There’s a certain lightness about Charlotte Maggi. Even speaking over a crackly phone line somewhere along the Amalfi Coast, her energy is easy, unforced, almost conspiratorial.

She apologises at the outset – “Sorry, it couldn’t be a video call, I’m in Europe at the moment, and we’re hopping around a lot. I’ve literally had to do a self-tape at the beach because we’ve got no set up.” She laughs at the absurdity of it, but in the same breath, you sense her adaptability – an artist always ready to fold life’s messiness into her craft.

This fluidity feels fitting as Maggi graces the pages of our September Rave & Revel issue, dressed in Louis Vuitton. On set with RUSSH back in July, beneath Sydney’s rare winter sun, she slipped effortlessly into Nicolas Ghesquière’s sharp tailoring and soft drapery.

Each look was punctuated with an almost childlike glee. “It was so fun! But it was also like torture, because every single outfit and bag I swear I was like, ‘Oh, I absolutely love that, and I need to have that!’” Maggi tells me. Then, with the ardour of a true fashion obsessive, she rattles off references. “I love Nicolas Ghesquière, especially his debut show for Louis Vuitton – I think it was the Fall 2014 show from the House? Also, I don’t know if you’ve seen the new Louis Vuitton Express PM bag, but I loved that campaign with Emma Stone.”

Fashion, she admits, might have been her alternate path. “I'm really into fashion. I gravitate towards the whole 90s minimalism thing, but with a very slight Japanese influence. I like outfits that appear simple at first glance, but when you look a bit deeper, they have that element of craftsmanship.”

But acting, as she tells it, was always inevitable. “I’ve always loved being on stage. I danced when I was quite young, but then it got to a point where I wasn’t coordinated enough to continue doing that professionally,” she recalls with a laugh. What came next was a steady immersion in cinema.

“My Dad has been incredible in showing me a lot of really solid film and TV growing up. From a very young age he showed me a lot of 70s and 90s influences – like Ice Storm. Sigourney Weaver in that film made me want to pursue acting.”

The revelation sharpened years later, when she saw Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (starring none other than Saorise Ronan – yet another Louis Vuitton devotee). “The screenwriting just completely touched something in me that I didn’t really know I had. The subtleties, the acting, that sort of natural, nuanced way of performing... it was something that I felt like I really connected with and wanted to dive deeper into.”

By Year 12, Maggi had landed her first show – juggling ATAR exams with self-tapes – and from there, the momentum hasn’t slowed. “There’s definitely never been a plan B. I have to do this,” she says with striking conviction.

When it comes to preparation, her process is deeply musical. “Music has been such an integral part of growing up in my life, and that influence comes from, again, my Mum and Dad. I’m definitely a playlist person. I make a playlist for every single character – the songs that I feel like they would listen to – and I put myself in that headspace by playing those songs over and over again.”

Her latest project, the soon-to-be-released film The Run, demanded even more. “It has some really heavy subject matter, and I’m lucky enough to have had it pretty good growing up. But this young girl in the film had gone through an immense amount of trauma. For that character specifically I had to do a lot of research on like, kidnappings, to put myself in those shoes. She’s also a young mother, so I spoke to a lot of teen mums to prepare.”

That curiosity – the willingness to lean into discomfort – appears to be a guiding principle. She recalls advice from Julian McMahon on The Surfer: “He told me, ‘Just raise your hand for everything. It doesn’t matter. And stop trying to pitch yourself to people. Just be yourself, because everyone else is trying to be something that they obviously aren’t.’” Maggi pauses, then continues. “Things will naturally start happening to you when you’re being authentic and truthful to who you are. And if you don’t know who you are at the moment, you will find yourself.”

When pressed on dream roles, her references flow fast. “What comes to mind always is Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I want to play headstrong women who’re also very complicated. Helena Bonham Carter too – I love her because she is so eccentric and she plays those kinds of characters so well.” Her cinematic pantheon also includes Wes Anderson, whose aesthetic imprinted early. “Wes Anderson is kind of the blueprint for me. He’s always been a part of my growing up. Margot Tenenbaum is such a great character – I would love to play something like that.”

Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom remains her favourite, “and also, Fantastic Mr. Fox," she tells me. "I also recently watched Tootsie… and I loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I watched that recently with my Dad.”

Her own filmography already boasts milestones: a premiere at Cannes (The Surfer), Zack Snyder’s space epic (Rebel Moon), and the upcoming The Run. She describes Rebel Moon as transformative.

“I think going to the Rebel Moon premiere with my Mum and my Dad and my sister – that was my first-ever premiere in L.A., and working with Zack Snyder was such an incredible experience. He is the most generous, sincere, hard-working person, and he makes everyone feel incredibly comfortable and safe and warm around him. I felt very lucky… I would definitely say that was the most insane unicorn moment of my career so far.”

But beyond cinema, Maggi’s life is charmingly ordinary. “I actually just started knitting. At the moment, it is just like, scarves, but the goal is to learn how to do a raglan-style sweater with cool stripes. When I’m not acting, I’m literally knitting and reading and listening to music.”

Her playlists swing from 70s soul to 90s funk. “I’ve always had a healthy respect for the 70s R&B, and soul. It’s sometimes referred to as ‘Quiet Storm’ – like George Benson, Smokey Robinson, Randy Crawford. Also, I refuse to call it ‘Yacht Rock’, but I do love that genre. Steely Dan is amazing. The Doobie Brothers are great. And by the same token, 90s bands like Jamiroquai or Brand New. They also ring my bell.”

It’s a fitting soundtrack for someone who thrives in motion – whether self-taping at the beach, leaping between roles, or folding threads of music, architecture, and fashion into her artistry. Whether wrapped in Louis Vuitton on our set or knitting quietly in Perth, Charlotte Maggi seems propelled by an unshakable curiosity. She is, above all, a young woman revelling in her own creative unfolding.

Experience the Rave & Revel issue in its entirety this September, available on newsstands from Monday 8 September 2025, and through our online shop. Find a stockist near you.

PHOTOGRAPHY Brett Clarke

FASHION Hannah Cooper

TALENT Charlotte Maggi

HAIR Cherry Cheung @ Vivien’s Creative

PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT Otis Hodge

STYLIST’S ASSISTANT Charlie Jackson

Feature image: LOUIS VUITTON coat, shoes and socks.