Being Fay And Playing A DarkGame: A Conversation With The Very Talented Sophie Rankin

Sophie Rankin plays Fay alongside Ed Westwick in DarkGame out now in the US and she stars in ESCAPE secured for worldwide release with Saban soon! 

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! 

With four feature films being released this year, DarkGame having just been released in the US and the ESCAPE trailer having just been released by Saban in the US we thought we’d catch up with Sophie amongst all the excitement…

What was it about DarkGame that made you want to reteam with Howard Ford?

Howard is always a lot of fun to work with as he’s got such an adventurous spirit, so he has the ability to turn any shoot into something that’s going to be a lot of fun! He’s extremely talented so I always feel very confident in knowing that anything he’s working on will turn into something very special that will look great and also get out there!

He also gave me a lot of creative freedom in ESCAPE to input my own ideas into the project and I really admire that from a director as it’s lovely when you are able to give your own Input into projects and when your ideas are genuinely taken on board.

What can you tell us about DarkGame and where Fay fits into the story?

DarkGame is about a detective on the hunt to stop a twisted game show on the dark web, where captives are forced to compete for their lives. It’s a fast paced thriller movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat!

It was amazing to act in a movie alongside Ed Westwick!

My character Fay actually opens the film and plays a very significant part within the story line. She certainly does not have an easy time which is why a detective is hired played by Ed Westwick to hunt down a serial killer.

Do you have any memorable moments from DarkGame that you’ll remember for the rest of your career?

Yes absolutely! One thing I feel people don’t always realise when they watch films is that frequently actors are really doing what they can see on the screen in real life! Obviously usually just without the life risking parts (if done well haha)! In DarkGame as you can see from the trailer, I’m actually tied to a chair with my mouth covered with tape and I also was in real life! Of course to make it look real the ropes had to be tight enough as well which they were (without hurting me) and I really was tied to that chair!

Fay goes through a particularly horrific scenario in the film so I had to play the scene with real intense extreme emotion and that’s not something you can really fake. You have to really tap into a genuine sadness or fear to reach that level of emotion in order for it to look genuine on screen and you do that with a whole crew watching you haha so that’s something that I naturally won’t forget!

I personally love playing intense roles though but it’s so important to agree to that kind of scene where you will be put in a very vulnerable situation with people you truly trust professionally like I trusted the DarkGame team because it’s honestly not a scene I would of agreed to do unless I had 100% trust professionally for the people in that room.

Fortunately as I’d already worked with Howard I knew I could trust him professionally and that if there was ever a moment that I felt uncomfortable in he would have cut it straight away.

On top of DarkGame just being released in the US, the trailer for ESCAPE is also being released in the US soon, I’ve seen the film, it’s great and you star in it in the lead role! How excited do you feel about both movies coming out so soon?

I feel extremely excited about this! I’m so so passionate about ESCAPE and it’s looking absolutely amazing so I just can’t wait for the rest of the world to get to see it soon! It’s an action thriller movie that’s non stop action packed, extremely eye catching with stunning cinematic backdrops as we were lucky enough to have filmed in some stunning locations and the story line is full of depth. I absolutely love my role of Lucy in this as I begin as a victim and quickly turn things around with my absolute determination to survive and get revenge no matter what!

You’re also in Ouija Castle with Louisa Warren directing, how’s that going?

It was such a pleasure to work with Louisa Warren! She’s such a star and a brilliant director and I had such a magical time acting in this movie that we filmed in a castle in Scotland. The film is now finished and currently in post production so I’ll have a release date to share with you soon!

I play one of the lead roles in this movie as Princess Sofia and the character really allowed me to tap into my dark side haha! I usually get asked to play the nice characters but in this I’m very much a villain (with a small glimmer of goodness at the same time) and a lot of Princess brat qualities which was a lot of fun to play!

With your many credits, you’ve been on TV and in film, do you have a preference? Do you want to do theatre?

I did actually study theatre studies back at drama school and was in a few plays before I got into screen acting but decided I prefer screen work! Film acting has been my biggest focus during the last 10 years but having said that there is a real buzz when you finish a theatre production so if I find a script that I really love that I can see a real stage vision for I would definitely consider re- visiting the stage as I do also really enjoy theatre acting!

What else are you working on that you can tease?

I have a few very exciting feature films coming up which I can’t wait to share more news on with you soon but unfortunately I’m not allowed to talk about them just yet until we start filming which will be soon!

With four feature films being released this year very soon though I’m very excited about things at the moment! DarkGame, ESCAPE (Howard Ford), Ouija Castle (Louisa Warren) and Bermondsey Tales (Michael Head).

Also, if you are in the US and haven’t seen DarkGame yet check it out! It’s currently on all streaming platforms including AppleTV!

What is your dream role?

I think my dream role would be the lead in a comedy film playing a superhero type character as I’m trained in martial arts and have a background in gymnastics so I always love the chance to show off my acrobatic skills haha! I love comedic acting as well and I did a lot of comedy during my time in Asia in feature films that all made cinema and TV shows out there so I’d love to do some more comedy acting soon!

Follow Sophie on Instagram: @sophielouiserankin and IMDb.