Lily Sullivan and David Rysdahl — on ties created on set, embracing the bizarre and finding liberation in acting
Photographer
Filip Kartous
Fashion Stylist
Teresa Abrunhosa
There’s a difference between two scene partners and two scene partners in crime.
When we meet actors Lily Sullivan (I Met a Girl, Monolith, Evil Dead Rise) and David Rysdahl (Fargo, Oppenheimer, Alien: Earth), it takes only a few minutes to realise that we have the latter and that the bond created on set of their joint project Soulm8te has developed into a creative partnership and genuine friendship. ‘I loved watching Lily work. She created all these rules for how she could move as a robot. These constraints seemed to liberate her imagination,’ – supportively says David.
Directed by Kate Dolan, Soulm8te tells a tale of a grieving robotics engineer named David (played by Rysdahl) who beta-tests a companion android named Sara (played by Sullivan) to cope with the loss of his wife. No spoiler alerts, but the story takes a darker turn with both Rysdahl and Sullivan enticingly portraying the inner and outer workings of their respective characters. ‘Sara reminded me how much joy there is in making completely bizarre choices and committing to them. And that following your freak is the best medicine,’ – adds Lily.
The Laterals virtually sits down and gets acquainted with the creative duo that added their own twist and turn to the sci-fi horror genre.
David Rysdahl & Lily Sullivan on the October 2026 Digital Cover of The Laterals.
Photographed by Filip Kartous.
MIGLĖ KRIAUČIŪNAITĖ — Lily, David, thank you so much for your time for The Laterals magazine. I always tend to start my interviews with an ice breaker question of sorts – what’s one thing about you that often surprises others?
DAVID RYSDAHL — I’m in the mile high club.
LILY SULLIVAN — Me too. I’m also a great driver.
MIGLĖ — Before delving into a detailed chat about your new movie Soulm8te, I must acknowledge that it was both daunting and captivating to watch, primarily due to your outstanding performances. From an observer’s and viewer’s point of view, this project has definitely required your partner’s on-screen trust, so how did you break the ice on set?
DAVID — After our first day of rehearsal we went out, had some Guinness (we shot the movie in Dublin) and got deep and silly. Our playful inner selves got along instantly, and we carried that energy into the shoot.
LILY — Stripped. Seemed to do the trick. I think this film attracts a certain type of person who’s willing to commit to the bit. When David and I first met, we discovered pretty quickly that if it’s wrong, it’s right. We were playing in this ridiculous sandpit full of laughs and cringe, acting out this deeply weird private world of shame, loneliness and sexual fantasy. You really need a best mate in that environment. You can’t afford to be closed off.
MIGLĖ — I do think that the movie’s journey in finding its storytellers is no less interesting than bringing it all to life. Therefore, let’s take a step back and reminisce – how did Soulm8te’s script land in both of your hands?
DAVID — I was in Bangkok playing an AI transhumanist research scientist on the show Alien: Earth and my agents sent me this script. I laughed – another scientist/researcher! I loved Kate’s focus on tech companies preying on loneliness and how they monetise intimacy and connection.
LILY — I actually had a meeting with Kate before I even auditioned and found myself blurting out all the reasons why I couldn’t possibly do the part. It turned into this strange little confessional, with me listing all my inadequacies. By the time I hung up, I thought, well, if I’m this freaked out by it, I should probably do it.
Kate has such a brilliant, wonderfully strange mind. My freak met hers, and now we’re bound together till death.
MIGLĖ — Now, let’s add a touch of AI to this very human interview. Lily, David – how would each of you introduce the characters that you’re playing in Soulm8te in a maximum of 60 words combined. Apparently, AI bot prompts operate most efficiently when users stick to 40 to 60 words.
DAVID — David Wasson is an AI robotics researcher and recent widower. He’s grieving and vulnerable to the addicting and dangerous intimacy of AI companionship.
LILY — Meet Sara. Your dream silicone woman, straight out of the box. Perfectly symmetrical, obedient, sexually available and programmed to find you intellectually stimulating. Self-cleaning, batteries included. Free will sold separately.
“Getting to play out all these neurotic, paranoid, age-defying rituals women subject themselves to, but in bot form. I got to channel my inner Jim Carrey and perform these ridiculous facial aerobics straight down the barrel of the camera. It was incredibly liberating to parody this almost pathological obsession with preserving youth, especially when I’m tormented by those same pressures in my own life. There’s something wonderfully absurd about a machine inheriting all our insecurities and calling it self-improvement.” — LILY SULLIVAN
MIGLĖ — AI and technology are part of this multilayered storytelling piece, which includes grief, human relationships, loneliness, and control at its core. What’s your own relationship, and most importantly, boundaries with technology, and how did it evolve post wrapping the movie?
LILY — I find these completely private, unfiltered relationships people are having with their AI so sticky. Friends reading me messages they’ve had AI edit for their lovers, feeding it their entire lives so it can analyze them. It’s quite mad. I’ve definitely had to put some boundaries in place, realizing how much of a reflex it had become. This weird mummy complex of asking it absolutely everything. And we’re becoming bossy, impatient little shits, expecting instant gratification and information perfectly filtered to our liking. All that frictionless convenience makes you bloody lazy.
DAVID — Like most of us, I’m addicted to my phone. Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, emails – I find myself automatically and subconsciously pulling out my phone hundreds of times a day. Soulm8te helped me contextualize this habit as addiction. I’m getting better but I need help…
MIGLĖ — I’m a scribbler of notes and one of the notes that I’ve made when watching both of your performances on screen included – Frankenstein in an AI era and she-Frank (as well as, she-Terminator). Mary Shelley’s story has complex character arcs, and so does both of your characters.
David, we observe your namesake character immobilized by grief, discovering a link with Sara, and ultimately confronting his own creation of making, with all that occurs in between.
DAVID — Yep, exactly.
MIGLĖ — Lily, your character transitions from a passive, blank figure (another scribble) experiencing this warped, consumption-driven transformation into a femme fatale villain. Was there a particular part during both character arcs that you thought – well, that was absolutely liberating and delicious to play.
LILY — Definitely the mirror scene. Getting to play out all these neurotic, paranoid, age-defying rituals women subject themselves to, but in bot form. I got to channel my inner Jim Carrey and perform these ridiculous facial aerobics straight down the barrel of the camera. It was incredibly liberating to parody this almost pathological obsession with preserving youth, especially when I’m tormented by those same pressures in my own life. There’s something wonderfully absurd about a machine inheriting all our insecurities and calling it self-improvement.
MIGLĖ — I’m glad that you’ve mentioned facial aerobics. That, as well as the development of your character movement that you brought to screen, is worth a separate section of praises. Could both of you tell us more about the process whilst preparing for these roles – from tapping into the emotional range through your characters as well as any physical preparation that might’ve been required.
DAVID — David has a rich inner life, but he’s very introverted and depressed. I prepared by doing all the internal work of journaling in character, creating a backstory, imagining losing my own wife…. And then I allowed that internal work to affect my external movements and body language. Lily did the opposite. I worked inside out – she worked outside in. The wildest and most terrifying part of this job was staring into Lily’s vacant eyes every day!
LILY — Haha! Yeah… Finding Sara was definitely a mindfuck. Every movement and tiny facial twitch had to feel like a function rather than an emotion. Emulating human expression was hilarious. Ruth Lehane and I developed Sara’s bible of physicality together. We started with the most extreme version of a robot, slowly stripping it back to that uncomfortable uncanny valley. Pumping a bot full of femininity. Restricting my breath to flatten my vocal range, isolating parts of my body. It became this weirdly paralyzing experience.
“Like most of us, I’m addicted to my phone. Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, emails – I find myself automatically and subconsciously pulling out my phone hundreds of times a day. Soulm8te helped me contextualize this habit as addiction. I’m getting better but I need help…” — DAVID RYSDAHL
MIGLĖ — Know we briefly mentioned trust in one’s scene partner and breaking the ice at the beginning. Both of you have explored different genres in this industry – I wonder how the genre of the project impacts not only building trust but also closing the door on that former character of yours – is it easy for you to part with your characters or do they tend to linger after the TV series or movie ends.
LILY — Genre pieces are very liberating. They give you permission to go to extremes, and you have to trust someone pretty quickly when you’re both making absolute fools of yourselves in the name of storytelling. I can usually kick characters out pretty quickly, but Sara left this weird residue. After we wrapped, I started noticing it in my auditions. A strange delay in my speech, even the way I blinked. It was this bizarre muscle memory I’d accidentally programmed into myself. She took a beat to shake off.
DAVID — Some characters are really fun to live in and I miss them. David was not one of those characters. He was so depressed – so damn repressed. I was ready to leave him behind.
MIGLĖ — What the both of you have taken away from this particular project that you think that you’ll apply and embrace in your future work? Speaking of it, can you let us and our readers know where we’ll be seeing you next?
LILY — Sara reminded me how much joy there is in making completely bizarre choices and committing to them. And that following your freak is the best medicine.
I have a film called The Engagement coming out next year, which explores the very human horrors of toxic relationships and micro-rejections. Maybe AI is a better partner…
DAVID — I loved watching Lily work. She created all these rules for how she could move as a robot. These constraints seemed to liberate her imagination. I left the shoot wanting to work that way, and I stole some of it when shooting season two of Alien, which will be out next year (plug!). I’m Lily’s biggest fan (besides her mother) so I’m going to be stealing her acting approaches for the rest of my life.
MIGLĖ — We, at The Laterals, also like entertaining quickfire questions – I’ve included a few of those below. What are you currently reading, listening and watching?
DAVID — Adam Becker’s book More Everything Forever is a fascinating deep dive into the philosophy behind a lot of the tech bros trying to control the world. And I’ve just binged my wife Zazie’s (editor’s note – actress Zazie Beetz) show Nocturne which is out on October 30th on Apple – shameless wife plug! It’s really good.
LILY — Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick. Greentea Peng on repeat. And I’m revisiting Jim Carrey having a nervous breakdown in Kidding.
MIGLĖ — What’s something you say you’ll do, but you haven’t done yet?
DAVID — Become a father, but that’s going to happen in 4 months.
LILY — Give David the outline for a script I’m developing. We shook hands. We set a date. He’s still waiting.
DAVID — I’ve been waiting for over six months, but it’s going to be brilliant. I hope.
Hair Stylist and Groomer
Atsushi Yoshida
Makeup Artist
Sara Fonseca
“I find these completely private, unfiltered relationships people are having with their AI so sticky. Friends reading me messages they’ve had AI edit for their lovers, feeding it their entire lives so it can analyze them. It’s quite mad. I’ve definitely had to put some boundaries in place, realizing how much of a reflex it had become.” — LILY SULLIVAN
MIGLĖ — The best career advice received thus far is…
LILY — Timothy Spall once told me: You’ll be insecure till the day you die doing this, so you might as well relish it.
DAVID — Approach an audition as a chance to act. Stop thinking about getting the part – just enjoy doing the thing you love in the moment.
MIGLĖ — What do you find the most liberating about being an actor?
DAVID — Getting to experience awful things without actually experiencing them. I hope it’s helping me get ready for when shit really hits the fan in my own life. I’ve died so many times in projects that maybe I’ll be more ready to die when my time comes…
LILY — Making peace with humiliation.
MIGLĖ — Is there a question that you wished you were asked in interviews and if so, what would your answer to that question be?
LILY — No. I live for the surprise.
DAVID — Are you in the mile high club? Oh um… I’m glad you asked and yes, I am.
Soulm8te is now streaming on Disney+ globally. Watch the trailer below:
You may also like
Diane Kruger talks teenage years as a model in Paris, The 355 and the pitfalls of playing the most beautiful woman in Ancient Greece
Conventional wisdom tells us you don’t just make it in Hollywood–you fight for your place as a g
Yuna—Torch Bearer
It has been a year since Yuna’s Rouge was release. The a
Ellie Bamber on embracing the gifts of her characters
Actress and CHANEL ambassador Ellie Bamber on fashion and its power of transformation.
Post a comment