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MEET THREE STARLETS-ON-THE-MAKE WHO ARE “BRINGING IT” TO BINGEWORTHY TV THIS FALL.
Meet three starlets-on-the-make who are “bringing it” to binge-worthy TV this fall.
As a fresh fall television season gears up with the requisite sea of up-andcomers looking to grab… well… your attention, a trio of talented young actresses has already arrived armed with that extra special ingredient: buzz, baby.
MIKEY MADISON, FX
After a breakout performance as Pamela Adlon’s often difficult eldest daughter on FX’s fan-fave dramedy Better Things, the 17-year-old actress returns with an even bigger spotlight in Season Two. @mikeymadison
Role playing: “Max is like her own real person. She’s not just the token girl, or the token ‘hot girl.’ She has flaws and interesting little things that all different people have… I want people to look at Max, especially girls, and be like, ‘Okay, I’ve been through this, I know what’s going on now’—and maybe take something away from that.” Her path into acting: “I was just painfully and totally shy, very reserved, and worried about saying the wrong thing. But I also had this yearning to express myself and not be afraid to
be sad or angry. I found that outlet through acting. I was allowed to feel all these emotions—then at the same time come home and not have to go through what the character’s going through!” Having two shrinks for parents: “I used to be kind of resentful—like they were constantly psychoanalyzing me. Now I know that they were just trying to teach me to understand what I was feeling and going through… Actingwise, it’s helped me figure out a character’s little twists and turns, and just get in their head more.” Why she LA: “I was raised here, so I’m very nostalgic about Los Angeles. If I went anywhere else, it wouldn’t feel like home. When I’m away and come back to the city, I’m like, ‘Okay, this is where I am supposed to be.’”
EMILY MEADE, HBO
The 28-year-old starlet plays a young woman venturing a tad too eagerly into the world of sex work in HBO’s The Deuce, writer-producer David Simon’s dark exploration of New York’s 1970s-era descent into porn-fueled seediness. @need4meade The joys of being bad: “My character is someone who is looking for trouble, and thus far, she is pretty excited about what she’s doing. She’s kind of a shitty, selfish person, in a lot of ways—I don’t think she’s somebody who demands overwhelming empathy and sympathy.
It’s almost bizarre how willing to get herself into trouble she is.” Warning! Adult content: “I said, ‘Yeah, whatever—so what? I’ve done dark things before.’ I don’t have that fear of, ‘Oh no, where will I go that I can’t come back from?’ But until you’re actually there on the cold streets at night surrounded by people who look like scary pimps in this dark, dream-like world… Hmm… I remember during the pilot thinking, ‘Holy moly— what did I get myself into?’ But like anything, you grow a comfort zone within it.” On holding off on fame until age 18: “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m ready. I’m an adult. Get me out there! I want to win an Oscar by 22!’ But I do feel like once you reach a certain level of fame, you stop experiencing life in the way that everybody else—the characters you’re playing—experience it. I’ve been insanely grateful to not only get to work through my demons and have my privacy, but also just gain more and more life experience as a citizen of the world.” Why she
LA: “Growing up in New York, you’re kind of taught you’re not supposed to like it here! But I always liked to go to LA as a reset. When my life got murky or confusing, I would go to LA and it always cleared me out of a lot of the turmoil inside. I love it. In Los Angeles, even if you’re really hungover, you can just go for a hike and, hey… feel better!”
ARIELA BARER, HULU
The 18-year-old actress-cummusician snatched a plumb role in Marvel’s Runaways, Hulu’s entry into the superhero series, as the snarky, purple-haired young crusader Gert Yorkes, a fan favorite from the comic book. @ariela.barer
Building “character”: “When this opportunity came up, I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ Just being a part of the coolest, first-ever teenage team to be in the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’—it’s just a dream… It’s a little ridiculous how similar Gert and I are. Her kind of social justice is exactly the sort of thing I’ve been passionate about since I was her age. We share a fiery passion for wanting a better world.” Heroine chick!: “It was our first time doing any superherotype stuff recently, and I’m like, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to get in shape! I’m having trouble just running.’ I don’t want to sell myself as someone who is, like, totally out of shape, who just sits at home all day. But then… I kind of just sit at home all day sometimes.” Acting up: “One of my earliest memories is being 4 and asking for an agent, and my parents being like, ‘What the hell?’
They put me in theater groups, because they were like, ‘No way we’re letting our 4-year-old act!’ They were so afraid of the stageparent thing—‘school is always first!’ This is really the first year I’ve been able to dive in as much as I’ve always wanted to. And it’s been, of course, the best thing!” Why she LA: “Everyone just has completely different narratives and viewpoints that they bring to the table here. You find people with incredible stories and incredible ways of telling them through different art forms. In LA, I never feel like I’m going to fall into some mundane, boring pattern.”
“IT’S RIDICULOUS HOW SIMILAR GERT AND I ARE. WE SHARE A FIERY PASSION FOR WANTING A BETTER WORLD.”
—ariela barer