Interview: Sidney Flanigan Chats with Us about Her Stunning Performance in ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’

I’ve seen literally thousands of performances this year. Over 350 movies will do that. Of all of the turns by actors and actresses this year, newcomer Sidney Flanigan is front and center. The cream of the crop. Her work in Never Rarely Sometimes Always would be stunningly good no matter what, but when you consider that this was her first role, it’s utterly shocking. Her turn will go down not just as a top tier 2020 role, but as an all-timer for a newcomer. Rightly, she’s getting Oscar buzz for her performance, with some precursors already citing her as the best actress of the year. As those kudos rained down, Flanigan was kind enough to set aside about a half hour of her day last week to chat with me about the film, her performance, and more.

Below you can hear my conversation with Sidney Flanigan. She and I hopped on Zoom and were able to mix the light hearted and the serious pretty well, I hope/think. We’d spoken briefly a few times before, over the last couple of months, just via social media, so it was lovely to finally get an extended time to talk. Obviously, a lot of time is spent on Never Rarely Sometimes Always, just picking her brain to understand her brilliant performance. We also talked about acting in general, her mindset in the industry, and what your first role is like, especially one as good as this one. Enjoy the interview and make it your business to see Flanigan in her rightly award winning role…

Special note: This week continues to be Never Rarely Sometimes Always week here at Awards Radar, at least to some degree. Not only do we have Flanigan chatting today, yesterday was a Talia Ryder interview (found right here), with writer/director Eliza Hittman having already stopped by on Monday (found here). Moreover, as teased out, expect a full piece on the film very soon, perhaps even tomorrow, as it’s such a special work. Some movies will slip through the cracks this year, but Never Rarely Sometimes Always should not be one of them.

Here now is my discussion with actress Sidney Flanigan. Enjoy:

Be sure to check out Never Rarely Sometimes Always, available now on DVD, On Demand, and VOD from Focus Features!