Chloë Sevigny and AnnaSophia Robb Drank Gin and Shopped to Get Into Character

To get into character as mother and daughter when they were filming Hulu’s true crime drama The Act, Chloë Sevigny and AnnaSophia Robb set aside time for some major bonding on location in Savannah.

“We did a lot of fine dining, gin drinking, and staring into each other’s eyes,” recalls Sevigny, with a laugh. “There’s an openness that you need to have to play a mother and daughter, so it was important to us that we really got to know each other.”

One of the other ways that the women connected? Shopping, of course. More specifically vintage shopping, around the area that they were filming (the two even bumped into each other once while shopping for Halloween costumes in town).

For Robb, getting to not only act, but shop alongside Sevigny was a blast. “I love that she always wears classic pieces, but with an edge," she says. "And whether she’s on the red carpet or just walking down the street, there’s always something that makes me want to take a closer look at her outfit, like a quirk on her dress or a sharp cut to her jeans.”

So for InStyle’s August issue, we connected the two pals to talk shop. On the agenda? Cinderella dresses, vintage scores, and yes, that one time they accidentally twinned on the red carpet. Read on for their full chat below.

And for more stories like this, pick up the August issue of InStyle, available on newsstands, on Amazon, and for digital download now.

ANNASOPHIA ROBB: Chloë, this will be fun because way before we met for our show, The Act, I’d always admired your career, and, of course, your style. I love that there’s an element of surprise to everything you wear. You always look so confident in your own skin.

CHLOË SEVIGNY: Well, I love that, and I’m so flattered, but I still struggle with the red carpet. There’s so much importance put on it now that it’s easy to get wrapped up, you know?

AR: I do! It can be a weird thing. There are all these flashing lights, and you’re just standing there like a little mannequin.

CS: I mean, it’s a privilege to wear these beautiful garments, but I call them Cinderella dresses because 99.9 percent of the time you have to return them at the end of the evening.

AR: You’ve had a lot of different style chapters, but you’ve never really repeated any one thing, which is pretty incredible.

CS: I’m always evolving, but I think my style has mostly stayed the same. Sure, sometimes I see old pictures and think, “Ugh, who was I trying to be?” But it’s important to just be comfortable in what you wear. A false moment can be pretty transparent on the red carpet.

AR: Do you always feel like you have to wear “a look”? I like to dress up, but when it’s cold out I look like shit a lot of times. [laughs]

CS: No, I don’t always dress up. Unfortunately, my favorite Pilates studio is across town, so I have been photographed in some activewear that I try not to wear in public. [laughs] I’ve been trying to mix activewear with normal things, like Adidas track pants with loafers, not sneakers. Really, it's more of a geographical problem for me.

AR: That actually sounds cute! What do you like to wear when you’re directing? I remember what you wore on our very first day of filming, and it was the very first time I’d ever been on a set with a director who was wearing a dress.

CS: Ha! I’ve directed three short films, and each time I’ve worn a floral skirt on the first day, mostly to disarm the men. One time it was so hot out that I just went with jean shorts and a bikini top.

AR: Now that's amazing! What city influences your style the most? New York?

CS: Growing up, I actually got a lot of inspiration from London. In the ’90s I was poring over all the progressive magazines, like The Face and i-D. When I’m in New York I like to sit in Tompkins Square Park and watch the kids go by. They keep it real.

AR: I love eating bagels there so I can people-watch. The month we were filming in Savannah, you were always serving looks, and I know you travel so much. So what’s your packing strategy? I’m terrible at it.

CS: I plan my looks for day and night and then bring some interchangeable pieces too. I also try not to pack many new things because it’s harder to figure out how to wear them. I keep a little space in my bag for new purchases too. The way I discover a city is by going around to vintage stores. I think we ran into each other at one, right?

AR: Yeah! We were both shopping for our Halloween costumes. We had great costumes this year.

CS: I know! I was a city mouse, so it was like very Dior New Look, with white pumps, gloves, and an evening bag, but still all dirty and mousy with a rubber nose.

AR: And I was Maude, from Harold and Maude, so I got a little paisley getup, a coat, and a wig. So much fun. What’s been your best vintage find so far? When I was in L.A. and I came across a yard sale where there was this really cool painted leather jacket with the most beautiful stitching on it. I loved that it was just sitting there on the grass.

CS: It's so hard to choose. I'd probably say my shiny vintage Issey Miyake raincoat that I’ve had for five years. I wore it every day at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

AR: You looked great in Cannes, Chloë. That Miu Miu dress with the bow [above]? So good. Do you have an all-time favorite look?

CS: The year I won a Golden Globe, I wore a lavender Valentino gown [below] that made me feel like I was floating on air. And they gave it to me, so it wasn’t a Cinderella moment, luckily. I still have it and I’m waiting for another occasion that I can bust it out. It's one of those cases where a dress really gives you an other-worldly power.

AR: Oh, I loved that one. I also loved the Simone Rocha looks that we both wore to the première of The Act. [below]

CS: I requested that black dress, and they said you wanted to wear one of Simone’s red looks. So I thought, “Oh, it would be cute if we were both in dresses!” They failed to mention that we were both going to wear the headbands. [laughs]

AR: When we all shuffled together to take a group photo, I saw you and was like, “Whoa!” It was a fun surprise, though.

CS: And then Joey King showed up with a headpiece on too.

AR: Right! My other favorite look I’ve worn was a tailored Katie Ermilio dress [below] at a Carrie Diaries event. It was the first time I’d been on the carpet when I didn’t feel like a little girl. I'd just graduated high school, and it was empowering when I put it on. I just felt different. The right dress can be really empowering.

CS: Didn’t you have Manolos custom-made for you on The Carrie Diaries? I was supposed to ask Eric [Daman, the costume designer] about getting those back for you, wasn’t I? You need those. You’re the only one who has tiny feet.

AR: I know — I’m a size 5. If you see him, let him know! Have you been able to keep anything cool from a film?

CS: I have the blue T-shirt I wore in Kids. It was actually my shirt to begin with, so I just stole it back. [laughs]

AR: I wore one of my own shirts on The Act too, remember?

CS: Oh, yeah! Honestly, I was so impressed with your style when we were filming. I kept thinking, “She’s just ... so chic.”

AR: Coming from you, that’s the highest compliment.