Sophie Wilde Came to Cannes With a Suitcase Full of Loewe
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CANNES — Sophie Wilde’s first Cannes Film Festival experience was far removed from her first time in the seaside town, when she hit the South of France as a backpacker with about 200 euros in her pocket.
This time, the Australian actress climbed the famous red-carpeted stairs of the Palais des Festivals as the female winner of the Chopard Trophy, alongside fellow honoree Mike Faist and Chopard copresident and creative director Caroline Scheufele.
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Both Wilde and Faist said they are terrified of public speaking and feel a bit more comfortable in character.
“You think being an actor you would be good at it, but not for me,” she said after receiving the prize from Chopard Trophy godmother Demi Moore. “With acting, you’re kind of putting on a persona and you’re not really yourself, as opposed to public speaking when it’s just you all by yourself being kind of open and shared with the world.”
The “Boy Swallows Universe” star has vowed to work on honing that skill, just in case there are more awards in the future. “We’re getting there,” she joked of soothing her nerves.
Still, she separates herself from her characters with one of the most readily available methods of self care out there — she takes a hot shower as soon as she gets home from set. “I think you kind of wash off the character,” she said. “It’s important to have separation.”
See her role in the breakout horror hit “Talk to Me,” which saw Wilde go into a dark space to get into character. The actress isolated herself from the rest of the cast and listened to music from U.S. hip-hop group Death Grips to stay focused on the dark, intense script.
It was only when the cast and crew went to Sundance with the film that they discovered she is actually a bright, bubbly person.
It’s been a busy few years for the young star, who graduated from drama school straight into the pandemic. She had signed on to do “Hamlet” with Sydney’s Bell Shakespeare theater, but after a week’s worth of shows, everything shut down.
“It was quite jarring,” she said of stepping into her first professional role, and then having it taken away so quickly.
She moved into other roles, including the period drama “Tom Jones” and “Boy Swallows Universe,” the coming-of-age Netflix show. Her role in “Talk to Me” earned her an Australian Academy Award for best actress, and she was nominated for the EE Rising Star Award at this year’s BAFTAs.
Those accolades seem destined, as Wilde wanted to be an actress since she was five with pretty singular focus. She enrolled in acting classes and never stopped.
It was Audrey Hepburn’s 1953 romantic comedy “Roman Holiday” that sparked that desire.
“It was just, ‘I want to be that, I want to do that.’ I was so enamored [by the film] and how much it affected me emotionally, especially that final scene with her and Gregory Peck,” she said. “Even as a kid, it was just a ‘wow’ moment. I was like, it’s amazing that you can do that to people and I want to be able to do that to people.”
She had her Hepburn moment on the carpet in a white gown with a bit of a “Sabrina” twist with a dip hem updated by Loewe as a midriff-baring two-piece with a fringed capelet, paired with delicate Chopard diamonds. “To this day, she is my queen,” she said of the fashion icon.
“It felt fresh, but still quite elegant and elevated,” she said of the outfit. But the Sydney native plans to stay loyal to her laid-back, beachy style, while balancing her red carpet fashion and on-set looks. “It’s such a big part of my job that it’s nice to just feel relaxed and comfortable.”
Wilde worked with Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, and he packed a suitcase full of outfits for her trip, planned with stylist Nell Kalonji. They worked from sketches and mood boards on custom looks. She wore a sporty black jacket for a WWD photo on the Chopard rooftop, and a second red carpet look of an avant-garde, cut-to-there leather gown with an obi belt.
Last March’s Loewe show marked her fashion week debut and seeing the runway made her emotional. “I really think Jonathan is an artist. It wasn’t just watching the clothes. It was like watching an art piece. He has this ability to create unique worlds, and I was like, ‘I want to live in that world,’” she said. “I’m obsessed with him.”
She’s still based in Australia and making many trips around the world — to Paris for fashion week, to Cannes for the Chopard event — and she plans on staying in her home country, for now, making her next big role administrative.
“I’m like, I have not sorted out my frequent flyer points,” she joked. “It’s a disaster. I have got to get on top of that.”
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