On playing Kendra Brown in Poltergeist, she said, “Kendra was a typical teenager. She resented her parents for having to move away from her friends and downgrade her lifestyle. I related to her in a lot of ways. I also have a younger brother and sister. They wanted to update the technology aspect in the remake so Kendra always had her cell phone with her. Although, I don’t think I would have been able to stick around when there was a known Poltergeist in my house, I respect Kendra’s determination to get her sister back!”
Sharbino worked with Gillian Jacobs in the Netflix series Love. “I met Gillian in the hair and make-up trailer. She was really sweet to me, but we have different story-lines, so I haven’t had any scenes with her. Love centers around a set school teacher, I am one of the actress he teaches along with Iris Apatow and Gillian plays the love interest of our teacher. It’s a show within a show so it was really fun to film,” she said.
In addition, Sharbino worked with actor Kiefer Sutherland in Touch. “Kiefer is very serious about his work, it was a tremendous learning experience to me to be able to watch and work with him on set. I was and still am very grateful to have been given the role on Touch without auditioning. I had booked a Fox pilot that didn’t get picked up and the producers put me in the role of Amelia Robbins playing opposite of Keifer Sutherland, Maria Bello and David Mazous. It allowed me to move to Los Angeles and begin making my dreams a reality,” she said.
Sharbino starred with William H. Macy and Amanda Peet in Trust Me. “William H. Macy is a good friend of the writer/director of Trust Me, Clark Gregg. Clark mentored me in so many ways and seeing how William and his wife Felicity Huffman came together to help make a movie with their friends really taught me a lot about the business and how to produce for the future. Watching William and Amanda’s love for acting and the art of film-making in Trust Me really opened my eyes on how I can and should take a more proactive role in Hollywood. I’m in talks to option a script that I could bring several of my friends together to create a new film. I learned so much about the business and distribution from Clark Gregg and making Trust Me,” she said.
Regarding her plans for 2016, she said, “I recently shot a fun thriller titled ‘Bedeviled’ that will be coming out late fall. It was directed by the Vang brothers who won the Nickel Fellowship award last year. I think you’ll be hearing a lot more about them in the years to come. Similar to ‘Poltergeist’ this movie has super natural elements in it and I think the Vang brother did a great job of recreating a new type of boogie man. I’m so excited to see how it turns out. I’m working on recording music and I’m taking my first steps in learning how to produce. I’m just now optioning my first script and trying to put it all together. I want to start creating my own jobs and learn how to write, direct and produce as well as act. I want to tell a story by creating the movies I want to be in.”
When asked about her New Year’s resolutions for 2016, she said, “I want to learn Krav Maga and increase my fitness routine in 2016. I also plan to get my driver’s license!”
For aspiring actors, she recommended that they start working on their craft. “Take acting lessons, watch great movies, film yourself doing a scene out of a movie you love. I think acting is creative process but you also have to have training and know what your strengths are and what you need to work on. Learn everything you can about the film industry,” she concluded.
