BB Exclusive: Claudia Lee Chats The Outcasts with BB
BeautifulBallad has the wonderful opportunity to chat with star, Claudia Lee about her new film, The Outcasts. Claudia plays mean girl/Queen Bee, Whitney in the high school movie, which also stars Victoria Justice, Eden Sher, Avan Jogia, Ashley Rickards and Peyton List.
In our interview with the star, we chatted about her character Whitney, what drew her to this role, advice she would give high schoolers and her new project and so much more. Highlights can be found below.
On what it was like playing Whitney:
It was a really difficult part, playing the mean girl because it is really tasking on you to get into that mindset. Especially when you are so close with your cast and all of you are great offscreen, so it is a challenge. But it is really fun and you get to say all of these outrageous things that you wouldn’t normally get to say in real life.
On how she prepared for the role:
Whitney Bennet is a type A personality. She wants to go to Princeton and she’s an overachiever and getting into the mindset of a type a personality
On what drew her to the role of Whitney:
It’s quite funny, one of my friends was actually attached to the project and she was like “I think you would be perfect in this film. I would love for us to work together”. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to be part of the film and fortunately Peter Hutchings, our director, loved me and still wanted me to be a cast member and it was all kind of by luck, to be honest.
At the time, I was coming off my show on FOX and I was dealing with press for that and I had a Skype interview with Peter and we had a lovely chat about Whitney and the story and what he envisioned for the character and we were both kind of on the same wave length. I think that’s why we were able to create such an awesome relatable mean girl character on screen.
You can find the rest of our interview with Claudia under the jump. The Outcasts will be released to to Video on Demand tomorrow, April 14.
On her feelings regarding the ending of the movie:
I feel like it would be judgmental of me to call Whitney a mean girl because people who act that way are only reacting to something they’re going through, so she is set in her ways and she has her own stuff going on.
She’s not the person you truly think she is and I think that what she’s battling on a regular basis is why she’s so hot and cold. But as she moves forward and graduates high school and goes into college she is in for a rude awakening. Because that’s how the world works. You can’t treat people that way and you’re not going to go anywhere acting that way.
I think it is a good learning lesson for the younger audiences. Nowadays with social media there is
so much information and also a lot of things kids nowadays have to deal with that I never had to, so I think it is a good learning lesson for kids to see how people who act that way are not really winning in the end.
On if social media would have played a bigger party in the film had it been filmed in 2017:
Yes, I believe so. At the time when we were all filming (2014), Instagram was popular and relevant but it wasn’t such like a “How many followers do you have?” Or “Who are you tagging and posting?”, so if we were filming the film today we would have had a lot more engagement going on because it is just so hard to fly under the radar nowadays.
On what her high school experience was like and if it was anything like it is in the movie:
Well, I feel like my true high school experience was in middle school. When I was in high school I was attending an actual high school in LA while I was working, but I was never there, so I kind of was able to avoid being thrown into the politics of popularity and athleticism and everything.
But in middle school, I had entered a very athletic driven school and I played soccer and ran track and I also swam. But I was also a theater kid, so I stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I was not popular and everyone doesn’t believe me when I say that because I’m blonde and I guess I am a girly girl, so I really had a hard time.
Which is why I can really relate to this project and why I fell in love with it when I read the script because I loved Peter’s message that he relates to this piece of storytelling. Also, he really hits the nail on the head with how high school really is and how kids are.
On if there is a character in the movie who she thinks had a similar school experience as her:
Yea, I feel like I can relate to Jodi and Mindy a little bit. Being the artistic ones and I would much rather be a part of their posse than Whitney’s.
On any advice she would give to high schoolers:
“I would say take it as a learning lesson and take it as a gift because it is making you stronger for what you are going to experience later on in life. But high school, we believe that it is this important moment in our life, but really, it shapes us and molds us into the people we are going to be for our adulthood. I guess all I can really go with as my advice for them is just let things roll off your back and don’t take everything so seriously. You are not going to look back on every minute moment in high school and be like, “That affected me so greatly and I am now distraught because of it”. It is all irrelevant and high school is meant to be fun.
I would also say, don’t try to grow up too fast. I would always have people tell me when I was in high school, enjoy being a ki because when you’re not a kid you’re going to wish that you were back in school. And I totally miss those days of not having to worry about rent or bills, it’s crazy.
I think that is my advice and also believe in yourself. It’s really hard when people are telling you don’t see how special you are and people alienate you and it is hard to believe in yourself. And I think believing in yourself is one of the hardest things, but once you do it it is the most rewarding gift you can give yourself.
On her project in Utah:
I am shooting a really cool series for Go90, which is Verizon’s streaming platform. Ben Epstein is our creator and he created Happyland and also a film called, You Get Me, and it centers around this murder that takes place the first year, freshman year, in college and a hero one week is a villain the next. There is all of these twists and turns and not everyone is who they claim to be. It is kind of like these pieces of yarn unraveling into this huge mess of complicated storylines.
There are a lot amazing characters that Ben has introduced into this series, he really pushed the envelope in such an amazing way. One of our cast members, Jack he’s trans and his character is transitioning and that whole experience being told onscreen is just so beautiful. It’s really just a unique project that I have not seen anybody commit fully to a young adult story like this before.
It’s really amazing and it is mature content for a young audience, which going back to the whole social media thing because our young adults are more mature and have the world at their fingertips. They’re more exposed to stories and things that are more relevant and important to this day and age. What Ben has done with this storytelling has really enhanced the younger audience’s knowledge and also supported them in their growth.
I think a lot the time it’s difficult, which I’m so blessed with The Outcasts. It’s such a smart film for the younger audience, people think kids are dumb because they are young and uninformed, but actually they are more informed than most adults. I think it is good there are people out there celebrating that.
On why people should watch The Outcasts:
People should watch The Outcasts because it’s heartfelt, it’s funny, its quirky. There are so many amazing plots and storylines and elements to our story that I think it’s really relatable to parents, children and everybody who has had an interesting experience in high school. It’s pretty awesome and it’s quite spectacular and we had a lot of fun making this film, so I think people can really see that when they watch this film. We had a blast and I am so happy that it is finally coming out.