A Conversation With Sophie Rankin About Howard J. Ford’s Award Winning ESCAPE

Sophie Rankin is a very talented British actress with a lot of great acting credits in film and TV under her belt from having worked in the industry all over the world. Sophie’s been in 24 feature films, many of which she’s had lead roles in, TV shows and TV series including the very popular Emmerdale playing Erica and she currently stars in several feature films being released worldwide this year! Please check her full CV.

She’s well known for being a lovely individual who’s always smiling with bundles of energy and a ton of enthusiasm for life and we can’t wait to interview her today! 

Sophie returns to The Fan Carpet to talk about the Award Winning ESCAPE, who inspires her in the industry and she updates us on her career…

What can you tell us about ESCAPE?

ESCAPE is a non stop action packed insanely entertaining adrenaline rush full of absolute carnage in epic locations! 

The film is based around human trafficking but it’s a female empowered kick ass revenge movie so we take the bad guys down in style! 

What was it about ESCAPE that made you want to be involved to tell this story?

I just absolutely loved my role in it and how my character Lucy starts off as a victim but quickly turns things around giving all the psycho baddies what they deserve! For me the action side of it was great too as I got to show off some of my fight skills! I also loved the back story of my character as it gave her a lot of depth and made her even more interesting to portray! 

I also loved the plot of the movie in general and how fast paced it is full of larger than life action and so much entertainment! 

And of course knowing that Howard Ford was behind the epic creation made me want to be involved even more as he’s so so incredibly talented and I knew this one would be something really unique and special!  

I was also very keen to tell the story as unfortunately human trafficking is still happening in so many places in this world and I feel it’s something we should all be very aware of to try to keep as safe as we can possibly be. 

When you read the script, what was it about Lucy that struck you and how did you find the interactions with Sarah’s Karla, since your character spends a lot of time with her?

I think initially I was very drawn to how determined Lucy is, how strong she is and also how she really lives of her emotions and takes things to whole new levels no matter what! She’s a bad ass with a good heart and will stop at nothing to protect people but she’s also very straight talking and to the point! She isn’t afraid to show people up if they’ve done wrong and to eliminate villains if she thinks that’ll be much better for the world hahaha! 

She’s feisty and outspoken and I possess those qualities in real life so I was able to insert a little bit of my own personality into hers! I absolutely love her character all in all so getting to play her was really amazing! 

It was absolutely fantastic working with the lovely Sarah Marks. It was such a pleasure for us to play joint leading roles in the movie which I think helped to mirror female empowerment even more as we working together in the movie instead of against each other which you frequently see in certain misogynistic horrors haha which obviously this isn’t so I think that in itself was really nice! She’s such a lovely girl and we have become really close friends which is lovely and we are very supportive of each other’s work. She’s super talented as well so every scene we had together always felt so easy and natural and really flowed. I felt we had really good on set chemistry so she was such a fabulous partner in crime and I hope we’ll get to do lots more movies together! 

What does it mean for you to be a storyteller and tell stories in this way?

It means a lot to me and I think it also makes me feel a sense of responsibility to be mindful of what I allow to be put out there! I think representation in films is really important so it’s always something I think about when I’m offered a role. 

I think it’s nice as well when a role you are playing can deliver a good message and with ESCAPE I hope that message is a  reminder to woman to be careful when we go out because unfortunately whilst there are lots of good men out there sadly there are also still some terrible ones! If only we lived in a society where we didn’t have to send someone trustworthy our location when we go out in case we find ourselves in trouble but unfortunately for our own safety we still have to think about these things when we shouldn’t have too! 

Do you have any memories from filming ESCAPE that you’ll remember for the rest of your career? And what was it like working with Howard?

I think the whole process of filming ESCAPE from the start to the day we wrapped I’ll always remember for the rest of my career! It was such an amazing experience in general getting to film in the Canary Islands, France and this amazing underground fort in the UK- the whole thing was unforgettable! 

It was brilliant getting to work with Howard! He’s such a rare species in the film world as he can do absolutely everything involved in making a movie and he really is exceptionally talented and is like a hurricane of pure creativity! 

He thinks very quickly as well and works at such a fast pace which I absolutely love and his style is very much in line with my preferred style of working haha so It was really great to work with him! 

I also worked with him on DarkGame starring Ed Westwick that’s coming to the UK on the 21st of October! I play Fay in that movie and it’s another truly epic one directed by Howard Ford and also one that will have a pretty good impact I reckon as it’s already making positive waves in the US! 

The location is beautiful, and sort of becomes a character within the film, do you think it’s important for films to be produced on real locations rather than the reliance on virtual spaces?

Yes absolutely! I think it’s important for viewers to be taken on a genuine journey when they are watching a movie and if you can take them an adventure from their living rooms to somewhere truly cinematic then why not! 

Who inspires you within the industry?

Amanda Seyfried is a great actress and I love how she’s played a lot of very versatile roles and has been in such a great range of stuff so I find her work very inspiring! 

What are you hoping audiences take from ESCAPE when they see it?

I’m hoping they take a lot of fun from it, don’t take it too seriously, enjoy the comedic moments and feel non stop entertained throughout! 

With the popularity of streaming services like Netflix, Apple TV etc. what do you think the future of Cinema is?

I think the future of cinema is still bright as nothing beats watching a movie on the big screen! 

Aside from ESCAPE being out now, what are you working on next that you can talk about?

I’ve just finished several movies which will all be out soon including: 

–Mermaids Curse 2 directed by Pilar Malo who’s absolutely lovely and super talented! It’s for ITN and produced by Champdog films. I play the lead in it as Serena. It’s a horror fantasy film! 

–Meeting Across The River by Michael Head who’s just fantastic! I’m also in his Bermondsey Tales movie playing Yvette that’s out now! In his new one I’m playing a character called Stevie. It’s a gangsta comedy film directed by Frank Harper. 

–Hook which is for ITN and directed by Andrea Catinella. I play ‘Young Wendy’ in the movie.

–Bogieville directed by the fabulous Sean Cronin! We’ve actually just had the premiere for this epic vampire movie and it’s definitely been making great waves in the industry already! I play Betsy in this one. It was great working with Sean especially as we both star in ESCAPE! He plays the lead baddie and he’s absolutely hilarious in the movie, just pure evil gangsta villain comedy gold haha so I really rate his work very highly! 

-I’ve also very recently been cast as one of the lead roles in Michael Head’s new movie Jackie The Stripper! I’m so excited to film this as it’ll be mine and Michael’s 4th feature together and I love working with him as he’s super talented and such a lovely human!

There’s a fantastic cast attached including Charlotte Kirk who’s starring in it as Jackie and other names which will be revealed soon! It’s an epic script so definitely one to watch out for! 

Follow Sophie on Instagram: @sophielouiserankin and IMDb.