For the past few years, Sophie Nélisse has been making waves in Yellowjackets as Shauna, one of the high school soccer team members whose plane crashed somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. However, her breakthrough role came in 2013 when she led the adaptation of The Book Thief. Now, Nélisse is returning to the same historical era as that breakthrough performance with the upcoming Irena’s Vow.

After its premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, Irena’s Vow will have a nationwide release on April 15th and 16th. The film centers on Irena Gut (Nélisse), a nineteen-year-old Polish nurse who finds herself as the housekeeper to a Nazi officer (Dougray Scott). Despite living in close proximity to such a high ranking Nazi official, Irena decides to protect twelve Jewish people by hiding them in the cellar. It’s a daring, dangerous decision, but one she knows is right.

In anticipation of the upcoming release, Nélisse sat down with Film Obsessive’s Tina Kakadelis to talk about the pressures of portraying a real person, what we can learn from Irena’s story, and how she handles the weight of intense roles. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.