Maddie Ziegler Talks 'Fitting In,' Molly McGlynn, and MRKH Syndrome

Maddie Ziegler is stepping out of child stardom and into her own as an adult movie lead. The actor fronts Molly McGlynn’s latest coming-of-age “traumedy” film about a 16 year old named Lindy (Maddie, naturally) who grapples with being diagnosed with a reproductive condition called MRKH syndrome. As the synopsis puts it, “The diagnosis upends her plans to have sex, her presumptions about womanhood and sexuality, her relationship with her mother (Emily Hampshire), and most importantly, herself.”

MRKH syndrome is a reproductive disorder that causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent entirely. According to Medline, “Affected individuals usually do not have menstrual periods due to the absence of a uterus. Often, the first noticeable sign of MRKH syndrome is that menstruation does not begin by age 16.”

Now that Fitting In is available VOD for the masses to stream and enjoy, Cosmopolitan caught up with Maddie about 4 a.m. filming delirium, how she worked with writer/director Molly McGlynn on the autobiographical parts of the movie, and the importance of centering women’s perspectives in tough material.

‘Fitting In’ is now available to watch via VOD on Apple TV or Vudu

You’ve been with this project since it was called Bloody Hell. What drew you to it initially?

As soon as I met Molly, I had an instant love for her. I knew I had to work with her. When we met, it wasn’t set in stone that I was doing the movie. I was basically like, “I will audition, I will do anything, this script means so much to me.” It is crazy to be here now and realize the weight of the project. I’m so grateful every day that I pushed forward with doing this because there were certain people that were hesitant about me doing something like this just because it’s very taboo to talk about this subject matter. I’m so lucky that I went ahead and did it, despite other people’s opinions. It’s a life-changing thing.

What was it like working with Molly on the autobiographically-inspired parts of the film? How much of her life did she share with you to help you embody Lindy?

It’s interesting because all of the medical scenes and all of the dilation scenes were drawn from her life. Like, the moment where I’m in the doctor’s office and four residents come in to observe, she really went through that. And as a woman, I fear so much for her. I cannot believe that everyday women are put in situations like that and feel powerless. I was honored that she was vulnerable enough to not only share her story but also give me extra information behind the scenes about what was going on. We would have these intimate conversations before I would do a scene and she would lead me up exactly to the moment when she was 16, and I’m grateful. I was already emotionally very much there and invested but every extra bit of information just took it to the top for me. I was so emotional for her and protective of her at 16. I just wanted to do her justice.

Some of the most impactful (and frankly difficult to watch) scenes are when Lindy is interacting with male doctors. I will say, I feel like I would’ve known this movie had a female director behind it just through those shots. The medical scenes center emotionality, they’re zoomed in, they’re not voyeuristic in a way some movies can be, and I appreciated that because it felt more about Lindy and the impact the situation had on her versus the situation as a spectacle in itself.

Thank you for saying that, because Molly was so specific about that. As an actor reading the material on paper, none of it ever read as sexual to me so I wasn’t worried about that. Once I got there, she really explained to me that this wasn’t going to be a Euphoria type—which is great in its own way—but that’s just not the film we were making. Even the moments in the doctor’s office, she chose to zoom up on my foot when I was in pain, the way you clench your foot, rather than overexposing my body. I really appreciate having females predominantly setting that atmosphere. I’m so happy you said that because it really does shine through and you can tell it’s coming from a woman's perspective because they’ve captured me in an almost wholesome, innocent way.

Molly McGlynn and Maddie Ziegler at SXSW.

It prioritizes Lindy and her perspective, right? That had the side effect of giving you the opportunity to really be front and center of this movie, firmly as the lead. What was it like filming a movie where you’re in nearly 100 percent of the frames?

Yeah, this was a first for me and something I was so nervous to take on. But that’s why it excited me, because I don’t want to do things that are comfortable. I want to push myself as an actor. Molly trusted me, and I feel like after this experience, I actually thought, Oh, I’m capable of more than I thought. I was proud of myself, which is so hard for artists to say. It’s really hard to be proud of yourself. And of course I overanalyze parts of my performance in the film, but as a whole, I’m like, Wow, I really conquered a lot of hard moments.

What was the most rewarding part of the project to conquer?

It’s interesting because we filmed it in 21 days, which is insane. There were things that had to be cut because we didn’t have time. I was really nervous to do the monologue, where I’m sitting in the grass with Djouliet [Amara], who plays Viv. That’s a huge moment for her.

As an actor, it’s one thing to have good material and another to bring it to life. In this instance, it was already on the page, I didn’t have to do anything extra to take it there. It was already there. So I was very sensitive to that, like, I cannot mess up these brilliant words. We only ended up doing two full takes of that scene, so we were able to get it pretty quickly.

Only two full takes sounds like a testament to what you brought to the role and your ability to carry a monologue like that off the page. You know, I have to say, watching the movie the first time, I did not expect it to be so funny. What was the most fun of your 21 days filming?

There were so many funny moments in the film, and I love Molly for that. Because for her—and I think anyone who deals with any sort of trauma—a really good way to cope is laughter. It’s comedy and dark humor. Sometimes you have to make light of the situation instead of sitting in the darkness.

The cast of Fitting In at SXSW.

In terms of moments, I loved all my scenes with Djouliet. We had so much fun riding our bikes and eating ice cream. Our dynamic offscreen and onscreen is pretty much the same—we are like sisters. The night we did the costume party where I was carried, that was a night shoot. We were filming until 4 in the morning and we were so slap happy. It’s funny because our characters are meant to be drinking a bit and we were just getting delusional at this point. And also, even though it was a really hard aspect to film, our track practices were fun.

Oh my gosh, I can imagine.

It was wild. I run when I work out but have never done a proper track practice. It was quite the experience!

Djouliet Amara and Maddie Ziegler in Fitting In.

Because things seemed more physically intense than I would’ve guessed, I actually thought watching it, Oh, it’s a good thing she was an athlete and has that dance background.

Yeah, they really wanted us to try and do the 100 meter run, and once we tried, they were like Oh, yeah, we might not be able to do that. But all the other girls that ran track with us in the film, they were actual track runners and they ran slightly slower to make us look faster, which is really funny. So I can’t take credit for it too much because it was all on them.

It looked great, but that’s movie magic right there.

Exactly.

It’s nice to hear that you and Djouliet had such good chemistry offscreen too. I also loved your scenes with Emily Hampshire. How did you craft that mother/daughter dynamic onscreen together?

Emily actually told me, “The second I met you, I just felt so protective over you.” That created and fostered a really nice dynamic between the two of us, so it was an easy transition to her playing my mom. What I loved about this relationship is when you’re getting older, you look at your parents as humans and you’re like, Oh, you don’t have it all figured out. I think it’s a really good representation to see onscreen.

Emily Hampshire and Maddie Ziegler in Fitting In.

Overall, what are you hoping movie watchers take away from Fitting In and from your portrayal of Lindy?

The things you’re ashamed of or that you don’t necessarily love about yourself are actually really beautiful and make you you. I think as a woman, I am appalled that I didn’t know what MRKH syndrome was before doing this film. I’m grateful to be an advocate and a light for this community, because we should all know about it whether you’re a woman or not. Something that really sticks with me the most—and I didn’t even realize the weight of it while I was filming—is the first and last scene being mirrored with Lindy doing the same action but having a completely different mindset. She reclaimed her power at the end. I think it’s the most beautiful part of the film because she very much—despite outside noise and people trying to put opinions on her body—at the end of the day says, “It’s *my* body. And I get to do what I want in my body.”

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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