Sophie Nyweide, the former child actor who made appearances in the films Mammoth, Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding and Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, died April 14. She was 24.
In a paid obituary, her family wrote that the former actor “self-medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside, and it resulted in her death.”
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“Sophie was a kind and trusting girl,” her family writes. “Often this left her open to being taken advantage of by others. She wrote and drew voraciously, and much of this art depicts the depth she had, and it also represents the pain she suffered. Many of her writings and artwork are roadmaps of her struggles and traumas. Even with those roadmaps, diagnoses and her own revelations, those closest to her, plus therapists, law enforcement officers and others who tried to help her, are heartbroken their efforts couldn’t save her from her fate. She self-medicated to deal with all the trauma and shame she held inside, and it resulted in her death. She repeatedly said she would ‘handle it’ on her own and was compelled to reject the treatment that might possibly have saved her life.”
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Born July 8, 2000, in Burlington, VT — she would spend most of her life in Vermont and New York City — Nyweide was just 6 when she was cast in the title role of her first movie, Bella, starring Tammy Blanchard.
By 15 she acted in 12 films and TV series, most notably 2009’s Mammoth, Lukas Moodysson’s family drama starring Gael García Bernal and Michelle Williams. Nyweide played their daughter Jackie.
Nyweide also played a young daughter in Baumbach’s star-studded Margot at the Wedding (2007) and Aronofsky’s Noah (2014) starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Hopkins.
Other film and TV credits include Shadows & Lies (2010) starring James Franco; An Invisible Sign (2010) starring Jessica Alba; Law & Order, And Then Came Love and New York Serenade (all in 2007); and a couple short films and. In 2015, her final credit with an appearance on What Would You Do?, the ABC hidden camera show.
Nyweide was the daughter of former actor Shelly Gibson. The family writes in her obituary, “She dreamed (more like demanded!) to be an actor, without ever knowing her mother was an actor, so she did that too with an ease we all marveled about. She seemed happiest on a movie set, becoming someone else. It was a safe place for her and she relish from the casts and crews who nourished her talent and her well being.”
In addition to her mother, Nyweide is survived by brother her brother, Huck.
The family asks that In lieu of gifts or flowers, donations can be made in Nyweide’s name to RAINN, the anti-sexual violence organization.