Wildflower is a movie that brings us Kiernan Shipka as Bea, a young girl raised by disabled parents who has, from a young age, taken care of them. But as she got older, she realized that she was giving her life away to taking care of her parents who didn’t need her to and it’s beautifully acted from an all star cast. Including Samantha Hyde! In an email interview, where I sent questions to Hyde that she responded back to, we spoke a lot about her character Sharon and the journey she goes on with her daughter.
When I asked about Hyde’s film debut in Wildflower and bringing Sharon to life, I asked her what it was about Sharon that drew her to the character. “How confident and happy she is most of the time,” she wrote. “I think a lot of us actors can focus on the dark parts of the world, and playing a character who is able to see the bright side so much of the time helped motivate me to push myself to be a better person.”
But Sharon as a character isn’t carrying the movie on her own, it’s her relationship with her husband and daughter that make it such a dynamic performance to watch. So I asked Hyde how she worked with co-stars Kiernan Shipka and Dash Mihok to make their relationship something audiences will love to watch. “Kiernan and Dash are both so generous with their time. I’ve turned to Kiernan about industry advice, boy advice, and for help with auditions,” she wrote. “Acting is such a competitive profession, but at the end of the day we do it because we love it, and to get to play with other actors as talented and passionate as Kiernan and Dash are, becoming friends with them was so special. Dash is a huge mentor of mine and he helped me figure out so much of how professional sets work. I love both of them very much.”
Embracing life
Something about Sharon as a character is that she is that she isn’t afraid. She throws herself into life and everything happening around her and so I asked Hyde what her favorite part about playing her was. “The scene where she asks Derek out on a date. She’s terrified, but she chases after what she wants anyways. I aspire to be as fearless and relentless when going after my own dreams.”
And much like Sharon, Hyde has been chasing her own dreams. Spending a lot of her time shining a positive light on the disabled community through her work, Wildflower was her first feature film but was just part of her growing catalog of projects so I asked her what stories she hopes to tell in the future.
“Right now I’m writing and developing a feature called Garbage Girl inspired by my real life struggles with pursuing acting while struggling with being disabled and hoarding,” she wrote. “After that, I have a fairy tale adaptation that I’m really excited about. Beyond that, I’m so thankful to the producers and extended family of Wildflower because they have continued to help me learn more about producing. I want to go on to be able to help other disabled artists tell their stories.”
I also spoke with Hyde’s co-star Dash Mihok and you can see our full interview with Mihok here!
Wildflower Is available on digital now!
(Featured image: Momentum Pictures)
