Inde Navarrette was convinced that she had been terrible in her audition for the part of Nikki, a pretty girl with a surprisingly aggressive dark side, in the film Obsession. Navarrette knew it was a great part—previously, she had been cast only in small roles in TV shows such as Superman & Lois. “Obsession came into my life like a bull in a china shop,” Navarrette, who is 25, said on a beautiful fall day in Los Angeles. She had returned the night before from the Toronto International Film Festival, where, one year ago, the Obsession juggernaut began. The independently made horror film is about a lovelorn man named Bear who wishes on a magic willow stick that his crush, Nikki, will fall in love with him. The wish is granted, but, needless to say, things don’t turn out quite the way he was hoping for. Obsession was snapped up by Focus Features and has grossed more than $500 million worldwide, making it the biggest hit in the history of the company.
“I had auditioned a lot,” Navarrette recalled as she settled into a chair at Milk Studios for the W photo shoot. “And on my second audition for Obsession, I just couldn’t get there. I thought, Well, shout-out to whoever plays Nikki, because it’s not going to be me!” Navarrette laughed. “When I received the phone call that I had gotten the part, my heart sank to my butt. I realized I had to work on my anxiety. But getting the film felt like kismet.”
Navarrette is tiny—five feet tall and very slender—but she has a huge personality. She arrived on set looking fresh in an unremarkably cool outfit—glasses, loose clothing, ballet flats. As she tried on one beautiful garment after another—a red pleated coat, a long black skirt with a matching jacket, a black and white embroidered lace dress—she dramatically transformed into a commanding presence.
Because of her captivatingly unhinged portrayal of Nikki, Navarrette has emerged as the breakout actor of 2026. She has starred in Gap ads and appeared in a hit music video by Sombr. She’s also a top contender for best actress nominations at the Golden Globes and, yes, the Academy Awards. The theme of Obsession—be careful what you wish for—is not lost on Navarrette. “In all honesty, I never really imagined this,” she said as she studied her reflection while wearing a beaded full-length Dior gown. “It’s a little overwhelming sometimes.” She gave the dress a shimmy-shake. “But every day feels like the best day of my life so far.”
Obsession is both scary and funny. Some spoilers: Your character, among other extreme acts, makes a dead-cat sandwich and murders a romantic rival. Are you scared by your own film?
Oh, yes. I was definitely scared by a lot of Obsession. I didn’t want to look in the mirror for a lot of the making of the film. At times, I didn’t want to watch playbacks because it’s such a mindfuck when you see yourself and it’s just not yourself.
A lot of people are watching Obsession on planes.
I was on Air Canada going to the Toronto film festival, and there was a guy in the front seat looking in my direction, and I thought, Wow—this guy keeps staring at me. And then I passed his seat, and he was in the part of Obsession where I walk backward. And I thought, Yeah, I would be horrified too, if I saw that woman on the plane!
You grew up in Arizona. Your mom is Australian, and your father is of Mexican descent, and when they separated, you moved to California. Were you a theatrical child?
I was kind of theatrical as a kid. My cousin and I would have dance battles. The first job I booked was a Snapchat series called Denton’s Death Date. I was in one scene of a movie called Wander Darkly that premiered at Sundance. It was a great scene. [Laughs]
Was that your first red carpet?
No, I think that was for a DC [Comics] event. I wore this orange sort of shimmery thing that was like a bodysuit. I thought I looked great. I remember that Jessica Chastain said I looked pretty, and I freaked out.
Do you get starstruck? You’re meeting so many people now.…
Yes! Gemma Chan was in an elevator at the Toronto film festival, and I started blurting out, “Your character in Crazy Rich Asians was so meaningful to me because she got cheated on, and she left and didn’t look back.” And Gemma Chan told me, “I am a big fan of yours.” I was like, “Shut up! Don’t talk about my accomplishments—I want to talk about yours!”
I also loved watching Natalie Portman when I was younger. I had this dream of acting, and I saw a lot of kid actors. My life didn’t match the lives I saw on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. But when I saw Natalie Portman in Léon: The Professional, it made me feel something for the first time.
One of the biggest movies to me was, and is, Burlesque. I know all the words. Every single word has been memorized by me. It’s the best movie! Burlesque came out when I was 9, and it was so beautiful to see women being sexy—like, there was an art form to the eyelashes, the makeup, the costumes, and the dancing. Recently, I went to the Crazy Horse club in Paris. They’re all—I cannot talk about those women! I bought a pink Crazy Horse wig. [Laughs] I got to live my real-life Burlesque experience!
Do you have a favorite reality show?
RuPaul’s Drag Race, specifically All Stars, is my favorite reality TV show of all time. Lately, I love Bianca Del Rio. One of my favorite things Bianca has ever said is “What do you do successfully? Quickly.” She’s my favorite because she’s so grounded, but at the same time she speaks her truth in a manner that doesn’t seem confrontational or rude. She’s like that family member who calls you out.
They’re going to ask you to be a judge!
RuPaul, I’m on my hands and knees—please!
Do you have any secret skills?
A secret superpower of mine, which does freak me out sometimes, is that I have very intense dreams that come true. I’ll be having a conversation with somebody, and I know I had a dream before with that identical scenario in that same place with those exact outfits. And it will freak me out. If it was the 1600s, I would be burned at the stake.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, and I have proof that they exist. I was on a photo shoot, and we took a Polaroid of an old Victorian building. The owner said that she could hear dancing and music in the ballroom. Our old-school Polaroid showed orbs in multiple photos. So, yes, I believe in ghosts. And I love them. It’s fun to argue with them. If they try and scare you, you can say, “Not right now—I can’t deal with this!” Sometimes the ghosts win, sometimes I win. I’m also very superstitious. My whole team is Latino: my hair and makeup artist, my publicist, my stylist, and we cleanse before events. We call it Mexican intuition, Mexican energy. And so we’ll light sage to cleanse. And we don’t split poles. If the whole group is walking on the sidewalk and there’s a pole, we all walk in the same direction on the same side of the pole. If we split the pole, we’ll be jinxed.
What age do you think you are? Not your chronological age, but what age do you feel?
I’m two different ages at once: I’m 9 and 75. My 75-year-old self speaks to me about wisdom and how to take care of myself. But my 9-year-old self is really prevalent right now. She would have loved filming Obsession. The 9-year-old got to have a release she never had before!
Have you seen Obsession with an audience?
Yes, every single time I’ve seen the film has been with an audience. I hide really well, and they don’t see me. I’ve worn many wigs. It’s funny: Different audiences respond to completely different things. But the dead-cat sandwich gets everybody.
Speaking of, are you more like a cat or a dog?
I’m 100 percent a cat. I don’t like to be touched unless I want to be touched. I don’t like to be seen unless I want to be seen. I also love dogs, but I don’t like a lot of “Pay attention to me.” That freaks me out. I’m like, No.
Hair by Jenny Cho at A-Frame Agency; makeup by Nina Park using Dior Beauty at Kalpana; manicure by Emi Kudo using Dior Le Baume at A-Frame Agency. Set design by Ava Villafañe at Streeters.
Photo Assistants: Abena Appiah, Milly Heane, Luis E. Rosa; Retouching: Grain; Lab: Color&Black&White; Stylist’s Assistants: Lauren Marron, Makayla Godden, Alena Nitti; Makeup Assistant: Olga Pirmatova; Set Assistants: Miguel Burris, David Celaya, Noah Heie, Ben Minty, Rene Ureno; Production Assistants: Peter Giang, Lance Williams, Henri Wuilloud; Tailor: Susie Kourinian.