With Future Artists’ web series PORTAL is currently going down a storm with sci-fi fans, we caught up with star CHELSEA EDGE to quiz her on the role and more…

STARBURST: How would you describe your character and where we find her in Portal?

Chelsea Edge: Sarah is in many ways like a lost little girl, she becomes addicted to Portal as it’s the one thing in her life that provides her with reassurance of her worth, even though it’s artificial. In a world dictated by aesthetics and social status sometimes a climb on a social media site is easier than it is in real life. Real life for Sarah is clearly a lonely and dark place, and although we see Sophie as a glamorous avatar type with nothing to want for, there is still something clearly lacking in that version of her life that even Portal cannot fulfil.

How did you get involved with Portal in the first place?

I met Clay .

Both Sarah and Sophie are two contrasting personalities, even though they are essentially the same character, so how did you approach both aspects to your character?

I think that most people have contrasting personalities depending on varying social situations, particularly when it comes to social media profiles. I took Sarah as a lonely powerless young girl and tried to imagine what type of profile she would create for herself, something that everyone else would only see through a screen. It was important for me to make sure that, although Sophie is quite a harsh character in that she is still tethered to Sarah, Sophie’s bitterness towards men is less shallow than we think and more to do with how vulnerable Sarah has been made to feel in the past.

Did you find yourself relating to her in anyway at all?

I think that anyone can empathise with a character, that’s what makes us human. I don’t really have a particularly addictive personality, chocolate is about as hard-core as I get when it comes to vices! However I do understand her, we live in a society where people don’t really communicate as we used too, everything is through computers or tablets etc. its easy to become withdrawn socially, I see it with many people and then when you only know someone through something such as Tinder for example its almost like they become less human, they become objects. We are breeding a generation of sociophobes and it’s really sad.

What was it like going from one small cameo in The Lost Generation to effectively being the main lead in this?

I guess there was a lot of pressure; Mark took a huge chance on me considering he hadn’t actually seen me act before.

What’s Mark like as a director?

Mark is a very relaxed director to work with and completely supportive! He created a very good environment to work in, and if there were any issues he’d be there to help. He also understood the way I worked, when I first arrived on set I think a few people thought I was a bit odd – not realising I was in character, but Mark backed me up which meant I didn’t have to break out of my work to explain.

What was it like working with the other actors involved?

In most of my scenes I didn’t really get to interact with anyone other than Victoria. When I first met her she was very welcoming, I was the new kid and she made it very easy to fit in, which helped when we filmed, as her character is the only crutch that Sarah has in the real world. Clay I have worked with before, it’s funny ’cause he plays a lot of tough characters but he’s one of the sweetest men I know.

What inspired you to become an actress?

I really wish that I had some kind answer that sounds a little bit more serious, but I don’t. It became an actor because I like to play, I’ve never taken life too seriously and eventually I found that acting was something I could do without ever actually having to grow up completely. I never want to lose that freedom that being a pretender gives; the feeling you get when you know you’ve had an impact on someone through performance is amazing. I always rate films that I have seen by how much I empathise with the story or character, I want to have that power, I want to make people feel when they watch me perform.

You’re also a model, is there any preference between the two professions, or do you enjoy doing both?

I only got into modelling through acting really, and I generally choose my modelling jobs on how much I like the story behind the concept, or the kind of vibe I get from the photographer. Some of the work that I have done is with people who have now become some of my closest friends. I don’t really see the modelling work that I do as modelling, they’re stories to me, pieces of art rather than commercial images.

If you weren’t a model or an actress, what you would you be instead?

I worry about this almost every day, there is nothing in the world that I would rather do than act. However if it came to it, I would love to work on a nature reserve somewhere!

Would you be interested in doing big budget Hollywood movies at some point?

I think it’s irrelevant whether the project is a big budget Hollywood movie or a small independent production. It’s the story that matters, I would work on anything that I found intriguing; to me there is no such thing as a ‘little person’.

Are you a film fan, and if so, what’s your favourite film of all time?

I love film! My favourite films always change depending on my mood. Pan’s Labyrinth is definitely up there; del Toro is brilliant.

PORTAL can be viewed on Dailymotion. Episodes 4 and 5 are available to watch now.