Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Emily Sandifer
Unlike the character she plays in Curry Barker’s Obsession, Inde Navarrette actually loves dating herself. “I’m very, very big on me time,” she tells The Cut as she lists her favorite self-soothing activities, which include watching ten-minute YouTube painting videos, playing video games, pottery, and solo drives. “Even though you might be dating somebody else, don’t ever stop dating yourself,” the 25-year-old breakout star says, wisely. Obsession follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a 20-something music-store employee who has a huge crush on Nikki (Navarrette), his friend and colleague. After buying a seemingly innocuous “One Wish Willow” stick from a mystic crystals shop, he half-heartedly makes a wish for Nikki to fall for him. As you might expect, Bear soon learns it’s best to be careful what you wish for.
If you walked out of the theater blown away by Navarrette’s breakout performance, you’re not alone. Her range and full embodiment of Nikki’s layers deserve all the awards — quite the feat for an actress you may have only previously seen in 13 Reasons Why or Superman & Lois. The film is also inspiring all kinds of discourse on abuse and agency in relationships, but between it all, Navarrette is just trying to enjoy the buzzy communal moment: “It reminds me of being in school and all of us would watch The Vampire Diaries and then go talk about it on the playground, like, ‘Oh my God, did you see this?’”
Obsession is the moment right now. What has surprised you most about the film’s success?
How quickly things changed and evolved. What surprised me the most was that the second weekend did better than the first, and the third weekend did better than the second. What’s really cool is seeing everybody have this cultural experience with each other and having a connection right now through the film.
What was it like seeing that Kylie Jenner loved Obsession?
It’s a good reminder that we are all people that just go to the theater and get excited about movies and get recommendations from our friends, and we’re seeing that with how many super-famous people are seeing the movie. Obviously seeing Kylie Jenner post about Obsession — I was just like [jaw drops], “What?” So much fun!
Nikki almost gets the One Wish Willow as a gift from Bear. What do you think she would have wished for?
She would have wished for a publishing deal or a literary agent to take her out of the hometown and to really set her on her path with writing.
I heard you don’t love horror because you have sleep paralysis. What kind of demons have you seen in the dark?
That was my poor usage of wording: I am a fan of horror! I just get scared super-easily, so I don’t watch a lot of horror because I like my sleep. I had sleep paralysis on the film, yeah. I actually saw the guy from It Follows — that really tall white guy in the hallway busted through my door. That was …[Laughs].
Terrifying! Getting into our Rules to Live By questions: What’s your No. 1 rule for dating?
Keep in check with yourself to make sure that you’re not losing yourself.
What’s your No. 1 rule for dealing with romantic rejection? When it’s not mutual …
Oh, I kill them. I set their house on fire. [Laughs.] No, it’s tough. Recognizing that it sucks is the best thing. Don’t try to shove down the fact that it sucks, because then you’re just shoving down your emotions. Sit in the fact that it sucks. It’s not a good feeling, and then you slowly move on, and then you date yourself!
Do you think it’s okay to ghost after one date?
It depends on what they did. If they were really rude, you don’t really owe them an explanation, but I think if it went really well, and then suddenly you just don’t hear back, that really sucks. Because, again, it goes back to the rejection. You go, What did I do wrong? What is this? What’s going on? There’s unanswered questions. If they suck, ghost them. If they don’t, send them a text message and explain why. We’re grown adults! We can have conversations.
Other than playing truth-or-dare Jenga like Nikki, what’s your best rule for engaging with people at parties?
I love asking people what their party tricks are. And engaging through activities can lead to great conversations later. You get to feel the vibes. Beer pong! I’m awful, but I have a lot of fun playing. As soon as you’re doing good and you’re in a flow state with your partner, you’re like, Dude, we have the biggest egos, this is the best thing ever. And then you get deeply humbled. That’s life, you know.
Are you more of an extroverted house-party person?
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Everybody in my life will tell you that I’m super-extroverted for about maybe five hours out of the day, and then the rest of them are me time. I love the meme from Diary of the Wimpy Kid that’s like, “Don’t call me, don’t come by my house, we’re done.” That’s how I feel.
Obsession sounds are going viral on TikTok and Reels, but I read you’re avoiding social media — what has that been like?
I recognized that this film is no longer mine, it’s everybody else’s. So everybody else is allowed to have any thought processes. Out in the wild, there’s some opinions that aren’t my business. They might be about me, they might be about the film, but they don’t know me, so it’s not my business. Whenever it comes to fun videos that my friends will send me, or anything like that, I still want to engage with everybody, because it’s such a fun moment that we all are experiencing right now together, so that I love. Regarding anything else, I just don’t think it’s for me to see, or for me to acknowledge, so I have boundaries for that. My family and friends are really good at making sure that we’re staying in our own lane these days, but still being involved, because I love some of the theories and I love watching the edits.
In that case, do you have any rules around phone usage?
It’s loosey goosey, it depends on the day. Right now, I fall asleep watching a show, so I don’t really tend to go on my phone before bedtime. I watch these two drag queens, Trixie and Katya, and I watch every media from them ever. I’ve done this since 2018. It started with, obviously, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and then UNHhhh, and now I interchange between Queens Who Like to Watch and The Bald and the Beautiful. So I will put my phone down to watch my queens.
I have loved seeing Katya pop up in everything from Hacks to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. She’s everywhere.
She could have played Nikki. If there’s another person that could have played Nikki, I would have handed the role to Katya and been like, “Girl, this is for you.”
What’s your No. 1 fashion rule?
Jennifer Lawrence said it best: She doesn’t really think about what she wears. She puts it on, and then she leaves. That is what I’m starting to do, I’ve pulled out too much of my hair being like this could not go with this. It’s like, No, no, no, you’re putting it on, and you’re leaving.
What’s your No. 1 rule for giving good advice?
You have to ask if they want advice, and if they do, then do it, but not all the time do people want advice. My mom will be like, “Do you want an ear, or do you want advice?” Sometimes you just gotta rant.
What was your No. 1 rule on the set of Obsession?
I can’t think about the way that other people think about me. I couldn’t think about how I was coming across. I could only think about the truth of what I was doing. If I thought about the way that other people were thinking, I would have died. Every time that I felt myself yearning for validation, I removed myself from either the conversation or the scenario, because I knew that as soon as I gave up my power in that way, it was going to be really difficult for me to get it back. I didn’t tell anybody about it, it was a very personal thing, but that’s how I did it.
Is there anything you listened to in order to get into character?
Ethel Cain was a really big one. Preacher’s Daughter, that album was really big for me. I feel like Nikki would have understood where Ethel was coming from and would have appreciated the artistic vision that Ethel would write with, and how Ethel is not afraid to go to places that other people are afraid to go.
Do you have any rules around tipping?
Oh yes, I do. I tip 20 percent. I’m in a position where I made more money than I did while I was walking dogs, or at a restaurant or at the gym, so I am able now. But there are some times where I don’t understand why it’s asking to tip. To my knowledge and what I was taught, tipping is for the service. If I went and I got my own food, and I put it on the tray … in instances like that, I won’t tip.
What’s your No. 1 rule when walking the streets of New York City?
Move your legs, have a head on a swivel, don’t take anything anybody says personally, because we all have a place to go. It’s like if traffic in L.A. was on foot, and you could hear all of the shit that everybody else was talking inside of their cars, that’s what New York foot traffic is like. So keep it moving, and mind your business.
What are you obsessed with lately?
M&M Minis.
Related
