Page 103 - Demo

www.MOSTmag.com || CELEBRITY MAG A ZINE || 103The series takes place in 1950%u2019s Memphis, and you portray a lot of the hardships women faced in society and the workplace. How influential was the message of women%u2019s empowerment to you in pursuing the role of Becky.Well, in any story, it%u2019s really important to not get stuck thinking, %u201cThis is how I want to be perceived ,%u201d but rather to be thinking about what the writer intended, and how your character fits into the story that everyone who%u2019s involved in the project has come together to collectively tell. We are telling a story about what life was like in the 1950s, in the South. My character needs to show how timid and secondary most women still felt at that time in history. But it%u2019s also exciting, like I said, to begin there. Becky was, in real life, quite strong, driven, independent, and successful. She was a talented singer and radio disc jockey. She ran Sam%u2019s radio station WHER (W-her) the first all-female radio station in the country, which was so progressive for the 1950s. And even though Becky had a career as a radio personality starting in her teens, before she and Sam had ever met, having her start in our story as a less-empowered woman really makes her a much more colorful character to bring to life.A major part of your role in %u2018Sun Records%u2019 is to be the support system of your husband, Sam Phillips; who would you say has been your support system throughout your personal career?Well, at the risk of sounding cliche, I would say that I have been my own support system, in my career and in my life. Because of my family dynamic and circumstances, I became very independent at a very young age. Much like my character Becky, I spent a lot of my life taking care of other people, emotionally and financially. So in many ways, the character of Becky and I have had the same journey. Finding ourselves, and learning ways to take care of our own needs and desires, and learning to make ourselves as important as we make other people. That said, I currently have an amazing group of friends and a very supportive boyfriend who have been championing me through this leg of my journey. I feel very lucky!What was it that initially inspired you to follow a career as an actress?I had found that I loved performing for an audience at a very young age as a competitive gymnast, and in middle school and high school I began acting in plays and short films, which fulfilled the creative itch I had to scratch. I was also running away from my childhood, to a certain degree, and becoming an actress 2000 miles away from home seemed to be as far away from my childhood as I could get. I love telling stories and I love making people laugh. And sometimes, I get to do it for a living. What%u2019s better than that?What has been your favorite experience working with CMT and the cast of Sun Records so far?We%u2019ve become a family! We hang out with each other outside of the show and we%u2019ve all become very close. I can%u2019t imagine a better group of people to spend months and months with in the Memphis humidity. We had barbecues and played darts and had movie nights and just really enjoy each other%u2019s company. We have a huge ensemble cast of awesome people. We got so lucky. And CMT has really welcomed us into their family as well.%u00a0%u00a0We are CMT%u2019s first original scripted drama, so that has the potential to feel very stuffy and carry a lot of pressure. But, CMT has really made us feel welcome and supported, and it%u2019s exciting to be a part of this transformation that CMT is going through with their original content.We all know that you are an animal lover, but do you have any pets of your own? Tell us about them!Yes! We%u2019ve got a dog named Lola. She%u2019s an alien puggle who looks like a baby sea-lion. She%u2019s fantastic. We%u2019ve got a mutt named Von Spears. He%u2019s a 13 year old puppy with the biggest, roundest eyeballs you%u2019ve ever seen. And, of course Emily, the alley cat turned feline princess who gets whatever she wants, or she%u2019ll take it herself. They have hashtags on social media if you want to ogle their cuteness. #Lolaisapuggle #vonstinkerton #vonspears and #emilymonsterWith your career quickly rising, are there any roles that you have yet to check off your bucket list?Oh, so many. Hopefully my career is just beginning, so most of the roles I have to play are still ahead of me. But, I don%u2019t sit around and think about what roles I%u2019d like to play so much as how much I just want to continue telling stories. And hopefully do some comedies and make people laugh.%u00a0%u00a0That%u2019s definitely forever on my bucket list.