Sophie Simnett Talks Twist In Our Exclusive Photoshoot and Interview

Photography: Jack Alexander

Stylist: Ella-Louise Gaskell

Hair and MUA: Lucie Blundell-Jones

Sophie Simnett is one of the most exciting young actresses right now and it’s clear from her electric portrayal of Samaira in Netflix’s ‘Daybreak and upcoming role as Red in Sky’s Original ‘Twist’ that the actress does not shy away from the challenges of high octane performances.

We caught up with Sophie to discuss her role on Twist, her extended portfolio and of course, her FAULTs

Can you tell us more about the character you portray on Twist?

I play Red in Twist, who is our stories’ version of the original ’Nancy.’ She’s Fagin’s right hand woman and is a part of the core gang who take Oliver in. However, she is also very independent; she and Twist both do parkour solo until they meet…jumping and climbing over buildings like a mad woman! She’s a proper Landan girl – she doesn’t take nonsense from anyone and takes a while to open up, but when the tough exterior fades we see her true desire to belong in the gang and have a home. She’s much cooler than I am and was a total joy to play. 

Twist is super high octane parkour, what was your training regiment like for the show?

Myself and Raf, who plays Twist, were lucky enough that we got to train with Sebastian Foucan, who is the founder of parkour, a couple months prior to filming. We would go into a gymnasium a couple times a week and Seb would teach us all about the correct ways to fall and climb. It was an incredible experience; there’s not many jobs which require you to train in parkour! Raf had trained a little longer than I had and so when I arrived he was leaping off the walls and I could barely touch my toes but we got there! It was amazing to do a lot of our own stunts, but even more amazing to watch our doubles do the bigger ones – they’d just suddenly be doing flips and jumping huge gaps it was terrifying but incredible…

What was the most challenging aspect of preparing for the role?

Although Twist is a re-imagined version of Oliver, contextually it’s very far from the original tale. So ensuring that the essence of Nancy was still present in Red was an exciting challenge. 

Were you ever nervous that fans of the original story’s themes would disconnect from this reimagining?I

think it’s important when dealing with adaptations of any sort, whether film or theatre or novel to go in with an open mind. It’s exciting to see something classic through a different lens and I would hope that because Twist is such a different world to the original, that Dickens fans can appreciate our nod to the tale, whilst also finding value in seeing Twist as a new film. The original characters and themes of family and searching for acceptance are very much apparent in Twist; they’re just presented in a different world.

When you look back on your career in say 10 years time, what do you want your portfolio to say about you as an actress?

I would be very grateful if I had enough work to look back on! I am always searching for quality character driven pieces that speak to a wide audience, so if I can play a character who does that whilst enjoying my job then I will be more than happy!

No two roles in your portfolio are similar, is this by design or chance?

I would love to say it’s by design, but it is for the most part by chance! The industry is so full of diverse work right now it’s a very exciting time to be an actor; I always want to try new roles in different worlds as that’s one of the most exciting parts of the job – accessing those contexts you would never/have never been in before, so hopefully the portfolio will say something along the lines of that.

If you could choose one dream role, even if it’s already been done, which role would you choose?

I would love to play someone in film who is living or who has lived…. Someone like Debbie Harrie…I think she’s class. Or Zelda Fitzgerald. Or on stage Nora in A Doll’s House…Having said that I love writing, so be able to be originate a character from conception would be pretty wild. Oh Claire Danes in Romeo & Julie…baby Natalie Portman in Leon..Uma Therman in Kill Bill….I could go on…

What is your FAULT? (Personal flaw)

I always burn the potatoes at Christmas. It’s a real source of tension at home. Oh and I’m very impatient…which doesn’t really work with the potato burning scenario, but I get very over-excited about things, mostly work and I find it hard to wait for things to unfold when I have a clear idea of what something could be.