“Bad Girl” Star Sara West Tells Us What It’s Like to Keep Playing Teenagers Into Her 20s

Sara West may not be a teenager, but she sure knows how to act like one.

“I feel like I’ve been in that headspace for a while,” she told Student Edge.

“I play a lot of 17-year-olds. I feel older people are almost better at playing teenagers, because they’ve got some kind of perspective.”

Her latest teenage role is Amy, the titular ‘bad girl’ of writer-director Fin Edquist’s Aussie picture Bad Girl.

It's a responsibility she may not have been up to as an actual teen.

“You would not have wanted to have known me when I was a teenager, I guarantee it,” she joked.

In the flick, Amy moves to a new town, just outside of Perth, where her adoptive parents hope she’ll change her wicked ways and maybe even kick her drug habit. Instead, Amy sparks up a flirty friendship with the ‘good’ girl next door, Chloe (Samara Weaving). But Chloe’s not as good as she seems, and eventually, it’s Amy who has to protect her family from her nightmarish new frenemy.

“Everybody kind of identifies with what it was like to be a teenager,” Sara said, acknowledging that most people will see themselves reflected in Amy.

“I certainly do,” she said.

“I wasn’t trying to make her relatable. I was just trying to make it true to her struggle.

“I mean, everybody’s going to be on my side by the end of it anyway, because Samara plays such a good psycho. She made my life a lot easier.”

Bad Girl has been a long-time passion project for Edquist, who shot a trailer for his thriller before the movie had even been made. That teaser—a tool to secure funding for the feature—starred Sara in the role of Amy.

Years later, funding was secured.

“Then I had to just convince [Fin] that I could still be 17 by the time the feature came around,” Sara said.

Though Bad Girl offered Sara the opportunity to play a well-rounded and complex character, she understands those parts are few and far between.

“It’s pretty widely publicised that there’s a lot less women in the industry, in all aspects, across the board,” she said.

“I just enjoy reading female roles that aren’t the girlfriend or that are completely fleshed out. It’s not even about their experience or circumstances. It’s just about more, in general.”

That's why she’s not balking at the prospect of more teenage roles.

“I wouldn’t mind playing a character close to my age at some point,” she laughed, “but I’m happy where I am at the moment.”

Bad Girl is now showing in select Australian cinemas.

Photo: Curious