Sundance ’26: Writer/Director Lily Platt Tackles Drama Addiction in Crisis Actor
This interview was originally posted on Film Obsessive.
The snow is falling and the final outing of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, is upon us. Present for the festival’s final bow is writer/director Lily Platt. Her debut short film, Crisis Actor, was selected as part of the 2026 program and will screen in the Short Film Program 4 block. The short film centers on Celine (Sarah Steele ), a drama-addicted actress who traverses New York City in search of her next great acting adventure. That can range from fighting with a customer service rep about a package that never arrived while wearing the contents of said missing package to something more extreme, like attending an Al-Anon support group meeting.
“The idea for Crisis Actor came from a short film I’d made the previous year about a woman who lies about a pregnancy and plans an abortion to manipulate her ex. I wanted to continue to continue to work with that character and make a film in that same spirit. I really enjoyed the process of trying to figure out how best to deal with the lie in the edit. When to reveal it and how.”
When it comes to acting, there’s a fine line between a performance and a lie. The two have to coexist in a way. All lies require some amount of presentation, and all acting has elements of a lie. Crisis Actor asks where that line exists and if acting is actually more truthful than one might think.
“There are so many different approaches to performing and acting. There’s a famous Meryl Streep quote where she says, ‘acting is not about being someone different. It’s finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there.’”
Sarah Steele in Crisis Actor. Photo by Leo Zhang and courtesy of the Sundance Institute.
“There’s another approach that says acting is about transforming yourself and embodying a different identity. My exposure to actors and performers has been one of people constantly walking that line, even when they’re not working.”
“That tension, to me, is really interesting, between someone who brings that skilled transformation and performance into their everyday life and interactions, and someone who, like Celine, becomes addicted to the feeling of performance and dramatizing every situation she’s in. That’s what interests me most — an actress’ approach to bringing their craft into real life and everyday interactions.”
Prior to making Crisis Actor, Platt worked as a producer for Story Syndicate, a New York-based production company. They’ve made docuseries for Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, and other powerhouse streaming services. In a way, Platt’s work in nonfiction allowed for her to find a deeper understanding of her main character, Celine.
“In a documentary context, you’re always trying to get the subject, who is more often than not a layperson who doesn’t have experience on camera, doesn’t have experience performing, trying to get something out of them. When I was working in docs, I wasn’t directing. I didn’t have the experience of interviewing someone and trying to elicit a particular kind of performance in that context. Performances and quotes, I mean. But I do think that’s probably at play here, too. I think that’s a good observation, because you do have to try to, as best you can, to elicit a certain kind of testimony from someone.”
Crisis Actor is a film about addiction, but presented in a way that’s unexpected. When we see someone like Celine, who’s chasing the next piece of drama, it’s easy to write them off as impulsive or ridiculous. But Crisis Actor argues that this addiction to drama is not unique to Celine, that it’s a larger epidemic many people may not realize affects them.
“I think there’s a focus on extremes. Especially in the world of content creation or in the media we consume, because there’s such an intense oversaturation of all types of media. Especially in the realm of social media. The thing that’s going to catch your eye is the most extreme version of whatever that is.”
“I think Crisis Actor is definitely born of that. Someone like Celine is definitely born of that culture. I don’t see her as someone who’s particularly online at all. I think she’s more of a performer in the spirit of a theater actor, a film actor. I don’t know that she’s necessarily hustling on Instagram, but I think she’s a contemporary person in the world and not immune to that at all.”
(L-R) Sarah Steele and Philip Ettinger in Crisis Actor. Photo by Leo Zhang and courtesy of the Sundance Institute.
Celine’s escalating choices lead her to an Al-Anon support group. Up to that point, Crisis Actor has been a fairly breezy dark comedy, but when she enters the meeting, the tone shifts. Now Celine is face-to-face with people who have real drama in their lives, not something manufactured. At first she revels in the new opportunity to test her skills, but the longer she stays, the more she realizes that drama has real-life consequences.
“Something I really like about support groups is that they’re very open, welcoming spaces. There’s such a range of emotion from intense sadness, frustration, and despair to laughter, support, and camaraderie. It spans this whole spectrum of emotions and experiences. I think it’s a fruitful context for a performer because everything you say is taken at face value and is received very earnestly by your fellow support group members. In this case, other people in Al-Anon.”
“For me, I think it was a perfect context for someone like Celine to walk in and see an opportunity to perform, as opposed to this earnest space for recovery. When she’s actually face to face with someone in the throes of addiction, as opposed to people who are seeking support for addicts in their life, that drama and real crisis bring her back to earth a bit.”
Philip Ettinger in Crisis Actor. Photo by Leo Zhang and courtesy of the Sundance Institute.
Before Platt mapped out Celine’s epic odyssey over the course of one day, she knew she had a name for this project.
“I was really interested in the idea of people who exploit others. In addition to seeing the character through the lens of someone obsessed with performing and someone who is artists, it was seeing her as someone who is aware of this practice of exploiting one’s victimhood to elicit a certain kind of care and attention from other people. It felt like a fitting title in that way. Someone who is aware of that and really leans into it for dramatic effect and for attention.”
Sundance is officially underway and Platt has touched down in Park City. Crisis Actor is her first film to screen at Sundance, and the excitement is palpable, even through the Zoom screen.
“I’m really so stoked. I’m so flattered to have been included. It’s super surreal to be here. I mean, it’s such a beautiful place. I’m looking at the mountain right now! It’s warmer here than it is in New York, so I’m escaping. I’m escaping the big snow storm. I’m on a vacation, essentially, in a tropical place.”
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