishing a few shorts that I’ve written.
Left Dress & belt Schiaparelli, shoes Dr. Marten’s, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, rings Repossi & Tiffany & Co
Right Top Celine by Hedi Slimane, shorts and shoes Dior, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, rings Repossi & Tiffany & Co
What about future roles for yourself, is there any particular genre you would like to explore, or fave filmmaker that influences you?
I love Michael Haneke and Paul Thomas Anderson, and I think I would love to do a raucous comedy, I love comedy, and I think I’m pretty funny in life I guess. I was always being told at high school that I was funny, although I didn’t spend much time there, I was always skipping school, I wish I had gone more often!
Left Top & shoes Celine by Hedi Slimane, jacket The Academy New York, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, ring Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
Right Top Celine by Hedi Slimane, shorts and shoes Dior, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, rings Repossi & Tiffany & Co
What about writing for stand-up comedians?
I love stand-up and can admire it from afar, but I’m a pretty bad joke writer, I’m pretty good at situational comedy, but writing jokes, no, I’m terrible at it, actually my boyfriend and Mom are always laughing at the terrible jokes I make!
Ok, so aside from comedy, if you could play an iconic person on the big screen, any ideas who you would choose?
Well I hear Ryan Murphy is developing a project about Carolyn Bessette and JFK Junior, and I don’t think I bear any physical resemblance to her at all, but I would be really curious to hear more, as I’m obsessed with Carolyn.
Me too! It’s that 90s style vibe that’s transcended time right. Do you follow the many Carolyn Insta-Fan accounts?
I do! I follow two of them on my secret private Instagram that I have! I think she and JFK Jnr. are still so fascinating because they lived before the dot.com boom, and it’s admirable that even to this day, 23-years after her death, there’s so much mystique about her, and there’s only like one or two clips on YouTube when you can even hear her voice at all.
Left Top Givenchy, pants Rui, shoes Versace, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co
Right Jacket Acne Studios, top Rui, shorts Zadig & Voltaire, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, ring Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
Talking of mystique, what’s happening with your public Instagram account, did you delete or deactivate it, do you not feel you’re losing something professionally, like in a FOMO-ishly way?
It’s been two years now, and yes there is a little bit of a feeling that maybe I’m missing out on something, but it’s just not my favoured medium to connect with people, and I think it’s kind of stripped a lot of people’s mystery away, and that kind of mystique that used to surround actors lives. Not having it is also pretty thought-provoking itself though right, I mean you’re asking about it, so it starts a conversation?
Yes because it makes my job a little easier if I can find you on Instagram and see what you’ve been up to, aside from reading all the press stuff I get sent?
So then you have to work a little bit harder to fill in the blanks!
Ha ha, fair enough! So let’s rewind a little, as I wanted to ask about your days on Masterchef Junior, were you actually able to cook as a kid, I guess that must have come from your Mum right?
Yes she taught me what good food is and how to cook, but you know, I was 12 years-old and I thought it would be fun to do the audition after school, and I didn’t even think I would make it on the show.
Left Dress Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co, rings Repossi & Tiffany & Co
Right Dress Schiaparelli, necklaces Versace & Tiffany & Co, earring Tiffany & Co
Ok so let’s fast-forward now, you’re hosting a dinner party and cooking for 5 people, who are your ultimate guests?
Joan Crawford, Adam Sandler, Philip Baker Hall, Joaquin Phoenix and Denzel Washington, because that seems kind of a chaotic mix, and I would like to watch that all unfold.
Joan, she’s such a strong female icon, are there any other women you really admire?
Cate Blanchett, I loved her in the movie I'm Not There, and I was listening to an interview with her and she said she did 3 or 4 plays a year, and she and her husband were co-artistic directors at the Sydney Theatre Company. She’s just really admirable in how much she loves the craft.
Ok, so one last question, and the fans of Ozark will really get this - do you have more of an appreciation for organic pistachio ice cream now?
You know it’s so funny, people always ask me about that! I never thought people would grasp on to that! Like when you’re shooting something, you never think on the day like that will be meme-worthy eventually. I’ll have to ask Chris Mundy (Producer, Ozark), what that all signifies?! Ha ha!
…
Interview by Kate Lawson
Photography by Marie Tomanova
Fashion by Alicia Lombardini
Hair by Erol Karadag
Make-Up by Lisa Aharon at The Wall Group
Nails by Julie Kandalec
Casting by IMAGEMACHINE cs
Stylists’s assistant Cyrenae Tademy