the Right
MINDSET
A
t only eleven years old,
Miya Cech is already tur-
ning heads with her featured
role in the film The Darkest
Minds. The film is based of book series
by Alexandra Bracken. After a plague
wipes out a vast majority of the youth
population, those who survived are left
to acquire special abilities. Miya plays
the character of ‘Zu’ (Suzume) who
has her own unique story to tell. Zu is
the youngest of the group who gains
the power of electricity, but decides
to remain mute due to a tragic past. BY
GABRIELA SILVA
You’re playing Zu in the film adap-
tation of The Darkest Minds. What's
important to you when having to bring
to life a
character first portrayed in a book?
Miya Cech: It was important to me to
I think that
being adopted
is special and
want to help
other adopted
kids feel special
too!
first read the book and get to know Zu.
I love to read so I was really excited to
read something new to me! I knew that
Zu didn’t speak, but I wanted to know
her story. I also wanted to be able to
understand her
relationships with Liam, Ruby and Chubs
so that I could put myself in her shoes
and become her. I ended up loving the
series and Alex Bracken’s writing style
and also became great friends with Alex!
Since your character chooses to be
mute, what was your acting process
l ike in order to express nonverbal
communication?
It was challenging to be quiet when
cameras were rolling. In real life, I love
to talk! I pictured Zu as communicating
through hand gestures and facial expres-
sions. I think that a lot of my expressions
came from my eyes.