From Spielberg to Hanks: 'BFG' Star Ruby Barnhill's 'Nerve-Racking' Audition Process

Ruby Barnhill is a relatively unknown actress, but things are about to change for the soon to be 12-year-old, as she stars as Sophie in Disney’s The BFG, opening this weekend.

Given her lack of experience in major motion pictures, Barnhill went through a lengthy audition process that included five separate visits with different people.

“My first one, I was very, very nervous,” Barnhill recalled when we sat down with her and BFG director Steven Spielberg. “But as soon as I got in there and started playing Sophie, all the nerves just completely stopped.”

Her first meeting with Spielberg came on the set of Bridge of Spies, meaning she also met Tom Hanks. But that wasn’t the star she was most excited to meet.

“I also got to speak to his wife, Kate, as well, who I had seen in Temple of Doom,” Barnhill said, referencing Spielberg’s wife, actress Kate Capshaw. “So that was really nice.”

And while meeting Capshaw was a thrill for Barnhill, it was her fifth and final audition — and first time meeting Mark Rylance — that finally sealed the deal for her.

“I walked in and he was so great, and he had props everywhere, and we did loads of improvisation,” Barnhill said. “And I remember just thinking, ‘Whoever gets to work with him is gonna be so lucky.’”

Watch the cast of The BFG give us a refresher on gobblefunk:

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