A Damned Good Interview with Odessa Young

There’s nothing that motivates people quite like the instinct for survival, whether it’s you’re braving a harsh winter or simply trying to make it as an actor in the competitive world of Hollywood. Odessa Young is doing far more than just surviving, and the chilling psychological horror film The Damned demonstrates her fierce dedication to her chosen craft. “I loved the script,” Young says. “It was tight, well-written, compelling and easy to get into.”

The Damned, written by Jamie Hannigan (Pilgrimage) and directed by Thordur Palsson (The Valhalla Murders), is a haunting tale set in the 19th century at a fishing outpost in Iceland during a cold, brutal winter. Young plays Eva, a widow who has inherited her late husband’s fishing boat, which she allows the fishermen to use, provided that they follow her orders. When a shipwrecked vessel appears just offshore, it falls to Eva to decide — do they rescue any potential survivors or prioritize the town’s survival? — as valuable supplies wash ashore. Paranoia and guilt takes hold as the villagers are haunted with dark paranormal visions and an uncertain reality. “What really hooked me was Eva’s active role in the story,” Young says. “In so many horror films, young women are often passive, just watching horrific things happen.” Young observes that the script cleverly subverts genre tropes, and that a big one “comes from a much more nuanced, unexpected place,” though she’s careful to avoid spoilers, noting that you’ll have to see the film to find out how it’s done.

“I’ve just been incredibly lucky recently to work with some of the most amazing filmmakers I could imagine. But I’ve always been doing what I love, and that hasn’t changed.”

Originally from Australia, Young first gained attention for her roles in The Daughter and Looking for Grace in 2015, followed by a breakthrough with Assassination Nations in 2018 and Mothering Sunday, and has built a reputation for portraying layered, emotionally resonant characters. Her career has since expanded internationally with critically acclaimed performances in the films Shirley (2020), Mothering Sunday (2021) and the limited run series’ The Stand (2020) and The Staircase (2022). In The Damned, she continues to showcase her ability to bring nuanced and compelling protagonists to life. Filming took Young to the remote Westfjords of Iceland, a location as unforgiving as the story itself. “We were very deep in the Westfjords, which are some of the most remote and inhospitable parts of the world,” Young says. “It takes ten hours to drive there from Reykjavik, and while you can fly, flights are canceled almost 90% of the time, so we drove overnight to get there. The roads are treacherous — single lanes with ten-minute-long tunnels where you have to squeeze past oncoming cars. It’s one of those places where you can feel how few people ever venture there.”

The brutal conditions only added to the intensity of the production. “Even when we were shooting interiors, like the fishing station, those sets were in an old fish warehouse by a lake

surrounded by snow,” Young says. “Our trailers were out in the field, and the weather was just relentless — cold, wet and windy. Even finding a moment to warm up was a challenge, let alone dealing with the logistics of wearing seven skirts in a tiny Winnebago bathroom perched on the edge of a cliff.”

Despite these hardships, Young found the environment invaluable in shaping her performance. “The isolation and claustrophobia of the setting were incredibly inspiring,” Young says. “You couldn’t help but absorb the mood of the place. It felt like the environment did half the work for us, creating the perfect backdrop for the story’s tension and dread.”

Beyond the physical challenges, the film’s psychological depth was equally demanding. “The script laid everything out in such a clear and subconscious way. I didn’t feel like I had to stretch myself to find my way into Eva’s world. The events, the character and her emotional journey felt very straightforward, which is a testament to how well the story was constructed.”

Young sees some parallels between The Damned and the recent drama The Order — in which she plays the girlfriend of a delusional white supremacist cult leader preparing to lead his people into an apocalyptic war — particularly in how fear manifests in group behavior. “The fear in these stories drives people to act in ways that feel instinctual, even ancient,” Young says. “It’s that same instinct to insulate and turn away from the world instead of opening yourself up to it. It’s something I think we all have to fight against.”

“You couldn’t help but absorb the mood of the place. It felt like the environment did half the work for us, creating the perfect backdrop for the story’s tension and dread.”

2025 promises to be a big year for Young, with projects that include the Netflix miniseries Black Rabbit with Jude Law,  Jason Bateman and Oscar Winner Troy Kotsur, and the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere with The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White. Despite these high profile opportunities, Young remains grounded when reflecting on her career trajectory. “I like to think I treat every job the same,” Young says. “I’ve just been incredibly lucky recently to work with some of the most amazing filmmakers I could imagine. But I’ve always been doing what I love, and that hasn’t changed. From the outside, it might seem like a big moment, but at the end of the day, I’m just doing what I’ve always done.”

It’s clear that Odessa Young will be doing what she loves for the foreseeable future, and that that no matter how cold the location can be, this rising star is on a hot streak. Whether it’s the fjords of Iceland or E Street in New Jersey, regardless of the size of the film, or the genre, her charming and engaging presence adds immeasurably to any screen project.

Read more interviews with film makers:
The Wicked Eyes and Imagination of Alice Brooks
Tony Cochran on Luki & The Lights and Changing the World Through Storytelling