‘Obsession’ Star Inde Navarrette Reveals She Spent 18 Months Struggling to Find Work — As the Horror Hit Surpasses $400 Million Worldwide

Despite starring in one of the biggest horror sensations of 2026, Inde Navarrette has revealed that life after Obsession was far from glamorous.

The actress, who portrayed Nikki in the viral horror phenomenon, recently opened up about the difficult period that followed the film's release, admitting she went a year and a half without landing another acting role.

Speaking with Complex, Navarrette said that although Obsession became a breakout success, opportunities in Hollywood didn't immediately follow.

"I didn't work for a year and a half after Obsession came out," she shared. "I was auditioning, I was doing everything, just nothing was sticking. I wanted to pay rent, and I wanted to do things. So I was walking dogs, I was streaming, doing everything I could to pay rent."

To make ends meet, Navarrette took on dog-walking jobs while also streaming video games online. A longtime gamer, she said she built her own gaming PC in 2022 and decided to turn her hobby into a source of income after realizing how much she enjoyed watching other creators.

"I would have so much fun playing video games to the point where I was like, 'I'm doing this by myself in my room, why don't I try?'" she explained.

Although she no longer streams regularly because of her busy schedule, gaming remains an important part of her life.

Navarrette also reflected on her childhood, revealing that her family's military background meant she constantly had to move from place to place. Before turning 15, she had attended 11 or 12 different schools, making it difficult to build lasting friendships.

Instead, she found comfort in movies and video games.

"Making friends was always really difficult for me," she said, adding that the frequent moves made her feel closer to "video games and movies" than almost anything else.

She also shared the creators who inspired her over the years, including YouTubers Jacksepticeye and Jenna Marbles, along with streamer Vanilla Mace, while revealing she'd love to collaborate with internet personality Quenlin Blackwell someday.

Ironically, Navarrette's career struggles came as Obsession continued rewriting the box office record books.

Just two months after its theatrical debut, the independent horror film has officially surpassed $400 million worldwide, earning $403 million globally, including $245 million domestically and $157 million internationally.

Directed by Curry Barker, Obsession was produced on a remarkably small $750,000 budget before being acquired by Focus Features for $14 million following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Instead of fading after its opening weekend, the film continued to gain momentum through enthusiastic word of mouth and overwhelming support from Gen Z audiences. It even recorded four consecutive weekends that outperformed its debut, an exceptionally rare achievement for an original horror film.

The film's extraordinary performance has also challenged long-held assumptions that younger audiences are abandoning theaters. Alongside A24's horror breakout Backrooms, Obsession has demonstrated that original horror remains one of the strongest draws for moviegoers.

As producer Jason Blum recently noted, a new generation of audiences is embracing bold, unconventional horror stories on the big screen.

For Navarrette, however, the journey behind the scenes was far more challenging than many fans realized. While Obsession became one of the year's biggest cinematic success stories, the actress spent months fighting for auditions, walking dogs, and streaming games simply to keep a roof over her head—a reminder that even blockbuster success doesn't always guarantee overnight stability in Hollywood.