By the time Chiara Aurelia had arrived at the Booth Theatre, John Proctor is the Villain was already making waves. Kimberly Bellflower’s play, set in the height of the #MeToo movement, has been winning over audiences with its sharp humor and powerful look at girlhood, power, and the complicated path between justice and healing. The show’s initial marketing was largely driven by original star Sadie Sink (Aurelia’s friend and former Fear Street Part Two: 1978 co-star). Sink earned a Tony nomination for her role as Shelby Holcomb, the fiery, awkward, whip-smart teen who barrels back into her rural Georgia high school with an overwhelming amount of baggage.

The production’s third and final extension through September 7, which came after sustained audience demand and critical acclaim, pushed beyond the limits of Sink's schedule, forcing her to step away July 15. Sink's exit then opened the door for Aurelia to make her Broadway debut: now, with less than a month left in the show’s Broadway run, Aurelia has stepped into her friend’s shoes—literally—and taken on the role for the final stretch. 

“Of course, Sadie left some very big shoes to fill,” Aurelia says, her voice warm while carrying the faint edge of someone still catching her breath. “But this company ... they are the kindest, most warm, most welcoming and loveliest people. And over the course of the last couple weeks, I’ve been able to get to know them all better, and I feel really grateful to be a part of this company now. Obviously I'm still a new and different addition, but I do feel like, ‘Oh, we’re all one together now.’”

It’s an apt parallel to Shelby’s own trajectory in the play. As Aurelia notes, “I am going through a very similar experience to Shelby, in some ways. I am stepping into this group of people that have all gotten so close to each other, and I'm the odd one out.” 

The very first rehearsal felt like a scene ripped straight from the script: Morgan Scott, who plays the perceptive Nell, was absent that day, leaving Scott's portrayal a mystery to Aurelia, just as Nell is wholly unknown to Shelby. “It was very meta,” Aurelia laughs. “There was a lot of connection between the life and the art we were doing. It did help build Shelby’s journey for me in this really interesting way.”

Long before she joined the cast, Aurelia was already a John Proctor Is the Villain devotee. “When I first came and saw the show, I was just watching it as a fan, having no idea I was going to be a part of it,” she says. “I mean, there’s just something about [Shelby]. She’s really exciting and complicated and charismatic and fiery and different, and she’s not afraid to be who she is.”

That there could be a connection between Shelby and herself wasn’t immediately obvious to her. Aurelia had auditioned for the play back in its early casting days for Raelynn, Shelby’s best friend. “Sadie and I grew up together, so we really wanted to play best friends. That was something that would have been really fun for us,” she recalls. “But looking back, I cannot imagine anyone in this world playing Raelynn other than Amalia [Yoo]—she is literally perfect for that role. My Raelynn was way too Shelby and not at all Raelynn.”

It wasn’t until she began working on Shelby’s dialogue months later that the fit became undeniable. “Now there’s no universe in which I could imagine being anyone else in the show. It makes so much sense to me now."

While Aurelia’s résumé is anchored in film and television, she’s spent the past year immersed in theatre, now making her Broadway debut after an Off-Broadway run earlier this summer in DiLaria. The shift in medium has been illuminating. “I’ve never really done theatre before, so I’m still kind of just getting used to it all,” she admits. “In film, you know, everything is led by your directors and your creators. The idea that it kind of gets passed over to you [in theatre] after opening night…" Aurelia pauses, the enormity of the responsibility clearly weighing on her. "You’re in charge of your character and you have to lead your own journey every night. It’s a really different experience than what I’m used to. But it’s really, really great as well.”

That autonomy comes with pressure, especially when joining a well-oiled ensemble deep into its run. “I was nervous," Aurelia exclaims. "I was really scared. I wanted to make sure everybody would like me and we’d all get along really well. This is a show that relies so much on the relationships of these girls with each other…stepping into that, you know, it’s a bit of pressure.”

Theatre was a dream she’d held since moving to New York, despite warnings that transitioning from screen to stage is notoriously difficult. “It was a dream of mine, and it wasn’t something I wanted to give up on,” she says. Despite her nerves, Aurelia says the decision to take the role was immediate. “It’s a lot of pressure. Broadway is the real deal. But there was no universe in which I wasn’t going to do it.”

Thankfully, the company’s generosity has helped her settle in. “They build each other up, and they’re so kind to one another,” Aurelia says. “It’s really about working together and working with people that you trust and admire and respect their work.”

Asked to pinpoint the moments that still strike her night after night, Aurelia doesn’t hesitate. “My favorite line, through and through, has always been the line about fish having teeth on the outside of their heads. I really feel like that one got me,” she says, laughing, referring to a tender heart-to-heart scene between Shelby and Raelynn, when Shelby reflects on her current circumstance and remarks: “It makes me feel better about my life to know that there are fish with teeth on the outside of their heads.”

Adds Aurelia: “I love the singing, I love the screaming, but that line? I get that line. There’s so many cathartic and just exciting moments as a woman throughout the show, where we get to release.”

That release is as much for the audience as the performers. “It takes a lot of our internal monologue as girls, and just says it out loud, which is what makes Kimberly so wonderful,” Aurelia says. “It seems so natural, but we’re also speaking things that oftentimes we don’t get to say.”

The show’s resonance, particularly with women of all ages, is part of why she sees John Proctor Is the Villain having a long life well beyond Broadway. “There’s so much pain and so much suffering [Shelby] goes through,” Aurelia says. “It’s a good reminder that you’re not alone in your journey, and that there are so many people experiencing exactly what you’re experiencing.” She’s noticed the impact firsthand, from women openly crying in the audience to the sight of parents ushering their teenage sons in, who leave in muffled tears. “It’s so beautiful that there’s this form of art you can bring young men, fathers, grandfathers, brothers to, and be able to share a little bit of this thing that so many people are going through all the time.”

With a finite number of performances left, Aurelia is focused on being present. “I’m hoping to just enjoy every day and really show up to the show, be present, and savor every moment that we all get to be up there together,” she says. “It’s easy when you’re tired to forget that what you’re doing is so special and fantastic, and that you dreamed to be there. I'm trying not to forget that.”

Her backstage routines keep her grounded. “I like to go up into the mezzanine and make sure I’m really connecting with that part of the theatre,” she says. “There’s no bad seat in the house.” Before curtain, there’s always a group huddle, even though Shelby’s first entrance comes 30 minutes into the play. “It’s a really nice way for us all to connect with each other and start the show off on the right foot.”

The ending of John Proctor is the Villain sees Shelby and Raelynn dancing euphorically to Lorde's "Green Light." When asked for her personal cathartic release song, Aurelia can't help but laugh. “Maybe ‘Heart of Glass’ by Blondie. My mom really liked that song, so that was a big cathartic release for me in the car after school. Me and Sadie used to listen to a lot of No Doubt… yeah, there was a lot of screaming to No Doubt.”

For now, she’s content to scream, dance, and dive into Shelby’s complicated, messy, fiercely human world until the curtain falls for good. “Three months ago, I never could have imagined I’d be doing any of this,” Aurelia says, awed. “I would hope to have been, but I definitely wouldn’t have bet on it. I believe everything happens for a reason… and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”