How Netflix Star Sorcha Groundsell is Redefining the Teen Queen for the 21st Century

Without wanting to jump the gun, it looks as though the recent tsunami of female-fronted activism, spearheaded by the colossal #MeToo campaign, might just be having an impact. Such it would seem from the experience of Sorcha Groundsell who, at just twenty years old, is due to star in streaming giant Netflix’s latest big blockbuster, The Innocents, later this month.

Dress, TEMPERLEY LONDON

“I’ve been lucky in the sense that I’m relatively new to the industry and I’ve got incredible people around me who have made sure that I’ve never really had an experience like that,” she says. “I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon in a political conversation when I don’t necessarily have that experience. The more women in our field, the more actresses talk about their experiences and the challenges they face, the more the young actresses coming into the industry can know what to look out for, can know how to handle situations that they maybe wouldn’t otherwise.”

It’s true that Groundsell hasn’t been on our screens for long, and potentially entered the industry at a time when last year’s global efforts are beginning to take effect. But in that time she’s taken on roles that would have plenty of young actresses quaking in their boots, such as her turn as a teenage victim of familial sexual abuse in Sleeping Lions. “It’s to do with profile,” she admits. “If you have a very high profile then you have a much wider platform to bring attention to stuff.”

Dress, NEEDLE & THREAD

Despite her age, or perhaps because of it, Groundsell is using the platform she does have to diversify representations of the young, female experience. She wants to challenge the stereotype of the vapid teenager we so often see on television, through meaty plotlines and complex scripts. “Up until quite recently that’s been a bracket that hasn’t been particularly known to be an interesting one for a character, but I think that is definitely changing,” she says.

I’m reading scripts more and more that are portraying teenage characters as actual human beings, and not just the cliché high school kind of trope.

BBC Three’s 2017 series Clique, in which Groundsell played introvert Elizabeth Smith, is a case in point. What masqueraded as a conventional teen drama earned itself critical acclaim for it’s subverting of genre norms, combining a psychologically thrilling plot with a cast of diverse female characters. “They marketed it as maybe slightly more glamorous than the show actually was – genius in a way, because you sell people on the glitz and glamour but then you hit them with this really important political discussion.”

“I think it was interesting to be a part of something that was telling a story like that which was for, and led by, younger people, younger women,” she adds. “You can get very used to these ‘corruption’ storylines, fighting injustice centred around people in their twenties, thirties and forties. Whereas this was taking those issues and showing that they affect young people too.”

Jacket, LES HEROINES
Dress, VINTAGE ASHISH

You disappear for this period of time and, until images and trailers start to come out, no one has any idea what you’ve been doing and where you’ve been.

Hailing from Glasgow, Groundsell’s affiliation to Scottish productions hasn’t been so much a conscious choice but a natural trajectory. It’s a happy coincidence that grittier, smaller-scale indie productions have afforded her the depth that she craves, a far cry from the block-busting mega hits of the U.S or even London. She is excited about the potential of the blossoming Scottish film scene. “There’s a real hub, that should be utilized […] It’s not just period drama TV and it’s not just indie films, there is a real spectrum of work being made.”

True to form, The Innocents was filmed and produced in the UK, but streaming on Netflix gives it scope to go stratospheric. And playing the leading role (Groundsell’s first) will provide a decent dose of time in the limelight. It’s a big jump from quirky British drama to a potentially block-busting multi-series production, but not one that Groundsell has spent too much time dwelling on. “It’s been weird as I haven’t been able to talk about it that much, and there hasn’t been any evidence to show for it yet. You disappear for this period of time and, until images and trailers start to come out, no one has any idea what you’ve been doing and where you’ve been.”

Dress, TEMPERLEY LONDON
Ring, LOLA ROSE

“Confidence is a huge part of it and I think this is what’s been great about filming The Innocents,” she says, thoughtfully. “Because I was on set so much and had so much time in front of the camera, it gave me more of that confidence to say what I thought was right and what I had issues with. I could really voice my opinion, which I hadn’t been confident enough to do before.”

A certain level of confidence will serve her well amidst the impending media storm preceding Netflix’s ‘next big thing’. During our shoot and interview, Groundsell is professional and personable well beyond her twenty years. She wears the elaborate gowns effortlessly, chats animatedly with our glam squad. If anyone is ready for the limelight, it’s her.

“Now that everything is coming out, we’re all kind of wrapping our heads around it a little bit more. I fell kind of philosophical about it and I really believe in the show and I’m really proud of what we’ve done and if that manifests itself in the show being a success then that’s amazing but if it doesn’t, then that’s fine too.”

The first episode of The Innocents airs 24 August on Netflix.