We've Got Hollywood Covered
|

How ‘Lost Child’ Star Leven Rambin Graduated to Indie Acting Heavyweight

Franchise film star said she went back to drama school to become ”equipped to take myself seriously“

| September 14, 2018 @ 3:15 PM
leven rambin lost child

Leven Rambin has a career that any aspiring actor might envy, in that she has consistently worked for the past twelve years in film and television.

But nearly three years ago, at age 25, she stepped away from that security in franchises like “The Hunger Games” and “Percy Jackson” in pursuit of formal drama training.

“I think at a certain point in my career, I felt unfulfilled. I know my craving is for a different kind of art from here on out, and I grew past the point of being satisfied with booking everything that I could,” she told TheWrap during a recent phone chat.

Also Read: 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Review: Barry Jenkins Delivers Stunning Romance With Aftertaste of Injustice

She walks that talk in the drama “Lost Child,” in limited release this weekend from Breaking Glass Pictures. Rambin plays Fern, a young army vet battling PTSD who returns to her childhood home in the Ozarks looking to repair broken relationships.

When she stumbles on a homeless boy living in the woods near her property, local ghost stories and the real-life consequences of a community ravaged by drugs and poverty begin to play on her sanity. Rambin shows superior control over a narrative that could easily veer off into genre tropes for the wrong actor.  She credits her mid-career return to school.

“I became more equipped to take myself seriously,” she said.

Co-written and directed by female filmmaker Ramaa Mosley, the film plays an unsettling game with Fern’s perception versus her reality. Rambin forces the viewer to question whether a supernatural force has invaded her home, or if her own personal demons are getting the better of her (an exciting theme in female-centered genre films this year).

Also Read: Female Filmmakers Share War Stories, From Breast Feeding on Set to Male Insubordination

The actress said she and Mosley were both “so desperate for something very true and real. We did not want to be told what to do, we were these ravenous children.”

Mosley used her savings to make “Lost Child,” Rambin said, so “I said to her, ‘I’m going to give as much as you have, and more.'”

[Warning: Mild spoilers for “Lost Child” ahead]

First-time actor Landon Edwards plays Cecil, Fern’s woodland discovery who will not disclose his identity or how he came to be stranded in the country. After taking him in, Fern is immediately stricken with a mystery virus. Her youthful face is slick with sweat and her hair is gradually turning white.

An elderly town doctor warns Fern, with an eerie confidence, that Cecil fits the description of a “tatterdemalion.” It’s a child demon that dwells in the woods and cannot cross into the land of the living without a willing escort. The demon then steals its host’s life force, and returns to the woods juiced up and ready for its next mark.

Rambin went all out for authenticity. She lodged pieces of cotton ball in her nasal cavity every day to create the character’s symptoms. She refused stunt doubles for a visceral fight scene with her estranged brother (Taylor John Smith). She got drunk and vomited for an ugly self-realization scene, spinning in circles before every take to make it as natural as possible.

The continuing student also got a chance to play teacher, with Edwards on his acting debut.

“I worked with him in a way that created this imaginary world for both of us, to be scared. to be holding that space — feeling unsafe, feeling unwell. There was something really special about it,” she said.

Rambin will next appear in the Netflix feature biopic “The Dirt,” about the rise of rock band Motley Crue, and the WGN America series “Gone” alongside Chris Noth.

89 Stunning Portraits From TheWrap's Toronto Studio (Exclusive Photos)

  • TIFF Split toronto
  • Elle Fanning, Teen Spirit
  • Max Minghella, Elle Fanning, Clara Rugaard, Zlatko Buric, Teen Spirit
  • Elle Fanning, Teen Spirit
  • Alexander Skarsgård, Hold the Dark
  • Mia Goth,Robert Pattinson and Claire Dennis, High Life
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gael Garcia Bernal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kindergarten Teacher
  • Alonso Ruizpalacios and Gael Garcia Bernal, Museum
  • Brian Tyree Henry, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell and Daniel Kaluuya, Widows
  • Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
  • Colin Farrell, Widows
  • Cynthia Erivo, Widows
  • Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello, Giant Little Ones
  • Kyle MacLachlan and Maria Bello, Giant Little Ones
  • Radhika Apte and Dev Patel, The Wedding Guest
  • Radhika Apte and Dev Patel, The Wedding Guest
  • Nicole Kidman, Destroyer
  • Karyn Kusama, Nicole Kidman, Tatiana Maslany and Sebastian Stan, Destroyer
  • Paul Dano, Wildlife
  • Paul Dano and Carey Mulligan, Wildife
  • Jena Malone, The Public
  • Emilio Estevez, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, and Michaek K. WilliamsThe Public
  • Emilio Estevez, The Public
  • Michael Kenneth Williams, The Public
  • Jason Reitman, Matt Bai and Jay Carson, The Frontrunner
  • Adam Stein, Lexy Kolker, and Zach Lipovsky, Freaks
  • Garrard Conley and Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased
  • Jason Sudeikis, Judy Greer, Lee Pace, Nick Hamm, and Isabel Arraiza, Driven
  • Isabel Arraiza, Driven
  • Lily Rose Depp, A Faithful Man
  • Lily Rose Depp, Louis Garrel, and Laetitia, A Faithful Man
  • Laetitia Casta, A Faithful Man
  • Laetita Casta and Lily Rose Depp, A Faithful Man
  • Y'Lan Noel, "The Weekend"
  • Sienna Miller, Jake Scott, Will Sasso, Aaron Paul, and Christina Hendricks, American Woman
  • Werner Herzog, Meeting Gorbachev
  • Alexis Bloom, Divide and Conquer The Story of Roger Ailes
  • Taylor Hickson, Giant Little Ones
  • Karyn Kusama, Destroyer
  • László Nemes, Sunset
  • Lee Chang-dong,Burning
  • Steven Yeun, Burning
  • Darren Mann, Josh Wiggins, and Taylor Hickson, Giant Little Ones
  • Zlatko Buric, Teen Spirit
  • Clara Rugaard, Teen Spirit
  • Max Mingella, Teen Spirit
  • Darren Mann, Giant Little Ones
  • Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Never Look Away
  • Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Nicole Taylor and Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Nicole Taylor and Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Christian Slater, The Public
  • Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased
  • Josh Singer, First Man
  • Josh Wiggins, Giant Little Ones
  • Liam Neeson, Widows
  • Louis Garrel, A Faithful Man
  • Sebastian Koch, Never Look Away
  • Sebastian Stan, Destroyer
  • Tatiana Maslany, Destroyer
  • Thoma Mann, The Land of Steady Habits
  • Thomas Mann, Nicole Holofcener and Ben Mendelsohn, The Land of Steady Habits
  • Tom Schilling, Never Look Away
  • Ali Abassi, Border
  • Paul Greengrass, Åsne Seierstad, Jonas Strand Gravli, Seda Wit and Jon Oigarden, 22 July
  • Damien Chazelle, Linus Sandgren,Ai-Ling Lee Tom Cross, and Josh Singer, First Man
  • Errol Morris, American Dharma
  • Judy Greer, Driven
  • Jason Sudeikis, Driven
  • Lee Pace, Driven
  • Jeffrey Wright, Hold the Dark
  • Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
  • Paul Greengrass, 22 July
  • Wanuri Kahiu, Rafiki
  • Damien Chazelle, First Man
  • Victor Polster, Lukas Dhont, and Arieh Worthalter, Girl
  • Lukas Dhont, Girl
  • Victor Polster and Arieh Worthalter, GIrl
  • Paul Greengrass, Strand Gravli, Jon Oigarden, Seda Wit, and Asne Seierstad, 22 July
  • Roddy Doyle and Paddy Breathnach, Rosie
  • Paddy Breathnach, Rosie .jpg
  • Roddy Doyle, Rosie
  • Felix Van Groeningen, Beautiful Boy
  • Jason Reitman, The Front Runner
  • Juli Jakab, Sunset
1 of 89

Toronto Film Festival 2018: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elle Fanning, Robert Pattinson and more stop by our studio

View In Gallery