We got to chat with two-time emmy-nominated actor, Sydney Mikayla about her latest psychological thriller, Crybaby Bridge.
In 2019, Sydney joined the cast of the ABC’s daytime soap opera, “General Hospital,” as Trina Robinson, for which she received two Daytime Emmy Nominations. In 2014, she portrayed Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas in the Lifetime biopic where she won a Young Artist Award. She also voices the role of Wolf in the Netflix animated series “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.”
Synopsis: Inspired by the folklore surrounding “Crybaby Bridges” across the United States, Crybaby Bridge follows Samantha, a quiet and observant 16-year-old who is pregnant, adopted, and increasingly unmoored after her affluent parents relocate the family from Philadelphia to rural Pennsylvania. Intended to protect her from bullying, the move instead deepens her isolation. As long-buried secrets about her adoption surface, what begins as an intimate family drama spirals into psychological suspense where trauma and the supernatural uneasily collide.
While the paranormal experiences vary between locations, the origins are similar: a single woman, abandoned by her family, throws herself and her newborn child over a bridge to end their suffering.
Sydney Mikayla leads the cast as Samantha, alongside Florencia Lozano (“Keep Breathing”), Michael Laurence (“The Blacklist”), and Erik King (“Dexter”), who deliver layered performances that ground the film’s eerie atmosphere in emotional truth. Sarah T. Schwab directs from a script she co-wrote with Emily Fouraker.
Check out our interview with Sydney:
I grew up with Crybaby Bridge urban legends, so, I kind of knew what I was getting into with this film, but then again, I was not prepared. How did you get involved with Crybaby Bridge?
Sydney: Yeah. So, Sarah (Schwab), the director, reached out to my team and said that she wanted to do this film, and I hopped on. When I asked about the opportunity to produce, she agreed as well. That’s my bite-sized version of how I got involved.
Short and sweet, I love it. Had you heard of Crybaby Bridge urban legends before filming?
Sydney: I had not.
What kind of legends did you grow up on?
Sydney: That’s a good question. Um, well, I think a lot of the legends probably come from black folklore, specifically things the African American community believes. So, I would say something like, don’t split the poll. That’s still a huge thing that we do, it could bring back luck. Or, don’t step on a crack. My Nana was really superstitious as well. So, not opening umbrellas inside, not whistling inside the house, which sometimes I do, but you’re really not supposed to. So, even though some of these are a little bit silly, I would say it’s cool to know that my ancestors used these things to help with their survival. They kept track of these patterns to be able to navigate such morbid and unsure times. So, it’s kind of interesting and funny that those traditions are still very prevalent today, even though I don’t take it as seriously as I should. But, I’m still very wary of opening an umbrella inside.
Yeah. The umbrella indoors thing was something I grew up on, too. But yeah, you’re right, it’s kind of these things that our ancestors used for survival that we kind of see as silly now—of course, until we see your movie, and then it’s creepy again. What do you think it is about these urban legends and myths and folkloric tales that still resonate with us, even if we don’t take them as seriously as we should?
Sydney: I just think it’s a connection to the past. I think that’s really what it is.
I really enjoyed the complexity of your character, Sam, and how she balances not only physical challenges with being pregnant and having seizures, but also all of the emotional topics on top of that, and then dealing with this urban legend. How did you approach playing such a complex character?
Sydney: I just took every moment one at a time. I did do a character bio—I know Viola Davis was talking about her character bios being sometimes hundreds of pages. Mine was not quite that long, maybe three or four. I love doing a character biography and then talking it over the directors and writers and just really getting into that. So, that was really fun to do. And then you have researching the seizures and understanding the cause of them and kind of practicing them on my own time. With the pregnancy, I checked with my mom, who was actually the only person, funny enough, on set who had ever experienced pregnancy. It was funny, we’re all like, ‘wait, how do pregnant women walk?’ So, we were all asking her, and she said she had to go back into her memory, like, ‘okay, well, when I was pregnant…’ Yeah, there were definitely a lot of layers.
What was more challenging, the physical complexity of Sam, or her emotional complexity?
Sydney: Emotional. She doesn’t really talk much, she was always brooding, and she’s probably very hormonal as well. Then she has the seizures, and I didn’t quite understand how the seizures can affect pregnancies. I noticed that a lot of the people that I was researching that experienced the seizures were younger. She was young, too. She is 16. But her case is very special because she’s pregnant. It doesn’t normally happen. So, yeah, trying to combine the two and understand how they intersected was really, really insane. But, you know, I’m very grateful as an actor to get to play all those different layers, for sure.
The location itself is also very much a character in this film, especially the bridge itself. Where did you film this?
Sydney: We filmed in the Poconos, which was really fun for me, as a city girl, to go somewhere with so much nature and like fresh air. So, it was cool. I mean, I enjoyed that part for sure, and I saw a deer, and everyone was making fun of me. I was completely flabbergasted. Everyone was laughing. I’m like, ‘is this a normal occurrence for you guys? Like, I’ve never seen this animal so close to me before.’
Oh, I love that. I grew up in the Midwest, so I saw deer frequently, but the magic never goes away.
Sydney: Exactly. They’re so, so majestic.
Did filming on location help you get into character and help with the just creepy, borderline supernatural psychological effects on the film?
Sydney: You know, it definitely helped, I’m not gonna lie. Like, shout out to my small town girlies. As a big city person, I think I’m just so used to something happening all the time. Like, I could probably go online and be like, ‘I’m bored right now. What’s happening right now?’ And there’s an event somewhere happening in the city, like, right now. But I think it was definitely kind of like a dopamine detox, almost, to go somewhere where there was one thrift store, maybe a movie theater, one pizza shop, like, it was definitely different. But, I wouldn’t call it creepy, because I don’t want to call anyone’s upbringing, or, you know, how they experience the world bad or good, it’s just different enough to change the perspective. I was like, ‘it’s so dark at night,’ and they’re like, ‘yeah, the residents here have fought for a law that after certain time of night, the lights are off,’ which is not a thing in bigger cities. You’re always gonna have streetlights on.
It really was a change of pace, but I think it really caused the cast and crew to get really close, which is not normally the case. Cast is usually separate from crew, not in a bad way, but just because of how the work schedules and things go. But I really got to know the cast and crew very well. I think it just like gave me an appreciation of life. And, it was a change for Sam as well, coming from a big city to go to a smaller town.
And that’s very fair. The film also touches on the idea of where there’s no Wi-Fi, there’s more connection, which is a nice, additional layer.
Sydney: Exactly, exactly. And there really was no Wi-Fi on some of the days, some of the 13 hour days that we did. Especially around the bridge, there was literally no Wi-Fi. So yeah, it was a lot of just sleeping or looking at your script or just appreciating nature. But yeah, I really would say that was really cool.
Love that. What are you most excited for people to see when they watch this film?
Sydney: I’m excited for them to see the incredible acting of the cast. You know, we have Michael (Laurence), Erik (King), Florencia (Lozano), and myself, and I think we’re all acting our tails off. I’m just really excited for them to see the acting and the journey that each of the characters goes on.
It is quite a journey.
Sydney: Yes.
What is up next for you?
Sydney: Well, I just finished my directional debut called Exposure. So, I’m in post-production for that right now, and I’m really excited for that to come out. A short that I just produced with my mom is going to the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival later this year, and we just won the Culver City Film Festival for best short. I’m excited for that.
Congratulations on both of those. Those are huge, especially a directorial debut.
Sydney: Thank you so much.
Where can we follow you to stay up to date with you and your work?
Sydney: Sure, just follow me on Instagram @officialsydneymikayla, and I’ll keep everyone updated on all the good things.
