SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Who would think a spring break trip would turn into this?

Oct 7, 2016, 8:34 AM | Updated: 8:34 am

Like a lot of 19-year-olds, Sasha Lane wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she grew up.

“I was in school. I was studying psychology and social work. I was just aimlessly walking around trying to figure out what I was doing in life,” she explained.

But while she was spring-breaking with friends in Florida, she got offered the chance of a lifetime. Veteran director Andrea Arnold approached her out of the blue.

Sasha would spend that spring and summer starring in one of the best films of this year, “American Honey.”

Related: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ tells a disturbing story

Sasha plays one of an oddball collection of drifting teenagers who travel the country, mostly the Midwest and the South, selling magazine subscriptions to well-meaning suckers.

Director Andrea Arnold specializes in films with non-professional casts — Shia LaBoeuf is the only “name” actor in this cast — so Sasha found herself mostly surrounded by people who had as little experience as she did. The camaraderie captured on film was no accident or cinematic trick.

“That is my family, that is my heart,” she said. “We bonded really hard immediately.”

Sasha traveled with the film when it premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, a trip she still can’t quite get over.

“It’s so weird to be taken care of,” she said.

And what was it like to see herself on the big screen?

“Super mind-blowing,” she said. “It was such a surreal moment.”

Sasha says her character, Star, learns a great life lesson over the course of the movie.

“I think now she knows there’s a world and life outside the world she grew up in,” she explained.

That turns out to be parallel to her own life. She now knows anything can happen, because it already has.

Movie trailer below.

Oleh Tarabaka, head of the Nova Kakhovka military administration, left, and Vadym, a Ukrainian serg...

Associated Press

Civilians in Ukraine’s Kherson prepare for the return of war as localized ceasefire ends

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Civilians in Ukraine’s southeastern Kherson region prepared Sunday for the end of a localized ceasefire that has marked the most significant truce between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 4½ years ago. The White House said U.S. first lady Melania Trump helped to broker the limited truce, which […]

2 hours ago

This photo provided by Valerie Terranova shows a performance of the musical "In The Heights" at the...

Associated Press

Director calls Broadway revival of ‘In the Heights’ at NY City Center a ‘balm for these times’

NEW YORK (AP) — David Mendizábal vividly remembers sitting in the audience for the final performances of playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.” Almost two decades later, Mendizábal is directing the musical that was once his “portal to the theater.” “It was the first time I’d ever heard or seen a world that looked and […]

2 hours ago

President Donald Trump speaks at a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Sa...

Associated Press

Trump’s rallies in Iowa and Kansas come as Republicans fight to keep Senate and House control

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is closing out the final days of a turbulent midterm campaign with rallies in two states he has handily won in the past, underscoring the defensive posture his Republican Party is taking as the elections become a referendum on his White House second term. His first stop is scheduled […]

2 hours ago

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks and announces action to help farmers and ranchers, as a group ...

Associated Press

Trump administration promises US farmers $15 billion in weeks before the midterms

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration has made $15 billion worth of promises to agriculture producers in the last few weeks of the midterm elections, initiatives intended to help offset higher costs for diesel and fertilizer that farmers have endured largely due to his tariffs and the war in Iran. Whether that […]

2 hours ago

minimum wage (2)...

Jake Skorheim and Spike O'Neill Show

‘They can’t afford to keep the ones that they have’: Jake and Spike clash over Seattle’s $22 minimum wage

KIRO host Jake Skorheim said the problem facing Seattle small businesses isn't finding workers.

3 hours ago

Washington Electric Vehicles EV...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘Bellevue is the king and queen of Teslas’: Gee says high costs hold Washington back despite No. 2 EV ranking

New census data shows Washington is one of the country's leaders in EV ownership. Ursula Reutin asked why the numbers still seemed so low.

3 hours ago

Who would think a spring break trip would turn into this?