If there were any justice in the realm of film distribution, every member of the #MeToo movement would currently be the proud owner of a boxed set featuring four movies written and directed by New York-based auteur Deborah Kampmeier. Her 2003 debut, “Virgin,” starred Elisabeth Moss in a breakthrough performance as a teen who believes that she has been impregnated by God, a conviction that deeply disturbs her Baptist family. Kampmeier’s 2007 follow-up, “Hounddog,” received an enraged backlash upon premiering at Sundance for its frank portrayal of the abuse endured by a young Southern girl (Dakota Fanning). 

It wouldn’t be until nearly a decade later that the director would release her third picture, “Split,” a spellbinding portrait of an artist, Inanna (Amy Ferguson), who learns to fully embrace her identity, freeing it from the clutches of her domineering boyfriend. In 2020, Kampmeier released her fourth feature, “Tape,” anchored by an Oscar-worthy turn from Isabelle Fuhrman as an aspiring actress whose dreams for success are revitalized by the manipulative words of Lux (Tarek Bishara), a predator-in-director’s clothing. What neither of them know is that the room in which he has her audition is secretly fixed with hidden cameras by one of the man’s previous targets, Rosa (Annarosa Mudd), who intends on utilizing the footage to take him down. 

In recent years, Kampmeier has built an impressive career in television, directing such shows as “Queen Sugar,” “Tales of the Walking Dead,” “Star Trek: Picard” and “The Gilded Age.” For the young adult mystery series on Prime Video, “Harlan Coven’s Shelter,” Kampmeier helmed two hours of it, including the sixth episode that introduces the pivotal character of Candy, played by the director’s daughter, Sophia Adler. Candy’s arc extends well into the seventh episode, directed by Edward Ornelas, and she shares memorable moments with the show’s lead protagonists, including Arthur (Adrian Greensmith), Mickey (Jaden Michael) and Ema (Abby Corrigan). 

Adler has already proven herself to have a powerful screen presence in her mother’s films, “Split” and “Tape,” as well as the eerie short film Kampmeier directed and Mudd produced, “The Mark,” which was shown as part of this year’s Cinema Femme Short Film Festival in Chicago. Her work in “Shelter” is utterly heartbreaking and bodes well for the future of her screen career. It was a great pleasure speaking with Adler for Cinema Femme about her great-grandmother, the legendary acting teacher Stella Adler, her concerns regarding synthetic performers in the aftermath of the SAG-AFTRA strike and why the role of Candy aligns with her impassioned mission as an actor.  

Your mother was exploring female identity and the need to reclaim one’s sexuality years before #MeToo began. 

It has been so inspirational to grow up as the daughter of such a strong mother who tells her truth no matter the consequences. She got so much backlash after “Hounddog,” which was undeserved, but that didn’t stop her. She kept moving forward, and I think being around that atmosphere was so important for my development as a human, as an artist and as an actress, not to mention all of the lessons that she passed down to me through her words.

I’ll never forget how Deborah told me that she wanted her daughter to grow up “whole” rather than “naive and pure.” 

The main character in “Split,” Inanna, has a line in which she says that, and I played Inanna’s daughter in the movie. When I watched the film years later and heard that line, I started crying because it’s so true and my mom did a terrific job at standing by that through and through. I definitely wasn’t conscious of it, but I certainly feel more whole than I do pure. There are so many naked bodies in “Split” and it was natural and normal to me. I didn’t see it as something that should be hidden or shamed by any means. 

I don’t know if I was old enough to fully understand exactly what the message of the script was, but I do remember how my mom, while she was writing it years prior to filming, explained to me about the goddess Inanna and her need to claim the darkness rather than banish it in order to be whole. I was told that at a really young age, and it stuck with me throughout my life. It has absolutely been a theme in my personal life and it is one of the most important messages that anyone can see in a film, especially women who are the most shamed, in my opinion, for those dark emotions.

How did you come to acting on your own terms?

I said to my mom after she was done with “Hounddog” that I wanted her to make a movie where I had a role that was as big as Dakota Fanning’s. I was such a brat [laughs] and I don’t even think I really understood what acting was at that age. So when my mom heard about a Children’s Shakespeare Theatre in my county, and she was like, “Let’s put her in this.” At that point, I was such a shy child that my acting was very muted. I was just trying to say the words and get them out because even back then, I hated the idea of overacting. 

My first role at the Children’s Shakespeare Theatre was Philostrate in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” who just comes in at the end and tells the king not to watch the play that they end up watching. Somewhere in the mix of that, I stepped into my own voice and my talent. I was given the role of Friar Laurence in “Romeo & Juliet,” which was so exciting, and then the following year, I wanted to play Lady Macbeth so badly. I went into the audition and gave it my all by performing the “out damn spot” monologue, and ended up getting the part. I revisited the monologue years later during my last performance at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Perhaps because of my amazing mother and how I was raised, I have always been attracted to the darkness and expressing it through performance. Lady M is, of course, one of the great ladies of darkness in Shakespeare.

To what extent did the teachings of Lee Strasberg and your great-grandmother Stella Adler influence your approach to acting?

I am exhilarated by the idea of the Adler name currently being revived in theatre and in film. There’s a New York Times article that my dad did years ago that notes at the end how he has “an eight-year-old daughter, so there might be a fifth generation of Adlers in the theatre.” That idea just sparks the fire in me. Prior to my time at Strasberg, I attended the Stella Adler School of Acting, and something that I really admire about her is how much care she had for the characters that you were portraying. She saw them as mythical creatures and spirits. 

With Strasberg, I loved the relaxation and sense memory exercises where you go back into your own life and fill yourself up with the emotions needed in order to serve the character that you’re playing. I think having a balance of those two approaches really appeals to me. I see a character as a mythical creature that I can fill up with my own magic. Something that my mom always said in her acting class is, as a performer, you get to turn your shit into gold. You get to turn all of the icky stuff and trauma that has happened to you in your life into something beautiful, which makes it all worth it to me. 

Were there any particular actors that you looked up to while growing up?

I love Jessica Lange so much. I take so much inspiration from her, and think that she’s the epitome of an emotional actress in a good way. She just brings so much truth and rawness to every performance she’s in. When I was in acting school, I went back to her performances so often and really dissected and studied what she was doing. I was such an “American Horror Story” fan, and as a typical Gen Z girl, I went to my mom and asked, “Do you know this actress, Jessica Lange?” [laughs] She’s like, “Yes, of course I do!”, and gave me a list of films to watch that included “Frances,” “Tootsie” and “Sweet Dreams.”

I also love Daniel Kaluuya. Something I love that he does, which I haven’t seen many actors do, is his concentration both internally and externally. In “Get Out,” specifically, he will have a lingering look on a cup that leads to a bigger meaning later in the film, and I think he does that so well. His awareness of the world around him inspires me.

What was your experience like acting in your mother’s most recent feature, “Tape”?

It was so fun! I loved hanging out onset with Isabelle, who is such a kind and funny person, and Annarosa, who is like a sister to me. Just being around the environment of that set was amazing because even though I shot my scenes in only two days, I did come and visit. At that point, I was old enough to understand the content of the film while it was being made, and I had so much admiration for Annarosa, for my mom and for Isabelle for taking on such a compelling and horrific story and making something so beautiful out of it. I was aware that the film was portraying a real story from Annarosa’s life, and she spoke about it with me while the script was being written. I had so much deep affection for her and I feel honored that she trusted me enough to bestow me with that knowledge. 

It adds a whole other layer of meaning to the film where we are seeing Annarosa essentially viewing a reenactment of the trauma that she had experienced in real life.  

Totally. When you deal with someone like the man whom she dealt with, I think that being told by others, “What he did to you was wrong, and I understand your pain,” has so much weight and gravity to it. When someone who abuses you acts like what they are doing is normal, part of you begins to believe that, so to have your feelings of violation be validated on a level as epic as a movie being made about them I imagine feels amazing. I am so happy for her. 

How did you go about delving into the psyche of Gracelyn, your first starring role on film, in “The Mark”?

My mom had donated to a film of Jack Warren’s on GoFundMe, and if you gave a certain amount, they would write you a script. My mom told them, “I have a daughter who is an actress, and if we like the script, we’ll produce it.” I had been through school for so many years that the next step in my development was really doing the thing. You learn so much onset, and I have infinite gratitude to my mom for gifting me with this role. 

We got the script and I thought it would be a fun little short to put on my IMDb page. Gracelyn is such a fun, complex character, and I was so ready to hop onboard the project because of her. When preparing to play a character, I like to have a good understanding of the origin story for myself. I don’t necessarily go as deep or as hard as other actors in writing it out, but I go through it in my own mind, which incorporates a lot of the Adler technique. What is of great importance to me is approaching a character, no matter who it may be, with the utmost empathy.

The haunting ending of “The Mark” echoes an indelible image from Bob Clark’s 1974 horror landmark, “Black Christmas,” in which evil is personified by men attempting to stop women from having bodily autonomy.

That idea for the ending was very impromptu. The lovely Christine Berlingeri, who is one of my best friends, was a PA on the set, and at the top of the day, I was like, “What if we put her up in the attic and we hear her screaming?” My mom thought that was a great idea, and Christine didn’t know what she was getting herself into. She was such a good sport about it and did a really good job. That detail made the ending so much juicier. 

To what extent were you familiar with Harlan Coben’s work prior to getting cast in “Shelter”?

I was mildly familiar with it. I had seen the ads for his Netflix series quite a bit, though since I’m dyslexic, I’m admittedly not a huge reader. I did know he was a big deal in the industry, and my mom got attached to direct two episodes of “Shelter.” While in a meeting about the characters that were going to be cast, she saw the role of Candy on the list. In the script, before she is introduced to the audience, she is referred to as a “brunette girl,” so my mom’s first thought was, ‘Maybe that could be something for Sophia,’ not really knowing how big the character was yet. 

The more this brunette girl was being discussed during the meeting, the more it was piquing my mom’s interest, so she eventually asked the producing director, Edward Ornelas, “Can my daughter audition for this?” He said, “I mean, she can read for it, but no promises. We don’t do favors around here.” So my mom contacted my agent, Rachel Sheedy, who knew the casting directors for the show. By this time, I had done over fifty auditions, which is not a whole lot for most actors, but it was my first year in which I was auditioning regularly. I wasn’t expecting much because you eventually get used to being told “no,” but I read the sides and found myself falling in love with Candy

She’s underage and a sex trafficking victim, but she’s also a stripper, so I decided to start my audition with a promiscuous type of dance that I think really caught their eye before I transitioned into the dialogue. They liked it, liked me and went forward with casting me. My mom was the only person who had directed me on screen up until that point, and I don’t think there was a better person for her to pass the torch to than Ed. They both gave me so much space to do my thing and really trusted me. When there was an adjustment that needed to be made, they were both so clear with me, and allowed me to really grow into their vision for the character, who mirrors many of the women that my mother has explored in her own work. 

My ultimate goal in acting is to tell stories of people who don’t have a voice to tell their own story. Sex trafficking is such an epidemic. It’s disgusting and absolutely terrible and those women do not have a voice to speak up for themselves, so this role fully aligned with my whole “mission” as an actress. In addition to that, I love working with complexity in characters, such as the fact that Candy betrayed her friend. I would love to play a villain in order to move through the complexity of bringing empathy to someone whom others deem as being undeserving of it. This isn’t to say that Candy is a villain by any means, but that aspect of her attracted me as well. 

What was it like to enter a show in the midst of its third act for a pivotal two-episode arc?

Everyone was so great. I loved Harlan’s daughter, Charlotte Coben, who was a co-creator of the show. Jaden was amazing to work with because he’s such a pro. He’s been doing this since he was a kid, so he knows exactly where the camera is at all times. It can be behind his back way out of vision, and he knows where it is. I also love Adrian so much. He was such a talented actor and a lovely, genuine guy. I felt so grateful for our time together on the shoot.

This was my first big role that had a significant arc, so a couple days before arriving onset, I had major imposter syndrome. I was like, ‘What am I doing? Do I really belong here? Am I ready for this?’ My mom was my biggest cheerleader the whole way, which was such a help. And then, once they said, “Action,” I just stepped into it and the fears that I had diminished. 

You have one of those great faces that can convey so much with the smallest movement or nuance, which is crucial for a role like Candy, where we get a vivid sense of her backstory despite the limited screen time.

I really appreciate you saying that, it means a lot. Adrian and I went to Asbury Park sort of as a rehearsal. Harlan, who has a place there, showed us the Pinball Museum that our characters have a shared memory of in the script. So we spent the day there talking about life, acting and our characters. It was a really lovely prep for our big scene on the beach, which was actually the first scene of the show that I shot. I love those dark, gritty, emotional scenes. I remember feeling over the moon after we finished filming it, and I think the experience of not shooting chronologically really served me and Adrian, at least from my perspective. You need a lot of trust to pull off a scene like that, and I think by jumping right into it on day one bonded us and led to us having a deeper connection and intimacy throughout the rest of the shoot, particularly when filming the van scene.

That’s my favorite scene of yours in the show.

I love that scene so much too! As for the beach scene, I had gotten emotional very quickly at the top of it when we were in the medium shot and I was lying on the ground. I was scared that I was going to lose the emotion, but I learned later on that I wouldn’t have because I did eventually have to get up when it was Adrian’s time to have his close-up. My close-up was going to be filmed first after the medium shot, and I didn’t want to walk back and sit while they set up between takes. I wanted to stay in it, so I asked Ed through tears, “Can I keep lying her while you guys set up?”, and he’s like, “Yeah, sure.”

It was November in New Jersey, we’re next to the river and I’m freezing in my skirt and jacket. They gave me heating pads, but when it’s that cold and my legs are exposed, it doesn’t make much of a difference. So I kept crying in character, “I’m so cold right now,” while using the coldness to propel myself even further into the emotion of the scene. Poor Adrian was like, “C’mon, we can get you a coat!”, and I said, “No, it’s going to take too much time! I’m going to have to get up and take the coat off before getting back down on the ground. So no, I’m okay, but I’m so cold!” Then they threw a coat on me. [laughs] It’s a funny story in retrospect and fun for me as an actress in the provocative shock factor of it all. 

Did you sense that there was an effort made, in addition to your mom directing, to ensure your feeling of safety when having to be vulnerable onscreen?

One hundred percent. They asked me multiple times, “Would you like an intimacy coordinator?” My comfortability was of the utmost importance, but I think for me, because I had been exposed to naked bodies at a young age, I’ve always found them to be natural and not necessarily inherently sexual, so I was pretty chill when it came to that. I have my limits and boundaries, of course, as everybody does, but it wasn’t too much of a step into the deep end for me to be in a bra and skirt. As for my mom, she is her own intimacy coordinator.

What was it like acting in the latest episode of “The Gilded Age”?

I got to portray Lillie Langtry, who was a historic figure and an actress. I’m a featured background in that, and it was so educational and inspiring to witness these outstanding performances from people like Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector—who was in “Split,” so it was cool to reconnect with him. My god, those dresses were gorgeous. I got to have a corset fitting, and then they handmade my dress to my body. They did such a fabulous job with it. Although I don’t have a speaking role, it was so much fun to do research on the etiquette and the posture of my character. Regardless of the era your character happens to inhabit, we all have a shared experience as humans no matter how different we are. 

What is your perspective on the SAG-AFRTA strike now that a deal with the studios has been reached?

It’s been a rollercoaster, but I’m so grateful to the negotiating committee for representing us and really pushing to protect us, especially from AI. I know that right now, there is some debate on that portion of the agreement regarding synthetic performers, which is what makes me the most anxious. I don’t want my job being taken by a fucking computer that is mimicking emotion. It’s so unnatural. When we cry while watching a performance, it is because we are witnessing a human being having an experience that we can empathize with or that we have even gone through ourselves. When you replace it with a computer, I just don’t buy that the audience is going to have that same heart-wrenching experience.

Companies are already making synthetically generated performers, and hopefully our agreement with the studios gives us more control over the direction that will be taken and the ability to monitor it at a higher rate than we would be able to if we didn’t have it as a part of our contract. We already have so many non-synthetic actors who are dying to work! Just let us work, don’t have a computer work for us. Again, it goes back to the humanity and empathy of acting. If we ever got to the point where it was just AI doing these TV shows, I’d say, “Fuck it, I’m only going to do indie films.” What the world really needs, especially in such a divisive time, is empathy and an open heart.

Where would you like to see yourself go from here, career-wise?

I would love to be in more TV shows. I love “Euphoria” on HBO, and it’s so inspiring to see where Jacob Elordi’s career has already gone since the show premiered. I saw an interview years ago where Jacob said that he wanted his character of Nate to have the doe-like innocence of Montgomery Clift and the full metal force of Marlon Brando ripping the clothes off of Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” I think that is such an ingenious way to encapsulate Nate. My goal is to be in that sort of raw, human, complex, deep, impactful art, where I can portray complex characters that connect to audiences who have been silenced for so long. 

To me, “Euphoria” is a highly elevated version of the truth. I can’t say that I have experienced everything that those kids have, but I have experienced notes of it, tastes of it, and I think that’s what really attracts my generation to it. I think Sam Levinson did a really great job of capturing that extreme version of the truth, and the actors were just absolutely phenomenal in their roles. I definitely take so much inspiration from all of them—Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Jacob—they are all so good and so precise. Alexa Demie is also so good and sassy. My younger self very much identified as her character of Maddie. She has that same spunk and quick wit. 

Do you see yourself at some point also wanting to be behind the camera?

When I look at my mom’s films, I bow to that woman and the work that she puts into every detail. My brain is more suited to detailed character work rather than what goes on behind the scenes. What makes my mom so unique is she wakes up at 2am every morning that she’s onset to make sure that she has every detail pinned down and figured out. You really need a certain eye to be a director. I don’t know if I have that eye, but she certainly does and exceeds the vision that the script had already created. So directing is not in my mind at the moment, but I always seem to say that I will never do something, and then I always end up doing it. [laughs] I would be absolutely thrilled to hone in on that ability to create that sort of visionary work, and I love writing, so that’s always an option as well. For now, I’m focusing on acting, but I will never say never.

“Harlan Coben’s Shelter” is currently available to stream on Prime Video.