Sophie Nelisse steps into WWII hero’s shoes in ‘Irena’s Vow’
“Irena’s Vow” dramatizes one of the most dramatic rescue stories of World War II: How a young Polish Catholic nurse sheltered and hid a dozen desperate Jews destined for “liquidation”
— in the Nazi commandant’s own house.
Sophie Nélisse, best known as the teenage Shauna Shipman in the “Yellowjackets” series, is Irena Gut Opdyke, taken from factory work to be the housekeeper for Dougray Scott’s Nazi officer Eduard Rügemer.
The Nazis had seized the mansion from its Jewish owner, who built the place with a hidden safe room. This is where the imperiled Jews hid as Irena supplied them with necessities.
“When I read the script I fell in love with the story and especially with Irena and how courageous she is,” Nélisse, 24, said in a Zoom interview. “She’s a woman who lived an extraordinary life before and after the Second World War.”
She did extensive research. “There was a book about her, an autobiography that I read.
I know there’s a play that I’ve never been able to see” — also written by “Irena” screenwriter Dan Gordon — “and I tried to find as many archives about her life as possible.
“A lot of the interviews are up on YouTube where you could see how she would speak and her mannerisms and everything later in her life in the ‘60s. Then I did some dialect coaching to help with the Polish accent.”
But who exactly is this young woman who risked her life to help strangers?
“Fundamentally, she’s someone just full of light. When we meet her she’s a little more naive and believes the best in people; she sees life in such a positive way.
“Obviously, the atrocities she goes through definitely humble her. But she still has this beautiful quality of wishing that the world could be a better place and if you just extend one hand to someone else, it can have a ripple effect.”
Nélisse, who lives in Montreal, has been a working actor since she was 10 and scored with hits like “Monsieur Lazhar,” “The Book Thief” and “Yellowjackets” which soon films its third season.
“I look for characters that people can relate to and feel less isolated. I know that’s what movies often represent. For me a film is a place for me to connect with a character and make me feel less lonely.
“So when I choose, I try to look for characters that bring me out of my comfort zone, that are as different from me as possible. That’s what’s fun about acting! You get to impersonate someone that’s not the same as you.”
“Irena’s Vow” is in theaters April 15-16.