"I Thought I'd Just Rock Up and Be a Silly Goose": Here's What Surprised Samara Weaving Most About Filmmaking (2025)

Samara Weaving’s firmly cemented herself as a genre icon. Thanks to The Babysitter, Ready or Not and then some, she’s become one of the most trusted and exciting artists in horror. When her name popped up on yet another genre movie roster, it instantly became a highly anticipated production, and Weaving made due on that hype. Her latest, Borderline, is an outrageous and twisted delight.

Marking the feature writing and directing debut of her husband, Jimmy Warden, Borderline stars Weaving as Sofia, an extremely popular 90s pop star with a dangerously obsessive fan, Paul Duerson, played to over-the-top perfection by Ray Nicholson. While Sofia often has her loyal bodyguard (Eric Dane) at her back, one night, Paul slips through the cracks, determined to carry out his grand delusion, marrying Sofia.

Borderline is wonderfully bonkers in many respects, but it’s also an effective edge-of-your-seat thrill because Weaving successfully crafts an anchor character who can play with the extreme while feeling just grounded enough to convey she’s fighting for something real. It’s a reminder that, yes, Weaving is an absolute ace in the horror genre, but she’s also got the endless range to deftly handle a horror genre mash-up - and any other type of film she wants to tackle, for that matter.

With Borderline now available to watch in theaters and on digital, Weaving joined me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to revisit her film professor father’s early influence, to look back on her very first trip to LA and what it was like finding her place in Hollywood, and to discuss how she pushed herself in new ways in Borderline.

The Family Member Who’s Had Samara Weaving’s Back Since Day One

“Even today, if I get a script, I'll send it to him and go, ‘What do you think about this?’”

While you might be aware that Weaving’s uncle is acclaimed actor Hugo Weaving, she had another family member with in-depth knowledge of the craft of filmmaking in her corner. It’s her father, a film professor.

“Dad had this incredible library of DVDs in our basement/movie den area, and so most nights, we'd watch old film noir movies or just weird, obscure foreign films, so me and my sister kind of grew up being immersed in film.”

Not only did Weaving's father help spark her love of film early on, but he was also supportive of her dream of working in the field - and still is.

“When I started working, he didn't have any doubts or try to talk me out of it. I was 13, and I just said, ‘Hey, how do you do that? Because I want to do that. If someone can pay me to do that, what are we doing? Let's get going!’ And he would drive me the two hours down to Sydney from where we were living in Canberra, take me to auditions, break down scenes with me, and really help me. And when I came to LA, he was the first one who came over with me and set me up with managers and agents. He was just so supportive. I mean, my whole family was. And even today, if I get a script, I'll send it to him and go, ‘What do you think about this?’ And he'll send me notes. He definitely had a pivotal role in how I got here.”

Weaving Revisits Her First Trip to LA

"If I had to do it now, it would be a different story."

When the time came to venture out to Hollywood, Weaving began that ambitious trip with all the confidence in the world. Why? Because she was 18. Weaving laughed and explained:

“At 18, you just know everything. You're the smartest, I think, at 18. Do you know what I mean? You're like, ‘I can figure out anything, and everyone's dumb,’ so there was no fear or doubt in my mind. I would just go to LA, and it would just all work out because why wouldn't it? [Laughs] Which I think came in handy. If I had to do it now, it would be a different story.”

In addition to having her father’s support on that first trip, there was something else that came in handy big time. It was Weaving’s work on the hugely popular Australian soap opera, Home and Away.

“A lot of Aussie actors have come through that show, and American agents recognize that, so even though they hadn't watched me in it, which I think might be a good thing because, questionable acting, I was able to set up a lot of meetings with really great managers and agents because of that show. So they were all lined up already and ready to go.”

Weaving's Lead Actor Trifecta: Frances McDormand, Nicole Kidman & Melissa McCarthy

“What I learned pretty quickly is how much power an actor has when they are the lead.”

Weaving took some strong first steps in film and television, but still had a lot to learn along the way. One particularly impactful early lesson learned? The importance of having a good leader at the top of the call sheet. She explained:

“I think what I learned pretty quickly is how much power an actor has when they are the lead, like when they’re number one on the call sheet. I didn't realize how much influence you have over the set and what the tone of that set is gonna be. If the lead comes in and is in a bad mood, the whole crew and cast can pick up on that, and it has a ripple-down effect. I didn't realize, ‘Oh, I have a leadership role in this.’ I thought I'd just rock up and be a silly goose and just do my job as an actor, but there is also this leadership role that I've learned over the years, and now I take quite seriously. Because some jobs you walk on, and the lead might not really understand that they have that power, and it does really have an effect on how things are run and how smoothly things go.”

Fortunately, Weaving had some of the best of the best to show her the way in this respect. In addition to shouting out Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy on the set of Nine Perfect Strangers, Weaving also took a moment to celebrate Frances McDormand’s influence on the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri set.

“Seeing Frances and how she would just greet everyone every day, and she’d pal around with the crew. She wouldn't necessarily run off to the green room and hang out. She'd be on set and making sure — because it's long days and it's really demanding sometimes, and her just having such an upbeat energy, I just watched with awe.”

Weaving would get her chance to have that same influence on a film set. In fact, she’d get that chance many times over. But it all began with the 2017 Netflix release, The Babysitter. Here’s what Weaving said when asked for the very first project she did that made her feel as though she was showing this industry what she’s really capable of:

“Oh gosh, that's hard, isn't it? Because I still have a certain amount of imposter syndrome and sort of, ‘Who let me in?’ [Laughs] There's sort of a self-conscious, ‘When are they gonna find out that they've made a terrible mistake?’ But I think when The Babysitter came out because that was my first American movie, and I was the lead in it, and it was on the Warner Bros. Lot. I just remember walking on and seeing the Friends fountain, and we were working on the street where ET had been filmed. That was a real moment of, ‘Okay, this is different. This is a different ballgame.’ After that, this might sound, whatever, but I remember when I first got noticed, like, living in the world. I think that's kind of a moment where you go, ‘Oh, okay. This is like a real thing.’”

The success of The Babysitter and how that film sent Weaving’s star soaring was a very real thing indeed. Since, she’s amassed an incredibly varied and impressive filmography, and also an adoring fan base that follows her from project to project as she continues to deliver fearless and electrifying work, Borderline included.

How ‘The King of Comedy’ Helped Samara Weaving Nail a New Horror Comedy Acting Goal

"I have to be this strangely calm character within the context of this terrifying situation."

While Weaving is quite experienced in the horror realm, her role in Borderline dared her to tackle a new genre performance challenge. She explained:

“[Director Jimmy Warden is] my husband so that's the greatest, and I just really wanted to work with him. It was so much fun because it didn't feel like work at all. But what we discussed about this character that I hadn't really done before was, I got it from King of Comedy, De Niro and Scorsese’s [movie]. Jerry Lewis's character is the one who gets kidnapped, and he's calm about it. There's still fear. It's still very much a realistic reaction, but there's kind of this level-headedness that I really liked, and it also enabled him to be the straight man. What do we call a straight man now? Voice of reason, I guess? Maybe. Surely there’s a newer version of that word. But yeah, he was able to be, for lack of a better term, the straight man in it, and because I think with other horror comedies I'd done, I was playing the truth of it, but … I'm playing the fear in a much sort of bigger way. But with Borderline, I wanted to challenge myself to see how can I portray the stakes and fear but still lend myself more to the comedy by being more of a straight woman. Because Ray [Nicholson] and Alba [Baptista] are so fantastic in this, and when I read it, I sort of realized my role would be to support them and make sure that the jokes sort of landed. And the way that I figured it out was, ‘Okay, I have to be this strangely calm character within the context of this terrifying situation.’”

To further define her character and how she operated, Weaving turned to beloved 90s pop stars. But, while she did have some fun with Sofia’s “loss of reality" as a celebrity, she also ensured the audience never lost her sense of heart.

“I just thought about a pop star in the ‘90s who's had to deal with the horrors of celebrity and fame, and having to be a boss of people and also being a woman in the ‘90s. You have to be so strong in order to survive that. So I sort of carried that through. I think she had lived in this bubble for a long time, so her loss of reality in certain areas was really fun to play, too. And Eric Dane's character, that's where you could see her heart and that's where you see that she's loving and capable of being a good person.”

While Weaving toed that line between playful and grounded, Ray Nicholson and Alba Baptista swooped in to go especially big.

“Ray, you just meet him and you go, ‘All of this is just fantastic.’ He just would go for it. Jimmy would just be telling the camera operator, ‘Just follow him around,’ because he was so free. He just would do whatever he wanted. He was such a risk-taker, which, with this kind of character that he's playing, could be terrifying. But he was so fearless, and so funny and so heartbreaking and terrifying, which is such a hard character to juggle, and he absolutely nailed it.”

Weaving also took a moment to highlight the moment Warden found Baptista:

“And then Alba, Jimmy was watching auditions one day and said, “Sam, come look at this.’ We both were like, ‘Oh, we have to get this woman in here ASAP.’ She's so sweet-looking and plays such an unhinged psychopath. It's incredible.”

The ‘Borderline’ Scene with Alba Baptista That Shocked Samara Weaving

“You’re reading it and you're going, ‘Excuse me, what?’”

[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Borderline.]Baptista’s ability to take it to an 11, if not beyond, is on full display in one of Borderline’s very best sequences, one she shares with Weaving. “You’re reading it and you're going, ‘Excuse me, what?’ This is just this beautiful little insane, surrealist moment in the middle of a fight scene. Never seen that before. Genius.”

Weaving's description of that moment in the film is spot-on. This particular sequence features some downright wild and incredibly well-executed tonal shifts. Weaving continued:

“The scene where Alba and I are fighting and then we stop to sing Celine Dion and then continue fighting. Singing was scary, and then also just taking this risk of being absolutely ridiculous, like throwing myself on the piano and the spotlight drops. I was really excited to do the scene, but also that, I thought, was going to be really hard, but it ended up being so much fun.”

Did You Catch Samara Weaving and Ray Nicholson’s Secret Song in ‘Borderline’? Here’s Where to Find It

For someone who finds singing scary, Weaving is doing quite a bit of it on the big screen, singing opera in Chevalier, and now playing a pop star here. In Chevalier, she sang on top of the recording of the professional Italian opera singer, and in Borderline, the Celine Dion moment is dubbed. But, there is a moment in the movie where you can hear Weaving herself sing alongside Nicholson. “Jimmy wanted us to sing a song that he wrote, and you can hear it in the wedding sequence. "That's Ray and I singing.” She continued:

“Celine Dion? We have to get someone else to sing. But I think it's the montage of us in the church, and Jimmy wrote this song. I can't remember the lyrics, but they’re something like, ‘Sweet baby Jesus, we love you.’ [Laughs] I can't remember, but it's classic Jimmy lines, and I’m proud of ourselves for going and recording that.”

Looking for even more from Weaving on Borderline and her journey in film and television thus far? Be sure to check out our full 40-minute Collider Ladies Night conversation in the video at the top of this article, or you can listen to the interview in podcast form below:

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Borderline

R

Comedy

Romance Thriller

Mystery

6 10

Release Date

March 14, 2025

Runtime

110 minutes

Director

Jimmy Warden

Cast

See All

• 

  Samara Weaving

  Sofia

• 

  Ray Nicholson

  Duerson

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• 

Where to watch

Close

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming

• 
• 

Borderline is a thriller released on March 14, 2025, featuring a romantic sociopath who escapes a mental institution to invade the home of a '90s pop superstar. As he seeks affection, she must fight to survive in this tension-filled narrative exploring obsession and survival.

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