Lindsay Pearce – Recovery Road

By: Lisa Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) It’s just “Recovery Road.” It’s actually nice to have a break. I did a lot of work last year, including “Recovery Road,” which was amazing. It all fell into place, time wise, doing one project after another. So, to enter into the new year with just “Recovery Road” to focus on is really nice. The calm before the storm is welcomed!

Q) What made you want to be a part of the show?

A) I had read it the year before they redid the pilot. I read it the first go round for Maddie (Jessica Sula). I recently found the email for my original appointment for auditioning for Maddie. Obviously, I didn’t get it. But I went in and I loved the pilot. I remember it had a lot of impact on me. Rebecca, my character, wasn’t in the original pilot, but it was mentioned. Then the project came around again and I didn’t know they had made a pilot and were recasting characters. I went in for Rebecca and went in for a producer session. I did my scenes and cried a lot (because the scene was pretty emotional). There were scenes right in the thick of the drama, but I read it and I just knew. I wanted it so badly. I rooted for Rebecca and I felt for her. I am rarely on the team immediately, but right away I was championing her pride and her journey. It worked out! I didn’t do another audition and I got a call two weeks later saying I had gotten the job.

Q) How did Rebecca evolve as a character from your audition?

A) I know that they had an original trajectory for Rebecca, but the writing evolved and changed for every actor. Once the actors came back and the new kids came in, they really started writing for us – dialogue that they knew that we would do really well with and content that we could handle. They really believe in us. The show is kind of a love letter to the book and to us and the people out there who are struggling with addiction. I don’t really know if the character changed that much. I knew that they had certain things that they wanted to do and they might have put them on the back burner or just 86’d before the idea came to fruition. Rebecca kind of always remained steadfastly Rebecca. She is tough and has a chip on her shoulder, but is a kind and caring person. Like I said, for every character they really started writing for us. As actors, we could tell who wrote for us. You could tell by the way that they wrote our dialogue that they really cared about us and that was a cool to be a part of.

Q) How does the show compare and contrast to the book that it is based off of?

A) The book is dark. You kind of jump into Maddie’s story towards the end of her recovery and the character is a little harsher in the way they have her in the show and she is a little bit older (if I recall). I got cast and I immediately read the books. Blake Nelson is brilliant and he writes so honest and with a youthful voice. You really do see it through Maddie’s perspective and everything is from her point of view. There is Wes (Sebastian De Souza) and Trish (Kyla Pratt) does exist, but all the characters are totally different and the story takes off at a different place where we get a little bit of a younger Maddie in the series. The thing that really holds true to the book is the spirit of the book. It is so honest and it doesn’t shy away from all of the ugliness that comes out of recovering from addiction and also the beauty – the really bad struggles that you go through and the wonderful victories and how huge the little victories are for someone who really struggles every day with the devil on their shoulder. I think Bert [V. Royal] & Karen [DiConcetto) did a really, really good job of keeping the spirit of the book while adapting it to a series where it’s not over in 350 pages (or however long the book is). The series will go outside of the house, as it does in the book, and there are many more characters to explore and plenty of story lines. That’s what is really fun. In the book, you kind of only get the screwed up Romeo and Juliet story of Maddie and Wes where in the series you get all these different characters who aid Maddie in her recovery. It’s all of their stories. It’s how addiction comes in so many different sizes, shapes and forms and how they are all deserving of recovery. This is a great adaptation of the book.

Q) How are you able to identify with Rebecca?

A) I have said this time and time again about her to friends and family is that I really connect with her complete and utter desire to be perfect. Not perfect in the sense she can do no wrong, but almost a perfect love. She really desires love and really needs it, but is so scared to accept it. I think that is a very common thing for people. Kind of like an imposter syndrome, you are doing so good and trying to so hard and trying to be the best but you are convinced everyone is going to find out you are a fraud. I think she is really afraid that she is a fraud and she has this really interesting relationship that you will see unravel with men. Not in a sexual way, but she really desires almost fatherly love. It’s not in a daddy issue kind of way, but I think she has been so hurt by females and so judged by females as we see in the first three episodes (that are on online). She really gears toward men because they are a little less complicated than the females psyche can be sometimes (which seems like such an anti-feminist thing to say). We live in a society where women tend to pit themselves against one another because they have been taught to. I think Rebecca gravitates towards guys and I do too. I don’t find men intimidating. I have a lot of male friends and they started to write that into Rebecca, which I loved. Bert noticed it and loved that I was such a dude. Rebecca is not a dude at all. The difference between us is that I don’t brush my hair in the morning and Rebecca is a little OCD. She labels all of her stuff and I could not be more opposite. She’s a cool girl and you get to see her several hundred days into her recovery so she has done really good work. You kind of see her at her best right off the bat, which is cool.

Q) Was there anything you added to Rebecca that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I think I definitely really wanted to keep her as vulnerable and honest as possible. The writing lent to that because that’s how Bert and Karen really saw Rebecca. That’s how everybody painted her. She is harsh. She has all the things that would make you dislike her, but she is not unlikeable. She is very vulnerable and calls it like it is. I hadn’t really brought something to Rebecca. Rebecca brought something to me. I discovered a lot of really cool stuff about myself through playing her. She is a team player and I really appreciate that. She doesn’t have many secrets and I like that about her. She has gone through so much, but she works really hard. She wants to get better. Other than myself and my own personal struggles, I didn’t bring anything that wasn’t already there because in a way she is a part of me and I am a part of her. That sounds so actor douche-y, but she really gave me a lot. I didn’t do anything to her. She did something to me. It really changed my perspective on things.

Q) The show is on the newly integrated to Freeform. How does the new concept behind the network played a role in the show?

A) I think the new name and style to the network is interesting. Personally, I’m going to miss ABC Family because we all grew up with it. Freeform kind of gives you the idea that the content is going to be a little bit different. It’s going to be edgier. I’m not talking edgy fashion or music. I’m talking about real content that you wouldn’t normally think to get on a family network (what I think a lot of people think the network was). I think it has changed into a dialogue network and it opens up dialogue. One of the most incredible shows I have seen is “The Fosters.” It talks about hard issues and it breaks the norms. There are two moms in that family! That’s incredible. And we have such a diverse cast with “Recovery Road.” That we have a black lead is incredible to me and it’s wonderful! I think breaking those norms is amazing and Freeform is such a home of change for things like that. It is just complete equality in TV and I think it is really important. This kind of casting, writing and bringing people that are fearless who are going to come and talk about these issues in a scripted show are going to make it so that families and people all around the world can turn off their TV or close their computer screens and say, “What did you think of that?” I think that’s really important and I think that Freeform is allowing that. I think it’s freaking wonderful and awesome!

Q) What do you think it is about “Recovery Road” that will connect with fans?

A) “Recovery Road” is a different kind of family and I think that’s what makes it so impressive. Family isn’t just who lives in your home with your parents, who you are blood sibling or who you are adopted to. Family is whoever is going to be there for you and force you to be a better person. They’ll stick your nose in it and make you see the truth in things and love you unconditionally. “Recovery Road” really holds the spirit of how we felt while filming it and the spirit of family.

Q) The first three eps are online. Is that something will be an asset to the show because people have early access?

A) It creates a dialogue. Maybe some people don’t have access to the internet and maybe some people don’t have access to cable. I think besides the show standing on its own two feet it really offers itself to people to see it who might not be able to. They might not be able to see it any other way than online and I think it is great that Freeform offered it. I think it’s all good. Here is the biggest thing I feel about it, we don’t do it for viewer recognition. I know that the people who have worked so hard on it don’t do it for the recognition, photos and red carpet. We do it because we want to tell this story and because that is what we care about. We want to do good work and have fun doing it and we want to touch people. Artists, all they want to do is tell a message and connect with other people. It’s all about the love and the art and the experience of it all. Of course, I want to get another ten episodes and another season. Of course we all do! But it’s going to be fine. It’s not about rating and viewings. It’s about the love of the art and telling the story and how important it is for us to connect with other people and make someone feel a little less alone because they are seeing someone going through it on screen.

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching “Recovery Road?”

A) I hope they know there are people that love them – people that might not even know them. It’s okay to be weird and okay to be flawed. We do not have to be perfect. Everybody is going through something. Everybody is a little bit nicked. Everybody is a little bit damaged. It’s okay. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to be down. It’s okay to deal with things like depression, anxiety and addiction. With all the hard things in life, I just don’t ever want fans to feel alone. Hopefully, by talking about and dealing the hard things the show deals with will make someone have the courage to start a discussion or ask for help or help someone else. Any impact that the show can make in a positive way is what we’re aiming for. So, I really hope that fans love the fun of the story and the love story and they love the characters and the fun they do have. I hope they see the show as a mirror and see the things that maybe they need to face or talk about. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay and they are not alone. I think that’s really important because the great killers of spirit and people is a sewn shut mouth. We want people to talk and be open and to discuss and heal. I think that’s something we all want from our fans and we want people to have as a reaction to the show.

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