Kelly Spain. “My mom and I drove twenty-five hours to Los Angeles to meet with an agent.”

Hollywood’s new darling, the 25-year-old American actress won the Volpi trophy for best actress at the recent Venice Film Festival. Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s film dedicated to Elvis Presley’s wife. Before joining Daniel Craig in part threeDuring disagreementshe takes on another important challenge, giving a boost to one of the most iconic sagas in the history of cinema. Alien: Romulus.

Madame Figaro. – My current state of mind ?
Kaylee Spani: Excited. Being a part of an equally iconic sagaAlien it’s a chance.

What I share with my character ?
Rain Carradine was born in a mining colony where resources were running out and people were struggling. I come from a long line of Missouri farmers and workers and know the environment it operates in is very close to the environment I grew up in. No space setting.

My connection to the saga Alien ?
I saw the first movie when I was a child, on TV, with my brothers and sisters and my father. After all, “seen” is a big word. I went back and forth to my room to hide, but kept coming back to the screen; I was as terrified as I was delighted. When I became an actress, I came across many famous films, including episodesAlien, absolute monster movie links. When Ridley Scott directed Alien, the eighth passenger In 1979, it was an independent film with new codes. He completely reinvented the genre.

Succeeding Sigourney Weaver ?
All the actresses have her game in mind Alien, which was a turning point in terms of representation of women in cinema. When he wrote the character of Ripley, Ridley Scott had originally intended it for a man; Sigourney took it, without the role being encumbered by gender stereotypes, and made it her own. It’s very liberating for actresses who are entering this world today.

I come from a long line of Missouri farmers and laborers

Kaylee Spani

The models that shaped me ?
Jennifer Lawrence, whose authenticity, choices and talent I admire. He can play anything. But also Virginia Woolf, war photographer Lee Miller, cellist Jacqueline du Pre (a rock star in the classical world), Meryl Streep, writer Sylvia Plath, who I just discovered. Distress call…

My title as an actress ?
I was such a bad student and so out of step with the school system that I dropped out at 13. My vision was not bright. Acting was my salvation. I started singing in church before I did theater, local commercials for caravans or Christmas decorations, shows at theme parks… I could go on and on, but the more I watched movies, the more I saw; goal in it. A friend of a friend told me about an agent, and my mom and I drove twenty-five hours to meet her in Los Angeles. And then, everything happened very quickly.

A decisive meeting ?
Sofia Coppola, who gave me the role of Priscilla. I could not believe. I was obsessed with his movies as a teenager. The film opened doors for me, but I don’t accept anything, acting is a strange profession, and it’s possible that tomorrow I won’t be offered anything.

I was such a bad student and so out of step with the school system that I dropped out at 13

Kaylee Spani

Is promoting myself a chore?
I don’t think it’s healthy to talk about yourself during an interview. My life is not a touchy subject. I try to divert attention to roles and films.

I lie in an interview. ?
We all do it.

Last time I was proud of myself ?
I was born in an environment far away from cinema, in a region of religious strictness, I left school very young. even if today I try to make up for my shortcomings, it was not given to me. I’m proud of the path I’ve taken and the life I’ve been able to build.

Alien: Romulus, By Fede Alvarez, with Kaylee Spani, Isabella Merced, David Johnson Frey… Released on August 14th.