If you didn’t develop a major crush on Diana Silvers as mean highschool lesbian Hope in Booksmart then were you even watching it right? Destined to be cast as young Julia Roberts and a whole lot more besides, the 22-year-old also stars in Ma with Octavia Spencer, Ava with Jessica Chastain, and Steve Carrell’s forthcoming Netflix comedy Space Force alongside John Malkovich, out 29 May. Someone’s on a roll!
Currently quarantining with her roommate in Los Angeles (“I’m really lucky to have her”) Diana has been keeping busy reading Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz, learning Beatles songs on the glockenspiel and losing herself deep in puzzles. “My goals for this period are picking up instruments, writing and catching up on my movie list,” she tells us. “Maybe I’ll try to bake bread. I’m just hanging tight like everyone else, practising patience in what used to be a very instant-gratification world”.
Here to help you on the patience front, Diana recommends you start by taking a deep breath. “Download the Calm app — it’s been helping me loads with the anxiety of uncertainty,” she says. “Stay informed but don’t read the news before bed. Check in on your friends and family, wash your hands, and don’t feel like you need to be writing the next great novella. My mom gave me great advice the other day: ‘Don’t despair. We, as society, have endured far worse and come out on the other side.’” Wise words.
Having noticed her affinity for music — she’s posted evidence of her skills on the bass, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, cello, and her very own vocal chords — we asked Diana to make us all a self-isolation playlist. Reader: she obliged. Sitting at just short of an hour and a half long, it opens with the calming nature sounds of “Because” by The Beatles, cavorts with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Roy Orbison and Wings along the way, before ending with Lizzo’s promise that “A Change Is Gonna Come”.
“This playlist is a compilation of songs that have either heightened the isolation I feel, or distracted me from it,” Diana explains. “I believe this is a fair representation of my ‘identity’ in some form — music has gotten me through a lot to say the least.” Press play and let’s ride out these strange times together.