Ariela and Libe Barer star in the new movie Disfluency, which is streaming on Amazon Prime. Credit: Buffalo 8 Distribution

Actress Ariela Barer remembers fighting with older sister and fellow actress Libe when she was a little girl.

They were separated by seven years, age-wise, and their conflict seemed like something all siblings go through when they’re children.

“We were not friends growing up,” Libe Barer, 33, told the Current during a recent interview.

Despite the tension, the sisters have a few happy memories that have stayed with them over the years, such as the time Libe prepared a spa day for her sister, which included cucumbers for her eyes and a macaroni and cheese meal.

“It was the best thing in the world,” said Ariela, 26. “I remember I wanted to do a spa day for her too, but I didn’t know how to make mac and cheese yet. I really thought you had to end the spa day with mac and cheese!”

The Barer sisters are now looking forward to making new memories together in Hollywood. For the first time in their professional careers, they share the screen with one another in Disfluency.

In the film, Libe plays Jane, a young woman who moves back home after failing her college finals. There, she reconnects with her sister Lacey (Ariela) who’s worried about her. Lacey doesn’t know that Libe is struggling with trauma she experienced at school.

During our interview, Libe and Ariela discussed their experience working together for the first time and shared more fond childhood memories.

Disfluency is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Ariela, you’re younger than Libe, but in Disfluency, you play her older sister. What was it like to switch roles?

Ariela Barer: It was difficult swapping ages. I think I have such little-sister energy. I think older sisters are God’s strongest soldiers. I would not be the person I am today without Libe being my older sister, telling me what to do and putting me in my place. So, having to channel the reverse was a challenge.

Libe Barer: Maybe everyone should do it as an experiment, pretend you’re an older sister with your sibling. It does create a different level of compassion and understanding. I feel like I opened myself up to Ariela.

Libe, do you remember what it was like when your parents came home with baby Ariela?

LB: It’s interesting to live your first years as an only child, and then a sibling comes along. We mess with each other, but … as we’ve gotten older, we struck a genuine friendship.

AB: Before you went off to college, you took me to a movie at the silent movie theater in LA, and that was the first time we ever really hung out. We came together a lot more once we moved out of the house and had to make the active choice to remain friends.

Who started acting first?

LB: We both did children’s theater. I guess I did it first because I’m older, but we both started doing it professionally around the same time.

AB: That’s not true. I remember because you signed with a manager who met with both of us. She asked me to read a commercial script for Jell-O. Instead of reading it, I went on a tangent about how Jell-O is made out of horses. She was like, “You’re not ready.”

LB: I think she signed you a year later. It’s been a gift that we’ve been doing the same things at the same time. As kids, we were doing it in different worlds. It didn’t feel like we were in the trenches together. As we got older, we started having similar experiences.

What are some of your earliest movie memories?

AB: We had very different but intense relationships with Disney princesses. [Libe was] an Ariel (The Little Mermaid) girl, and I was Snow White.

LB: No, I was Snow White!

AB: I mean, I guess we both were. I just remember there’s a video of me standing in front of the TV watching Snow White and singing, “I’m wishing. I’m wishing.”

LB: (Laughs.) I do remember that!

AB: You made very creative Ariel costumes.

LB: That’s true. I would tie a T-shirt on my head and pretend it was my hair.

Libe, how did you confront the darker elements of Disfluency?

LB: I really wanted to do service to it. I wanted to make sure that I was holding the weight of this thing. I really felt like I went through something making this movie in a way that was pretty profound. For such a heavy subject matter, it was a really amazing experience.

Ariela, would you like to star in another movie with Libe?

AB: I’d be so happy to keep … working together in different capacities — Libe directing and writing, and me producing or casting each other in projects. I want to keep working with Libe forever!

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.