At 23, she is a staple in multiple fan-favorite franchises. First as Enid Sinclair, the loyal werewolf bestie to Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams, then leading Netflix’s A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER as teen detective Pip Fitz-Amobi. Add in her silver-screen stint as Natalie in A MINECRAFT MOVIE, and it’s clear—Emma is everywhere. Now, in her SEVENTEEN cover story, Emma opens up about having a career in the public eye, WEDNESDAY season 2, a role that she’d love to tackle in the future, her favorite fandoms, dating deal-breakers, and more.
On not considering herself famous: “I had 9,000 followers on Instagram when Wednesday came out. And then I had something like 5 million in three days. It was crazy. Right now, I don’t really feel any different than I used to though. I’m still pretty me….I know might people look at my Instagram like, Wow, she has a lot of followers, but I can go anywhere and nobody really bothers me.”
On lying a lot when she was younger: “I was a pathological liar as a kid. I would just make up the most random scenarios and tell people that they actually happened to me. I think I just really wanted to be an actor, so I would lie all the time about everything….I would go around telling random people huge family secrets that were not real. And then I’d have to go and apologize and be like, ‘Yeah, I lied about that. I’m sorry.’”
On Tim Burton: “He threw us a pool party when we got to Romania for season 1, just to say hi to all of us. I got a call from him and he was like, ‘Yeah, I just want to check on you, see how you’re doing.’ Crazy to get a checkup call from Tim Burton. You would think he’d be serious and scary because he’s got a sort of genius mind, but he’s the coolest guy ever. He’s like your crazy uncle.”
On how the friendship between her character, Enid, and Jenna Ortega’s character, Wednesday, has evolved from season 1 to season 2: “They both have an understanding of one another. I think their respect for each other’s needs is really lovely. Even though all Enid wants to do is be touchy and hug, she still respects Wednesday’s need for space and alone time. And Wednesday respects what Enid likes and what Enid needs. Their friendship is really beautiful. Even though Enid’s got boys chasing after her, she couldn’t care less. Sisters before misters.”
On her close bond with Wednesday costar Jenna Ortega: “I love her so much. We have such a fun time together. She’s producing this next season so she had a lot more creative input and was always telling me, ‘If there’s something you don’t like or something you’re not comfortable with, let me know and I’ll be your person.’ She definitely was looking out for the cast, but she’s also such a great friend. You can confide in her. I instantly felt really close to her because she’s so cool, so open, and such a lovely person.”
On where she considers home: “Atlanta, but I can’t see myself staying here. I will say, I feel the most myself when I’m hiking something. When I was in New Zealand, I hiked all the Lord of the Rings trails and that’s when I felt the coolest. Me and my older sister hiked up to where Mount Doom is at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and at the very top, we sat and ate pita bread and hummus like Greek girls do. Who knows where home will be in the future, but right now, it’s anywhere my family’s at.”
On her relationship to work: “It’s always flopping back and forth. Some days, I question why I decided to do this. But then on the really good days, I know why. I genuinely love acting. I love meeting new people, I love telling stories and getting to play different characters. Even if I have hard days and want to quit, that never lasts for that long.”
On the downsides of fame: “It’s always a mixed bag, and it can be hard. People are going to have opinions on what your life looks like and will assume things that may not be accurate. Everybody’s going to have something to say about what you’re wearing, what you look like, and what you’re doing, and you just have to let it go.”
On stepping onto the set of A Minecraft Movie for the first time and starring in the film as a fan of the game: “It was so cool because I played so much as a kid. It really made me feel like I was actually in the game….I was a bit scared because Minecraft’s so beloved. I was like, ‘Oh, this could go either really good or really, really bad,’ and it went really, really good! It went well because the movie—and the marketing—doesn’t take itself too seriously. We’re all here to have fun. It’s a goofy movie. The point of it is to go see it and laugh and have fun.”
On what she would tell her 17-year-old self: “I was so concerned about what others thought about me all the time, to the point where it affected me making friends. I couldn’t even go and sit at a café by myself because I was worried people would be like, ‘Oh, she’s such a loser, sitting by herself at a café.’ Now I’m like, Nobody is thinking about you at all….If I could go back, I’d tell my 17-year-old self, ‘Get out of your head. Don’t let it stop you from experiencing life. Just chill out. You’re fine. You’re cool.’”
[Photo Credit: Hill & Aubrey for Seventeen Magazine]
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