Culture We all know someone with enviable main character energy. Those who transfix a room and effortlessly hold court, yet are never loud or brash. Others gravitate towards them.
They’re poised, charismatic, brave and, often to their own despair, moreish. Hunter Schafer, the 25-year-old actress and model, radiates main character energy. Having first stolen our hearts in HBO ’s Euphoria , she has continued to mesmerise the world while tearing up red carpets, advocating for trans rights and even being arrested at a demonstration in support of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Although a main character in her daily life, Schafer has never played one on screen — until now. Next month, she makes her leading lady debut in Tilman Singer’s surreal horror Cuckoo . ‘I was nervous coming into it because I’d never been a lead before.
It’s a lot of pressure and a lot of work,’ she tells me from the corner of a sparse LA hotel room, where she’s living while her roof is being redone following flood damage. ‘I was absolutely nervous,’ she continues, ‘especially having only worked on Euphoria before and being comfortable in that world, then jumping into this completely new one with new people. Like, “Oh my gosh, am I still going to be able to do this?” That’s something I had to prove to myself.
’ Schafer has been unapologetically proving herself since she made a last-minute entrance to the year 1998 on New Year’s Eve, born to the sound of the Spice Girls b.