It’s hard to imagine someone like Samara Weaving flying under the radar, but somehow she’s managed to pull it off.
The former Home and Away actress, who now lives in Los Angeles, has revealed that she quietly tied the knot with movie producer Jimmy Warden, 31, whom she’s been dating since they met on the set of the Netflix horror-comedy The Babysitter in 2015.
That film was one of the roles that helped earn her the “scream queen” moniker – something the 30-year-old laughs about while chatting with WHO regarding her latest movie, rom-com The Valet.
In it she plays Olivia Allan, a movie star who enlists a parking valet at a Beverly Hills restaurant to pose as her lover to cover for her relationship with a married man.
This film looks like it was a lot of fun to make!
Everyone thinks doing comedies is really fun, but it’s very hard making people laugh. So, it was both fun and stressful.
What made you sign on to the project?
I thought the character was really interesting and very funny, and I liked that even though it was a rom-com it wasn’t too heavy on the rom. And it seemed like a really great team, and I trusted everyone. I had been looking for a comedy to do for a while and it seemed like the right thing to do – and I think it worked out (laughs).
You’ve been described as a “scream queen”, so this is a bit of a departure for you.
I love genre movies, but I was looking for something to do that was kind of different to challenge myself, a very heavy comedic role. We will see what the people say!
The Valet focuses on the not-so-nice side of Hollywood and stardom. While making it, did you ever think, “Am I in the right job?”
Luckily, I don’t know anyone that behaves like that in this industry. I really liked playing with this idea of being so self-righteous and so self-centred, with this character believing that she was the victim and being quite blind to the fact that she’s behaving in such an insane way. And then slowly we see that veil being lifted and see that there’s just a vulnerable and quite broken woman inside. Hurt people hurt other people, I guess, but it was really fun coming up with ways of making scenes crazy. And Richard [Wong, the director] was like, “Go for it, just be insane.”
You’ve said in the past that you found it quite difficult when you left Home and Away. But you’re having great success now with the miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers and now this movie.
I think I was quite naïve because I was 13 when I auditioned for my first role and I got it, and then I think I was 14 when I auditioned for Home and Away and I got that – so I thought it was going to be really easy [to land roles]! And it’s not. It’s really hard. But I’ve worked very hard and with a little bit of luck it seems to have paid off.
Stream The Valet now on Disney Plus, live and on demand with a month-to-month or annual subscription. SIGN UP NOW.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
