Greg Jardin‘s It’s What’s Inside is a technicolor sci-fi rife with desire and envy, featuring a group of college friends who are forced to face their deep-seated issues when they swap bodies at a reunion.

Among that group is Alycia Debnam-Carey playing Nikki, a role “so far from anything I’d been able to do before,” The 100 actress recently told Decider over Zoom.

As a social media influencer, Nikki is the object of many peoples’ desires, including that of Cyrus (James Morosini) and, in some ways, his longtime girlfriend Shelby (Brittany O’Grady). Most of what viewers learn about Nikki is refracted by everyone else’s perception of her and the facade she wears, much like if we were learning about her through her Instagram page.

But she loses a lot more than she bargained for when an estranged classmate arrives with a mysterious game that allows them to switch bodies. Suddenly, everyone’s darkest desires bubble to the surface, begging the question that turns the evening into an existential nightmare: What if you could abandon all your worries and become somebody totally different?

“It was different and out of the box for me, playing this sort of glammed-up influencer… it felt kind of just like a fun, different character to play,” she said.

But in It’s What’s Inside, everyone has the chance to be the glamazon that is Nikki. Or Cyrus’ anxious girlfriend, Shelby. Or the groom-to-be, Reuben (Devon Terrell).

Decider caught up with Debnam-Carey ahead of the premiere of It’s What’s Inside to discuss the challenge of playing multiple characters and whether there could be more in store for this body swap thriller.

DECIDER: I really love the character of Nikki. I’d love to hear what got you interested in the film at all, and what drew you towards this character.

ALYCIA DEBNAM-CAREY: I was really excited to play something glamorous, if I’m being honest. I’ve lived in this sort of apocalyptic, blood, dirt, mud world for a really long time, and so I’ve been trying to find things that are just expanding my creativity and myself as an actor. One of the first things that drew me to this was that it was different and out of the box for me, and playing this sort of glammed-up influencer, – it was the nails, and the hair, and the outfit, – and it felt kind of just like a fun, different character to play. But then on top of that, when I read the script, I was first like, ‘Wow, this is a real whiplash, wild ride’ It took a couple of times to really even understand what it was about and what was going on. […] I felt really excited to be a part of it. And there’s a real appeal for an actor to be able to play multiple characters in one film. You don’t get to do that very often. So it was a nice challenge.

It’s interesting because you took on a new character here, but you also played three or four characters in this entire movie. So what was it like building those characters during the rehearsal process with the other actors?

We were so lucky having that rehearsal week. I think without it, we wouldn’t have succeeded nearly as well. We had five days where we were all together. Everyone was incredibly open, collaborative, but also very respectful and generous as actors. And we were all going into it with not a lot of ego, going, ‘Okay, we’re here to play.’ That’s what was also really unique about something like this, because we did it on an indie budget, as an indie film. Everyone was really game. Everyone was just down to play.

We read it once in the first read through completely as our baseline character the whole way. And then the second read through, we did it then based off what the other characters were. So you were picking up all these little intricacies, and mannerisms, cadence. After that, it just became very open to building together, essentially. It was a very trusting process. Like, I spend most of the movie as Shelby, and it’s carrying someone else’s arc for a chunk of the film that also you’re embodying… I think we were really fortunate that everyone on this was just really generous and open and game.

The characters of Nikki and Shelby are so entwined from the very beginning of the film. What did you think about the relationship they had with each other?

I think I can understand both sides in a weird way. There’s the world that we live in, it’s a bombardment of aspirational images and an idea of what you should be, and perception and how to be perceived, and we are constantly comparing ourselves and other people because of social media. Growing up in that world, I’ve obviously had my own experiences with that, so I could understand that need for like Nikki to be really dominating in that space. As much as she kind of is a narcissist, she’s also the most savvy and successful of the group, she’s built this career for herself, which is why she’s so desperate not to let it go.

But I think also, on the other hand, I can relate to the Shelby character of that anxiety of having to compare yourself to that kind of lifestyle and feeling like you’re not enough, and this idea of the anxiety of trying to keep up in this world that is just demanding more and more. So I don’t know. I think as women generally, we really all connected to that theme.

Between all of the characters that you play in the film, which was the most fun for you to embody? Also, is there a character that you wish you got to play?

I would have probably loved to play Dennis, just because he’s such an outrageous, crazy character with distinctive character, but also Cyrus would have been fun, I think. You know, that kind of stuttering, kind of silly, ridiculous sort of humor and attempt to salvage himself is kind of really fun. Honestly, it’s so hard to choose. I loved being able to introduce Nikki because she was so far from anything I’d been able to do before.

But I also loved the emotional arc of Shelby. I felt like I could really settle in the psychological perspective and emotion of where she was at in that point, and how to find that emotional gravity in a film that’s really frenetic and all over the place. So I think that was a nice moment to be able to ground myself in.

It’s What’s Inside is streaming now on Netflix.