Gabrielle Christian – South of Nowhere

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  Well, since season two ended I actually did a short horror film in Pennsylvania that they’re trying to submit to some film festivals.  That was in August, that was pretty much the last project that I’ve done.  I’ve been auditioning for other stuff but sometimes it is complicated when you’re on a show because of our schedules.  The film is a cool movie that is pretty much basically the complete opposite of the character Spencer.  She’s a lot more like Ashley, it’s kind of like American Beauty style, it’s a sixteen year old girl who has a thing for her teacher.  He ends up being like a monster and it’s kind of funny actually, but it’s scary too.  We filmed it in the woods in Pennsylvania and I got to be there for about two weeks.

Q.  We can also get a glimpse of you in the new video for the group The Fray, is that right?

A.  Yeah, I guess that came out about a month or two ago.  Matt and I did a little scene in there when we’re going to Prom.  He’s my Prom date, it’s kind of hard to tell that it’s Matt because he’s got his head in his hands.  And he doesn’t have his shirt off either!  Poor Matt, we got there and I’m like, “I don’t think you’re going to be able to take your shirt off.”  They put him in this tux and he was like, “Damn it,” so it’s hard to recognize him.  It is kind of short cuts of a lot of different stories and we just happen to be one of them.  I am the girl in the car that’s really sad because we just hit a crow in the middle of the road.  I have always been a fan of The Fray, and it’s pretty ironic how it happened.  One of our fans of the show ended up doing a Spencer/Ashley music video, well more like “South of Nowhere” but also Spencer/Ashley.  I guess one of the producers from The Fray had seen the video and they were curious as to who the actors were.  So, they actually came to us and asked if we wanted to be a part of it.  We were all like, “Are you kidding? That would be awesome!” 

Q.  With the show now being in its second season, what you can tell us about what’s going on with Spencer this time around?

A.  So far whoever has been watching the show knows that Spencer has pretty much come out of her shell.  She’s accepted that she is gay and she wants to have an open relationship with Ashley.  Even though there are still these obstacles that she has to face with her family and her parents are separating and some of the other kids in high school, she still fights her way through that.  Last week you got to see the coming out point when she’s caught, which happens to almost every teenager, especially for Spencer to be caught with another girl in her parents house.  I mean, that’s like the worst it can get.  From here on, starting this week, there is pretty much a downfall period where things aren’t so good.  I think people can look to it that it will turn out in the end and it is going to be okay but for now it’s pretty bad.  They go through a period where they are not allowed to see each other and there is just a lot of drama and fighting.  I am sure people can tell from the upcoming promotions that there are counselors involved and all of these tactics that Paula uses to try and convince Spencer to change her mind and tell her it’s not okay.  Me, personally, I really like the middle of the season the best because it’s like a huge turning point for all of the characters.  Not only just mine, Ashley grows up a little bit, Glen starts to get over his drug problem.  There is this huge downfall but things start to pick up as well which is really cool.  The writing is just awesome.

Q.  It sounds like the writers are staying true to what actual teens go through with this kind of issue and didn’t decide to jump to something else.

A.  Yeah, it is easy for shows to do that because there is still kind of a fear in television where they don’t want to really confront that kind of issue.  “South of Nowhere” being pretty much the first show that deals mainly with a young girl who is questioning her sexuality, not even an adult and being on national television, it’s like a huge step to be taking.  So, sometimes we have to be cautious about what we write in our episodes and not take it too far.  I think the fans and everyone in the cast really appreciates that.  They at least focus on the other stuff that’s happening too, not just the girl on girl action.  How it would be in real life if you had parents that were really conservative and if you were gay and how that would play out.  Trying to guide or give light to kids that are going through the same thing which I think from the response that I’ve heard from emails and letters, the show has really seem to help a lot of people.  I think it does stay true to reality as much as it can.

Q.  What about the role of Spencer continues to challenge you as an actress?

A.  There are a few challenges, being straight, it’s an honor but it is also a challenge sometimes to put myself completely in someone else’s shoes.  Not just physically, which Mandy and I do, but also mentally.  It’s definitely been an experience but it’s great that the response that I’ve heard, I’ve been able to use that and try and add that to Spencer.  I have friends that I have that are gay and friends from high school and kind of what they were going through.  It’s like you draw a whole bunch of experiences together and try and use what you can.

Q.  Do you feel that your friendship with Mandy off screen helps make the relationship between Spencer and Ashley so believable on screen?

A.  I really do; it’s interesting because Ashley and Spencer, towards the end of last season, and also kind of the middle to end of this season, they go through so many ups and downs and turnarounds just like any other high school relationship.  It’s true, even in our personal lives, there are times when I am going through a relationship or she is and we don’t really see each other for a while.  Then we do and our friendship always seems to prevail in the end.  I think it really helps also that we do get to see each other and do get to know each other.  We’re comfortable with each other because we know so much about each other personally that it helps us to become closer on screen and have that chemistry that we have in our everyday life.  As opposed to just being two actors who don’t really know anything about each other.  It’s interesting because I just did an interview with Maeve Quinlan who plays my mom on the show.  It’s the same for her and I, we did a podcast on The N and they were asking us how we build up to play the characters that we do.  When we do these intense scenes, do we have to be away from each other and not see each other for the whole day before we do that or, do we just try to stay closer and try to get to know each other.  For her and I, we’re very close in real life, we spend weekends together.  We go out on the town together and I think in a lot of ways it has helped us build this mother-daughter relationship where we do have that personal connection as opposed to just acting and pretending like we do on screen.

Q.  Now that the show is in its second season, do you get recognized on the street often?

A.  Actually yeah, it’s exciting, because we do get that.  Mandy and I are sometimes out together and we have had strange things happen.  We went on a camping trip about a month or two ago.  We were out in the middle of nowhere and we were in this little cafe and this girl was our waitress.  She was like, “Wow, you look like that blonde girl from ‘South of Nowhere.'”  Mandy was sitting right across from me and she doesn’t say anything to Mandy.  We were sitting there like, “Oh yeah thanks, she gets that a lot.”  Every time we sort of come up with something new, but it’s funny because since my hair has been dark it seems like everyday someone recognizes me.  Or, Mandy has these weird experiences at the gym and random places.  It’s nice when people recognize you and we always get great responses from anyone who does recognize us.  They say, “Oh, I really like that show,” or “It’s really helped my friend going through what she’s going through.” 

Q.  How has your role as Spencer effected your outside life?

A.  My friends and my family love the show.  It’s intriguing because my dad is actually a lot like Paula Carlin.  He’s conservative, he’s Catholic and he’s very traditional.  He really likes the show, but with any show, he doesn’t really like to watch me make out with a boy or a girl.  He just doesn’t want to see me doing that with anybody.  It’s hard for him, he’s like, “Why does everything have to be sexual or sensationalized?”  But, at the same time he watches every week and I know he likes the cast and he really likes the story.  Everyone else has seemed to respond really positively to everything.  Sometimes I’ll go to a casting session and the casting director will be aware of the show and that’s really cool too.  Everyone seems to like the show and it’s good to hear that they do and that there is a lot of positive response.

Q.  You’ve done acting on TV, in movies and now music videos.  Is there anything else in the industry you’d like to try your hand at like writing, directing or producing?

A.  Definitely, I have so many ideas with writing and I have such an imagination.  As a child I used to write a lot, when I broke into the more acting side of things I haven’t really done it as much recently.  Even with “South of Nowhere,” I have dreams, if we have more seasons I’d love to pitch ideas that I think would be something that would happen for Spencer or Ashley or their relationship.  There are so many things we haven’t touched yet and so many stories I think that could be really significant in our series.  To direct would be awesome, I still have a great passion to go back on stage.  I originally started acting doing musical theater and I do have this huge passion to sing on stage.  In LA it’s really hard to do musical theater because it’s not as popular as people would think.  Mostly national tours come through LA, that’s something that I really want to do.  For now, I pass the time doing karaoke with my friends but it’s not enough.  I have to do more!

Q.  You’re very involved with your SIDS charity, what new has been going on with the charity?  How can people get involved with it?

A.  Well, on Myspace there is a SIDS page and I think there are about six hundred people on the page since it was started.  It’s great because this year, we just had our annual SIDS Walk, usually it’s hard because a lot of people don’t know what SIDS is.  We don’t raise as much money as we would like to, but since I’ve started kind of using my “South of Nowhere” recognition to bring attention to my charity, this year we ended up raising about five thousand more dollars than we have any year just through fans of the show.  It’s really great because we normally don’t make as close to as much money as we made this year.  It’s great because most of that is due to The N.com or my personal Myspace account or this new page that I’m having a friend of mine do for me; GabrielleChristian.net.  She’s also doing a huge segment on SIDS and there are some personal things that I have that I am going to do an Ebay auction on.  I am just hoping to raise more money and more awareness, there is this new campaign coming out.  It’s actually already out but it’s not in California yet, it’s called Cribs For Kids Campaign.  It started in Pennsylvania and I think it’s in a little under ten different states but they are hoping to get it in every state and international as well.  Judy Bannon, who created the campaign, has asked me to be a national spokesperson; which I said I would love to do.  I haven’t done any speaking yet but eventually in the next year or so I think they’re going to try and kickoff in California. 

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular book, music group, sport or activity?

A.  I just recently started a workout program that’s been really fun for me and really helping me have a lot energy.  My boyfriend just got out of the Marine Corp and he’s very into physical training.  He’s been getting me in the gym doing weights, that’s been really cool for me.  I’ve been running a lot, we hike every day, we spend a lot of time outdoors.  Music wise, Nickelback has probably been my favorite thing to listen to recently. 

Q.  What would you like to say to the fans and supporters of the show and your acting?

A.  I obviously want to thank them for really appreciating the show for what it is and appreciating my acting.  That’s a great honor if they do and I hope that it has really been able to touch them in the way that it has or help them if they are going through the same challenges or experiences.  I have heard from people that it really has helped them come out or relate more to something that they really haven’t been able to see on television.  For the older fans who say that they wish they had a show like this back in high school when they were going through the same thing, I am glad that we still have those fans who can look at the show and appreciate that and tell their friends about it.  I hope we can stay on the air as long as possible and the fans make us able to do that.  I just appreciate everything and please keep watching the show.  Starting this Friday until the thirteenth episode, the season finale, is definitely my favorite episodes that have happened so far.