{"id":626865,"date":"2026-10-11T00:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T00:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626865\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T00:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T00:48:09","slug":"other-mommy-arabella-olivia-clark-on-working-with-jessica-chastain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626865\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Other Mommy’ Arabella Olivia Clark On Working With Jessica Chastain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tArabella Olivia Clark<\/a> is proud to scare you.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 10-year-old actress joined Variety over Zoom from her Los Angeles hotel room the morning after the premiere of \u201cOther Mommy<\/a>, wearing a jacket with her character\u2019s name, Bela, printed on the front. Clark plays the daughter of Ursula (Jessica Chastain) and Russ (Jay Duplass), a young girl terrorized by a sinister figure who looks just like her mother, known as the titular Other Mommy. <\/p>\n

\n\tReleased on Friday, the Rob Savage-directed film debuted at No. 1<\/a>, earning $12.6 million domestically on its opening day. This is Clark\u2019s first leading role, and she\u2019s just getting started.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Clark, who previously played a younger version of Amanda Seyfried\u2019s character in the 2025 film \u201cThe Housemaid,\u201d \u201cOther Mommy\u201d marks her first time leading a feature film. Clark might specialize in frightening audiences, but she\u2019s not easily frightened herself.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI love spiders. I love snakes. I like all the creepy stuff,\u201d she replies when asked what scares her the most. \u201cI love the dark, so I don\u2019t really know what I would be afraid of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHer mom, Rachel Clark, joins her off-camera in their L.A. hotel room, adding that nothing overtly frightening has ever held her back. \u201cShe\u2019s always willing to try everything,\u201d she says. \u201cEven if she can\u2019t do something, she\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019ll try that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tClark\u2019s open mind and adventurous spirit extend well beyond the screen. When she\u2019s not acting, Clark takes sailing and swimming lessons \u2014 the latter of which came in handy for \u201cOther Mommy\u201d \u2014 and spends much of her free time reading. Before even landing the role of Bela, she read the film\u2019s source material, Josh Malerman\u2019s 2024 novel \u201cIncidents Around the House,\u201d in just three days. By her second audition, she was well prepared, though the story still managed to get under her skin. \u201cI got chills!\u201d she shares.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut a few chills have never held her back. In fact, she\u2019s a certified thrill-seeker at just 10 years old, even when it comes to her love for reading. Her favorite book is \u201cBunnicula,\u201d a vampire rabbit set on a series of paranormal adventures, and she\u2019s currently reading one of Jeff Kinney\u2019s \u201cAwesome Friendly Spooky Stories\u201d books, which she proudly holds up to the camera. Combine that with her work on \u201cOther Mommy\u201d and \u201cThe Housemaid,\u201d and she\u2019s officially earned her status as a horror aficionado.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough she excels in the genre, she\u2019s not quite ready to limit herself to it just yet. She aspires to venture into science fiction, particularly a potential sequel to \u201cE.T.,\u201d which would give her the chance to fulfill her dream of working with Steven Spielberg. Perhaps the film will also feature an appearance from yet another dream collaborator: Rocky, the beloved alien from \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMaybe Rocky and E.T. could be friends, because they\u2019re both aliens, right?\u201d Clark ponders.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhether she\u2019s facing a terrifying doppelg\u00e4nger, diving into a massive water tank or imagining supernova adventures, Clark is eager to try just about anything. Below, she discusses filming \u201cOther Mommy,\u201d learning from Chastain and her mentor-like relationship with former child actress Mckenna Grace.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOTHER MOMMY, Arabella Olivia Clark, 2026. ph: Bernard Walsh \/\u00a9 Universal Pictures \/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9Universal\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOther Mommy\u201d scared me so bad! Were you scared while making it?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, Rob Savage was always making sure I felt safe on set, and Jessica and Jay were always showing me different things and telling me different stories and making funny faces. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was it like getting to work with Jessica Chastain? I know you mentioned you had a lot of fun together behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\n\tWorking with Jessica Chastain was a great experience. I spent time with her and her kids, and she\u2019s a great mom. We were always going to the park and hiking and all that stuff. One time \u2014 well, a bunch of times \u2014 I was in her trailer, and she was also studying for Harvard. And I can\u2019t believe it! She\u2019s a mom, and also studying for Harvard and also filming a movie at the same time. I learned a lot from her.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was one of your favorite memories that you have from being on set for \u201cOther Mommy\u201d?<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of my favorite memories is when Jessica did her witch cackle. She\u2019s like, \u201cOK everybody, it\u2019s going to be loud.\u201d And she did it, and I was so surprised. She could be a witch in a movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat part scared me! How did it not freak you out?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, once the camera\u2019s rolling, it\u2019s one thing. But when it\u2019s not rolling, they\u2019re all telling funny jokes or telling funny stories or showing me different pictures. Or taking pictures with me.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou were also in \u201cThe Housemaid,\u201d which had me scared too. Do you love doing scary stuff?<\/p>\n

\n\tI really do. Paul Feig was amazing. I played a young role of Amanda Seyfried, and I\u2019m always gonna look up to her. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is your favorite movie that Amanda\u2019s done? I think my favorite is probably \u201cMamma Mia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s my favorite! And \u201cMean Girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s a part in the movie where you play Other Bela, an evil version of your character. Which version was more fun to play?<\/p>\n

\n\tOther Bela!<\/p>\n

\n\tYou should play a bad guy in your next horror movie.<\/p>\n

\n\tOkay! I also want to do sci-fi. Like sharks and stuff. I like experiencing the stuff that\u2019s not actually real. I want to go to space and then have aliens and octopuses and sharks in the movie. Like a whole sci-fi movie combined!<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s your favorite sci-fi movie?<\/p>\n

\n\tI love \u201cThe Meg.\u201d And \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d the new one that just came out. I love Rocky! I want my own Rocky. I love science and doing all different projects and space. I would love to be in space. And I love reading spooky stories in the dark with a flashlight at night.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re only 10, and I still get scared at 23. You\u2019re braver than I am! <\/p>\n

\n\tThank you! I love doing all the stunts. I got to do different flips and spins, and I love doing acrobatics. And I love the water scenes too, because I got to swim a lot, and that\u2019s one of my hobbies. Swimming and sailing.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow did you film that scene in the water?<\/p>\n

\n\tArabella: It was a big, big pool. It was massive. It was a big tank that was, like, 20 feet down?<\/p>\n

\n\tRachel: It was 20 feet down. Watching her film in the water was one of the scariest moments as a mom, because the tank was pitch black. There were balls. She had that Sherpa hoodie on, pulling her down, and they had the pyrotechnic people where there was an explosion in the water. And they had to yank her underwater. The timing and everything was so well orchestrated. But of course, as a mom, it was very anxiety-producing.<\/p>\n

\n\tArabella: It was fun. I love swimming, and I love being in deep pools. I can dive down all the way to 10 feet!<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you know who Mckenna Grace is?
Yes!<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, you remind me so much of her. I was just talking about how I think you\u2019re going to have the same career as her!<\/p>\n

\n\tRachel: Do you want to know something? Mckenna Grace is so sweet. She reached out to Arabella and offered to mentor her and be there for her to talk about things like growing up in the industry.<\/p>\n

\n\tArabella: We only talked online. But I\u2019m hoping to meet her in person!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arabella Olivia Clark is proud to scare you. The 10-year-old actress joined Variety over Zoom from her Los…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[307732,156,409,111,139,69,26487],"class_list":["post-626865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-arabella-olivia-clark","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-other-mommy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}