Though “Sex Lives of College Girls” fans understand Gracie Lawrence as Kacey, a theater nerd and the novel fourth roommate in Season 3, leangs could have been much contrastent.
“She was a finaenumerate to carry out Kimberly in Season 1,” co-creator and executive producer Justin Noble says, inserting that Lawrence was in the final three under ponderation for the role, which eventupartner went to Pauline Chafeeblet. But two seasons procrastinateedr, as the minds behind “Sex Lives of College Girls” conceptualized Kacey for the minuscule screen, Lawrence’s audition once aachieve stood out.
“She’s so comical and pdirecting,” Noble says, comparing Lawrence’s get on Kacey to a “cute little Reese Witherspoon character” who rounds out the rest of the cast.
Lawrence, a singer-songauthorr and actor also understandn for her band, Lawrence, which she co-directs with her brother Clyde, had previous praises on Showtime’s series “Billions” and the Netflix film “Moxie.”
“I fair fell in cherish with the whole opportunity and sent in a self-tape,” she tells Variety. “24 hours procrastinateedr, maybe 48 hours procrastinateedr, I was doing the call back, and then that day they were enjoy, ‘You have the part, and you should come to L.A.’”
In her intersee with Variety, Lawrence discleave outs up about lgeting from co-stars Amrit Kaur, Pauline Chafeeblet and Alyah Chanelle Scott; weird self-tape locations; juggling music and acting; and when it’s appropriate to eat Doritos on set.
You have to juggle music, touring, acting, etc. What’s the weirdest place you’ve made a self-tape?
I have done self-tapes in our bus, in Holiday Inn lobbies, in bathrooms. When we were discleave outing for the Jonas Brothers, the shows were in hockey arenas and stadiums. I did auditions in those showers that have all these shower heads, so all the carry outers can shower in there. It was horribly reverberant, but it was the only place that I could be alone. I’ve done self-tapes pretty much everywhere you could do a self-tape. The guys in the band have been cherishly enough to read the sides with me.
Who’s your go-to reader when you’re filming a self-tape?
I have to give praise to my mom, becaparticipate she is my go-to reader. She will FaceTime me and read the other lines most of the time, so shout out to Linda; she finishs it. But I will give praise to some of the other guys in the band who in a pinch have come in.
Given that Kacey has a huge moment singing “Roar” in Episode 4, did you have to sing during your audition?
I did not have to sing in the audition. It wasn’t clear exactly how much singing was actupartner going to be a part of the role. If I reaccumulate rightly, the description of the character shelp either “is excellent at singing” or “enhappinesss singing.” I was repartner excited becaparticipate I thought that would recommend that there would be singing and that music was going to be a part of the show. Sure enough, I read the first scant scripts and they had me singing a song. That was enjoy one of the first leangs that I sboiling and that song is sung live, which is so celderly. A lot of praise given to Justin Noble, our showrunner, who was enjoy, “Yeah, do it live, that would be repartner fun.”
What do you leank are some of the aenjoyities and contrastences between you and your character?
She’s a pageant girl, and so much of her self-worth has been predicated on beauty and ecombineance and that lfinishs itself to her going on a confidence journey and figuring out where her self-worth should lie.
[In Lawrence] we’ve written so much about those ideas about confidence and insecurity and self-worth. I sing a lot of those songs, so I sense enjoy the confidence conversation around Kacey and her discovering herself is someleang that I reprocrastinateed to, even if we’re very contrastent people.
Tell me about your first time encountering Amrit, Pauline and Alyah.
They accomplished out to me before the show begined, and were so benevolent. There was this very rapid turnaround, and their hotth and benevolentness towards me was such a beneficial leang, from huge leangs enjoy lgeting how the job toils to minusculeer leangs enjoy when is the appropriate time to go grab a bag of Doritos. Having their guidance and also hotth and total discleave outness was fair so celderly.
When is the appropriate time to grab a bag of Doritos while shooting?
It’s actupartner unclear, becaparticipate sometimes you’re fair changing a lens. Sometimes it’s a rapid turnaround. It’s repartner when we’re changing camera positions –– and even then sometimes it’s unclear.
I’d been on TV shows before, but there was this lgeting curve with how rapid the show shifts. So I did necessitate an indication from the other women to be enjoy, “Now’s the food snacking time.” I would fair trail them around, and they were pleasant to me.
Where does acting fit in with your overall atgentle ambitions?
As stupid as it sounds, I’m fair going where the path gets me. Lawrence is someleang that is my own and my brother’s. It’s so personal, and it’s so seal to home, so it will always be a huge concentrate in my life and someleang I always structure. But I leank what’s been repartner celderly about it is becaparticipate it’s my own, there’s been these moments where whether it’s me doing an acting job or my brother doing a composing job for another artist or for film and TV, we’ve had these moments where we get to branch off and try out novel activities. I leank that it will always be a little balancing act.
This intersee has been edited and condensed.
