overall comfort level in front of the camera that I don’t think I’d really fully felt until The Whale .” Sink continues, “ The Whale kind of marked a real turning point in my overall confidence in myself as an actor. In kind of stepping into a new environ- ment, and working with Darren especially, I think I shed a few of my child actor habits that I had developed. Not necessarily bad habits, but just for me, at least, I’ve always struggled with speak- ing up, or feeling like treating the process as more of a collab- orative effort. Because when you start acting when you’re young, I think it’s a very intimidating environment, and you feel like you’re just there to take direction and be on your mark and know your lines.” Sink’s confidence on set fol- lowed her into her character, and her performance in The Whale is raw and beautifully complements what many are calling a major
For a moment, Sink thought she was going to have to drop The Whale to focus on Stranger Things. She describes the series’ latest season as “her turn.” With such a large cast, it’s hard to give each character a pivotal story each season, but Sink was front and center this time around, giving a vulnerable, emotionally and physically demanding performance that made the show’s millions of viewers gasp, gawk, and completely bawl their eyes out. As an essential part of the story, it didn’t look like Sink was going to be able to slip away for three months to work on the film. But the Duffer Brothers, the show’s creators, have witnessed the show’s young actors become adults. They know their hit series serves as a springboard for other important projects, so they gave Sink the needed opportunity to step away. “I feel like that’s something that they also do a really good job on Stranger Things,” Sink considers, “ of having our characters grow with us. And I think they especially did that in season four for me, which I was really grateful for. I feel like the Duffers, if they see you kind of growing as a person, and growing as an actor, they kind of want to tap into that a little bit more and push you and allow you the chance to challenge yourself.” Letting Sink pursue The Whale turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the skills she learned from its shooting helped propel her fantastic performance in Stranger Things . “Most of the stuff in season four of Max’s was filmed post- The Whale , which I think really came in handy, just in terms of the emotional stamina that I had kind of built up. And just my
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