You may recognize Chiara Aurelia from her standout performances in Cruel Summer and Luckiest Girl Alive, but lately, she's been having a major New York moment. Chiara made her Broadway debut as Shelby Holcomb, the lead role in John Proctor Is the Villain, with critics applauding her knack for bringing complicated young women to life.
Now, she's taking on another layered role in Caity, a coming-of-age drama premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. Set against the backdrop of a family-run haunted house in upstate New York, the film explores addiction, family loyalty, and the burdens we carry for the people we love. We caught up with Chiara after the film’s premiere to talk about bringing Caity's story to the screen, why audiences connect with imperfect characters, and the New York spots she's loving lately.
Caity is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. How does premiering a film at a festival differ from releasing a project directly to audiences?
It's really exciting. I just feel like a lot is going on constantly when you're premiering at a film festival, which is like so fun and amazing, but also it's hard. It feels like you can't keep up with everything. There are so many different movies premiering, there are so many things you want to see, and so many panels. Being a part of Tribeca is just really exciting. It's such a fantastic film festival based here in New York, and it's their 25th anniversary. I'm very honored to be a part of it. [And with] the Knicks games, the city feels more alive than ever!
Caity explores family, addiction, and loyalty. What was it about this story that immediately drew you in?
The script was honestly amazing. When I got sent the project, I was a week away from, or a couple of days away, from finishing John Proctor on Broadway, and to be honest, I was exhausted. The idea of going into another job seemed almost unfathomable. I think I didn't expect to love it as much as I did, [but one night after a show] I got in bed expecting to read like 10 pages. [But] I started it, and literally couldn't stop until it was finished. There was so much that drew me to it. I also think just the complex dynamics of family and the very subtle nuance of what it feels like to be 16.
Addiction can be difficult to portray on screen with nuance and empathy. How did you approach those themes while preparing for the ro
