After 10 years of hard work, Megan Lawless is seizing her chance to show the world who she really is.
Megan Lawless has finally found her big break to showcase her talent in Obsession. A girl who always dreamt of being a performer, she is now pursuing her goals while thinking about the impact she wants to leave. Raised by a Chinese mother and an Irish father, she grew up with the values of hard work, sustained effort, and balance, while her background in musical theater helped shape her love of performing. Obsession was not only a personal turning point for Megan, but it also ignited new conversations about Gen Z. I was at the Rich Mix theater in London, where an Obsession screening was taking place, while Megan joined me on Zoom. She was met with disbelief. Months after the release, the film is still filling seats and driving discourse.
Although she originally dreamed of performing on Broadway, her career eventually shifted toward screen acting and she made her debut in MTV’s Finding Carter. As a child, she regularly traveled to Los Angeles for in-person auditions, gaining valuable experience in an industry that looked very different at the time. Relocating to LA with her mother to pursue acting required commitment and sacrifice, and those formative teenage years helped her mature both personally and professionally while deepening her understanding of the industry.
As the acting industry continues to evolve, virtual auditions and social media have become increasingly important parts of Megan’s career. She highlights how films can now reach younger audiences more directly, saying, “Obsession is a perfect example of how the conversation can be targeted to young people through social media. Films have always been a vehicle to say something to the world, but now, more than ever, it’s accessible to a wider variety of people for these stories that we tell.” However, she also recognizes the challenges of growing up in a constantly connected digital world and has built a healthy relationship with social media to avoid overexposure.
In her downtime, Megan loves watching movies. She considers herself a people person and likes spending time with the friends she hasn’t been able to see because she’s been so busy or on set. She likes to sing, play the piano, and go to the beach. “I’m very close to the beach. I love lying out in nature, swimming in the waves, and playing beach volleyball. That’s one of my favorite things to do.”
Looking back on her childhood, Megan says she grew up obsessed with Hannah Montana; she dressed up as Hannah for Halloween three years in a row. “It was my favorite show when I was growing up. She and Lea Salonga in the Disney movies were the reason I wanted to become a performer. I wanted to be just like Hannah Montana one day. So, I can thank Miley Cyrus for that, and she continues to be iconic and authentic to herself.” Megan shares that same desire to maintain her own authenticity; from idolizing one pop star to working alongside one on screen. She even had a part in the film The Hate U Give alongside Sabrina Carpenter in her early days, before the fame. Unsurprised by Sabrina’s rise to success, Megan says, “I always saw it with her. At the time we were working together, she was pursuing music.” She speaks of Sabrina with reverence after personally getting to know her while filming. “I’ve been following her music to support her. She was incredible to work with. When she started popping off, I was thinking, it’s about time.”
Reflecting on her economics degree from the University of California, she says she assumed studying business would be useful for her career. She doesn’t feel like she learned much besides math that applies to her acting, but she’d love to produce. “Once I get into that, I’m sure economics will come in handy.” Going to college helped Megan surround herself with people who weren’t in the industry and who were pursuing other things in life. “It brought me a perspective in life that allows me to invest in other areas, to make everything more whole for myself.” When I suggested that if acting grounded her soul, then economics grounded her body, Megan agreed that was a good way of putting it. “Acting frees your mind of all these different things, to be present in that moment, acting with your scene partner.”
“I’ve always been pulled to my Chinese side and wanted to embrace as much as I can of that culture.”
While studying, she chose to relearn Mandarin after forgetting how to speak it in school. She grew up in a home where her mom and nanny spoke Mandarin; they were Chinese immigrants who arrived in Taiwan in the 1960s and ’70s. Proud of her Chinese identity, Megan considers speaking her mother’s tongue vital to her roots. “Neither of my grandparents speaks English; they speak Mandarin. So, I was always trying to be closer to them, but it’s challenging when you grow up in the States, around English speakers.” She is conversational in Mandarin but expressed the difficulties of learning the language, especially while living as part of the diaspora in LA. She hopes to be fluent one day and maybe even star in a Mandarin-language film in the future.
Throwback to TIFF last September, where the film had its festival premiere and big-screen debut. For Megan, it was her first film festival. She was already excited to be there and knew it was a big deal to get in. But when audiences saw the film, everything changed. “The crowd was so lively. I knew people in that room loved it. After the embargo was lifted, reviews came out glowing for our film, but I didn’t think much of that either.” It was the following day that Megan noticed a shift. The cast was out in town, and people kept coming up to them. “Everyone’s talking about it, and you guys are the celebrities of this weekend at TIFF. They started buying us rounds of drinks. I didn’t realize the impact our film had on people.” Her team had achieved their goal when the film got picked up by Focus Features for a worldwide theatrical release. “It was so exciting; we could take in the fact that this might be a successful film.”
It’s easy to see why Gen Z audiences find Obsession so confrontational. The plight of the main four, who share a job in a local music store that seems inescapable, is an all-too-familiar feeling. Sarah is waiting to be accepted to a college after multiple rejections; the others feel that same wall closing in. Megan couldn’t help but resonate with this generational struggle. “That’s another part of Sarah I understood so well, because I’ve been there. The state of our world can be challenging, and so many of us seek more; wanting to leave your day job or get out of these walls, and finding more meaning, purpose, and joy out there.” Bear’s an example of someone who feels stuck but doesn’t dare to do anything or work on himself to get out of it. “That lack of courage is his and everyone around him’s demise. Get out there and pursue. Curry Barker knows better than anyone. He’s gone out there and made things happen for himself.”
The first time she read the script, she found herself rooting for Sarah — the only character Megan auditioned for. “I’ve had a crush on someone who didn’t like me back. I can imagine how much it would sting if I told my best friend that I have a crush on one of our friends, and the next day they’re spending the night together, and dating the day after. I can imagine how badly that would hurt.” It wasn’t hard for her to understand Sarah’s feelings and play off her perspective. “She is honest and reflects what the audience is thinking and wants to say to Bear.” She may have a tragic end, but Megan argues it’s essential so that Bear’s choices hold weight.
“It wouldn’t be a horror without my character’s ending.”
Crafting Sarah’s character involved dabbling in gothic fashion with a “boyish edge,” a style that Megan would later draw on to mix up her own wardrobe. “Every outfit that our costume designer Blair put me in, I was showing photos from our fittings to all my friends.” She’s now been collecting vintage jewelry and learning how to layer her clothes more. She even borrows inspiration from Sarah while acknowledging their differences: “I’m more feminine than her, and less edgy.”
Megan’s love for the horror genre comes from her desire to experience pure adrenaline. “Horror brings out that rollercoaster of emotions. I’m an adrenaline junkie. It’s so few and far between where you can experience that — to go to the theater and watch a great horror movie and get that feeling. That’s what everyone who loves horror truly craves.” Horror has found real success lately, whether financially, culturally, or through awards consideration. We saw that last year with Frankenstein, Sinners, and Weapons, and now Obsession is part of the conversation as well. For Megan, the timing couldn’t have been better. “Thanks to Sinners and Weapons for paving the way for us and getting horror into the awards conversation. That wasn’t a thing a few years ago. Horror was always appreciated by parts of the industry and audiences, but now, for that to reach the Academy? I wasn’t foreseeing that.”
Like Obsession, Hereditary was another horror film that captured the zeitgeist. Eight years later, it is still brought up by audiences and creatives in the industry as deserving of more accolades. Asked what performance she would retroactively award in the horror genre, Megan says: “It has to be Toni Collette in Hereditary. She is phenomenal. I hope to be like her. That monologue she has is so guttural and raw, and she brings so much life to it.” She watches it for inspiration often. When I suggested they might work together someday, Megan replied, “Let’s manifest it. I would love to work with Toni Collette.”
Before Obsession, Megan worked as a receptionist at a tennis club, which drew my mind to Beef — a connection she was excited to talk about. “Beef is one of my favorite shows. As an Asian American, I would love to be on the show. I love Cailee Spaeny and loved her performance, and I did relate to many things in that season.” There are things about working in that environment, or with certain clientele and personalities, that are relatable for her. “As great as my job was sometimes, this is not where I want to be forever, and I wanted the opportunity to reach my full potential.”
“But I can only say great things about the club I worked at. I had the best experience working there. I stop by now and then to see all of my friends again, because they’re really special to me.” Despite working at a tennis club, Megan doesn’t know how to play tennis. She learned a lot about the tennis world during her time there but never actually played.
The car scene was always going to be Sarah’s fate. “There was an alternate ending for Bear and Nikki, but for Sarah, the fate’s always been the same. I’m not mad about it because it’s iconic.” Even in alternate scenarios where Bear cheats with Sarah, Megan says that wasn’t in the cards for her character. “If they’d stayed in that moment longer before their conversation got interrupted, I don’t think Sarah would kiss him. As much as she’d want to, I don’t think she’d feel it’s right, and I like to believe she wouldn’t have.” Her reasoning is that, as betrayed as Sarah feels, she wouldn’t stoop low enough to let spite for her friends make her character falter.
After working closely with Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, Megan thinks the world of them. “When I first met Michael, he was so sweet and asked great questions. And Inde, we ultimately became each other’s rock while we were filming. We got really close after filming and worked hard to maintain our friendship. To have each other throughout this experience has been beautiful. They are both incredibly talented.” The first time she saw Inde playing Freaky Nikki, she was astounded by her performance. She realized Inde is a hard worker who does so much behind the scenes to cultivate those moments. “She’s looking out for everyone, and she would look out for me a lot, and I would look out for her a lot. It’s a testament to how much we all love each other.”
Happiness is a choice Megan has made for herself. “I choose to be happy, and I try hard to focus on everything I have gratitude for. Draw less attention to the things that I’m lacking. I want to be fulfilled in my career, following my heart, and make choices that align with my values. Standing up for myself and supporting all of those around me that mean so much in my life.” However, Megan recognizes the difficulties of being an actor. “It’s hard to maintain a positive mental state when you’re a struggling artist. To maintain confidence through so much rejection, to find your value apart from just your material successes, and to continue to believe in yourself. I have always been obsessed with self-improvement. I’m always looking for ways to improve upon my perspective in life.” She owes a lot to The Artist’s Way. That book taught her not to derive her value from what she was booking or accomplishing as an actor, but rather to take pride in her pursuits and relentless work ethic.
Of the four characters, Sarah is the only one who doesn’t get an opportunity to make a wish. Megan didn’t seem to entertain the idea. “I would be afraid of ever going near that thing. I believe everything’s supposed to happen the way it’s supposed to happen, and I don’t need to have control over it.” But for conversation’s sake, if she had to wish for something, it would be a nice house for her parents. “I want them to retire near me, and if I could just buy them a home, that would be nice.” If Sarah hadn’t died, Megan thinks she would have gone to art school, imagining a beautiful life pursuing her dreams. As for herself, she’s not sure what awaits in this next chapter of her life, but she has set her sights on a potential romcom. “I would love to play a romantic lead” — as long as she can continue to practice her craft, “and work on things that I believe in and resonate with.”
Talent: Megan Lawless @themeganlawless
Words by: Zakariya Ahmed @zakahmedfilms
Photo: Jack Morris @jhenry_morris
Stylist: Annunziata Santelli @annunziata.santelli
Makeup: Tracy Raffelson @tracyraffelsonmakeup
Hair: Annette Davenport @annettedavenportbeauty
Lighting Designer: Keegan Attlee @keeganattlee
Photo Assist: Josh A Katz @joshakatz
