Or Die Trying executive producers Sarah Hawkins and Myah Hollis caught up with co-producer and actor, Chelsea London Lloyd, to talk about her experience playing Bailey Rosenberg and bringing ODT Season 1 to life.
ODT: Where are you from?
Chelsea London Lloyd: I’m originally from Marin County up north. Bay Area represent!
ODT: What character do you play in Or Die Trying?
CLL: Bailey Rosenberg.
ODT: What made you want to pursue acting?
CLL: I saw a kids’ production of 5-7 year olds performing Winnie The Pooh when I was 4 or 5. The production blew my mind. I actually remember being overcome with this paralyzing-in-a-good-way, starstruck, obsessed feeling. Apparently, after the show I cried to my mom because I was so upset that I wasn’t in it (dramatic much? Ha!) She was like girl, relax, it’s a play, and thought I would forget about it. She says I asked her every single day for the next 3 months if I could be in a musical, too, she so signed me up for the next one. For my first audition ever, I performed in a French accent. I have no idea why but that’s a whole other story. I did 3 musicals/year with that company until I moved to LA at 18 to study theatre + film at USC. So shout out to Winnie the Pooh! Also to Mary-Kate and Ashley. I thought they were the coolest chicks on the block. I wanted to be them. I kinda still do, actually.
ODT: What first drew you to this series?
CLL: When Myah, Sarah and Jenny asked me to be their fourth member to the ODT clique I was like HELL TO THE YEAH! I was super inspired by this group dynamic and thought wow, four unique brains with four unique skill sets - this is incredible, we are going to accomplish so much together. Plus I’ve always been a fan of foursomes…the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sex and the City, Girls….it just works.
ODT: Without giving too much away, what do you relate to most with your character?
CLL: Right when I graduated, I dealt with people not necessarily believing that comedy was a real profession. Luckily my mom is very supportive IRL (where as Bailey’s… not so much) however I’ve certainly had people in my life stare at me when I was graduating and be like hold up, you’re not getting a job? Are you crazy? How are you going to pay for your life? What is your backup plan? I’ve never had one to be honest - and I think that’s the ticket.
ODT: What was it like to work on a set with a predominately female crew?
CLL: Um, a dream! Females are just the best. I don’t know why. We are such a badass, complex, raw, fiercely compassionate group of humans and yeah, I’ve always connected better with women. I get them and they get me. There was a cool sense of camaraderie and friendship amongst all the chicas. It was very touching somehow. Every day on set I felt like we were making a difference, giving a voice to more female artists. It just felt right. I re-tweeted our badass scripty who said it best:
The #ODTseries set is hella-feminist. I get to work with badass bitches all day.
Plus some cool dudes who aren't threatened.
1 reply
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ODT: What do you think is the best way for the industry to go about closing the gender gap?
CLL: I had the idea to hire 85% women and we stuck to that - and it gave us no excuse, no way to hide. We just did it. If other productions set a similar standard, there would be no way to fail. Doesn’t even have to be 85%. Why not commit to hiring 50% women to start? I don’t get why that’s not a thing. That way, we are at least starting from a place of equality.
I went to a panel recently and this awesome director said she always hires women and people of color on her sets. So often so that it has become the norm for her crew. One of her PA’s wrote her from another set where it was mostly white guys, and she was like what the hell? Where the people at? I love that. Where ARE the people at? I want to work on as many diverse projects as possible.
Also, YOU can start closing gender gap on YOUR sets. Work with cool people from the get go. Myah wrote this incredibly raw, real, rad dialogue that just fit us. Sarah is this lightning rod of ideas and marketing and business and gets shiz done, and really hones on in on the voice, the tone of the show. Jenny's energy infectious and wants everyone to be happy and to be successful and has everyones’ back. We’re all really different but have one goal in mind and together know we can accomplish big things.
ODT: What other projects are you working on?
CLL: I just wrapped the season finale for the show I have been hosting, Clevver Now. A pop culture show for teenage girls by Defy Media & Verizon. We did 40 episodes this year and it was a complete blast. Also just did a Lifetime film which was cool, and currently in pre-pro for a web series called Sneezy G about a rapper who can’t stop sneezing that I wrote that will film next year. And I’m filming A Stranger Things musical parody next month that I’m producing and am super jazzed about! It’s so crazy. I love crazy.
ODT: Where can people find you?
CLL: You can connect with me via IG: @_ChelsWhoElse_ , Twitter: @ChelsWhoElse, or my website is www.chelsealondonlloyd.com - holla my way! I will holla back :)
