Much like her character in the supernatural horror film Umma, Fivel Stewart had a rather unique upbringing. In Iris K. Shim’s feature directorial debut, Stewart plays a sheltered teenager named Chris, who lives on an electricity-free beekeeping farm with her Korean mother, Amanda (Sandra Oh). Stewart could easily relate to her character since she grew up on a ranch and was homeschooled for most of her life. However, because she spent so much time horseback riding near her ranch, Stewart never actually learned to ride a bike until a scene in Umma, where her character bikes to and from a general store. But even though she didn’t pick up a relatively common skill until the age of 25, Stewart does boast an unusual skill set that she acquired from her stunt coordinator/performer father, Nils Allen Stewart.

“Before I started to really act, my occupation was stunt doubling in stunts for my dad,” Stewart tells The Hollywood Reporter. “He would stunt coordinate films, so I would just go with him and assist him. I would rig, I would light people on fire and I would do whatever he needed me to do. To this day, that’s still one of my favorite things to do.”

Umma is ultimately a mother-daughter story about generational trauma, so the casting of Oh’s character’s daughter was critical to the success of the piece. For Stewart, she knew immediately during her chemistry read with Oh that they had a special connection as mother and daughter.

“I’ve never felt anything like it before; it was just really powerful,” Stewart says. “I felt like we could’ve just filmed the whole thing right then and there. We were so ready. As soon as Sandra and I read together, it was like, ‘Oh, this works. This feels so good.’ I haven’t really had that connection before with someone who would be playing my mother.”

In a recent conversation with THR, Stewart also discusses working with real honey bees on set. Then she previews one of her upcoming shows Roar, from the co-creators of GLOW (Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch).

First things first, have you fully recovered from that time when Seth Cohen made you cry?

(Laughs.) Yeah, I’ve recovered.

Moving to Umma, was there anything unusual about the audition process?

Yeah, the chemistry read was quite unusual. I’ve never felt anything like it before; it was just really powerful. I felt like we could’ve just filmed the whole thing right then and there. (Laughs.) We were so ready. As soon as Sandra and I read together, it was like, “Oh, this works. This feels so good.” I haven’t really had that connection before with someone who would be playing my mother.

I talk to young actors all the time, and I’ve yet to hear anyone admit to asking costars for advice on set. But they’ve instead mentioned how they’ll observe and adopt certain traits that they admire in a costar. So did you pocket anything from Sandra in that regard?

Yeah, there is one thing that I will always remember. She had said to me, “Take your time. We are all here to make this thing good. There is enough time, so don’t rush through anything. If you have questions, ask them. If you want to know what something means, say it. We are here to do this together.” So that’s what I do on set now. I just take my time to really understand where I am, what I’m doing and why I’m doing it just to give myself context of the real situation. It is true, though. I do relate to those other actors because you don’t need to ask for advice when you’re working with someone like Sandra Oh. Because if you just watch, that’s all you need to learn. Sandra is such a powerful energy and you just want to watch her. Another thing that I also took for myself is to not demand a room, but to just have the confidence for someone to want to talk to me.

Your characters live off the grid as Amanda has a Chuck McGill-like sensitivity to electricity. How long do you think you would last in an isolated, bare-bones existence like that?

Oh, I think I would do quite well. I grew up on a ranch, so it wasn’t too far out of my comfort zone. I just got an Instagram five years ago, but I’m not on TikTok or Twitter. So I think I would actually survive. (Laughs.)

Bees were one of my earliest fears, so the mother-daughter beekeeping business really got to me. Did you actually spend some time around bees? I’m hoping you’ll say that they were CG.

(Laughs.) We definitely learned how to be around bees. We totally got the gear on and everything. We used the smoke [to calm the honey bees]. We learned about why they wiggle their butts and how long it takes to actually get to the next hive. They’re crazy creatures. They’re so interesting, but they’re also very scary. I’m not a big fan of them either, so I was quite scared going into it, but we were protected by the gear. If you don’t mess with them, they don’t mess with you, so it was okay.

Besides electricity, Amanda is afraid of her daughter potentially leaving the nest, and that got me thinking about your character’s worst fear. Does the lip gloss moment exemplify Chris’ worst fear? Is she most afraid of her mother’s reactions to anything that breaks their routine?

I think you’re right. The lip gloss scene is the first scene where you really see Chris branch out to what her life could be, and you see how unsettling it is for Amanda. The growth in Chris that you see in Umma is so different because she starts off as this very shy, timid girl who doesn’t really know what life is, but then you see the roles reverse. She kind of becomes Amanda’s mom at a certain moment where she’s like, “It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” So I think the transition that you see is really beautiful.

So what movie was your gateway into horror? What movie scared you the most at a young age?

Well, I don’t think it was a movie. It was a Resident Evil game on Xbox, and the dogs were so scary. But as scared as I was, I couldn’t stop playing it. (Laughs.) I would always go to my sister’s friend’s house to play it because we never had it at our house.

He was probably tied up with Doctor Strange 2 responsibilities, but did you get to meet [producer] Sam Raimi at any point?

Yeah, I remember going to the table read, and my personality is that of an observer. There is a time and a place when I can speak up for myself, but at the table read, I remember Sandra walking in and Sam being there with the producers and [director] Iris K. Shim. It was a very intimidating place to be, so I just sat down and didn’t say a word. Everyone knew that I was playing Chris, so I didn’t need to prove myself. But I was like, “Holy shit, that’s Sam Raimi,” and then I got to meet him. (Laughs.) Of course, I’m a huge fan of his work. So I ate a bagel while we continued to read the script, and it was great. So that was the encounter that I had with Sam. (Laughs.)

According to the Internet, you have stunt performance in your DNA. [Writer’s Note: Stewart’s father is stunt coordinator/stunt performer/actor Nils Allen Stewart.] Thus, do you take to physical acting? Do you pick it up rather quickly?

I love it. I really love it. Before I started to really act, my occupation was stunt doubling in stunts for my dad. He would stunt coordinate films, so I would just go with him and assist him. I would rig, I would light people on fire and I would do whatever he needed me to do. To this day, that’s still one of my favorite things to do.

So instead of showing you how to ride a bike like most dads, he taught you the finer points of wire work and blood squibs.

100 percent! Actually, I learned how to ride a bike for the first time while filing Umma. (Laughs.)

What?!

Yeah. (Laughs.)

Unreal! I was just joking about you learning stunt work instead of bike riding, but it’s actually true to life.

I know! I grew up on a ranch, so we had horses. I also went to elementary school until fifth grade, and from there on, I was homeschooled, which is very similar to Chris. (Laughs.) But my mom and dad would always pick me up on horses because my school was so close to our house. So a bike wasn’t necessary.

This is probably your least favorite question, but were you an American Tail fan growing up? Does that explain your nickname?

(Laughs.) It does explain the nickname. When I was born, my dad’s mom bought me a Fievel [Mousekewitz] doll, and I guess I had the mouse ears and little eyelashes. But I have never seen the film! I go back and forth on whether I should see the film because it’s so separate. (Laughs.) But I should see it someday.

So if you could walk into any movie studio such as Sony and green light a project for yourself, what genre or role would you choose at the moment? Let’s manifest some dreams.

Yeah, let’s manifest some dreams. (Laughs.) I mean, Midsommar is probably one of my favorite films. I really want to be selective about what horror films I do next just because I don’t want to just do horror films. But I definitely would love to do a role that doesn’t involve a male and female relationship, or a female and female relationship. I want to create film that’s more than just about love. There’s so much more in the world that should be talked about. So I definitely don’t want to do a love story. I want to do something of rawness, whatever that would look like. There are so many situations that are raw, so it would just depend on what they have in mind and what I have in mind. So I have the feeling of what the film would be, but I can’t see what the specific film would be or what the storyline would be quite yet. There are so many options.

So you recently made a show with the co-creators of GLOW [Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch], right?

Yeah, it’s called Roar. It’s an anthology. Nicole Kidman is producing it. Every episode is different, and my episode is called “The Girl Who Loved Horses.” It also takes place in the 1820s, so it’s a period piece. It’s the only period piece in the series because Roar is a book about women’s empowerment and women speaking up. But they’re doing it in a very quirky way. I feel like people are going to watch it and be like, “What the heck?” (Laughs.) My episode looks like a Western, and my dad in it is Korean. I’ll be able to talk about it more when it comes out, but that’s the gist. Did you know that Carly named her son Fivel?

Once again: what?!

(Laughs.) Yeah! She walked up to me and was like, “This had nothing to do with me wanting you to do the show, but I just named my son Fivel.” And then she said, “When I got your self-tape, I was like, ‘Whoa.’” She’d never seen a Fivel before other than the [American Tail] character… Usually, it’s spelled Fievel or Fival, but she even spelled it like me. So I was also like, “What?! This is crazy!” So there’s a little fun fact. (Laughs.)

Decades from now, when you reminisce about the making of Umma, what day will you likely recall first?

There’s a fight scene in the field where Amanda takes Chris’ college application, and that happened on my birthday. I love birthdays, but that was probably the saddest birthday ever because you have to cry and be emotionally involved. And at the very end of the day, Sandra walked over to me and held my hand. We set up a jesa on set. We set up a place where people could invite their family or their ancestry in order to protect the set, and there was a table filled with everyone’s personal belongings. So we had both just wrapped, and where we signed out was right near the jesa. So I went to the jesa and I kind of released whatever I just did. And then Sandra walked over to me and she grabbed my hands and she looked at me and said, “You did it. You’re okay.” And then we brushed each other off. We brushed our energy off each other, and we both just stood there, crying. Speaking about it now makes me emotional just because it was such an impactful moment, and it will forever stay with me. So that day is the answer.

***
Umma is now playing in movie theaters. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.