Interview with Gabrielle Christian of "South of Nowhere"

AE: It sounds like this show is already breaking ground in your personal circle.
GC: Yes, definitely. And we’re hoping it does that for everyone else too.

AE: Have you talked to people your age or younger who have experienced some of the things the characters on the show are going through?
GC: In high school I had a lot of friends who were going through things—and I had my own issues I was dealing with. You know in high school everyone is going through an identity crisis, whether its gender or racial or sexual. I was in the drama and performing arts programs, and you know the artist is more open about all of their feelings. So I came from that. I had friends who were dealing with their sexuality, friends who were from racially mixed families. They were all just trying to fit in. Especially in Washington, D.C.—you have people from all over the world in that area.

Everyone seemed to be going through something. Now that I’m out in LA, it’s kind of the same even now for my age (college level). It’s just a common thing for someone to try to fit in and be acceptable. I kind of had the same journey as Spencer when I moved from Maryland to Los Angeles. I had the same culture shock of trying to fit in and just be a human being in another environment. It was so easy sometimes to play this part, because I’m still kind of in that Maryland mentality. The writing on the show is fantastic and it’s so real and true to my own experiences as well.

AE: What do you have in common with Spencer (in addition to the relocation anxiety), and what attracted you to the role:
GC: I just fell in love with her for being so young but so strong. She does have her insecurities, but she’s not afraid to face them. Although she’s having problems with her family, her friends, the cheerleading squad, her brothers—she deals with it. To be able to play that is such an honor. In film and television and in the entertainment world, there are so many vulnerable women. So to be able to play a strong character, especially at such a young age, has been really wonderful.

Other similarities besides the culture shock? High school and fitting in, having your parents trying to teach you their ways. Like Spencer has her mom trying to keep her Catholic and do the conventional thing, but her father is a social worker and more open-minded. She’s constantly facing these battles between what her mom and dad are saying, what her friends are saying, what her brothers are saying. Everyone goes through that in high school.

AE: The characters are drawn in such a complex way. Their lives are not simplified. And you’ve got quite a few strong girls and women on the show—Spencer, Ashley, Madison. With all of these strong personalities driving it, it looks like a good show for women actors.
GC: Yes, and they’re all so colorful. As the season continues, it’s amazing the turns they take. Even with Madison (Valery M. Ortiz), you think she’s vicious and evil but as the season continues you see that she’s got her own issues with being the popular girl, trying to fit in, her own identity and trying to figure out who Madison is. She breaks down on Spencer all the time for choosing a different path than she’s chosen. But she’s insecure with herself and it’s the way she deals with her problems.

And then in contrast you have Ashley (Mandy Musgrave), who says, ‘This is who I am and you can say whatever you want and I don’t care.” She’s strong and that’s what Spencer’s attracted to. Spencer’s kind of like that too, she does care but she doesn’t at the same time. And Ashley is a strong figure who knows its okay to be different. Ashley has her own insecurities too, with her father and her mother. She doesn’t have a family base but she’s still trying to be cool and strong. Everybody has their insecurities and ways of trying to stay cool in high school.

AE: You mentioned Mandy Musgrave. What was your first impression of her?
GC: As an actress? Or her character?

AE: Both.
GC: Mandy’s character and my character are so similar to our personalities in real life, that we have a lot chemistry on a personal level. On the first set of callbacks for the show, out of a room of 25 girls I went and sat by Mandy. We talked the whole time—two hours in the lobby. Tommy Lynch (the producer) kept calling us back in over and over again to read together. It was weird. We were friends but we had just met that day. So the more in-depth we got in the auditioning process, it started to narrow down to Mandy and me.

And now she’s my best friend in LA. We’re like Spencer and Ashley, we go everywhere together and we do everything together. We have a very good friendship and it’s helped in developing our characters.