'Degrassi' star Sarah Fisher plays secret twin sisters in 'Someone Like You' with Robyn Lively
"I can understand what it feels like to be completely lost and to feel like you have to rediscover who you are," Fisher said.
Degrassi: The Next Generation alum, Sarah Fisher, steps into the roles of secret twin sisters in the new romance drama Someone Like You (now in theatres), starring alongside Jake Allyn, Robyn Lively, Bart Johnson and Scott Reeves.
Based on the novel by bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, and directed by her son Tyler Russell, Someone Like You introduces us to London Quinn (Fisher) and Dawson Gage (Allyn), who became best friends in high school, but we know Dawson is in love with her. Then an unexpected tragedy happens and London dies, which sets Dawson off on a journey to find London's twin sister she never met.
Andi Allen (Fisher) is that twin sister, but she doesn't even know she was adopted by her parents, Jim Allen (Johnson) and Jenny Allen (Lively). So when Dawson finds her, it's a whole new world to explore for Andi, as she gets closer to her biological parents, and Dawson.
"I love when I can dive into something difficult that I haven't done before, I've certainly never played two characters in the same film before," Fisher told Yahoo Canada about navigating playing both London and Andi.
"You have to make sure that these two women are very different, ... that's got to be very clear. But at the same time, there's got to be a little sparkle that exists in both of them that actually shines. ... So it was kind of trying to find that fine line."
'We're all human, we all go through different things'
Fisher was also tasked with portraying a particularly emotional moment, when Andi finds out she was adopted. The actor explained that her process for having to execute heavy scenes like that is to really focus on that character's feelings.
"We're all human, we all go through different things, and if I can break a situation down, a story, ... to what is this person feeling, whether that's feeling lost, whether that's feeling alone, whatever that is, I have felt my own version of all those things," Fisher said. "I can understand what it feels like to be completely lost and to feel like you have to rediscover who you are, I've absolutely been through that."
"That's where I can pull from, to help myself dive into the depths of how lonely those times can feel, when you feel like you're really trying to figure yourself out and life's been flipped upside down. And all sudden you're in a situation you didn't think you'd be in. I relate so much and I sympathize so much, because it's so hard. But the beautiful thing that I experienced in my personal life, as well as through these characters, is there's so many beautiful moments that come from that rediscovery."
Actor was 'nervous' to work with first time feature director, but 'passion' came through
For Allyn, he admitted that he was initially "nervous" about working on this project, particularly because this was Russell's first time directing a feature film.
"It's his first movie, his mom is producing, who very openly is a novelist who had never produced before," Allyn said. "But in my first Zoom with him I was like, oh the passion and the level of detail and intimacy that this guy is bringing to every single word, it's going to take care of itself."
"Not knowing the technical stuff or the this or that, that stuff just doesn't matter if you really have a passion and a drive to make a great film."
Fisher added that Russell was "essential" to help navigate scenes that weren't coming together as quickly as others.
"We were all feeling like we were not quite in the pocket, we're not exactly where this feels it needs to be, and he was so wonderful," Fisher recalled. "He took us aside and we had a really open, really honest conversation."
"He's so collaborative and we all chatted it out, and then we went back ... into the scene and everyone applauded when we were done, because we all felt like we found it. He really helped us get there."
The actor added that Russell would send messages to the cast each day, telling individuals that they were doing a great job, with specific praise for each person.
"He did that with all of us the whole way through, and that is just a gift that is Tyler Russell," Fisher said.