Sirens: Inside Simone’s most complicated scene, and Milly Alcock on the challenges of playing her

Sirens has been one of the most talked about shows on Netflix ever since its release. It explores themes of loyalty, womanhood, and desire. The show is laden with floral, beachy, resort style dresses, bright sunshine, and also galas hosted in the Kell mansion.

Everything has to be picture-perfect in Sirens. Just like Simone, Michaela’s assistant says. Devon, who arrives to visit her sister, is handed a dress, a headband, and a locket to wear, all to help her blend in. You need that uniform to be one amongst them.

Simone is the sweet girl who once had a Yale scholarship but somehow ended up as Michaela’s assistant on this island. The rest of the household staff seem to despise her. They privately text each other whenever she walks into a room. They view her as controlling.

But actually, all she’s doing is passing along Michaela’s instructions in Sirens. Simone has completely devoted herself to Michaela. That's because Michaela is the only person who has ever made her feel safe.

But when Simone’s estranged father shows up on the island, everything turns. Simone finds herself in an emotionally complex spot.

This article is about what the cast had to say about Simone’s most complicated scene, and Milly Alcock herself on playing Simone in Sirens.

Sirens: The scene that changed everything

In one of the Sirens scenes, Simone’s estranged father, Bruce, shows up on the island along with Raymond. He’s brought there by Ethan who was Simone’s love interest back then. After discovering where Simone is from, Ethan travels to her hometown, meets Bruce, and decides it would be a great idea to ask for her hand in marriage. Because Michaela reminds him that Simone is not just another girl he can play games with. So, he decides to step up and get serious.

Next thing we know, Ethan is down on one knee, proposing to Simone in front of everyone. But Simone is absolutely shaken. She is visibly terrified. Her father who neglected her when she was growing up, has suddenly re-entered her life. And now she’s being asked to process that trauma in front of an audience while being proposed to. She’s emotionally wrecked in this Sirens scene.

This moment is so powerful because it’s everything colliding at once.

Glenn Howerton, who plays Ethan, explains in a Netflix interview, just how heavy this moment was for Simone:

"This is an extraordinarily complicated scene for Milly. For me, it's much simpler. For all of us, it's much simpler. But for her, she has to wrangle with a lot of opposing feelings. All eyes are on her. So it's not like you could get to have those feelings and process them."

And Felix Solis, who plays Jose in Sirens, adds:

"Canons to the left of me, canons to the right of me, canons are coming at her from all angles in this moment, and all eyes are on her. And her past, her present, and her future are all coming at her at the same time."

And you feel that tension as a viewer. Simone is reliving trauma and confronting abandonment. Simone also explained the challenges of playing the role in Sirens to Town & Country magazine. She says:

"What's driving Simone within her story is inherently to survive and to get out of the environment that she was born into. When we meet her, she's at a place where she's gotten quite comfortable. She's tried on this new skin and this new person that she wants to be. She's willing to do whatever it takes to be given a sense of security."

She adds:

"She is brave and so bold and so fearless in so many other aspects, but she is this insecure girl still. I always think of her like a swan. She is beautiful and graceful above the surface, but underneath, she is just frantically kicking and trying to stay afloat."

In one of the Sirens scenes, Simone is experiencing a panic attack. She is comforted by Devon. Alcock shares how filming that scene affected her physically and emotionally:

"It was the first time that I'd ever been asked to do something like that, and I just had to lean in. My body reacted in a strange way. I couldn't eat, and I was crying all the time. It was a weird thing. Your body doesn't know the difference between a manufactured, produced emotion and an authentic emotion. When you allow yourself to believe, as I think that I did, into the world of Simone, your body is really confused. Your brain knows this is fake and that this isn't real, but your body is still responding the same way. So it was quite difficult in that sense, but kind of cathartic. I just hope that people see it and believe it. I really wanted the audience to feel for her. I really felt for her. I think that she's a woman who is quite easy to dismiss and quite easy to recite, but I really wanted to show that she is just so wounded."

And she did exactly that.

Simone is the emotional root of Sirens. And Milly Alcock’s performance is just phenomenal.

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