Paranormal teen drama The Innocents debuts its first season on Netflix on Aug. 24, and will introduce the world to the peculiar girl at the center of the series' unbelievable events — June. The show follows June as she comes to terms with her newfound abilities as a shape-shifter, but despite being able to take other forms, Sorcha Groundsell, who plays June on The Innocents, will be doing the bulk of the acting work when it comes to bringing the supernatural teenager to life. Sorcha is relatively new to acting — her first IMDB credit is from 2014 — and she's using her first lead television role as a platform to speak about the political issues that are important to her.
In an interview with Phoenix, Groundsell says "Because I was on set [for The Innocents] so much and had so much time in front of the camera, it gave me more of that confidence to say what I thought was right and what I had issues with." Groundsell is passionate about creating a television and film industry that better reflects the world that it wishes to portray, and have more women in visible roles to create a safer environment for female artists to create.
"The more women in our field, the more actresses talk about their experiences and the challenges they face, the more the young actresses coming into the industry can know what to look out for, can know how to handle situations that they maybe wouldn’t otherwise," she said in the same interview.
While she's speaking out openly about the politics of the entertainment industry, Groundsell's character on The Innocents speaks to the emotional crisis that many teenagers go through as they grow up. In an interview with Jake Hamilton, Groundsell summed up the emotional core of the show by saying "I feel like the majority of people, unless you have a very clear idea of who you are — which most people don't — that you have certain ideas about yourself and what you want for your life and who you are as a person and where you fit in the world. Something tends to happen, something dramatic happens, and you suddenly have to change all of that." While most people don't have to suddenly confront the fact that they're a shapeshifter, the emotional reality of having to deal with sudden changes is universal.
Going from little-known actress to the star of a Netflix series is a major jump, but Groundsell seems to be making the most of it. She's been sharing images of her with fellow Innocents cast members Percelle Ascott and Guy Pearce and has been sharing promo images from the show as early as February of 2018, showing just how long Groundsell has been waiting for her Netflix original series debut. Only time will tell if The Innocents becomes the next Stranger Things, but Groundsell is ensuring that she is using her platform to speak out about what is passionate to her and paying it forward to the young actresses that find have yet to find success.
