Thomasin wanted to be respectful when playing a character living in Nazi Germany and did lots of research into Holocaust history. But when she told director Taika Waititi about what she'd done, he suggested she watch some very different movies to help prepare: Mean Girls and Heathers.
"I told Taika and Carthew [Neal], the producer, the research I had done, and he went, 'Oh cool. Yep, nice. Now, watch Mean Girls and Heathers,'" she told Deadline. "So I think from the get-go, Taika was really interested in helping me to look at Elsa in a different, maybe unexpected way, which really opened my eyes to a completely different side of her."
"Watching Heathers and Mean Girls reminded me that while, of course Elsa is a victim, that's not what defines her," she said.