Kiernan Shipka on feminism and Sabrina Spellman’s girl power
She's Netflix' latest It Girl.
The 19-year-old actor has been killing it as the teenage witch on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
I have to admit, growing up with the 1990's version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I was a bit sceptical
But I needn't have been as the CAOS are a whole new show -apart from a few of the same character names, it's nothing like the one from my childhood.
It's darker, grittier, scarier, sexier and seriously brilliant. Mainly because of Kiernan herself, who effortlessly carries the show and makes Sabrina her own.
And now she speaking out about what drew her to the role and why it has a pro-female message she’s happy to get behind.
She says, “I’m unreasonably excited that young girls are going to get to have this character be an inspiration to them. I think she is so strong-willed, has such a good heart, speaks her mind, stands up for herself, and questions things that she feels aren’t right.”
Feminist-driven work is something that interests her, ''because that’s just who I am.''
While the show is not set in any definite time period, Kiernan does acknowledge that ''it’s related to what’s happening in many different ways and resonates on so many levels.''
We hear ya.
Not only that but playing the strong-willed teen has pushed her to be a better person herself – because, after all Sabrina is not just a witch – she's a teenage girl as well.
Kiernan says, ''She puts herself in situations that are very risky – on the life-threatening side of risky – but to play someone completely and utterly passionate, and who doesn’t back down, makes me want to be the best person I can possibly be.''
However, when it comes to calling Sabrina role model, she hesitates.
However she says that , ''I remember when I was 13 or 14, how I would see a movie and I would want to be exactly like a character. So to grow up and have a character like Sabrina [influence] someone’s life, that’s so cool to me.''
For someone who is only nineteen, she sure seems to have a lot of her sh*t figured out – any advice Kiernan?
''Coming into your own sounds so elegant, but it doesn’t seem that smooth when it happens. It’s something I’ve been exploring for a while. I figured it out to an extent but…Growing up is definitely complicated, obviously.''
She continues, "Everyone has their own journey. I’m at a place where I feel more myself than I ever have, and I’m loving that, and I’m excited that Sabrina came my way. It feels like something I can handle in a way that probably would have been a different experience when I was 16.''
You just keep doing what you're doing – we LOVE CAOS – hurry up season two, yeah?
