If you're a horror film aficionado, then you probably know the name Inde Navarrette by now. She's the 25-year-old leading lady from Curry Barker's horror Obsession, the film that has taken the internet into a chokehold these last few days since it premiered in cinemas. Her intense and uncanny performance as the manic and disturbed Nikki has made her a fan favourite – and some Letterboxd reviewers are already quick to anoint as "about to blow up". So if you're not already acquainted, we thought we'd do you the favour of introducing you to Navarrette, her film history and everything else you might need to know.
Inde isn't her real name
Inde was born Danielle Fabiola "Inde" Navarrette. Navarrette told USA Today in an interview that her Mum said she was "so independent", and that the new name came from a childhood nickname derived from the word independent.
She's a Pisces
Navarrette was born on 3 March, meaning she falls directly into the water sign (February 19 – March 20) in the tropical zodiac.
She is best known for playing Sarah Cushing in Superman & Lois
“I share some likeness to Sarah. There are moments where life imitates art and I have to step back to completely remove myself to play her. We are both very stand-our-ground women.” Navarrette joined the series in May 2020 as a series regular playing Sarah Cushing. She stayed with the DC Comics series for its entire run until the series concluded in 2024.
She scared herself during the filming of Obsession
Navarrette said she even "terrified" herself while filming her new horror movie. During one particular scene – where an unseen Nikki is talking to Bear, who wakes up in the middle of the night – Navarrette said she caught “a glimpse” of the scene on a monitor, and that was more than enough. “Sometimes your performance is for other people. I don't need to experience it, because I think it's such a scary thing to be scared of yourself.”
Nikki was partly inspired by Mia Goth's Pearl
Navarrette told WhoWhatWear that herself and Barker spent a lot of time working out the timing of her characters switches between "wish Nikki" and "normal Nikki".
"We watched Mia Goth's performance in Pearl because we really wanted her performance to be utterly grounded and humane but also heightened. I never wanted the audience to suspend disbelief for this idea. I wanted the audience to be so locked in and so emotionally attached to Nikki because Nikki is the ugliest aspects of being in a relationship. Whether that's a friendship or relationship with yourself or a relationship with your parents or a partner, it's just really ugly but also really true. That's what I really wanted to accomplish with Nikki. Having visual representation like Mia Goth's performance in Pearl… It's very similar in that aspect of "Okay, I understand why you do it." We would be on set, and I'd be like, "Okay, is this Pearl level?" It was also really nice because every day I felt like Curry was just like, "Just go." And I don't think once he's been like, "Tone it down." It was us having a really good string of thought."
Her next film is a thriller Invertigo
Navarrette’s next film follows a group of teens who decide it’s a good idea to sneak onto a brand-new theme-park ride before it officially opens – which, of course, goes horribly wrong when the ride breaks down and leaves them stranded high above the ground. She shot the movie in Thailand and spent plenty of time on roller-coasters while she was there, too. “I’ve always loved them,” she says. “I’m obsessed with that stomach-drop feeling.” Her all-time favourite is the massive drop on Disneyland’s Guardians of the Galaxy ride.
