Milly Shapiro wants to freak you out as that creepy kid in 'Hereditary'

Patrick Ryan | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Nightmare of dark ancestry haunts family in 'Hereditary' When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter's family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.

Milly Shapiro is now a member of a very exclusive "club."

With "Hereditary" (in theaters now), the young actress becomes the latest kid to creep us out in a horror movie, joining the hallowed ranks of Samara (from "The Ring") and Regan ("The Exorcist"). Nerdist calls her the film's "standout," while Vanity Fair says she's "the scariest kid we will see on screen this year."

"I love horror movies and the kid is always such a big part," Shapiro says. "Kids are usually seen as so innocent, like, 'Oh, they can't do anything that creepy — they’re kids!' That’s what a lot of horror movies draw on, so getting to join that 'club' is really cool."

Shapiro, 15, plays the pivotal role of Charlie Graham, a troubled preteen with peculiar hobbies, to put it mildly. She draws pictures of her recently deceased grandma (who appears to her as an apparition) and cuts off a dead pigeon's head with scissors to make it into a toy. Emotionally withdrawn from her overprotective mother, Annie (Toni Collette), and older brother, Peter (Alex Wolff), she often wanders around alone: blank-eyed, munching a chocolate bar and making an eerie "clicking" sound with her tongue.

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Despite the character's sinister quirks, "I really connected with Charlie because I wanted to take care of her," Shapiro says. On the outside, "she's like a turtle, because they always go inside to try and protect themselves. But on the inside, she's like a snake, because she has a hidden darkness and is misunderstood."

Shapiro has been acting since she was 5 and won a special Tony Award when she was just 10, for sharing the title role in Broadway musical "Matilda." She remembers freaking out at her audition for "Hereditary," which marks her screen debut.

"Every other girl there was a redhead and they were all younger than me, so I was like, 'Oh, I'm not going to get this part,' " she says.

But "as soon as she walked into the room, she just had this really unique presence and was incredible," director/writer Ari Aster says. "She's so intelligent and mature, and she wants to be creepy. But in real life, she's the happiest girl in the world."

Shapiro lives in New York with her family and attends the Professional Children's School for young actors. She enjoys watching anime, knitting and singing with her older sister, Abigail. (They perform cabaret shows around the city, billing themselves as the Shapiro Sisters.)

"She's going off to college, so I'm going to miss her a lot," Shapiro says. "But I'll just break into her dorm room all the time to annoy her."

Although she hasn't yet lined up her next project, she continues to go out on auditions, and says Tim Burton and Tom Felton, of "Harry Potter," top her list of people she'd like to work with. In the meantime, she's enjoying the newfound recognition that's come with "Hereditary."

Recently, "I was at the grocery store just buying lemons, and a person turns to me and says, 'Hey, you’re the kid in the horror movie, right? Can I get a picture?' " Shapiro recalls. "It was really random."