Exclusive Interview with Shut Eye’s Havana Guppy

Havana Guppy, at the early age of four, began her acting career and hasn’t looked back since. From TV to film, she already has an extensive list of credits. Currently, she is guest starring in Syfy’s Aftermath, and is taking on a highly religious, set in her own ways character. She’s also found herself a reoccurring role in a Hulu original, Shut Eye, acting alongside Isabella Rossellini, which will be released on December 7. 

Guppy is finding her niche in this industry. She’s most comfortable taking on roles that find her serious, stoic, and independent. Her rep notes that she’s an incredible talent for her age, and watching her on screen proves that.

How did you get started in this industry?

I started around the age of four. My parents were looking into getting me an agent; nothing was really happening. But then when I was five, my best friend’s mom, who’s a casting director, showed us an agent she liked. So she got us hooked up with that! That’s how it started. I started auditioning and then working!

Is it something you see yourself doing in the future, making a career out of it?

Yeah, for sure! I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.

Tell me a little about Shut Eye and the character you play in that.

On Shut Eye, I play Drina. She’s the daughter of Fonzo (Angus Sampson). He’s in charge of some of the gypsy, tarot reading shops. He’s kind of scary. I’m pretty mean to him. (laughs) Drina doesn’t take anything from anyone. She’s unyielding, and she wants to be who she wants to be, and she won’t let anyone tell her what to do. She’s going to do what she wants. She wants to be independent.

Which is actually kind of similar to the character you play in Aftermath- set in her own ways, doesn’t take anything from anyone. What was it like playing Mary compared to your character on Shut Eye?

(laughs) It was so fun! I’ve never played any character like that before. I loved her. She’s a little fireball. Drina and Mary are both pretty… angry, but I think Mary has a bit more evil in her, in a way. She’s a bit more nasty, kind of mean. It was fascinating to play because I’ve never done anything like that before, ever! So I was just having so much fun with it. Going to the audition for that, I was learning my lines on the way there from Shut Eye, so I was just trying to get this character into my head. But I went into the audition, and I had so much fun!

Can you tease anything about what’s to come in Aftermath about your character and Brianna, or her and Devyn?

(laughs) I’m not in it too much next week. I talk about Brianna a lot in the episode. I’ll be sneaky.

You play alongside Isabella Rossellini in Shut Eye, what was it like working with her?

Oh, amazing! She’s such a neat person. She’s really cool to work with. She played her character so well. She was so comforting to me. She gave me so much good advice. I just look up to her a lot. I thought she’d be kind of scary to work with, but I felt so comfortable with her. She was just so nice and caring.

Do you find it harder to guest star in something for a few episodes rather than be in it the whole way through, or is it kind of like a breath of fresh air?

They’re both cool. Shut Eye definitely felt more like a family, and then Aftermath feels like you’re coming into someone else’s family. In that sense, it could be harder, but I just loved everyone on the set. They made me feel like a new member of their family, even if it was just two episodes.

You have a particular genre that you keep popping up in- horror. Is that something that is just falling into your lap, or do you just love this dark genre?

(laughs) I love it. I think it’s because I’m just good at darker stuff. It comes naturally to me. I’m a very serious person, so I don’t have to do too much to change. I look pretty disturbed a lot of the time (laughs). It’s funny, but it’s true. I just love doing the darker stuff. It’s definitely my favorite, so I’m glad that’s how it works out for me.

Do you have anything coming up beside Aftermath and Shut Eye that you can tell me about?

I have one thing. It’s not huge. I have Haters Back Off coming out on Netflix on October 14. I’m in one episode, 1×05.

If you could act beside anyone in this industry, and shoot a specific scene, what would you want to do?

I really want to shoot with Meryl Streep. It would be cool just to do a really emotional, heavy scene with her. Not sure what it would be about, but just something really intense and emotional. Being able to work with her would just be amazing.

Where do you get your inspiration? You started out in this industry so young, and you know you want to stay in it. Who inspired you?

I can’t really think of a particular person. I was just inspired by film, in general. Every time I saw an excellent film, I just knew I wanted to do that. I needed to do that. So I think film inspired me, and then I encouraged myself, and pushed myself to do what I loved, and just focused on that. Just trying to get where I want to be.

What is something you just completely nerd out about?

(laughs) This sounds pretty lame, but I still nerd out about The Hunger Games. I have read every single book at least four times. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve watched all the movies. I can talk about it to anyone for so long. I don’t know why, I just love it! I mean, I don’t want The Hunger Games to happen, but I just love the story!