The work of Megan Northam might not ring a bell outside of the actress’ native France. The 30-year-old, born and raised in Nantes, has starred in the likes of comedy drama series Greek Salad and drama film The Passengers of the Night. She was on the receiving end of a lot of awards buzz — including a coveted César Award nomination for best actress — after her performance in last year’s Rabia, Mareike Engelhardt’s film about the true story of a young woman who arrives in Raqqa, Syria, and joins a home for future wives of combatants.
Now, however, Northam opens herself up to a shiny new audience with Harris Dickinson‘s Urchin. “As a French woman with an English father, I would love to continue shooting and thinking in English,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter about her first international film. “It’s a part of me that I can’t express in France.”
In the directorial debut of one of Hollywood’s hottest talents — whose recent acting credits include Babygirl with Nicole Kidman and Triangle of Sadness — the French star plays Andrea, a fellow litter-picker of the titular character Mike (Frank Dillane) as he drifts across London. Andrea’s involvement with Mike ultimately acts as a marker for his respective self-improvement, though his destructive behaviors force him to balance street-sleeping with meditative tapes and sobriety.
“Andrea is a character that underlines the issues Mike already has,” she says about her role in Dickinson’s first feature film. “We could think that she would fix things for him all along the film, like we often see — women helping men, or saving them. But she doesn’t. She stays as she is, grounded, and she understands quickly that she has nothing more to give to him. So they both carry on with their respective lives.”
‘Urchin’
Courtesy of Charades
Dickinson first approached Northam for the part after he had seen her performance in the 2024 Berlinale flick Meanwhile on Earth. “I did two FaceTimes with Harris and the casting director, Shaheen Baig,” she recalls about the process. “I did my scenes for Andrea’s part. Then I went to London for the final casting to meet Frank Dillane and played the part with him, and got a positive answer on the day! I was walking to the train station. It was crazy.”
It was, she admits, a huge draw that Dickinson — an actor she has long-admired — was directing. His script was “beautiful and honest, and the topic was political and actual,” says Northam. She was encouraged by the fact her father is an Englishman and she finally had the chance to work with an English team. “It meant a lot.”
Being directed by a Hollywood It Boy was something that excited the young actress. “I was very curious to see how he would work as a director. I really wanted to be directed by someone who knows what it is like to share all of you in front of a camera and an entire team.” It turns out, she continues, that his directorial approach lived up to her expectations. “He is very sensitive and receptive. He knows how to talk to actors without turning them into puppets. He’s very focused and he manages not to share his stress all around him — which is rare.” His style is something she describes as “pop but not too trendy, rough but full of poetry, human and not victimizing,” a glimpse into Dickinson’s aptitude behind the camera.
Urchin will have its world premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, and Northam’s debut on the Croisette is not at all lost on the rising star. “I’m a little overwhelmed and excited at the same time,” Northam says, “I know it’s huge, but I’ve never been there yet. I think Cannes is a great opportunity for films to be seen and criticized in many ways.”
Some of the names on Northam’s list to work with — such as Ari Aster (premiering Eddington) and Kristen Stewart (The Chronology of Water) — will be joining her on the French Riviera. She hopes to get the chance to do more English-language work and ponders the difference between Hollywood and French cinema. “I think each language and culture has its own way of dealing with topics or seeing things. The exchanges between the characters, the humor, politics and social stories are very differently treated… I like the wide opening to different styles of cinema — we have less [of that] in French cinema.”
Next up for Northam is a leading role opposite Noémie Merlant and Tahar Rahim in Fred Cavayé’s Les Misérables. “It’s a very impressive cast,” she says, succinctly summarizing what it feels like to be a Cannes Film Festival newcomer on the precipice of shooting a hit musical adaptation: “I feel really lucky to be part of this adventure.”