Amy Seimetz has been making her mark on the entertainment industry for quite a while now. The thing is, it still seems as though every single time she pops up at a film festival with an independent gem, that’s the cue to open the floodgates and unleash the think pieces about how she’s “breaking through,” “on the rise,” “the new It Girl,” or however you’d like to phrase it. But the truth of the matter is, she earned those designations long ago and made the most of them. Now it’s about time Seimetz is widely recognized for the filmmaker she’s become - a deeply passionate, dedicated, and experienced creator with a unique voice and a firm understanding of what it takes to bring a story to screen both in front of the lens and behind it.

Towards the end of a full press day in Austin at SXSW, where her new movie Pet Sematary celebrated its world premiere, Seimetz went back to the very beginning. Her parents aren’t in the industry. Her mother is a speech pathologist and her father worked in real estate, so making a living in Hollywood seemed like a reach. She admitted, “As a kid, I would always say, ‘I'm gonna be a writer,’ but I would be a doctor, and I would have a whole other career.” She filed away her dream of becoming a writer as a hobby, and who could blame her? She laughed and noted, “I didn't really make a living doing it until my late 20s. Not even then, my early 30s.” 

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Photographed by Sacha Waldman for Collider

Until then, she would support herself with other jobs including work as a nanny and as a seamstress, but she also heavily relied on her on-set life to get by. When she was in her mid to late 20s, she was living set to set. “I would go on a set and I would either produce or act in something, and then I'd have my own set, but that was really the only way I was eating, was because I would be on a set because they had craft service. At home I had nothing, but as long as I could make rent and get on a set, I could eat.” Seimetz added, “The idea of being an artist for a living didn't click until I started actually making a living. I just thought, ‘I'll be a poor artist for my whole life,’ and then you'd book a TV show and you're like, ‘Oh,  you can actually make a living doing this and not go bankrupt.’”

So check the “make a living” box off Seimetz’s list, but it’s also abundantly clear that she’s not one to settle for a decent wage. She’s got lofty creative goals as well, and they aren’t specific to being an actor. “I accidentally am an actor, accidentally, and that was because I started as a writer and a filmmaker. I was cheap, and I also didn't have to explain things to another actor, and I had very weird ideas.” For that reason, she decided to act in her own films. Things got a little more serious for Seimetz in the acting department when she made a short film that was accepted into the Sarasota Film Festival. She attended and started networking with other filmmakers, who were pleasantly surprised to hear that she had acting experience. “They were like, ‘Oh, you act too.’ And I'm like, ‘Kind of, I don't really know what I'm doing.’ But they didn't know what they were doing, because we were all so young.” Seimetz continued, "So, I grew up with other filmmakers acting in their films, in their shorts, and then continuing to make my own work as well.”

And keep in mind, we’re not talking about big-budget studio films like Pet Sematary here. Seimetz was getting involved in feature films that had budgets of around $10,000. “Whenever I would meet people at film festivals, I would be like, ‘Let me know when you're doing your next film. I'll come and hold a boom.’” Seimetz clarified that this didn’t come from an opportunistic drive, but her eagerness to learn. “It's so good to learn your craft through other people and being on set, and I just wanted to be on set and learn how other people did it. Not just as an actor, but also as a filmmaker, learning how to capture good sound or I would camera op for Silver Bullets for Joe Swanberg. I camera oped and helped boom, and produced for him.”

“I often feel like a spy because a lot of times they don't think the actor's paying attention to things."

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Photographed by Sacha Waldman for Collider

Seimetz went as far as to dub herself a spy. (In one of the most admirable uses of the term I’ve ever heard.) “When I go on to act in things I often feel like a spy because a lot of times they don't think the actor's paying attention to things. They kind of coddle you, and they just make sure you have all your water and stuff. But I'm constantly looking at department heads and seeing who's doing their job really well, especially because I can steal them for my stuff.” And again, she made a point to clarify, “You don't steal ideas! That's a no-no, but you steal techniques and stuff.”

When asked about some of her biggest influences, it seemed clear that Seimetz could have rattled off a long, long list, but she opted to highlight four names in the moment: Adam Wingard, Swanberg, Donald Glover, and Lena Dunham. “I was in Tiny Furniture, and I was really taken with how self-possessed Lena Dunham was when she was so young. Because she's even younger than I am. And I remember acting on that and just really loving watching her voice and how much she trusted it, and how much of the material is just her and that was really inspiring.”

She also admired Wingard’s deft touch on the camera, specifically when it came to making a movie look like he had more resources than he really did. They worked together on one of his early features, A Horrible Way to Die, and she noted that he did all of his early camerawork himself. “What’s funny is that we were making a very cheap movie, but he was very keen on making sure it didn't look like a cheap movie, and having that confidence to move the camera in a way that is non-traditional so that it's cinematic and you don't see the budget of a movie.” As for Swanberg, he was a standout because he’d never stress or lose his cool. Seimetz explained that what she took from her experience working with him was to “keep your calm,” and added, “Everyone on set runs with the tone of the director, so watching him and him never lose his cool, even though we were shooting things with no script, was really fascinating.”

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Image via FX

Seimetz also recently directed episodes of Atlanta and had a great experience working with Glover. “He is so playful. And he has so much pressure and he did so many different things, but he doesn't lose that playfulness or that childlike discovery of playing and discovering something, and allowing some things to be weird, and knowing that sometimes discovery comes from the playfulness, and not everything has to be so serious.” She laughed and added, “It's adult playtime. That sounds sexy, but I mean, it's like you have to remember to be playful because you're an artist, you know? And you learn from your fuck-ups and that it's okay to fuck up, and then you find discoveries through that.”

"It would be really awesome if there was one thing I did. That would make my life a lot easier.”

Seimetz’s interest in observing and learning from collaborators extends well beyond the filmmaker at the helm of a project. She’s also got her eye on the techniques and the responsibilities of various departments, both on set and in post-production. Recently, that’s kindled a somewhat new interest in sound mixing. “So sound mixers are, they're genius. I love going into the sound mix, but they do things that I technically don't know how to do.” She continued, “So my new kick right now is opening up these sound programs and learning how to actually do the technical side of sound mixing and understanding. Not because I want to be a sound mixer, but I think it makes it much easier for me to communicate with the sound mixers and even camera department.”

Personally, I look at it as a blessing to be gifted in so many different facets of storytelling, but it's not easy to prioritize so many paths and Seimetz knows it. “I mean, it would be really awesome if there was one thing I did. That would make my life a lot easier.” She admitted she probably wouldn’t be content doing just one thing and noted that recently, she’s felt the need to focus on time management. “When I was younger it was, ‘I'll just write when I'm inspired.’ And now I have a deal at FX where I have to sit my ass down a lot when I don't want to. So now, it's just like, making sure I preserve time, not just to write to execute because you have a deadline, but to explore.”

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Photographed by Sacha Waldman for Collider

She admits that she spends a good deal of time staring at walls and daydreaming. Sometimes she walks away with 30 pages and other days it’s a mere half a page. But according to Seimetz, the key is, “You just have to kind of be okay with that, but making sure you have that time so that you're not just churning out junk, you know?” In fact, she insists that her agents don’t call her when she’s writing, and that period of time could be two, three or maybe even six months. “So for them, I think it's really frustrating. My actor agents, I think they're very frustrated because I'm like, ‘Don't call me. I'm writing right now.’ So I think for me, it's more about time management now.”

What this all comes down to for Seimetz is longevity. Yes, it can be flattering to be called an “It Girl” or have people proclaim her a "breakthrough” but Seimetz also sees the dangers of slapping on such a label. “For me, it's always been about longevity and thinking about, how can I make films? Or be a part of film? Or have a career over a span? And a lot of that is trusting yourself and taking time and making the stuff that you're really interested in, but also that there is no breakthrough moment, that you're just constantly searching for the most interesting thing that you can possibly make, whether that's, for me, acting, or directing, or writing.”

Turning her attention to acting in particular, Seimetz stressed, “I always think it's really important for actors to realize that you work in a format where people have to choose you.” She added, “I think I got labeled as ‘indie darling’ and still do, and it’s really funny; every time somebody says ‘indie darling,’ I'm like, ‘How many goddamn TV shows do I have to direct before you stop calling me an indie darling?’ Do you know what I mean?” She laughed and continued, “I didn't attack acting in a traditional way. I wasn't going out to audition in my early 20s. I was making art films and acting in art films, and that was where my interests lay.” It wasn’t about “breaking through” or becoming a “mega star.” It’s about getting familiar with her craft and approaching it as an art form, and she still approaches it that way now.

"It's not just to make a smart female character; it's that she has an actual effect on the plot.”

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Image via Paramount Pictures

And it seems as though the stars aligned when it came to Pet Sematary because directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer did choose Seimetz for the role of Rachel Creed, but they were all on the same wavelength creatively. It winds up serving the character, and the film as a whole, extremely well. As Seimetz explained, the Starry Eyes directing duo were well aware of certain potential pitfalls when bringing Rachel back to screen. “The thing that I talked to the guys about too, in talking about female agency and the conversations around writing a female character, it's not just to make a smart female character; it's that she has an actual effect on the plot.” And as you’ll see in the final film, Seimetz’s Rachel has just that. “The way that they adapted it and the way that it came out is that she's so present, and her emotions and her past also rear its head in a way that affects the ultimate ending of the movie, too.”

Stephen King’s Pet Sematary isn’t the kind of story to bring to the big screen if you’re merely looking to give an audience a fleeting thrill. It’s a nightmarish scenario with a powerful and very thoughtful exploration of mortality running through its veins. It also boasts a strong family at its core; her husband Louis, played here by Jason Clarke, and their two young children, Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and Gage (Hugo and Lucas Lavoie). That robust ensemble paired with personal perspective could change your thoughts on the material from watch to re-watch (or read to re-read) and beyond, and that’s precisely what happened when Seimetz dove into Pet Sematary.

She first read the book as a kid and back then, “the thing that disturbed me the most was that adults have, you know, really fucked up thoughts, but also that they don't always have sweet feelings towards their child.” She added, “When you're young, you think you're the center of the universe and that your parents just love you all the time. And they do, they do, but love is very complicated and as a kid, you understand love in these very simplistic terms.”

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Image via Paramount Pictures

Now, however, she latches onto another of the book's components, and it’s connected to a deeply personal experience she went through. “When I revisited it recently, I had lost my father. I had taken care of my father, and so I felt very close to this Rachel character because I had taken care of my father and he was ill for quite some time, and then I lost him. So the same relationship that she has with Zelda. Revisiting it, and looking at the book as more of a discussion about loss and grieving and knowing how crazy grieving can make you, or taking care of somebody.”

When it comes to Pet Sematary hitting theaters nationwide on April 5th, or any horror movie getting a release for that matter, Seimetz sees great value in both streaming and big screen viewing. As for streaming platforms, she finds it affords creators more opportunities to access an audience and, on top of that, Seimetz values the intimacy of streaming a piece of content at home, alone. “I also feel like the way that you stream it in a private way, it's the closest thing to reading a novel because you have this intimate relationship with it.” On the flip side, she also noted, “The thing that is so great about genre and seeing it in a theater is that people want a reason to go to the theater and see things in a communal space and with genre filmmaking. It's so interactive and it's so much better seeing [it] with an audience. It's so fun because they're so vocal.”

Seimetz is well aware that a night out at the movies has grown increasingly more expensive, but she thinks the studios understand that. “When you bring your family out or you bring a date out, it's an expensive night so you want to go on a ride. You want to be taken somewhere. You want to have an adventure. And I think genre, sci-fi, and horror do that for people.” And you know what? Pet Sematary really does - clearly not in a family-friendly way, but having seen the movie twice in theaters now, it adds to the idea that there’s great value in sharing that audible and visceral response with a room full of movie lovers.

I’m of the mind that Pet Sematary is a movie not to be missed, but briefly looking towards Seimetz’s future goals, she name-dropped a couple of individuals she’d like to work with and they’re two very exciting choices. First up she went for Killing Eve star Jodie Comer. “I just met with her and I'm dying to work with her. I think she's fantastic. She is so fearless as an actress.” This next one might seem like an obvious choice - and Seimetz knows it - but there’s nothing wrong with that! “I mean, Jordan Peele," She said. "I mean, isn't he the hot ticket?”

Whether it’s working with Jordan Peele, Jodie Comer, acting, writing, directing, you name it, Seimetz continues to have a very bright future ahead of her that far exceeds labels like “the it girl” or “indie darling.” She’s a respected and highly experienced creator bringing daring and thoughtful stories to the world, and for that reason, there is absolutely no reason to think that Seimetz won't achieve her dream and have a lengthy, impactful career.

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