Sophia Lillis

Sophia Lillis was born in New York City on February 13, 2002. She has a fraternal twin brother, Jake Lillis, who appeared with her and their parents on a 2012 episode of The Real Housewives of New York City.

Her stepfather, photographer and filmmaker Christopher Mellevold, encouraged her to take acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Manhattan. While studying there, a teacher recommended her for a role in an NYU student film, which led to representation and auditions.

Lillis began acting at the age of seven and initially appeared in short films. She was featured in the 2013 short film The Lipstick Stain and had a minor role in Julie Taymor's stage production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was filmed for live showings.

Her film debut came with the 2016 drama 37, in which she played Debbie Bernstein. She is also an alumna of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.

Lillis rose to prominence in 2017 as Beverly Marsh in Andy Muschietti's horror film It, an adaptation of Stephen King's novel. She starred alongside Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Bill Skarsgård, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jeremy Ray Taylor, and Chosen Jacobs. Her performance earned her a win from the New Mexico Film Critics and several youth-performance and breakthrough-artist nominations.

She reprised the role of Beverly in It: Chapter Two in 2019. During the same period, she played Nancy Drew in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, appeared as young Camille Preaker in the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects, and featured in Sia's music video for "Santa's Coming for Us."

In 2020, Lillis played Gretel in the fairy-tale thriller Gretel & Hansel and starred as Sydney Novak in the Netflix series I Am Not Okay with This. She also appeared as Beth Bledsoe in the independent film Uncle Frank alongside Paul Bettany and played Helen Burns in an episode of Acting for a Cause.

Her later credits include Doric in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Maggie in The Adults, and Shelly Borden in Wes Anderson's Asteroid City. She performed in Heroes of the Fourth Turning at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 2022, and appeared in the television series The Chair Company and All Her Fault, as well as the films Trap House and It: Welcome to Derry.

At The Game Awards in 2023, Lillis was presented as a leading performer in the trailer for OD, a horror video game produced by Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Jordan Peele.

Her listed projects also include Knight's Camp, Bobby Fox in the Lower Dimension, Ancient History, 4 X 4: The Event, and The Burning Season.