Inde Navarrette, Star of 'Obsession,' on Sudden Fame, Short Sequences, Key Relationship Points, a Possible Sequel and Going Rogue for Marvel

Before a Chapman University audience, Hollywood's latest A-lister — star of a $750,000 film that grossed over $500 million worldwide — reflects on the 'whirlwind' journey to the Oscar race.

"I feel like I'm Dorothy in the tornado," says End Navarre, star of Carrie Barker's critically acclaimed Obsession , on the latest episode of The Hollywood Reporter's Conversation Awards podcast, taped in front of 500 students at Chapman University. "It's been a bit of a whirlwind, but I'm very proud and grateful," continues the 25-year-old, who now has a Best Actress Oscar for playing a young woman whose free will is stolen by her friend's wish.

Before Obsession, Navarre was just one of countless young actresses fighting for a movie in Hollywood. A military girl who fell in love with acting at a YMCA summer camp at age 9, moved to Los Angeles after her freshman year of high school and began auditioning for professional gigs. She landed parts on the Snapchat show Denton's Death Date (2019) and the TV series 13 Reasons Why (2020) and Superman & Lois (2024–2021), but in between there was rejection, unemployment, and skepticism.

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Then, in 2024, there was a low-budget indie audition—which ended up costing just $750,000—centered on a complex woman: Nikki Freeman, who is introduced as an ambitious and ambitious young woman, and then, with a flip of a coin—or a sudden blow of a willow—turns into a completely different, almost demonic version of herself.

Navarre landed the role, his first leading role in a film, which seemed like the biggest thing that could have happened to him. Then, he and his director, Barker, who's only been a YouTuber for a year, went to work and started putting everything together better than they could have hoped. This film was accepted at the Toronto International Film Festival, which was their shared dream. But they never imagined how well received it would be in its midnight premiere on September 5, 2025. That night, he says, "everything changed."

The film played like a gangster, sparking an overnight bidding war and eventually selling to Focus Features for $14 million. Eight months later, on May 15, 2026, it was released in 2,615 theaters in North America and, based on a 94% Rotten Tomatoes and A-CinemaScore, grossed $17 million in its opening weekend, a remarkable victory. But, as it turned out, it was just the beginning. In the Hollywood equivalent of Fighting Gravity, it grossed even more in each of the next five weekends and has now grossed more than $514 million worldwide, making it one of the most commercially successful films of all time.

As the film blew up, so did interest in Navarre. Her performance was described by THR as "a virtuoso performance", by the Los Angeles Times as an "instant classic", by the Guardian as "a whirlwind" and by the New York Times as "an Oscar-worthy turn". And he was suddenly everywhere in memes, gifs and think pieces, and on wish lists.

During the episode, the actor reflects on his path to Hollywood. the challenges of making obsessions and the moral questions raised by the film; How has he processed the film's success and his sudden fame? How does he feel about the possibility of reuniting with Barker for a sequel? Her later roles included Rogue in Marvel's X-Men reboot. His passion for games and anime. Plus you can watch or listen to the full conversation above, or read excerpts—slightly edited for clarity and brevity—below.

In the continuation of Niki's role in Obsessed...

I had told my team that I really wanted to do something that showed the range and the difference, because sometimes people can't see what you're capable of until you show them quite literally... They sent me Obsession, and I read it, and I was like, “It's going to take so much of me that I don't know if I'm capable of doing it. "That and then sending the tape, I felt a lot of confidence."

When you're thrown right into the deep end in Obsession…

"What?" he says when we shoot them coming out on the bear bed. And then he shoots back. That was our first day. And it was a very big job. "I'm really sorry, but I'm not going to show you any of the tricksters in practice," I told Carrie before going inside. And I think I saw his death because... it's so important to the character. But I felt like if I gave it away too soon, it wouldn't be as authentic as I needed it to be... I really wanted to keep it safe before it needed to come out so I could play it for real. And so here we are on day one, I know Carrie's nervous, I know I'm really being a jerk saying, 'I don't want to show you anything.' But I mean, he says even now that a weight was lifted off his shoulders when we did the first freakout because he was like, “Oh my God, okay, he can do it! "He just needs privacy with these things."

As for the period between the completion and release of Obsession, when he did a deep dive into anime…

"I'm studying movies and watching movies and asking, 'Why do I like them?' It's anime, so like, why do I like it? I mean, I think Jujutsu Kaisen is a very interesting anime, but why is it so different from Demon Slayer? Why is it so different from the others? With Jujutsu Kaisen, they play with the timeline, right? With Demon Slayer, they don't, it's very linear. And what does that mean and how does it affect the story? Like, it's like, 'Why is kaizen so good?'"

How about suddenly becoming memes, gifs, and super famous…

"I'm figuring it out. There's no perfect way. Of course, attention feels good, but I think it's really important to figure out how it makes you feel and where you fill your cup. The way I personally deal with it? I have this thing that's like, 'It's not about me.' I love the way it plays out in my family members' lives, where now I can tell my dad [via a texting meme of him in Obsession ], "No, no, no, no, don't do it." [He is asked to confirm that he is indeed texting himself...] Oh, you absolutely love me? I don't think anyone in this audience would have done that if they had the memes, that's for the best. But it is two-handed. On the one hand, it feels great and I can kind of go, ha-ha with it. But at the same time, a way to keep my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds is to say, "You know what?" It's really fun, but some of it isn't about me."

As for whether the obsession has changed the way he views or approaches real relationships…

"Not necessarily... I kind of learned from Nikki - 'Don't let people control you, you have to be very independent' - but at the same time, if you love someone, then you love them and there's nothing wrong with that. Relationships are very beautiful. As I get older, I really want to do myself a favor and not understand everything. I am very happy with my [relationship] right now. [Audience claps, making him laugh.] What's clapping? I can't wait to tell her that... a relationship should in no way define who you are, and the amount of attention or love you receive from another person in no way defines you - I think it's really important to remember that. Just know that you are loved and important and loved by all. Love as much as you can."

On what he thinks will happen to Nicky after the credits roll on Obsession and whether or not he's ready for a sequel…

I am ready to make a sequel. are you kidding Who am I to say no? And what does he do after that? I think the unflattering answer, which I think is sometimes more important to give than to laugh through the answers, is that she's starting a grieving process. When things happen that are completely out of our control, such as the loss of a loved one, the loss of a parent, the loss of independence, an experience that was not your fault, it is very difficult to understand. "He has just started the grieving process."

As for his vision for the future, including signing on to play Rogue in the Marvel X-Men reboot…

"I think the future looks really tough because I'm at a very specific point in my career where I can either make it last as long as humanly possible or throw it all away. I want to be really careful with my next decisions to really solidify what I want to do in this industry. And what I want to do is play characters that are people and I really want to give some of the The characters that I think I look like. Waffle House Index, and I'm basically going to gain a lot of weight with that character, add eyebrows, maybe shave my head, and do everything humanly possible to look different, because I also know that with acting, you get a completely different person. Schreier directs, takes what they want to do. Adds my sauce and then goes from there!”

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