In Rebecca Thomas’ ”Wardriver,” which is being sold in the Cannes market by Highland Film Group, Sasha Calle portrays a femme fatale-type whose motivations are not all what they appear to be.
The film follows Dane DeHaan as a hacker named Cole, who’s ordered by a criminal named Oscar (Mamoudou Athie) to steal money from Calle’s character, Sarah. When it turns out Sarah’s money actually belongs to someone involved with the mob, Cole works to restore it and shield Sarah in the process. Sarah, however, is a “layered girl,” according to Calle.
“She’s kind of a chameleon, per se, without too many spoilers,” Calle tsays. “To play a character that has to go through different versions of herself within a film is a very cool thing.”
For Calle, it was “a nice stretch” to play such a multi-faceted character. She speaks highly of Thomas and DeHaan, recalling that she was one of the last people to board the project, talking with Thomas on Zoom and just a few weeks later, showing up on set in Utah.
“I remember my experience with Rebecca and Dane so closely, and I adore them both. So I hope that the movie does well,” Calle says.
It’s perhaps a good fit for the actor to take on a chameleonic character, given that her burgeoning film career has included a range of roles from the superhero variety to indie fare.
Calle, who grew up in Boston and studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, got her start on soap opera “The Young and the Restless,” which got her a daytime Emmy nod. Soaps are “very fast moving, high-demanding jobs,” Calle says, noting that “you have to cram five episodes into four days, and each day you’re filming 50 pages.”
She adds: ”Your brain starts to learn the specific muscle that’s required from it. I was going from paycheck to paycheck, really, and then after that job, my life changed.”
Calle’s debut feature role was playing Supergirl in 2023’s “The Flash,” and she became the first Latina actor to take on that film role.
“When [director] Andy Muschietti gave me the call and he told me what character I was playing, it was the character I never knew I needed to play,” Calle says. “I knew that she was going to mean so much to me, and that was a beautiful experience for me.
“We got to break some barriers by creating that character,” she continues, describing her and Muschietti’s version as “different and it was bold and it was risk.”
Although the DC universe is set to now explore Supergirl’s story with a different actor, Milly Alcock, Calle reflects on her time with the character fondly: “I still look back, and I’m really proud of that. I still love her very much, and I smile thinking about all of that.”
Calle’s recent roles include features “In the Summers” and “On Swift Horses.” In the latter film, she plays Sandra, a neighbor to a couple played by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Will Poulter. Sandra is a queer, Latina character with a strong sense of self and community, contrasting Edgar-Jones’ more hesitant Muriel. The two nevertheless become romantically involved.
“I find that Sandra is a beautiful character, that I could have followed her story forever,” Calle says.
Next up, Calle will appear in the film “RIP,” starring fellow Bostonians Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and produced by their company, Artists Equity. She’s also in production for Season 2 of the Colin Farrell-led, Apple TV+ series “Sugar.” And she’s got her own music project in the works.
“I really care about the art that I create, and I really have no plan B in terms of my life. I know that I have to continue creating art and art that is meaningful and close to my heart,” Calle says.
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