Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere Starring Chloë Levine

Actress and filmmaker Chloë Levine talks about her career, the films she wants to create and her process behind it all. Plus, she talks about her newest role in the final season of Trinkets on Netflix.

Chloë was virtually photographed on location in Arizona by Alison Engstrom.

She was styled by Sarah Slutsky, assisted by Gina Brase at Studio SES.

Interview by Alison Engstrom

I’d love to start out Since you are such a creative, how has this time period been for you—are you filled to the brim with ideas or has it been more challenging?

It sort of ebbs and flows. I think at first when we all went into quarantine there initially was a sort of shock and grief that I think a lot of people went through and I went through and that sort of made it difficult to really create anything. Since then it definitely comes in phases, I am either trying to be creative or just trying to absorb as many good movies and literature as possible to then inspire creativity. I’ve found one of the most important things is to get yourself on a schedule and try and structure your time since it feels so limbo-ish right now. It has made me think about time’s rule in society. It’s such a societal construct. People say that to be funny but it really is. 

Completely agree. now to talk about your background, Would you say growing up around New York influenced your career path?

I was born in New Jersey, then we lived in Murray Hill until I was about five and then we moved back to Northern New Jersey. I moved back to Manhattan when I was 14. The small town where I lived in New Jersey was really uptight and it was really beneficial for me to move, at the tender age of 14, in with my older sister, who’s an artist as well. I ended up getting into this really lovely high school called The School of the Future that fostered our creativity.

Was film and acting always something that you were really drawn to? 

My older sister, who is eight years older than me, was an actress when she was growing up and because I was a baby, I would go to auditions with her. I was always in her manager’s office. This story was told to me by my manager, but when I was five or six, I asked, when is it my turn to do this? The high school that I went to had a really cool film program, I ended up going to Sarah Lawrence College; I didn’t take film classes there but I ended up dropping out to really pursue acting.  I have learned so much about film making by constantly being on set and watching people.

Dress by Brock Collection; boots by Emilia Wickstead

I second that, I am a big believer that you can learn anything by practicing and doing. When did you get involved in producing, did you know from the get go that you wanted to create films? 

Absolutely; I always believed that you should create the things that you want to be in that was a big piece of me making my own stuff. I somehow finagled being a co-producer on this feature film that I am doing and executive producing this film Antarctica. I don’t even know how it happened (laughs) but I am thankful for it.

When it comes to ideas for projects, how do you get the majority of your ideas?

Like every human being on this planet, we are all processing a bunch of different emotions at any given moment. For me, the healthiest way to process—it’s almost like therapy—our emotions is do it creatively and to make something beautiful from a gross feeling. I think also some ideas look to heal trauma.

Since you touch so many parts of the industry where do you feel most in the flow and comfortable? Which is the harder or more challenging and you have to push yourself more?

They are just two totally different things; to be in the acting flow is such a beautiful thing; there is such a familiar thing around you on set that’s like protect the youngster which I think is really comforting. But then producing, you have this drive where you need to accomplish this one thing—there is also something really beautiful about that too. I think since I have acted more, it is where I feel the most comfortable. On Froth and Bubble, I was there acting and an issue would come up and I would have to think like a producer. It was a new sensation and it was really exciting! It’s such a crazy challenge, I like it. 

What other stories do you want to tell? 

I think there are so many things we need to get into media wise. I wrote something that I want to direct and produce; I wouldn’t be acting in it, which is interesting.  It’s a short about abuse and the ways it manifests when you are a victim of abuse and then how you can also become the abuser. It’s this cycle that I think isn’t talked about in the way that I want to talk about it. It’s so nuanced and something that a lot of people go through and I feel like we just need to talk about it in an honest way. 

Now to talk about projects! You have a lot on the horizon including you joined the final season of the Netflix series ‘Trinkets’. Can you share more about coming onto the show? 

I really liked the first season and I was really happy to be a part of the next one. There is always a bit of nervousness when you are coming onto the scene and everyone already has their groove from the first season. They are such a lovely group of people and I really felt accepted. It was really fun to revisit these high school moments. That’s one of the things I love about acting, you can just jump into this different world and suddenly start experiencing all of these things that you almost forgot.

You Star and also produced, ‘Alaska’, ‘Antarctica’ and ‘Froth and Bubble’.Can you share any more details about these projects, do they have a home yet? 

Yes, I can say that Antarctica is this movie about these two young women in high school who have this very intense and beautiful friendship. It talks about the things that high schoolers go through in 2019, these horrific and sometimes funny things that are happening here in America.  It’s a bit of a surrealist take on the modern high school experience—it will be coming to Raindance and then we will see where it lands, I can’t really say anymore.

What do you think your secret to success has been and What’s your advice to other aspiring filmmakers?

I think it has been not stopping and not making things for someone else and also not making something and thinking what the audience is going to think. Creating is really a catharsis because it really is pure expression. I think thinking of it in those terms—I know I fail at it all of the time to think about it in that way—and trying to get into that mindset as much as possible is really helpful.

Can you share anything else you are working on? 

Yes, I’ll tell you about Alaska, it’s really an interesting movie. It’s about this young woman from Georgia who decides to go to LA to pursue acting. We have shot about a ⅓ of the movie already basically what we shot is going to be flashbacks because we shot it two years ago. It’s interesting because now we are just waiting for me to age (laughs). We are going to shoot the rest of the movie in LA, it’s a kind of Boyhood thing that we have going on. It’s really interesting, I’ve never done anything like it before.

Blouse and skirt by Mara Hoffman; hat by Janessa Leone; boots by Emilia Wickstead

Blouse and pants by Aje; hat by Eugenia Kim; boots by Emilia Wickstead

Dress by Tory Burch; hat by Helen Kaminski; rings by Jennifer Fisher Jewelry; harness, stylist’s own.

Dress by Olivier Theyskins

Follow Chloë On Instagram

Stream Season Two of ‘Trinkets’ Now on Netflix

Makeup by Brenna Drury for Exclusive Artists using Embryolisse.