Isabelle
is moody, sarcastic, and rebellious. She thinks her family is
lame, in particular her mother, so she shuts them out of her life.
She fights with her younger brother and generally tries to stir
s*** up in her family. But she’s also really sensitive and
insecure. She has a big secret that she’s hiding from her
family and a big secret that she's hiding from her girlfriend,
so she's got a lot to deal with and she seems to be in a constant
state of turmoil.
How does Isabelle's sexuality fit within the overall theme
of the show?
The
premise of the show is that all of the characters are “alienated”
in some way. Isabelle’s sexuality is what alienates her
because she’s confused and shuts everyone out. In the end,
I think Alienated makes fun of the idea of a “normal”
family. After all, every family has its dysfunctions and, if you
take out the part about the aliens, I think a lot of people could
relate to the Blundells and how they deal with a crisis situation.
Furthermore, what if something like this did happen to your family?
Wouldn’t it make all your everyday issues seem ridiculous
and unimportant?
Isabelle’s sexuality, for example, isn’t such a big
deal after all in comparison to alien abduction.
How have Alienated's viewers reacted to Isabelle, and
to her relationship with Nina?
A lot of people comment to me on Isabelle’s moody bitchiness.
(I don’t know if you can write that, but it’s what
they say). But I don’t really see Isabelle that way. I think
she’s just out to have a good time, while keeping others
at a distance, and she uses sarcasm to do that. As for her relationship
with Nina, I’ve been getting quite a bit of the typical
young male response, which is that it’s “awesome”
and “hot”. And while I appreciate the support, I don’t
give those opinions much credit. I haven’t seen or heard
any negative responses to the show, my character, or her relationship,
which is great.
How
are you similar/dissimilar to Isabelle?
I’m
not that similar to Isabelle, but I admire a lot about her. She
allows herself to be moody and sarcastic and doesn’t care
what people think of her. I’m much more cautious and I try
to hide my bad moods so that I don’t offend people! Also,
Isabelle is way wittier than I’ll ever be. I laugh more
than her, but I’m not as funny. Plus, I get along well with
my family and am close to my parents. I wish she could learn to
do the same, but I just don’t see it happening…One
thing I do relate to is her insecurity. She covers it with her
sarcasm, but deep down she lacks
confidence. I think everyone knows what that’s like (especially
actors).
There aren't many lesbian characters on TV, which makes Isabelle
unique; how do you think she impacts/contributes to lesbian visibility?
I
think what’s unique about Isabelle is that she’s a
teen struggling with her sexuality, which you don’t see
very often on TV. She’s in the closet, deliberately lying
and hiding the fact that she’s gay from her parents, while
being pressured from her girlfriend to come out. So she’s
in a very awkward situation and she’s almost naive in her
approach to her own sexuality because she just can’t bring
herself to face it. Forget the aliens – Isabelle’s
dilemma is very real and I’m sure a lot of young people
can relate to it. But then the show does bring in this element
of aliens, and it has a bizarre sense of humor, which somehow
makes her situation less grave.
What can we expect from Isabelle in the second season?
Is she finally going to come out to her family?
I
don’t want to give anything away because the storyline is
so good! But I will say that Isabelle’s sexuality isn’t
avoided; in fact, it becomes central to her character in the new
episodes. And like I said, the abductions have a funny way of
bringing out all the Blundell secrets…
What
happened with Isabelle and Nina? (since the second season picks
up with Isabelle dating a girl named Charlie, with no mention
of what happened with her and Nina or whether Nina is still around)
In the new episodes, Nina was supposed to have a great storyline
in which she becomes quite strong in her sexuality, comes out,
and really takes a stand. But for some reason the actress who
played Nina decided that she wasn’t comfortable kissing
a girl after all and that she didn’t want to come back.
So a new character had to be
written in and a new person cast for the role. In the end, it
turned out to be a great thing. Charlie is a fun, energetic character
to contrast Isabelle and I got along really well with Michaela
Mann (the actress).
As for Nina, our breakup isn’t directly addressed. But anyone
could see there was tension in our relationship. On top of that,
she showed up at my house drunk and came on to me in front of
my parents. (Luckily, they were too distracted to notice.) But
I was not impressed at all and it can be assumed that our relationship
ended
there.
What's been the most unexpected consequence of starring
in Alienated?
I would have to say it’s learning how to deal with this
image as a gay character. Sometimes I find it hard to know what
to say on the issue because I want to be “politically correct,”
but on the other hand, I really don’t think it’s that
big a deal. I keep getting asked if I found it “hard”
to portray a gay character and I have to say no. After all, everyone
knows what it’s like to be attracted to someone, whether
you’re gay, straight, or bisexual. And Isabelle’s
sexuality is really only one aspect of her character; there’s
so much more there and she’s an incredibly fun person to
get to be every day.
How
did you land the role of Isabelle? Did you know she was going
to be a lesbian?
Alienated was somewhere between the 25th and 30th audition
I went to (I counted) and at that point, I had yet to book a part.
I did know that Isabelle was gay; it said so in the character
description. I don’t remember ever hesitating or questioning
whether it was something I wanted to explore or not. I just remember
loving the script and thinking how fun it would be to play her.
I went to one audition and then two callbacks and at the second
one, it was between me and another actress. The role actually
went to her and I was so upset! But about a month later, I got
a call from my agent asking if I was definitely, definitely comfortable
kissing a girl. I said yes. It turned out that the other actress,
who was quite a bit younger than me, was having some problems
with that aspect of the character. So that was it; I got the part!
Tell
us about your background (where you grew up, hobbies, how you
got into acting, etc.)
I grew up in Vancouver, BC. My parents divorced when I was two
and my older brother and I lived half time at each house. I had
a lot of different hobbies! I tried dancing, figure skating, horseback
riding, softball, gymnastics, art, rock climbing…You name
it, I tried it. But none of them lasted; I’d usually do
them for about a year and then stop. I do play the cello, though.
I took private lessons and played in various ensembles for eight
years. I’m proud to have that skill. I started acting in
Grade 8. At the last minute, I decided to take drama over choir
and I ended up loving it. Then in Grade 9, I joined a local acting
class outside of school called The First Step Actors’ Workshop
with Russell Porter. He helped me get my agent and I started going
to auditions.
What would you like to do next, after Alienated?
I would love more than anything to do a third season of Alienated!
That would be a dream come true. If that doesn’t happen,
I want to continue to audition and act as much as possible while
going to university in September. I’m going to study commerce
and maybe acting as well. In the meantime, I’m off to Europe
to go backpacking for
four months.
Note:
Alienated airs Tuesdays at 10:30pm on
the Space channel in Canada
