Sophomore turned Hollywood starlet Storm Reid sits down with Ella West to discuss her leading role in Sony Pictures’s Missing, joining The Last of Us universe and celebrating the 10-year anniversary of her production company, A Seed & Wings.

Storm Reid is busy. Still enjoying the buzz of the recent premiere of The Last of Us, maintaining her studies at USC while simultaneously gearing up for the release of Missing, it is no surprise she picks up my call while on the way to work — choppy service connections and a barking dog in tow. “I’d rather be busy than bored,” she quips amidst the chaos. A mantra that no doubt carried Reid through a “super fun but very hectic” 2022.

Rest assured, Reid remains in high spirits. While her on-the-move status renders our efforts to video chat void, the 19-year-old actor greets me – once our connection finally settles – with warmth and excitement, still teeming from her photoshoot just a few days prior. “There’s definitely a lot going on at once and that can often feel overwhelming,” she admits. “But luckily I have a great team and support system who keep me grounded and help me when I am feeling that way.”

Most widely recognised as Meg Murry, the protagonist of Disney’s fantasy picture, A Wrinkle in Time, Reid has since teleported to worlds anew. Exploring dramatic teen dramas in HBO’s Euphoria, the gaming universe in The Last of Us and gothic supernatural horror in The Nun 2, Reid has quickly accumulated a portfolio of characters that prove to be as diverse as her talent. “I’m so proud to have been a part of A Wrinkle in Time and the Disney family in general,” she says reflecting upon her projects of the past. “It really did put me in a certain spotlight and gave me so many opportunities that have led me to where I am today.”

So, where is Reid today? The date of our conversation happens to mark a decade since the founding of Reid’s own production company, A Seed & Wings, created in 2013 alongside her sister and mum, Robyn Simpson. “My mum, my sister and I created our production company to not only create multifaceted content that is representative of the real world and to tell the stories that aren’t being told, but to also have the opportunity to employ others and take risks on talented and promising people that haven’t been given their chance yet.”

If mathematics serves us correctly, Reid entered the world of producing at just nine years old, a fact which becomes less daunting considering Reid’s early entrance into the industry in general. “I started acting when I was three years old,” she tells me. “At the time I had told my mum that I wanted to be on TV and wanted to be a ‘superstar’,” she laughs, placing heavy emphasis on the sparkly title. “I don’t think a lot of three-year-olds are telling their parents what they want to be doing for the rest of their lives. So I just feel very grateful to have followed my dreams and to be able to do what I’ve always wanted to do.”

True, not many know what they want to do at three years old, but even fewer grow up to make those dreams a reality — a sentiment which Reid, in large, attributes to the support of her family. “My mum has instilled within my sister and I for all of our lives, ‘If you have faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed then God will move a mountain.’ And, scientifically, butterflies aren’t anatomically meant to be able to fly, but they don’t know that, so they just fly anyway. So the name A Seed & Wings came from those two reflections, it’s about having faith, taking risks and going after anything even when the odds are so stacked against you.” Suffice to say, Reid practices what she preaches.

“I definitely want to share a screen with Miss Meryl Streep, that would be really cool. I also think Denzel Washington is incredible, Miss Viola Davis, Miss Angela Bassett. I have a very long list of people I want to work with.” While Reid continues to shoot for the co-stars of her dreams, working with them also isn’t a reality she’s unaquainted with. Since 2019 she’s played Zendaya’s on-screen sister, Gia Bennet, on Euphoria. “I’m so glad I got to work with Zendaya and to experience and watch her be so successful. I was always such a huge fan of hers, she was a real role model to me. Not only did the set of Euphoria allow Reid to work side-by-side with her idol, but it also provided access to one of her most treasured characters. “I think all of my characters that I have had the opportunity to play have a special place in my heart, but I would say Gia – and also Meg – have had the biggest impact on me, especially as a young woman myself.”

Leaving Meg and Gia safely wrapped (for now), Reid reflects on her prospective future and the roles that she has yet to debut. “When I’m choosing to be a part of a project – whether that’s as an actor or a producer or both – I just try to be as purposeful and intentional as possible. I think as creatives we have an opportunity to say things, and I don’t mean in a preachy way. But if a project isn’t saying anything, especially considering the time that we are living in, we would be doing a disservice to our audiences and further to ourselves,” she imparts.

Once Reid finds that sweet spot, where the role and narrative fall equally into place, the fun really begins. “I honestly think it’s essential for me to step into my character when I am given a role. I want to totally become them, so I can really experience their given circumstance,” she explains. Often at the helm of emotionally demanding roles, I wonder how that might impact the actor and her process. “I have learned that it is important to not neglect how I would personally feel in a certain situation. I try and be in the moment and listen to my scene partner but also think about how I would feel if it were me. I’m such an emotional person, I have great access to my own emotions. So when I am playing these tough characters, I deal with it by settling the emotions in my own head.”

Never has Reid found herself having to do so more than while playing June Allen, a technology-obsessed teenager who doubles as the leading role of Sony Pictures’ Missing. Still coming to terms with the passing of her father, June finds her troubling relationship with her mother, Grace, turned on its head when she disappears following a vacation to Columbia with her new boyfriend, Kevin. Left (quite literally) to her own devices, June embarks on a white-knuckle ride through the web to track down her mother — leaving audiences to bear witness through June’s laptop screen. “I definitely think I learned a lot — actually, I know I learned a lot while filming Missing. It was a very different experience on set and shooting specifically that I had never experienced before. There were so many technical aspects of it, having to film on a computer or a phone or a watch. But having to get all of the eye lines correct without having a scene partner took a lot of getting used to,” Reid shares on the project. “It really pushed me as an actress and once I got over all of the technical hurdles, I had a really fun time.”

Filmed in the rare small-screen format, Missing is captured in true millennial style, allowing audiences to experience June’s heightened panic in real time as she digs deep into the layers of her mother’s disappearance via FaceTime, web searches and CCTV stalking. “I’d say it was the most challenging role I have had so far. I think it pushed me to try to be captivating, grounded and emotional at the same time as being so technical in my acting.”

Despite its challenges, the producer in Reid was first drawn to Missing for its script. “I was just on the edge of my seat and so captivated by the words, it was so exciting to me. I thought I knew what was happening and then I’d turn a few pages and would have no idea about the plot twists that were coming. The fact I was able to enjoy it so much just from reading the script was a huge green flag for me.” The second, arguably, was being teamed up with Nia Long, who plays Grace in the picture. “Ah gosh, Miss Nia,” she says as I ask about her co-star. “She made me feel so loved and supported on set. She’s a legend in her own right, so to be able to work with someone who I have literally grown up watching is sensational.”

While Reid may share an admiration for Long akin to that she has for her own mum, the same cannot be said for her Missing character, June. “Not every parent-child relationship is perfect,” Reid says while ruminating on this observation. “There will be times when one of those parties disagrees with the other. But at the end of the day, Missing is about family, love – more importantly, unconditional love – sacrifices, self-discovery and growth, which are all things teenagers can relate to. We are all trying to discover who we really are and who we want to be. On top of that, you’re also navigating changing relationships with your parents. So although [my relationship with my mum] is not the same [as June’s with hers], I didn’t find it hard to tap into that dynamic, because the core of it is so relatable.”

Relatability proves to be Reid’s forte — not accounting for being one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young actors, of course. “Right now, I just want to go with the flow and finish off my second semester — I want to have the best of both worlds. Whatever I am doing, I want to make sure I am being appreciative of what God and the world have to offer me.” Whether that be heading to a sushi date with her girlfriends or booking her next blockbuster part, Reid assures, “I’m real simple, it doesn’t take much to please me. I don’t like to put unrealistic expectations on myself, but I just want to continue to act, produce and be an inspiration to others.”

“I think it’s important for the people who look up to me to know that it’s okay to be perfectly imperfect,” Reid continues. “It’s all about self-love and encouragement and knowing that you can do anything you set your mind to. Never taking no for an answer is so important. And I think my biggest piece of advice is to try and be the best person that you can be every single day. I know that we all have shortcomings and flaws and our bad days, but if you always try and be the best version of yourself, that will inform and help all of those other things you’re trying to do in life.”

As Reid prepares for an even more hectic 2023, she promises to keep us updated on her journey. “My biggest goal is to share as much as I can with my supporters and be as open as possible with the good, bad and ugly,” she assures. It might be challenging, it will definitely be exciting. Unlike the butterflies, Reid doesn’t have wings, but she’s ready to fly.

PRE-ORDER THE ISSUE NOW