Briana Evigan might be best known for her starring role in two of the Step Up dance film series and for a slew of horror movies that followed, but it seems she’s found an even better fit now: playing queer.
Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
In Love Is All You Need? that’s a little complicated, as director Kim Rocco Shields’ fictional world imagines gays and lesbians as the norm and straight people as the social pariahs. Briana plays Jude, her school’s star quarterback and arm candy to cheerleader girlfriend Kelly (Emily Osment). But when Jude finds herself falling for a dude, all hell breaks loose in her world.
By contrast, reality’s not all that altered in director Patrick Chapman’s ToY. Briana plays an addict artist with money to spare who falls for an older sex worker named Kat (Kerry Norton). Although very different, both roles are dear to her.
Briana recently took the time to chat with us about how and why she got involved with both projects, what she knows and/or thinks about where her characters fall on the sexuality spectrum, what’s next for her and more.
AfterEllen.com: You’re a woman of three loves: acting, dancing and singing. How do each of these factor into your life right now and which one’s taking precedence at the moment?
Briana Evigan: Definitely the acting. I really didn’t know that I wanted to do it, so it was cool—it kind of felt like it found me. It’s just like all I want to do all the time now. I love sharing stories and I love doing character work. I would love to do a lot more character work than I’ve done so far. But that’s definitely the priority right now.
I did just actually have a music session. We did some writing. So I’m still doing that. Would maybe love to play like some small local shows. Something intimate, nothing crazy. Maybe get some songs in some soundtrack-type stuff. And as for the dancing, I’m not doing it anymore. I haven’t been doing it for a really, really long time. I actually got into fight training instead for the last five years.
AE: For the right movie, would you get back into dance? Even though it’s a different type of dance, I’m thinking along the lines of a Black Swan.
BE: Absolutely. Absolutely.
AE: So how did you get involved with Love Is All You Need? and what attracted you to playing the character of Jude?
BE: I actually auditioned for it like four years ago when they were doing the first round of trying to get it off the ground. I didn’t book it, but I felt like Rocco, the director, and I connected so hard and I was super bummed. Luckily for my sake, it all fell apart and they came back around a few years later and it was sitting in my mailbox. I was just so excited to see that title. I couldn’t believe that it hadn’t been made. I went through three auditions and a chemistry read with Tyler Blackburn and got the role.
I just felt like this script was so unique. Nobody had done anything like this. I had a lot of friends growing up in the dance community that were gay and I never saw it as anything different. The more and more I got older and started to see the films and what was really going on in the world, it started to kill me. So I wanted to be some sort of a voice in all this. Especially with what’s going on now. It’s just gotten so insane after Orlando.
I wanted to bring the light to this character. She’s kind of the one that’s falling in love for the first time. If anybody knows what that feels like, it’s amazing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a male or a female—it’s a soul that you’re falling in love with. I think that’s really captured well in the movie and I think that was definitely there in the writing to begin with, which is something I just loved about it. It makes you very uncomfortable, but everything feels normal. All the couples throughout it, everything fits right. It feels like what you see on a day-to-day basis, but when you see it flipped, it really opens your mind and you have a completely different understanding of things. Those are a few of the reasons. Of course, I wanted to play football.
AE: I was going to ask. That had to have been cool.
BE: Yeah. I was a soccer player as a kid and being a dancer, I’ve been just super active my whole life. I just thought it would be awesome. They got me an ex-NFL player to train with me and teach me how to do everything. It was just a blast. It was like another really fun dynamic to add to the acting side of it to kind of bring the presence of a football player to my character.
AE: And as far as fictional girlfriends go, how was working with Emily Osment?
BE: It was awesome. We actually became closer friends after we finished filming, for whatever reason. But she was so cool. She’s so talented. She’s really funny in it, but she’s kind of that creepy, scary girlfriend that you don’t really want to have. It’s all in her eyes too. She crushes the role. And we had a blast together shooting. I do feel like our scenes were always a little bit quicker when we were together, but she was rad. She’s a good friend.
AE: I want to get into Jude some more. Were you given any indication as to what her sexual orientation might be? Even though in a lot of the publicity material she’s described as a heterosexual woman and she absolutely does fall in love with Ryan, it seems that on some level she could be attracted to Kelly. Were there any conversations about that? Was there a little bit of space for the idea that maybe she is bisexual?
BE: I believed taking on the role that she was just falling in love with someone else for the first time. I don’t think bisexual, gay, straight—any of those words came into my mind for Jude. I think she was with a woman first and she met a man and it was not accepted so it was a scarier route and obviously an entirely different experience for her with what she had to go through. But no, I don’t think any of those words came into it for her. Obviously in the movie they call her a “breeder” and a “faggot” and all these horrific names, which is crazy when you see it all flipped, what a lot of people have gone through. But no, for Jude, she’s falling in love with just a human.
AE: Even if Jude isn’t necessarily queer, is it cool with you if women everywhere crush on the female quarterback with the raspy voice?
BE: Yeah! Absolutely. I mean, come on, I took it on myself.
AE: Shifting gears to ToY, Chloe’s a very different character from Jude. What attracted you to playing her?
BE: So crazy to do these kind of back-to-back. I did ToY first and Love Is All You Need? after. In my world, I’ve only met men that I’ve fallen for. I do believe that anything’s possible. I really do believe that you can meet a certain person and that could all shift, whatever their sex is. That hasn’t happened necessarily in my case, but that was what was really interesting for me with Chloe. Again, she wasn’t necessarily bisexual or lesbian or straight or anything. But she met this woman who turned her world upside down.
When I read the script, I loved how dark it was, I loved how crazy it was and weird it was and sensual. And the director was just super artsy and just explained things in such a cool way. I could see his vision for everything when we talked and I feel like he saw mine with Chloe and what I wanted to do with her. She’s just this troubled girl and I was really looking forward to playing her. I knew some people like her in high school so I was definitely able to tap into some people I know that really reminded me of what I had read. I was really excited to dive into this dark, kind of weird world of Chloe’s and Kat.
AE: Why do you think Chloe is so fascinated by Kat?
BE: I mean, I think she does want a mom. There’s definitely a big mom issue there. I think Kat is the first person that stops Chloe in her tracks. She challenges her. I don’t think Chloe’s used to that. I don’t think she’s ever had that. Of course, besides her being this beautiful woman that’s intriguing to her, I think she puts her in her place. And she doesn’t like it, but she loves that. That’s something that she needs. I also think that because they have a dark history that she’s relatable. She’s able to relate to Kat on a level of pain that maybe is unspoken. They’ve both got something going on deep down and I think she feels that with Kat.
AE: Chloe seems at times to be unaware of the power dynamics within her relationship with Kat. She is the client here after all. Do you think she’s truly oblivious to her power, is choosing to ignore it, or is it a combination of both?
BE: I think it’s a combination of both. I think that Chloe is a little bit naïve. She’s young. I mean, Kat’s so much more mature than her. It can be annoying. Chloe’s wealthy and gets what she wants and treats people that way. She’s kind of a little brat, and that’s what she’s used to. So yeah, I don’t think it’s even. There’s a balance there, but I do think she is naïve.
AE: From the ease with which Chloe slips into a sexual relationship with Kat and how quick she is to present her as her girlfriend and the resulting lack of shock about that, I got the sense that Chloe’s been with women before. Do you know that to be the case?
BE: It wasn’t discussed. I think what was discussed, if I remember correctly, was Patrick Chapman, the director, bringing up, “She’s been all over the map. She likes new things, she likes change. She definitely goes with the flow and is on an adventure all the time.” But that wasn’t fully discussed.
AE: You’ve now been involved with two queer projects in a short period of time. Do you find you get something special out of these kinds of roles? Can you see yourself getting involved with such themed projects in the near future?
BE: Absolutely. These two have probably been my two favorite films so far that I’ve been so fortunate enough to do. I really feel super blessed about these two. I would 100 percent say yes to any role like either of these two again. I think it’s so important and crucial to what’s going on right now in the world. Like we have to make a change right now with what is going on and people have to choose love over fear and violence and everything. It makes me sick. So yeah, I’d be glad to be a woman that’s standing up for all of these types of roles, for sure.
AE: The movies are still going around the festival circuit, but have you received any kind of feedback from queer women who have watched you in these roles? What’s your interaction been like so far?
BE: It’s been pretty small. Like you said, neither of them have hit the big screens in any way yet. I mean, ToY has come out and I’m getting really, really incredible comments from my fans on Instagram that honestly like, they’re blowing me away. It’s so cool. I don’t know what community they’re in or what they are or what they consider themselves, but I’m looking at it as just such a huge compliment that they’re even reaching out and writing these really kind words on my pages to me. I hope they are long-term fans and that many more of them come.
AE: So what’s next for you? I know you’ve been involved in producing in the past—are you still doing that? What’s next in terms of projects?
BE: Well right now, of course, I’m in the audition process. But I am developing four, five projects right now: action-comedy, a comedy movie, drama, drama for a cable TV show—a bunch of really fun stuff. And I’m working closely with animals. I’m going to Africa in two weeks on a big, big trip with the African Wildlife Foundation that I’m really looking forward to.
ToY is available for download and streaming on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and other video-on-demand services. Visit the movie’s website to find out more. To watch Love Is All You Need?, visit the film’s website to find out when it’ll be screening near you and for future release news.
