Sophie Nyweide, who portrayed the daughter of Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal’s characters in the 2009 romantic drama Mammoth, has died. She was 24.
Nyweide, who appeared in seven films by age 10, died April 14, her family announced in a paid obituary.
As for the cause, they wrote: “Sophie was a kind and trusting girl. Often this left her open to being taken advantage of by others. She wrote and drew voraciously, and much of this art depicts the depth she had, and it also represents the pain she suffered. Many of her writings and artwork are roadmaps of her struggles and traumas. Even with those roadmaps, diagnoses and her own revelations, those closest to her, plus therapists, law enforcement officers and others who tried to help her, are heartbroken their efforts couldn’t save her from her fate. She self-medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside, and it resulted in her death. She repeatedly said she would ‘handle it’ on her own and was compelled to reject the treatment that might possibly have saved her life.”
Nyweide played a youngster whose mom is dying of cancer in An Invisible Sign (2010), starring Jessica Alba.
She also appeared in Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding (2007); in Shadows & Lies (2010), starring James Franco; and in Darren Aronofsky’s Noah (2014), starring Russell Crowe.
For Mammoth (2009), from director Lukas Moodysson, Nyweide was among the castmembers who headed overseas to promote the Swedish English-language drama at the Berlin International Film Festival premiere.
Nyweide was born on July 8, 2000, in Burlington, Vermont. Her desire to become an actress came from watching films at the now-shuttered Village Picture Shows Cinema in Manchester, Vermont, that her mother, Shelly Gibson, a former actress, bought in 2003.
“She grew up in this movie theater and slept in the movie theater and had a little bed in the projection booth and watched many movies,” Gibson recalled in a 2010 interview.
After seeing Nancy Meyers’ Something’s Gotta Give (2003) when she was 4, Nyweide said “she kept begging my mom [to be an actress]. She thought it was funny because before I was born she was an actress … but I didn’t know that,” she said.
“She gives me a lot of helpful tips and pointers,” she explained in another 2010 chat. “How you can get into your character like doing it into a mirror or doing it by yourself, practicing it over and over again to get [it] right, to try it different ways and see how you feel it’s right,” she said.
(Gibson’s credits include work as a chaplain on two episodes of St. Elsewhere in 1988.)
Nyweide’s first role came as the title character in Bella (2006), co-written and directed by Alejandro Gómez Monteverde and starring Eduardo Verastegui and Tammy Blanchard. The drama won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
She then appeared on a 2007 episode of Law & Order, followed by work in the 2007 films And Then Came Love and New York Serenade and a gig on the ABC hidden-camera show What Would You Do? in 2015, her final onscreen credit.
Survivors include her brother, Huck. Donations in her name can be made to RAINN.
Nyweide “seemed happiest on a movie set, becoming someone else,” her family wrote. “It was a safe place for her … the casts and crews nourished her talent and her well-being. She was an eager adventurer and picked up the customs and even languages of any place she visited. She made friends easily at her schools and saw the good in everyone.
“Her death has left a hole in all. Sadness, loss, heartbreak and even anger is present for those who loved her and now will have to continue on without her laughter, infectious passion and zest — without those amazing blue eyes that could look directly into one’s soul.”