What happens when you step into a character who isn’t the center of the story, but the spark that sets it ablaze?
Elle Fanning discusses her role in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value as Rachel, a character who becomes the unintentional catalyst for a fractured family’s emotional reckoning. Fanning shared that the role felt deeply personal and cathartic, allowing her to pour parts of her own experience into Rachel’s misplaced presence in the family drama.
Acting alongside Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, the film explores a director’s attempt to mend his broken family, while reckoning with buried emotions and generational wounds. Reinsve’s performance as a sister still carrying childhood weight speaks to the quiet complexity actors must bring to roles steeped in unspoken trauma.
This film is a powerful reminder that the most compelling characters are often the ones navigating silence, grief, and miscommunication, not with big speeches, but through subtle internal shifts.
Watch the video here: https://deadline.com/video/sentimental-value-stellan-skarsgard-toronto-s...
As an actor, how do you approach characters who are emotional triggers within an ensemble, those who spark conflict without always understanding their own role in it?
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I wish I could answer this question Ashley Renee Smith Unfortunately, I don't have any recent experience or enough experience to answer this. I would love to play someone like that. I have had plenty encounters with real life people like that.
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I've never roleplayed, but if I could I would love to, thanks for sharing Ashley.