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By Jaclyn Roth

‘Cruel Summer’ Star Sadie Stanley Is Right Where She Belongs

The rising star says the new series is full of twists and turns

Photographer: Sam Gold @samgoldiloxx
Stylist: Jessica Paster c/o Uncommon Artists @highheelprncess
Hair: Destiny Venice c/o Art Department LA @destinyvenice
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When Sadie Stanley began auditioning for the role of Megan Landry in Freeform‘s hit series Cruel Summer, she knew she hit the jackpot. For her next part, the rising star was pining for something “a bit more mature and a little bit darker and grittier.”

“This show was exactly what I was looking for. I knew I wanted to stretch myself as an actor, and that happened with this series, especially since it takes place over three different timelines, so it was a new experience. I had to basically play three different characters because Megan is so different in each one — and we wanted her to feel so drastically different, which is something I discussed with the creators of the show during the audition process,” the 21-year-old exclusively tells GRAZIA USA.

“I had never seen the three different timelines done before, and it was so interesting to me,” she adds. “It’s a little bit of a learning curve for the audience to get used to the back and forth, but it also keeps them so engaged — at least it did for me when I watched the first season in three days! I was like, ‘This is amazing,’ which I already knew, but it got me even more excited.”

Cruel Summer, which debuted its first season in 2021, focused on popular teen Kate who went missing, while another girl Jeanette went from being a sweet girl to an awkward outsider. Over the episodes, Kate and Jeanette’s worlds collide, and viewers learn things aren’t always as they seem.

The thriller, which Jessica Biel executive produces, became an instant fan-favorite, and now two years later, the series is back but focuses on a whole different story: Megan’s friendship with mysterious foreign exchange student Isabella (Lexi Underwood).

“I loved playing Megan. I love the cast, I love the creators of the show; it was such a great experience,” Stanley gushes. However, it’s not lost on her that being part of three different timelines was something she had to get used to.

“I had to keep track of my character at each point. There’s also this huge physical transformation that we did for Megan to make her look so different. She had three distinct looks, which was really fun, but it takes a minute to take off the all-black eyeliner and the eyebrow piercing. So, there’s the physical transformation and then the emotional whiplash of going back and forth and spending the first half of your day crying and screaming and then laughing and jumping around hours later. It took a lot of emotional control, which I am proud of. I came out of it a better actor for sure,” she explains.

Stanley has always been interested in psychology and understanding humans and why they behave the way they do, which is how she approached getting into Megan’s mind. “When we first meet her, she’s very Type A and a Tomboy, but she doesn’t really put herself out there and she has all these big plans for the future. She’s brave, but what is keeping her from putting herself out there? She was raised by a single mom, and she had to grow up really fast and help take care of her younger sister. She always had to be on top of things,” the actress notes. “I like to really understand my characters, and so that was important for Megan in the third timeline too, especially on a day where we’re diving into scenes that require me to look inward at her inner monologue.”

After shooting the series, the South Carolina native learned she has “the emotional stamina to get to all these different places within the same day or the same three hours. I gained control over tapping into certain things and tapping into a darker headspace and then being able to switch over and let it go,” she explains.

In the past, Stanley would typically take work home with her and replay scenes in her head, but with this experience, she didn’t have a single day off for five months, leading her to trust herself more and more.

The Goldbergs alum also got to work with Biel, who rose to fame after playing Mary Camden in 7th Heaven. “She’s always the coolest woman in the room when she walks in,” she quips. “She’s a Y2K icon, so that was definitely helpful for the nostalgic parts of the show and the fashion inspiration. She’s a really fantastic person. We talked a lot about how she started her own production company and how people put her in a box when it came to getting cast in certain roles. She said, ‘I am going to create these opportunities for myself, and I am going to make roles I want to play myself.’ She took charge of her career — and not only that, but she’s creating a space for younger women to play really interesting, layered complex characters who aren’t surface level. I’m so grateful to be in her circle and that she made the space for me and Lexi.”

After the show premiered on June 5, fans immediately started taking to the internet to talk about their theories. “We wrapped last September, and we’ve been waiting for this to come out. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so many months. It feels like this is the step in the right direction of what I want to do career-wise. I’m really excited. It’s a lot to process,” she says.

As Cruel Summer continues, Stanley calls it all a “wild ride.”

“It’s super juicy,” she notes. “It’s going to get crazier and crazier, so fans should expect to be shocked at every episode. It’s really, really fun.”

Stanley started out doing musical theater as a kid in high school and immediately fell in love with it. “I loved the creativity of it, but I had such bad stage fright,” she recalls. “I was a more reserved kid, surprisingly. I was obsessed with watching movies and behind-the-scenes videos. Around the age of 13 or 14, I started asking my parents if I could act. They were like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I didn’t have any connections to the industry, so it felt like a pipe dream, but I wouldn’t let it go and took matters into my own hands and started doing my own research.”

Fortunately, her parents jumped on board, and Stanley booked her first role in the Kim Possible movie. “That was the moment where I was like, ‘This might be something I actually pursue.’ I knew in that moment this is what I was supposed to do. It felt like the right place, and I still feel that way. I still feel like acting fuels me like nothing else, and I want to keep doing it,” she says.

Now, Stanley is driving around North Hollywood, California, where she lives, and seeing her face splashed across billboards. “I don’t know how to process it all,” she says. “I have a hard time celebrating my wins sometimes, but this is worth it.”

Since Stanley is only just starting out, she already has a long list of things she hopes to check off her bucket list. “I haven’t done a horror movie. I’d love to do that, and I would love to do a coming of age movie. I grew up on those. I would love to do an epic romance like The Notebook. There’s so much I want to do!” she exclaims. “I love characters where you have to peel back the layers on them. I love getting into the psyche of human beings and learning about mental health because it’s something I am passionate about in my personal life, as I want to erase the stigma of mental illness and getting help and therapy when needed.”

Cruel Summer airs Mondays on Freeform at 9 p.m. ET.

topics: Exclusive Interview, GRAZIA Exclusive