Beanie Feldstein feels more comfortable in supporting role

Beanie Feldstein feels more comfortable playing “the supportive role” on film.

The 26-year-old, the sister of Jonah Hill, found success playing the best friend of Saoirse Ronan in 2017’s Lady Bird, and went on to receive acclaim for Booksmart, which she lead with Kaitlyn Dever.

She followed that up with How to Build a Girl, the adaptation of journalist Caitlin Moran’s novel which follows a girl who transforms from an unpopular loner to a ruthless music writer.

In an interview with Teen Vogue, Beanie confessed that it was challenging being the lead and “not having another person to create energy with and bounce off of.”

“I feel so much more comfortable being the supportive role,” she added.

While Beanie was filming How to Build a Girl, Kaitlyn was filming Netflix series Unbelievable, another intense and solitary role, and they would text each other and say, “Where are you?! I’m alone out here and I miss looking at your face.”

How to Build a Girl required Beanie to master a regional British accent and, for one scene, wear a swimsuit made out of plastic bags, and she admitted that any time she felt nervous or intimidated during filming she would think about the impact it will have on young girls.

“Imagine if I had seen a girl with my body and my spirit on camera in a trash-bag bikini? That’s powerful stuff,” she gushed. “I just feel honoured to be a part of stories that, had I been 15 when they came out, I would have been first in line at the movie theatre.”