ODEYA RUSH IS NOT ONE OF THOSE STARLETS WHO POPPED OUT OF THE WOMB WITH VISIONS OF DRAGGING HER PARENTS TO HOLLYWOOD. NEVERTHELESS, THANKS TO HER PASSION FOR STORYTELLING AND SMART-GIRL CRED, ISRAELI-BORN RUSH HAS APPEARED IN A STEADY SUCCESSION OF FILMS INCLUDING THE GIVER, GOOSEBUMPS, LADY BIRD, DUMPLIN’, DANGEROUS WATERS, AND COMEDY-DRAMA CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH. LIFE HAS BEEN AN EVER-EVOLVING CREATIVE EXPLORATION FOR THE YOUNG TALENT, AFTER LEAVING HER HOME COUNTRY TO MOVE TO THE US AT NINE-YEARS-OLD, AND A BRIEF STINT AS A MODEL. AT THIS STAGE IN HER CAREER, AND NOW STILL BASED STATESIDE, IT SEEMS AS IF RUSH HAS MASTERED HOW TO NURTURE HER CREATIVE IMPULSES, INCLUDING WRITING HER FIRST FEATURE, SET TO BE A COMING-OF-AGE DRAMA. WE CAUGHT UP WITH HER FOR AN OLD-FASHIONED CHAT ON THE PHONE, WHILE SOMEONE FIXED HER SHOWER IN THE BACKGROUND, “I HAVE TOO MUCH HAIR AND IT KEEPS GETTING CAUGHT UP IN THE DRAIN!”, SHE LAUGHS, WHILE ALSO REVEALING TO US THAT SHE OWNS A DRUMKIT AND PLAYS ALONG TO ADELE SONGS. “MA NISHMA?” WE ASK. THAT’S HEBREW FOR “WHAT’S UP?”

Coat, shirt and top **Prada**, jewellery **David Yurman**

When did you get the acting bug? Was there a particular movie or actor in your childhood, that really made you think, I want to do that?

I was always really drawn to playing and make believe, so I would write plays at home and put on plays with my friends, and when I got an iPad when I was older, I would make movies with my brothers on iMovie. So, it came from the fact I love storytelling, and from seeing Natalie Portman in The Professionals too. I remember watching the movie when I was younger and thinking she’s so cool and she’s my age and she’s also Israeli, so it really inspired me too.

You mention Israel, where you grew up. You then moved to the US when you were nine years old, so was it a culture shock but also exciting for you?

Yes, and I moved to Alabama first before coming to Los Angeles, and that was a real culture shock. There were lots of Jews there, so I did feel like there was a sense of community, but it was the opposite of Israel, and it’s very slow-paced and everything was four times the size of what I was used to. I felt so weird, and I was calling my teachers in school by their first names, because that’s what I was used to in Israel, and I was perceived as rude! But I come from a culture that is very direct and personal instantly, and American culture is very polite, so it was quite confusing!

Left Jumpsuit **Chanel**, sneakers **Hogan**
Right Dress **Givenchy**, jewellery **David Yurman**

How did the modelling come about then?

Well, I was at acting school and writing plays at home, but I was never into showbiz, I just liked the storytelling side of things. Then a friend of the family took some pictures of me and sent them to an agency, and I ended up getting an audition for Little House on the Prairie. So, I watched the entire show… and by the way, I know everything about that show, because I really prepared for the role! But it turns out it was for the book cover, for print, haha! So, I ended up being Laura Ingall’s Grandmother Charlotte, the origin story for the covers! My modelling days were just in the Summer and something that was fun for me. I was only 11 years-old, and I was looked after as a child model, so I wasn’t being sent off to Paris and all that, you know, so I can’t compare it to being like the older models.

Does fashion inspire you, especially with having all this access to stylists and clothing now as an actress?

Yes, I love fashion! I’m on Pinterest all day and I love finding and following fashion influencers, and watching videos about fashion, and I follow a lot of fashion magazines too. I love sneakers, and I’m really into streetstyle and all the up-and-coming brands.

Top and pants **Bottega Veneta**, jewellery **David Yurman**

You’ve been involved with some great projects so far in your acting career. Have you developed more confidence on screen, or found a deeper love for the craft and storytelling?

I think I’m learning more every day, and I definitely have a deeper love and respect for the craft and just want to keep improving and being the best, I can. Dangerous Waters was a really tough movie, as I was in every scene, and my character was going through intense experiences, so I found more love for the craft then as I had to challenge myself and learn new techniques and put myself in situations I’m not used to.

Do you think working alongside industry heavyweights like Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and the late Ray Liotta, has also helped in refining those techniques, and helped in the way you prepare for roles?

Well, Ray gave it all for every single take, for every single angle, even when there was an insert of his hands, he was improvising lines. He was so giving as an actor and gave me so much time, and Jeff Bridges is also that way too. His advice was to not take life too seriously, and he has a levity about this industry, which is important, in not putting too much pressure on yourself and remember you’re doing this for the enjoyment of it. Movie sets are pressure cookers, time sensitive and everyone is always rushing and it’s easy to feel under pressure if you don’t get something right, but Jeff taught me that it’s a movie at the end of the day, and it’s all good you know!

Left Top **The Thirteen Club**, vintage tiara, jewellery **David Yurman**

Right Coat **Miu Miu,** shoes and socks **Adidas**, jewellery **David Yurman**

What kind of role would you like to take on that you haven’t already? Maybe an action movie with fellow Israeli actress Gal Gadot?

Oh, that would be cool! I think I would like to try comedy next, my heroes are Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Jonah Hill and Seth Rogan, they’re the comedians I grew up with, and I love what they do.

You write and direct your own short films too. Do you love the writing process?

I love starting a scene and not knowing where it’s going and then it just evolves into something else. I think that’s the fun part of it, when you let your imagination run wild and it takes you to new places, and scenes just come to you when you’re not expecting them and didn’t plan for them to go that way. I’m writing my first feature now, that I hope to direct soon, and it started off completely different from where I’m at now, and I can really go anywhere with it.

Left Top **Heaven by Marc Jacobs**, pants **JW Anderson**, shoes **Adidas**, jewellery **David Yurman**

Right Top **The Thirteen Club**, underwear **Miu Miu**, vintage pants **Rebalance**, belt **Chanel**, shoes **Nike**, jewellery **David Yurman**

Can you tell me what it’s about?

It’s a coming-of-age story about two best friends who are in community college, and they feel a little stuck where they are in life. It’s about that point where you’re just out of high school and those years are starting to lose meaning, and life is starting to get serious, and they’re both discovering themselves, but doing that apart from one another.

You’ve worked with some great female directors. Have they inspired you in the way you’ll handle the process?

For sure. I feel like I take every opportunity that comes my way to work with female directors, and some of those have been my best experiences on set, like working with Anne Fletcher, Greta Gerwig and Kelly Oxford. There is a stereotype of a director that we’ve all grown up with, but you can actually be a soft spoken or introverted person and be an amazing director and gain respect from your cast and crew. That’s what I’ve learned from those women, and those sets had a lot less tension.

Left Top **Heaven by Marc Jacobs**, pants **JW Anderson**, jewellery **David Yurman**

Do you think you might write / direct a story about the other side of the country you grew up in, because you’re a proud Israeli, and you once said, “A lot of movies that come from Israel are about war, but there is such good, funny, rounded writing that comes from the country that I wish more people would discover.”

I come from such a rich culture, and it’s barely represented in this type of medium, and actually one of my characters in my feature is Israeli. I think I would like to do a romantic comedy maybe, something that shows my experience of someone that comes from two cultures and how that feels.

Aside from taking over Hollywood, is there anything else in your career that you hope to do?

Eventually I would like to go into business. I have a couple of restaurant and hotel ideas.

I the creative side of it all, and I would maybe launch in Los Angeles, because I feel like I know the market and demographic here, and then expand!

Left Sweater and shorts **Balenciaga**, sneakers and socks **Nike**

Right Jumpsuit **Chanel**, sneakers **Hogan**, vintage tiara

How do you mentally switch off from work and the Hollywood bubble? Looking at your Instagram, you seem to enjoy being in the great outdoors?

I like hiking, working out and I love basketball too. I was the only girl on a team when I was 8 years-old, but nobody ever passed me the ball! Haha! I also have three dogs, two Australian shepherds who are twins and the other one is a rescue. They’re a full-time job and they run my life, my world and my heart. I also play drums. I got a drumkit when I moved into my own place at 19 years-old, as my Mom would never let me have one. I like drumming along to bands like The Strokes and Alabama Shakes, and Adele has some great songs too!

Your neighbours must just love you then?

Well one time they said to me, “Hey, we just wanted to ask, what are you doing up there, are you dancing or doing tap”, haha! So I told them I had bought a drumkit! Then another time I think I heard a broom knocking! So, I just keep my playing to before 11pm at night now!

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Discover the full story in our upcoming SS23 WILDSIDE Issue

Interview by Kate Lawson

Photography by Ellen Fedors

Fashion by Sharon Chitrit

Hair by Ashley Lynn Hall

Make-Up by Janice Daoud

Make-Up assistant Alex Kleeman

Stylist’s assistant Gabrielle Ram