It had been a few years since Riveting Riffs Magazine had sat down and chatted with Hungarian actress and choreographer Kincső Nóra Pethő, who has appeared in international films, such as Red Sparrow with Jennifer Lawrence, numerous other roles from playing a nun, to the commander of a tank and a talking computer from the future. She is fresh off serving as a jurist for the Lake Oswego Short Film Festival.

"Watching films from a different viewpoint, i.e. being a jury member gives you responsibility. On the one hand, it is great to watch many different short films, documentaries and animations, on the other hand it is really hard to make a decision. I made notes and sent them with my ratings to support my decisions and make them understandable. I am very proud that I was the only woman among my jury fellow members on the very first Lake Oswego Short Film Festival,” she says.

Continuing, Kincső Nóra Pethő says, “In January of this year Eleanor King contacted me and asked if I could be one of the jurists for the film festival they were planning. (Her husband) is an American director and screenwriter. After Red Sparrow came out, I was quite busy on social media and Simon wrote to me, saying he had a script, The Romanian Incident. He asked me to read the script, because he thought there was a role for me. The script has won many awards, but the film has not (been made) yet.  I cannot wait to do it, as my role is fantastic.

Earlier this year (2026) the film Ashes To Iron (English translation) by film director Danny A. Abeckase was released. It featured Kincső Nóra Pethő in the role of a nun, Sister Greta. This is a Hungarian production that went through a Hungarian casting agency. My agent connected with them and they asked for an actress to play a nun. The advantage of being in Hungary is it is so cheap for productions to make their films here that we have the opportunity to take parts in those.

This is a very unique story. There is this lady who was born in Hungary. She had to leave the country during the Hungarian revolution in 1956. She went to the Hungarian border with her parents on her way to the U.S. This is a true story and this lady who is now in her sixties came with the production to Hungary, so I met her on set here. She was talking to me in Hungarian with a slight accent. She told me that her parents spoke to her in Hungarian and this is why she kept her roots. The production (company) found her story in the book called Choices. I play an Austrian nun who helps get them into some kind of a shelter.”

In Echoes From the Midnight Mansion, Kincső Nóra Pethő is cast in two roles in a multi-segment production. It is scheduled to be release late in 2026.

“It is a mystical horror film. There is a frame around the story, in which there are segments. At first, I was invited for one of the segments, playing the mother. I think that story will frighten you (Geesh thanks for the warning!). When I was (auditioning for) that film the Hungarian director told me that he was thinking about another role that I could do and it is another segment. I think we had six segments. In one of the other segments I play a psychic,” she says.  

This month (November 2026) Kincső Nóra Pethő is also filming Black-eyed Children 3.

Segueing back to her theater career where she is quite popular and works with three theater companies, including, Udvari Kamaraszínház there is much laughter when we talk about the play Lend Me Your Wife and even more startling with a play of this title is it was directed by her partner in life, Ákos Barnóczky a renowned playwright and director in Hungary.

She explains, “It is a French comedy. We had the premiere in the fall of 2025. This was directed by my partner Ákos. It was such a fun story and at last we could work together in the theater. It is about a politician and it is about corruption in a funny way, but it is about politics in general. I come into the story when everything is settled and fine and good.

They (the politicians) leave certain papers on the table and I find those papers and I find out there is corruption going around. I made the politician understand I know what is happening. In the end it is a happy ending. It makes politics funny and it makes people laugh. Right now, in the world, there are so many problems concerning this.

This year we had an election in Hungary and everybody was talking about politics and they were tense, so I would just go away (from the conversations), because I didn’t want to feel bad. People were standing on that side or this side and if you were standing on this side, you were not my friend. I just cannot tell you how tense it was. Making people laugh about this topic I think is the best medicine ever.”

Other notable plays that Kincső Nóra Pethő has appeared in during recent years include  Katonaálom (The Dream Of a Soldier) (2023), Kafka Per (Kafka Trial) in 2024 and Tűzcsiholók (The Fire Strikers) in 2025.

In May of 2026 Szakadék (Abyss) had its premiere in Budapest. The playwright is Pal Cskay

It was with the theater group Udvari Kamaraszínház based in Budapest. It is a historical play at the end of the First World War and I play a mother who loses her son (in the war).

I like very much being in historical plays. These are times so far away from our times. Before we start rehearsing, we get a lecture from someone who knows the most about that period. Then we start rehearsing and I try to find the movements and how that character moved in that time.

With these historical plays they behave so differently. For instance, in this play, we were told not to cross our legs when we were siting, because at that time they didn’t do that. If you are not allowed to do that all of your posture changes. The high heel shoes were different. It gave a different kind of feeling about the way you behave. This family was a middle-class family and you have to (find out) how they behaved and how they talked to each other. It is so interesting to me to find out not just the characters, but how they lived.”

She acknowledges “I think it is (fun) doing historical plays. First, you feel so clumsy, because they are so different from you, but at the same time you have to find the similarities. Then later it becomes fun. I think it is the same with every play.”

If you are familiar with the work of Lewis Carroll, and the smile of the Cheshire Cat, well you just met his rival, when you ask Kincső Nóra Pethő what it is like working on stage with her teenage daughter. Her smile lights up the room.

“It was just three years ago when she was thirteen and on stage. We started rehearsing in May and her birthday is in July, so she wasn’t even thirteen when she started rehearsing. She was so small and very shy (Kincso is smiling and her eyes are sparkling with the pride of a mother). This is a proud mother! You feel that you have to help her, but at the same time she is your colleague. You do not want to treat her differently, but you want to show her how to behave as an actress. This is the starting point and you have to show her the balance between being her mother and protecting her, but at the same time giving her freedom to find her way. It was magical.  Right now, I can see that she is very confident when she is on stage or when she is rehearsing. She is in her second year of a theater program,” she says. 

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This interview by Joe Montague  originally published November 8th, 2026 and is protected by copyright © and is the property of Riveting Riffs Magazine All Rights Reserved.  All photos and artwork are the the property of Kincső Nóra Peth unless otherwise noted and all  are protected by copyright © All Rights Reserved. This interview may not be reproduced in print or on the internet or through any other means without the written permission of Riveting Riffs Magazine.