After making her performing debut as trans teen Jules in HBO’s hit sequence “Euphoria” in 2019, Hunter Schafer discovered herself in excessive demand. However as she flipped by means of scripts, just one gave the 25-year-old what she calls “the sparkly feeling”: Tilman Singer’s horror movie “Cuckoo.”

Schafer auditioned and was forged as Gretchen, an angsty and remoted 17-year-old who’s pressured to maneuver along with her father, stepmother and younger stepsister to a resort in Germany, the place she quickly learns that issues are usually not as they appear. Wrapping manufacturing in July 2022, “Cuckoo” marked Schafer’s first performing job after “Euphoria” and first main movie function. Now, practically two years later, “Cuckoo” is ready to world premiere at Berlin Movie Pageant on Friday.

“Any and all performing expertise I had, I attributed to being on the set of ‘Euphoria’ and being round these individuals who I had gotten actually snug with — significantly Ellise Shafer Sam Levinson, who was type of my performing instructor,” Schafer tells Selection. “And that is like, ‘OK, the coaching wheels are off, babe, and also you gotta carry it.’ That was so scary.”

Additionally scary is the movie, which sees Schafer face off towards a mysterious bird-like monster with a scream-like name who seeks to impregnate ladies along with her evil spawn. The story, written by Singer, relies off the lore of the cuckoo chook, a few of that are brood parasites, which means they lay their eggs within the nests of different species.

“It’s actually a freaky factor that that’s simply in nature and birds are simply out right here being full dicks to different birds and giving them their very own infants to lift,” Schafer says. “Are you kidding? That’s psycho!”

The film — which additionally stars Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick and Jan Bluthardt — required Schafer to study a number of new abilities, together with the artwork of stage fight.

“I liked being lined in blood for half the film and the depth of it,” she says. “One other first for this was having to do extra motion sequences, like simulating violence and stuff, which I liked so far as the choreography goes. You already know, there’s moments the place I felt like an actual badass.”

Regardless of its horror label, “Cuckoo” employs sci-fi and psychological thriller parts — and at its coronary heart is a household drama, in accordance with Schafer. Her character, Gretchen, is struggling after the lack of her mom and has taken to close full isolation to manage.

“It got here right down to figuring out a sense of being type of alone and a bit misplaced and disoriented by your environment,” Schafer says. “Even along with her dad and household, she was simply actually on this fully remoted headspace, and that type of elevates all of those actually terrifying conspiracies which are occurring round her.”

Considerably surprisingly, music can be an enormous a part of “Cuckoo,” because the movie contains a killer soundtrack — together with a moody tune that includes Schafer enjoying the bass and singing.

“I wasn’t anticipating it being a complete recording second, but it surely ended up occurring,” Schafer laughs. “I fiddle with music casually in my private life. It was one other one of many abilities I needed to decide up for this film — I needed to do signal language, I needed to study the butterfly knife after which I needed to do bass classes. So far as the singing goes … it’s not like she’s attempting to do vibrato or no matter, it’s simply type of scratchy, perhaps a little bit punky.”

Schafer will proceed her horror streak with the newly introduced “Palette,” which is being introduced to patrons on the European Movie Market in Berlin, operating congruent to the pageant. Directed by Zach Strauss (“SMILF”) in his characteristic debut, “Palette” will see Schafer star reverse Noomi Rapace as a lady with synesthesia, or the flexibility to listen to colours, who’s “recruited right into a secretive, cult-like business of shade design, uncovering the darkish actuality of what it takes to make the world’s biggest hues,” in accordance with the movie’s synopsis. It was Schafer’s background within the visible arts — she studied the medium in highschool and as soon as contributed artwork to the cult web site Rookie — that drew her to the venture.

“I clearly can’t reveal an excessive amount of, however the observe of constructing pigments was actually attention-grabbing to me with my previous involvement in visible arts,” she says. “However I by no means realized easy methods to make pigments — it’s such a distinct segment a part of visible artwork.”

Schafer additionally scored a task in “Poor Issues” auteur Yorgos Lanthimos’ mysterious anthology movie “Sorts of Kindness” — starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley and extra — however clarifies that she’ll simply be making a cameo.

“I really feel like folks came upon I used to be concerned after which it was like, ‘Hunter Schafer can be starring on this factor.’ No, I’m making a cameo, so I simply need to make that clear,” Schafer says. “And, you already know, I by no means even obtained to learn the script. Yorgos simply emailed me and was like, ‘Hey, I feel I’ve a small function for you on this film. I can’t present you something, however do you need to do it?’ I used to be like, ‘Fuck yeah, see you in New Orleans.’ And that’s what occurred. I can’t actually reveal that a lot. Additionally, even when I did reveal issues, I nonetheless don’t know what the remainder of the film is about! I’ve a really obscure concept.”

As for the long-awaited third season of “Euphoria,” Schafer says she nonetheless hasn’t seen a script.

“I don’t know what I’m allowed to say, however I feel it’s fairly clear we haven’t began manufacturing,” she says, regardless of rumors that the present had began filming late final 12 months.

Among the many rumors swirling about “Euphoria” Season 3 is that the sequence will fast-forward 5 years to accommodate the truth that its goal 2025 premiere will imply a three-year hole in between seasons (Season 2 debuted in January 2022). So, the place would Schafer need to see Jules in 5 years?

“As somebody who cares about her, I would like the most effective for her. Nonetheless, that’s usually not what makes good tv,” she says. “So I don’t assume it’s a really life like dream for her, however I really feel like an enormous sister to her now and I’m like, ‘Give my lady some peace.’”

Like “Euphoria” co-stars Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney, Schafer will undoubtedly stroll again onto set as a full-blown film star — a phenomenon that she is slowly coming to phrases with, thanks in no small half to her expertise filming “Cuckoo.”

“More often than not once I watch myself, I’ve to observe by means of my arms. I didn’t have to try this with this film,” Schafer says of seeing the ultimate minimize of “Cuckoo.” “I genuinely felt actually stable about my efficiency and in regards to the film itself and I actually liked it.”

And Schafer plans to enjoy that feeling on the movie’s Berlin premiere. “Often, I simply do the carpet after which I’m going to dinner whereas all people watches the film,” she says. “However I feel I’m going to observe the film with all people else.”