This year, Presley Alexander played Lane in The Accountant 2 with Ben Affleck as lead role Christian Wolf, and the film, which is directed by Gavin O’Connor, premiered in March at South By Southwest (SXSW) and in Los Angeles in April, ahead of a worldwide release on 25th April. Amongst Presley’s screenwork, they played Younger Maggie in the BET+ original movie Christmas Angel, and had guest roles in 9-1-1 as Scarlet Baker and This Is Us as Alex Cooper. Presley is set to start working on a horror movie, and they are well-known for having started their YouTube channel ActOutGames at seven years old. Speaking with us, Presley told us about playing Lane in The Accountant 2, working on Christmas Angel and having guest roles in 9-1-1 and This Is Us.

What was it like finding out you’d booked the role of Lane in The Accountant 2, and how familiar were you with the original 2016 The Accountant film before auditioning?

It still feels surreal. I was definitely a fan of the original The Accountant film. It was nice to see neurodivergence portrayed in a way that wasn’t infantilising. The way his autism was a ‘superpower’ made sense and seemed real. My family and I watched the original again to celebrate and to make sure I had a good understanding of the tone, and then I watched it again myself several times. Luckily, it’s not a hard movie to study, since it’s such a fun watch.

Without giving spoilers, can you tell us about The Accountant 2 and your character Lane?

Lane is a student at Harbor Neuroscience, using their technology skills to support Christian’s mission during the film. The film is a blast, but it also has a lot of heart. It gives us a lot of insight into Christian’s inner world, and Harbor Neuroscience is a big part of that world. You’ll also learn a lot about Braxton and his relationship with Christian and the world. It’s a movie about family. And also giant explosions. It’s fantastic.

How did you prepare for filming and what was it like reading the script for the first time?

I obsessed over that script for weeks. I had looked up all of the hacking included in my scenes and how it would be achieved in real life. I wanted to be sure I could do exactly what was asked of me. And then I went to my first day on set and everyone was asking me how I would choose to play the scene, and I was completely blindsided. Everything in the film was a collaboration, and there are little pieces of everyone who worked on it in there. I prepared for a lot of things, but getting to have a hand in building the world of The Accountant films wasn’t one of them!

What was Lane like to play and what did you enjoy most about the role?

Playing Lane meant accessing the parts of myself that I normally mask, which was really hard. After spending your entire life trying to seem less autistic, it’s disorienting to suddenly be thrown into a space that’s so encouraging of your autism and wants to show every bit of it. At first, it was hard to believe that they really wanted to hear all the details of what it’s like to be neurodivergent. But everyone was so supportive and willing to listen. I owe a lot to that experience. It’s made me much more comfortable in who I am and taking up space for myself.

What was it like meeting and working with the rest of the cast, which includes Ben Affleck as Christian Wolf, and being directed by Gavin O’Connor?

Everyone I worked with was incredible! It really did feel like a giant collaborative effort between everyone there, which is how filmmaking feels at its best. Gavin is so talented, and a fantastic listener. Even though he was incredibly busy, he took the time to really get to know us. It’s intimidating to work with such an incredible team, but I had nothing but good experiences. Everyone was so grounded and respectful. I’m also very grateful to have gotten to see such incredible actors working. I learned a lot and I’m very inspired by how hard everyone works.

With The Accountant 2 having been released worldwide on 25th April, how has it been seeing the response to the film so far and who do you think the film will appeal to?

It’s been amazing seeing the reaction! I loved it so much when I first saw it, and I’m glad that it seems the people seeing it now are loving it just as much. This movie was a blast to work on, and I think that really shone through for audiences. There’s something special about watching a movie that people loved making, and The Accountant 2 has that. There’s a little something in it for everyone. Obviously, it’s jam-packed with action for fans of the genre, but there are also plenty of heartfelt moments for viewers less inclined to action films. It touches on important real-world issues in a way that’s very authentic, and I think a lot of people will see parts of themselves in the movie.

How have you found the experience working on The Accountant 2 and is there anything you feel you’ve learned from your time on set?

I’ve become a much more confident person. This whole experience has been so incredible, and it’s really reminded me of what I’m capable of. I actually had been going through a pretty rough patch in my mental health shortly before working on The Accountant 2. I remember telling my friends that I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to actually succeed as an actor. After the film premiered at SXSW, they poked fun at me for ever doubting what I could do. You hear a lot of stories about the industry and how hard it is – but having such an incredible experience working on this film reminded me of everything I love about making movies. And it reminded me that this industry is still built on incredible, talented, creative people.

The film premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in March and had its Los Angeles premiere in April, what were both events like to attend?

I was actually born in Austin, so getting to go to SXSW as part of the premiere was incredible! My dad started going to SXSW the first year, back when it only had music, and he’s been to many of them since. I actually tagged along with him back when he was presenting on the EDU side when I was a kid. It was fun to get to go for my work this time and bring him as a guest. And, of course, I got to walk my first red carpet. I’m still getting used to that. If you look at the pictures from both events, you’ll probably see me still trying to figure out where I’m supposed to look. It felt like a movie – cameras were flashing and people were calling my name. I honestly thought that part was made up! When I was leaving the LA premiere there were people asking for my photo outside one of the most iconic theatres in the world. It really felt surreal. I’m still not entirely sure that it wasn’t some kind of elaborate prank.

In the BET+ original movie Christmas Angel, you could be seen as Maggie, what was this film like to be part of?

Now that’s a deep cut! I’m impressed. I actually love cheesy Christmas movies. There’s something so fun and heartfelt about them. I played the younger version of Maggie, who ended up struggling with addiction later in life. It was an interesting job to portray an innocent younger version of her. My role was meant to tug on your heartstrings, and it was a big task to pull off.

How was it filming your guest role of Scarlet Baker in Series 6 of 9-1-1?

I got to meet the literal Queen of Wakanda. It was incredible. I’ve always admired Angela Bassett, and she’s so lovely in real life, even if I felt like I should be bowing or something. Procedurals are definitely a rite of passage in the industry, and they’re really fun to work on. It takes a lot of creativity to keep a show like that running. And so, so much work. I’m in awe of the cast and crew being able to pull that off. We actually filmed it in the mall that I used to live right next to, and the areas we weren’t filming in were open, which was pretty funny. I spent a decent amount of time between scenes hanging out with the employees in a Sephora waiting for us to be done so they could open. And there were people taking pictures of us from the upper floors of the mall, so those are out there on the internet somewhere.

You played Alex across a couple of episodes of This Is Us – Series 5, how would you describe Alex and how was it joining the show as a guest character?

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Alex. Getting to play one of the first openly non-binary characters in a show like This Is Us is an experience I’m endlessly grateful for. This Is Us was the show every actor wanted to be on because the set was well-known for being so fun and supportive. Everyone I ran into who had worked on it had nothing but fantastic things to say about the experience, and then I became one of those people singing its praises. My first day filming for Alex, one of the writers actually came up and talked to me about how I would approach non-binary representation. That moment will always stick out to me because I realised just how powerful my voice was in this industry, and that I was directly impacting the way that people like me are represented.

How did you get into acting and was it always something you wanted to do professionally?

Honestly? I stumbled into it. I really do wish I had a film-perfect origin story! But I originally moved to LA to pursue YouTube, and I ended up trying out acting while I was here. Why wouldn’t you want to try acting when you move to a place like LA? I ended up finding a passion for the film industry, which I shouldn’t have been surprised by since my mom went to film school and both of my parents had worked on film crews in Austin before I was born. I’d heard about how sets worked from my mom, who worked in the camera department, but being in them is a completely different game. I act because it’s fun, and for a long time I considered it my hobby while I was in community college. And then it turns out, when you keep doing something for years, you improve at it. And now I’m here. I never would’ve believed when I was 12 and moving here that I’d end up where I am. There weren’t a lot of parts for autistic, non-binary, lesbian actors. I’m really happy that I’ve been a part of changing that.

Do you have any favourite films and TV shows to watch, and how do you like to spend your free time?

I’m so glad you asked about that. You asked an autistic person about their interests. We could be here for hours. My favourite movies are Pacific Rim, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Alien, and the 2005 Pride & Prejudice. Which is quite the assortment of movies, but I’ve seen all of those at least two dozen times, and I still love watching them just as much. My favourite show of all-time is SyFy’s Dark Matter, which was tragically cancelled early. It’s genuinely a goal of mine in this industry to find a way to get it rebooted. Everyone reading this should watch it – it’s incredible and so underrated.

Aside from school, I read a lot and play a lot of video games. I also raise insects and go on so many deep dives on Wikipedia.

At the age of seven, you started your YouTube channel ActOutGames – what are some of your favourite memories from filming for the channel over the years?

I met a lot of incredible people during my time on YouTube. My favourite part was being an educator, both in science and on activism. I was homeschooled up until college, and YouTubers were my teachers in many ways. Getting to meet them and thank them for teaching me, and then getting to pass that down to others was a really great feeling. I found that a lot of kids were generally more responsive to being taught by one of their peers, and I ended up getting emails from teachers thanking me for making material they ended up using in their classrooms. I’ve had people come up to me and tell me they recognised me from watching my videos at school! I’m really proud of that, and I want to eventually do more in the education space.

What are you hoping the next few months bring for you, and do you have any upcoming projects that you can share?

I’m filming a horror movie pretty soon, which I am beyond excited about. I wish I could tell you everything about it, but I don’t want to spoil it. However, I play a feral little girl as the lead and I’m working with the best team ever. Outside of that, I’m in school slowly but surely making progress toward a degree in forensics, and I’m always working on some kind of side project that may or may not see the light of day.

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