Riding on the wave of the renaissance of the horror movie genre over the past five years, Netflix tapped a much-loved teen star to appear front and centre in its latest scare-trilogy, Fear Street.
The actress in question? 19-year-old Sadie Sink. Adored for her portrayal of feisty Max Mayfield in cult sci-fi drama Stranger Things, Sink has spent the last four years - after joining for the second season - adjusting to fame alongside her Gen-Z castmates Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp (though she clarifies, they don't currently have a WhatsApp group).
'Luckily, I've got an amazing cast that are going through the exact same thing that I am, so I've got a very strong support system,' Sink said during a game of Ask Me Anything with ELLE, when asked about the process of adapting to fame.
'I think now with like the masks and everything, it's harder to get recognised but I remember struggling with that at the beginning, [I was] getting really anxious whenever people would ask for pictures, just like, "What is going on?" So that's been a real adjustment.'
Fear Street - a horror trilogy chronicling the cursed town of Shadyside, Ohio which has a history of being plagued by terrifying goings-on, dating back to the the witch trials of the 1600s. The three movies take place in different eras, with Sink leading the second instalment, set in 1978 playing teen character, Ziggy.
'I really loved learning more about seventies fashion, music and everything,' Sink tells us. 'As far as fashion goes, I really love all the corduroy shorts, I thought those were super cute. And then for music I listened to a lot of Grease while I was filming.'
The third film will take us back to the origin of the events (in 1666) while the first - which has already been released on Netflix - is set in 1994 and stars Sinks' Stranger Things co-star, Maya Hawke who - in real life - at the slightly older age of 23-years-old, serves as an inspiration for Sink.
'She's just such a hard worker and I really admire that in her, and she's just such a positive energy, I'm really lucky to have her.'
While Fear Street is undoubtedly classed as a horror, and Stranger Things a 'sci-fi horror', for Sink, it's the events in Hawkins, Indiana which frighten her the most: 'Fear Street is a lot more of that classic slasher movie and in your face. Stranger Things is more kind of eery and scares you more out of the blue. Personally, I feel more scared watching Stranger Things I think.'
As she grows older and spends more time developing Max, ahead of the show's fourth season, Sink has noticed increasing similarities between her character and how Sink operates her day-to-day life.
'As I've grown up, I've think I've picked up on more similarities that I have with Max,' the star explains.'Maybe that's me becoming more like her or me putting more of myself into the role. She's kind of rubbed off on me in the sense that she's very confident and sure of herself. But one of the main things that I think we have in common is just being a loyal friend. I feel like I try to be as loyal as I can and I think Max has an amazing quality in her where she would do anything for her friends.'
It's unthinkable to imagine Sink having any other job than an actor, given her impressive IMDB profile at such a young age, but there were times when she imagined herself as a lawyer instead.
'I could maybe see myself doing that if I hadn't chosen this career path which I'm very glad that I did,' she laughs. ' But then I started watching Grey's Anatomy and I really wanted to be a doctor... now I can maybe just play a doctor or play a lawyer.'
We're sure whether she plays a doctor, lawyer or stars in another horror, Sink's profile is only going to keep rising.
Fear Street Part 2 is released on Netflix today, July 9. Fear Street Part 3 releases on July 16 and Fear Street Part 1 was released on the streaming site on July 2.
Olivia Blair is Entertainment Editor (Luxury) at Hearst UK, working across ELLE, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Olivia covers all things entertainment and has interviewed the likes of Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, Michaela Coel and Ryan Gosling over the years.
