Riele Downs, a 21-year-old Canadian actress, is known for her roles of Charlotte on the Nickelodeon TV show “Henry Danger” and Faith Sullivan in “The Best Man Holiday.” She stars as Darby Harper in the upcoming Hulu Original, “Darby and the Dead,” a film that follows Darby’s adventures seeing ghosts in high school. It premiered on December 2nd.

You started your career quite young. Did you always know you wanted to be an actor? How did you get into acting?
Well, I started acting before I could even speak. My mom has video footage of my sister and I urged her to film the shows we created, complete with different scenes and wardrobe changes, so I can safely say it was always there. As my mom was already in the business, it was an easy Segway for us to get involved, so that was our way into the industry.

You’ve done quite a bit of voice acting. What is the greatest challenge of this type of acting?
With voice acting you have to build your work around the character that has already been created. To find the character’s voice, attitude, mannerisms, etc. from the visuals provided, as opposed to relying on what the visual contributions of your own body, facial expressions, movements, etc. would bring to the role. If that makes sense.

How did it feel to be cast in a starring role on a Nickelodeon show at only 13 years old? How was your experience on “Henry Danger?”
My experience playing Charlotte on “Henry Danger” will always be one I hold close to my heart. It was great to see the culmination of all of my efforts in this industry (many auditions, many days of missed school, working on location, etc.) coming together in such a long-term and impactful way. I had so much fun discovering and exploring Charlotte’s character. There is a lot about her I can pull from my own life experience, and some I had to create. I’m not that bossy or that much of a know-it-all in real life, so I had a lot of fun torturing the boys with that!

Black Bodysuit by Dolce&Gabbana
Bustier, Pants by REVOLVE
Shoes by Steve Madden

How did you feel when you learned you were cast as Darby on “Darby and the Dead?” How was this project different from your time on Nickelodeon?
When the Darby project came around, it was such a whirlwind I didn’t have time to think, so I just rolled with it. It was just after the Christmas holidays, and I was at home in Toronto enjoying our time off. A few tapes and a zoom session later and I was flying to South Africa in less than a week! Booking Darby was different from booking Charlotte in many ways. I think the biggest difference was that it was a film and not a series, so it was on location and a magnificent location at that! It was for a wonderful moment; a time that was “hit the ground running”. Certainly, the demand was different, as it would be when playing the lead role and working as an adult, which meant long hours so there wasn’t any time for anything else other than work, eating, and sleep.

How did you prepare for your role of Darby?
The director Silas and I created a backstory of Darby’s past including what the day of her mom’s death, and her relationship with Capri looked like. We also touched on what attributed to her disconnecting from the living world as a result of her trauma. I pulled from my own experience of being a bit of an introvert at times, and we also did some movement classes to discover the difference between Darby’s lone-wolf persona and her transformation into being a popular girl. All of these things helped with finding Darby’s essence.

How did you approach portraying a character who can see ghosts? Do you have any supernatural experiences of your own that you might have drawn from?
Though I do consider myself a spiritual person, I do my best to avoid direct contact with other realms. Wait! That’s not entirely true. I do enjoy a good tarot card reading, meditation, and prayer, but do not try to do anything to contact the dead and I avoid paranormal movies and shows, I’m not into that sort of thing at all. But my mother has had some experiences so I could relate to some of the material, and I did pull from some of her stories to help my process. My mother shares that when I was younger I did claim to see some things from time to time, but we don’t know anything more about it. Perhaps there is some gift there. Who knows?

What was your favorite moment on set for “Darby and the Dead?” And the most challenging one?
I’d have to say the frog in the face was fun and unexpected, last-minute addition. It was so random and pretty funny even watching it back. Auli’I and I had a ball with that. The football field scenes were some of the most challenging as we were dealing with winds strong enough to almost shut down production. It was tough to complete the dance and cheer moves getting blown back and forth in the process. I have to give it to the cast though because you can’t tell that was a challenge when you watch the film.

What type of themes and characters would you like to lean into in the future?
Being a part of the Marvel world would be something I’d love to do. I am an avid lover of fantasy films, so anything otherworldly is also high on my list, including time travel. I would love to star in a movie that involved me having a superpower, a super ability, and/or being a martial arts or sports-related fighter.

Social Media.
Instagram: @rieledowns
TikTok:- @rieleclaire and @princessofthefrogs
Twitter: @rieledowns

CREW CREDITS:
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director: Mike Ruiz + @mikeruiz.one
Photographer: The Riker Brothers
Talent: Riele Downs
Fashion Stylist: Jennifer Austin
Hair: Araxi Lindsey
Makeup: Camille Ariane
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Associate Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
Interview by Sienna Ropert, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine