JUNE 2, 2026
PHOTOS KEVIN SINCLAIR STYLING MAGDALENA BRYK INTERVIEW DAVID GARGIULO
LOCATION THE WRITER'S DEN AT LUMIÈRE (INSIDE THE FAIRMONT CENTURY PLAZA). Sweater AMIRI, bra FLEUR DU MAL, shorts DÔEN, tights WOLFORD, shoes FLOR DE MARIA.
WEARING DIESEL
BEAUTIFUL FIXATION
There is an eerie stillness inside the Writer's Den at Lumière. Tucked into the belly of the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, the room feels less like a modern hotel amenity and more like a stolen fragment of history—a staged crossroads where 1920s Parisian intellectualism collided with Old Hollywood's late-night glamour. Under the heavy, wood-crafted ceilings, the space acts as a gilded isolation chamber serving as the backdrop for our shoot with Inde Navarrette.
Speaking a few days later via Zoom from her home, Inde Navarrette talks about a performance that is explicitly designed to make audiences uncomfortable. In Curry Barker’s visceral, psychological horror Obsession, she delivers a devastating turn as Nikki, a woman descending into a violent, unstable mania born from the absolute loss of agency. It is a shocking piece of cinema anchored entirely by Inde’s willingness to stare into the ugliest, most shameful corners of human feelings without trying to "pretty-ify" the damage.
Yet, as we trace Nikki's pathological arc from enchanted yearning to raw terror, the tension is broken by a bizarre, living mirror of the film's title: a persistent red cat that repeatedly scales Inde’s shoulder, demanding total, unsettling proximity. Against this backdrop of calculated refinement and domestic absurdity, Inde speaks with a disarming candor about what it cost to put a human face on madness.
Total look TOD’S.
David Gargiulo __ In Obsession, you nailed the balance between crazy and scary. What did you tap into for your performance?
Inde Navarrette __ I didn’t want Nikki to feel like a character. I wanted her to feel like a human, somebody you could actually meet in real life. So I tapped into ugly feelings that I think everyone naturally has, and I wanted to humanize them in this hyperbolic state. I leaned into jealousy, loneliness, and ultimately that deep desire to be loved, to be seen, to be taken care of and wanted by Bear. So yeah, I tapped into a lot of ugly emotions and it actually felt very freeing.
DG __ What do you mean by freeing?
IN __ I think it felt freeing because there are so many emotions people don’t talk about since they carry a lot of shame. Being in a room full of people portraying those feelings, and having them praised as good performance was really powerful. Even while we were filming, and after the film came out, people on set who had experienced emotions like that would come up to me and say, “Thank you for portraying it that way,” or “Thank you for not pretty-ifying it.” Just showing the rawness of it, and honestly, how horrific it can be, really adds to the fact that it’s a horror film.
DG __ When I was watching the movie, I saw three different stages of Nikki: the Nikki in despair, the enchanted yearning Nikki, and the violent, unstable Nikki. How did you approach keeping all these versions distinct while still playing the same person?
IN __ I don’t know if I separated them intentionally. I think it unfolds the way it would in real life. At the beginning, she’s being desired. She’s getting everything she wants. The person she loves most in the world loves her back. Then he starts pulling away and blaming her for things that aren’t her fault, and that naturally turns into yearning. She’s yearning to get that love back, but she keeps being denied because she isn’t who he wants her to be. So she tries to completely change herself to become what she thinks he wants. And when that still doesn’t work, the instability comes from that question: “Why don’t you love me? I’m everything you said you wanted.” At the same time, he’s telling her, “This isn’t real.” So for me, it became about asking: if he keeps doing this, where does it take her next? Each moment pushes her further. It felt like one giant arc, one continuous climax. What really helped was Curry’s writing. Every step makes sense within that kind of pathological way of thinking.
DG __ I see the arc, so can I assume you shot the movie in sequence? Because films are usually shot out of order, but this feels like it had to build progressively.
IN __ I wish [laughs] We shot completely out of order. We filmed everything inside Bear’s house first. Then we introduced Megan Lawless, who plays Sarah, and Cooper Domalanson, who plays Ian, when we moved into the workplace scenes. And we actually wrapped the shoot with the opening trivia night scene. But honestly, starting with everything in the house helped me step outside my comfort zone immediately. I had to do some really intense, crazy things right away, and it built my confidence fast. By the time we kept going, [the director] Curry [Barker] could throw anything at me and I felt ready. I felt like Steph Curry or Kobe Bryant. Just completely in rhythm.
Total look ZIMMERMANN.
“WHEN YOU REALLY STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND FEEL LIKE YOU’VE SUCCEEDED, THAT’S A HUGE WIN.”
Dress ZULEYHA KURU, tights WOLFORD.
Total look DIESEL, bra FLEUR DU MAL, shoes FLOR DE MARIA.
Total look ZIMMERMANN.
DG __ The film deals with loss of agency in a really visceral way. Was there anything you did to protect yourself emotionally while playing someone whose autonomy is being stripped away?
IN __ Yeah, she really isn’t in control. It’s a difficult emotion to live in, but it’s also an understood feeling, especially for women. There are so many expectations about what we’re allowed to be, what we’re allowed to consent to, how we’re supposed to behave in order to be seen as classy or professional or graceful or worthy of love and respect. There’s such a tight line to walk. So understanding Nikki wasn’t hard for me. The perspective made sense immediately. But tapping into it emotionally wasn’t easy, because you’re constantly confronting that idea that you’ll be loved or respected if you are perceived a certain way.
(A red cat climbs onto her shoulder mid-answer. Inde pauses, smiles, and gently sets her back on the floor.)
DG __ Was there a point on set where you stopped thinking about the camera and only realized later what you’d actually captured?
IN __ I think after a while you’re just having so much fun with friends you’ve made on this crazy journey that you forget you’re being recorded. You forget this is going to be edited, that people are going to see it. So I’ll watch the movie and think, “Oh, I forgot I did that. I forgot that’s in there.” Especially moments I’ve seen in the trailer, like the “why don’t you love me” scene, I thought, “oh my gosh, maybe take it down a notch.” [laughs] But honestly, that’s just what came out in the moment, and it felt really true to the character. Even the last scene we shot, which ended up being the final scene in the film, was the first time I had ever done it. It was a one-take moment, because we had an alternate ending, so I had the freedom to take it to a 10 and do whatever I wanted. Exactly how I was feeling at that moment. I didn’t even know if it was going to be in the film. Seeing it in the movie, I am very proud of it. I think it’s beautiful. It captures everything so raw and elegant. I didn’t realize it would be there, but I love it. It’s my favorite scene.
DG __ Where do you draw the line between passion and obsession?
IN __ I think passion isn’t selfish. Obsession is. If you’re obsessed with someone, it becomes very “me, me, me” — how you make me feel, how you affect me. It’s less about actually seeing the other person for who they are. But passion is different. You can passionately love someone and still let them be who they are. It’s not about control. It’s intensity: the amount of feeling you have for someone. Obsession is self-centered.
(The cat returns, climbing onto her shoulder and squeezing between her back and the chair. Inde calmly picks her up and places her back on the floor.)
Inside the Writer's Den at Lumière (Fairmont Century Plaza Los Angeles), documented by Kevin Sinclair.
Poster Courtesy of Focus Features/Blumhouse Productions
Total look ISABEL MARANT.
DG __ How do you leave a character like Nikki behind when filming wraps? Are there parts of her that stayed with you?
IN __ Who said I’ve left Nikki behind? She’s still very much with me and everyone should probably be a little scared. [lets out a Nikki-like laugh]
DG __ There! I see Nikki! [laughs] Is there something you learned from her, something that makes you think, “I’m really glad I got to play Nikki”?
IN __ Oh, 100%. Nikki gave me an incredible amount of confidence. I got to prove to myself that I could do things I had never done before. I think when you really step out of your comfort zone and feel like you’ve succeeded, that’s a huge win. I felt proud of myself because I pushed further than I ever had, and I still had fun doing it. So Nikki taught me that if I need to push myself, or do something I’ve never done before, I actually have the capability to do it. And that’s something I don’t think I could’ve gotten anywhere else.
DG __ Last question. It’s a little different than usual. Is there a question you’ve been dying to answer about this film, but that everyone’s been too polite to ask you? Or something you feel people didn’t quite get?
IN __ That’s a really good question. I think something I’ve always wanted to stress is that I had a lot of fun playing Nikki. But I never lost sight of how serious the film is, or how serious it can make people feel. From the very beginning, I worked closely with our producer, Haley Nicole Johnson, and we would sit down and talk about what this meant to us; how, as women, we could portray Nikki authentically without trying to dictate how people should feel about her. I really wanted to play her as humanly as possible, so people could take away what they needed to take away. But I never wanted to lose the emotional weight of what she’s going through. Even though I had fun playing her, I always stayed connected to the seriousness of her experience. If anything, I wanted to play the truth of it.
(The red cat climbs onto her once more. Inde gives up, smiling, and lets her stay where she is.)
DG __ Your cat is obsessed with you!
IN __ So much! She truly is. Talking about Obsession. She’s obsessed with me. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and she’s just there. Staring. It’s unsettling, actually. [laughs]
“ PASSION ISN’T SELFISH. OBSESSION IS. ”
Total look ELISABETTA FRANCHI.
“I LEANED INTO JEALOUSY, LONELINESS, AND THAT DEEP DESIRE TO BE LOVED, TO BE SEEN, TO BE TAKEN CARE OF.”
Total look ISABEL MARANT.
Total look ETRO.
Creative Director Kevin Sinclair, Styling Magdalena Bryk (Art Department), Interview David Gargiulo, Hair Virginie Pineda (The Visionaries), Makeup Beau Nelson (The Wall Group), Talent Inde Navarrette (42 West), Location Lumière at Fairmont Century Plaza (J Public Relations).
