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AE: Has this role and being involved with this show had any kind of impact on you personally?
GC: Being a different person and trying to connect with that emotional journey and with the character in general, has been very eye-opening. Even for me there was stuff that I expected was going to happen within the first, like being in the position when my mom is screaming at me and by the end of the season I’m screaming at her and she just can’t accept me for who I am. In that moment, I just wanted to cry because it’s so unjust and there are so many kids who probably feel that way.

When you’re filming, you’re in a whole other world and you’re in someone else’s clothes, you’re having a whole relationship that someone else has created for you. On the show, my brother tries to set me up on a date with a guy because he has no way of accepting that his sister could be gay. He thinks it’s just a phase. 

Being in that moment really opened my eyes. Things you can say to people or the way that you treat them really can hurt them. Like that in that first episode, Spencer has nightmares about the cheerleaders because she’s afraid they don’t accept her for who she is.  It’s really sad. 

And I sat in and watched the monitor for a lot of stuff they were filming with Clay (Danso Gordon) and his journey and what he gets from the African American kids for his upbringing and how he’s different and from a white family.

AE: Were you into politics before you joined this show? Did it make you want to get involved?
GC: The show did make me want to get more involved. I wanted to open my eyes to more, I started reading more. I know a great article just came out in Time about gays in high school. My mom sends me clips from The Washington Times and The Washington Post and magazines that are dealing with the issue of homosexuality in high school.  I’ve grown to want to know more, and I like to be able to speak and be educated about what I’m trying to show to the world. 

It wasn’t really until recently that I’ve gotten really involved, but my whole life I’ve had a lot of friends with sexual and racial identity crises.  The show has helped me to want to learn more.

AE: What other roles do you have lined up for the future?
GC:  I’m going to play a supporting character in an independent film called South of Pico. I play another high school girl, she’s 15 and her name is Astrid. And she is the straightest girl you will ever see in your entire life!  She’s boy crazy, so it’s a completely different type of role.

It’s funny, after South of Nowhere wrapped, my agency started sending me on auditions again and I was going for more lesbian parts—sidekick and quirky friend roles. I was like, “What is this? Some kind of typecasting?” (laughs)  But unfortunately I didn’t get any of those parts.

But this independent film should be fun. I haven’t done much film work before, so I’m excited about it. I keep telling everyone we should do South of Nowhere: The Movie. You know, Spencer and Ashley Go to Europe!

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