How Millicent Simmonds Prepared to Play a Ballet Dancer in PRETTY LETHAL

Millicent Simmonds, the performer known for her role in Broadway's Grey House and the Quiet Place franchise, turned to the world of dance for her role in the new movie Pretty Lethal. 

Simmonds plays a ballet dancer in the film, which was new territory for the performer. "I had never danced a day in my life before doing this," Simmonds recently admitted to Kelly Clarkson on her talk show. Still, she was committed to learning all the ins and outs of the craft, even working with Utah's Ballet West Academy to prepare.

"Immediately, I started working on my flexibility and I was really trying to be on pointe... I learned as much as I could for years before actually filming this. And then, once I got to set, they said, 'Oh, you don't actually have to be on pointe.'" 

Simmonds is deaf, and in an interview with ABC4 Utah, Ballet West Academy Director Evelyn Cineros-Legate shared how she worked with the actress on her movement. "I would tap out rhythms on the barre with my ring so that she could feel the rhythm of the music to then integrate the movements of the arms with the legs and the feet... It was really amazing."

Pretty Lethal is an action/thriller following five ballerinas whose bus breaks down in a remote forest on their way to a prestigious dance competition. With no other options, they reluctantly seek shelter at an unsettling roadside inn run by Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman), a reclusive former ballet prodigy. From the moment they arrive, something feels wrong and their worst instincts prove right.

As the situation turns deadly, the fractured team must set aside rivalries and weaponize years of brutal training, turning grace, discipline, and even pointe shoes into tools for survival. Directed by Vicky Jewson, the cast also includes Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Avantika, Maddie Ziegler, Michael Culkin, and Lydia Leonard. It is now streaming on Prime Video.

Simmonds burst onto the scene as the star of Todd Haynes's film Wonderstruck opposite Julianne Moore. This was her feature film debut and, for her performance, she received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actress. In 2018 she starred opposite Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt in the Paramount blockbuster film A Quiet Place for which she again received a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Young Actress. In 2020 she reprised her role and starred in A Quiet Place Part II. She made her Broadway debut with Grey House in 2023.