Zoé De Grand Maison – Pregnant at 17

By: Jamie Steinberg

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

A) I just moved to LA for pilot season so I’m just auditioning and hoping for the best!

Q) Please tell us the premise for your film Pregnant at 17 and about your character Chelsea.

A) The title is pretty self-explanatory. I play Chelsea who is a seventeen-year-old girl living at home with her dad. I meet an older man, who I don’t know is married, and I fall in love with him. I end up getting pregnant. It’s about me finding out, figuring out a way to cope with it and then ultimately making a decision that works for me. So, there is a lot of character development.

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

A) I liked Chelsea. It was my first lead. It was lots of work, but very rewarding. I just liked the script and I wanted to be a part of it.

Q) Was there instant cast chemistry when you began working with your costars?

A) Roark [Critchlow] and Josie [Bissett] are both so great. Josie was so, so sweet. We had a lot of scenes together. There is something about her that makes you so comfortable and you feel like you have known her forever. I really enjoyed working with her and talking with her between takes. She was lovely. Roark as well was a lovely actor and a great person. I’m really grateful I got to work with them. They are both lovely people and very talented actors.

Q) What kind of research did you do in order to get into Chelsea’s mindset? We know there are a lot of shows on TV these days to help like “Teen Mom” and “Teen Mom OG.”

A) I definitely didn’t go method on this one. [laughs] I did watch YouTube and watched a lot of those episodes just to see what it is like for a girl that age to find out she is pregnant. It’s going to have a huge impact on your life and leads you to having to make a big decision. So, I definitely looked into that stuff. She’s also just a seventeen-year-old girl. I was age seventeen not too long ago so it wasn’t too hard for me to get into that mindset.

Q) What was the most challenging part of portraying Chelsea?

A) I’m lucky because the movie kind of jumps from me finding out I’m pregnant to me having the child. So, there was no need to wear a big fake belly. I guess the biggest challenge was just getting into the mindset of a girl who finds out she is pregnant. I consulted those videos, which helped, but I still kind of had to figure out how to make that my reality.

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you will receive?

A) Definitely! I love reading tweets and seeing how people will react to certain scenes. It’s always so much fun so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for that.

Q) What are some certain scenes you can tease that you are most looking forward to getting that fan reaction from?

A) I can’t think of a particular scene. There are some more shocking scenes than others. Maybe how a character reacts to something – whether it be violently or blow something out of proportion. Reactions to certain scenes is something that I am looking forward to seeing.

Q) I think it will be interesting to see fans’ reactions to the characters realizing their age difference.

A) That is definitely going to be a shocker for sure!

Q) What do you hope fans take away from watching the movie?

A) Chelsea is obviously in a very difficult situation, which is something that many girls face at some point in their lives. There are a lot of stories about teen pregnancy and I think people tend to judge these girls without knowing the circumstances. You see that Chelsea is a lovable likeable girl, but she is just in a rough situation. You will see that it can happen to anyone. I hope it makes people think twice about judging others for being in a difficult situation because you never know what someone is going through until you go through it yourself.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thank you so much! It means the world. Honestly, I do this because I love it so much and nothing makes me happier. It’s so rewarding and it doesn’t feel like work. To have people respond positively is the best feeling in the world. So, I really appreciate it.