Victoria Pedretti has emerged as the new face of horror and thrillers after her 2018 debut as Nell in Mike Flanagan’s “The Haunting of Hill House.” Pedretti has swiftly established herself to be a master of gloom and surprise, whether haunting her family on “Hill House,” fighting spirits in Flanagan’s “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” or falling for a serial murderer on “You.” Whatever the genre, her characters are never what they appear to be; they have depths that aren’t immediately apparent on the surface, and audiences and reviewers alike seem to be intrigued by her ability to navigate between places of brightness and gloom. She contributes nuance and empathy to these parts, allowing her characters to stand out in genres where you think you know what to anticipate.
While Pedretti has made a name for herself on tv, she has also appeared in some of your got it dark films. She appeared in “Shirley,” starring Elisabeth Moss as Shirley Jackson, but she also appeared as a part of the Manson family in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” where she rode horses with Leonardo DiCaprio. Pedretti was recently revealed as the star of “Lucky,” a film based on Alice Sebold’s bestseller “The Lovely Bones.” It’s evident that Pedretti’s nuanced roles will continue to amaze audiences, so here’s the unseen story of this performer who’s swiftly become beyond a screaming princess.
Pedretti’s characters appear to share sensitivity, even if they express it in various ways. In an interview with StyleLikeU, Pedretti discussed her own sensitivity, which she’s learned to embrace as a gift rather than a flaw. Pedretti tells an anecdote about riding a rollercoaster and freaking out the entire time until she and her friend got to the front of the line; after the ride, her friend told her that she was terrified as well, and Pedretti notes how she’s always been someone who let herself express what she was feeling, even when others weren’t. “She feels a lot, and sometimes it’s bad, but sometimes it’s great, and it feels nice when she can,” she says.
Perhaps her writing has contributed to her acceptance, as she has infused her sensitivity and compassion into the characters of Nell, Dani, and even (or especially) Love. In an interview with the New York Times, Pedretti says that the “acting muscle is the muscle of empathy,” which may explain why characters like Love can be accepted and resonate despite some of the horrific things she does.
