Exclusive Interview: Chelsey Crisp Talks Ten Percent, Her Love for Comedy, and More

Chelsey Crisp has had audiences in stitches with the hilarious characters she’s played in projects including Duchess Riot Shorties, Fresh Off the Boat, and Young Rock. Her latest series, Ten Percent, is no different.

Set in London’s high-pressure entertainment scene, Ten Percent follows the adventures of Nightingale Hart talent agency who is home to celebrity clients like Helena Bonham Carter and David Oyelowo. But after the unexpected departure of the agency’s founder, the office is thrust into chaos. Dirty little secrets, unprofessional relationships, and questionable business practices are all part of a day’s work, and these agents must be a cut above to deal with it all. Chelsey shines as Kirsten, an American agent who moves to London to save the agency.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Chelsey about her illustrious career, Ten Percent, and more.

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling and the arts?
Chelsey: My parents say that I started storytelling from a very, very young age. I have a three-year-old, and he is very much doing the same thing. I have a better understanding of what they were talking about now. I grew up in Phoenix and did a bit of community theater as a kid, but it was more just gathering my family members and neighbors and forcing them to do little sketches and plays. That evolved into a love for theater.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Chelsey: That’s a really fascinating question. I love comedy. I grew up watching sitcoms. They were such a nice break from the reality of our lives. For me, it was a break from school. For my parents, it was a break from work. Though I didn’t know this initially when I started pursuing my career, it was inevitable that sitcoms were where I was going to land. I love working in this arena. Telling stories with heart and also levity is always something that I’ve gravitated towards. It’s exactly what my family is like. There are a lot of funny people in my family. That’s something that I was naturally drawn to. Of course, Ten Percent gets you right into that.

PC: You’ve had so much success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Chelsey: It was an incredible experience for us when Fresh Off the Boat first aired. Nobody knew if an audience would take to it. It wasn’t just that we found an audience but that we had such an incredibly loving, supportive, and passionate audience that showed up in really high numbers. That was a phenomenal experience. Because that wasn’t just a comedy—that was a story that had so much importance to it. For the six years that we were making that show, it was an incredibly wonderful experience. But realizing that people were really connecting to this and that we were going to get the ability to make more was a wonderful moment.

PC: In addition to the work that you’ve done on screen, you’ve also written and produced. How has your experience behind the camera made you a stronger onscreen actor and vice versa?
Chelsey: It’s the number one thing I would suggest any actor try to do: pivot away from acting and into another space within storytelling. Directing in particular is so important to experience. I did it pretty young. I started directing in high school. From the actor’s perspective, especially with theater, we’re the ones standing there on stage. That’s what the audience is watching. You have a version of that in film and television too because it’s your face up on the screen, but there are hundreds of people working to make that production happen. The actor only experiences so many of those people, but the director works with them all. From the director’s vantage point, you realize how everybody’s job has such an important impact on the project. Any ego that you might have as an actor should be stripped away by the experience of directing because you realize that everybody’s job is essential. I don’t think it would be possible to direct and then push back over into acting and view it the same way ever again.

PC: Tell us about Ten Percent and your character in the series.
Chelsey: Ten Percent is one of the most exciting scripts that I’ve ever been sent and auditioned for. I was sent the material through my agency. I remember reading the script and having that feeling of rising excitement in my gut. I wanted to be part of this show so badly. Then I watched Twenty Twelve, W1A, and one episode of Call My Agent! Then I thought, “I’m in, hook, line, and sinker. I better not watch any more until I get this part.”

I loved the character. I especially loved the pivot that John Morton made where he intentionally decided to go a different way with this British version and have a big American agency purchase Nightingale Hart. That was their way out of financial hardship. It opened up so many doors, and we were able to explore a lot in this first season—and will hopefully explore a lot more if we get to move forward. We’re able to explore the relationship between Hollywood and the British film industry.

I also loved that he made the character a woman. That was a change from the French version as well. That was such a fascinating choice because you have the power struggle happening between the Jonathan and Kirsten (whom I play) characters and the other main agents at the office. You have a complete power struggle happening. The character who buys the agency in the French version is very macho and aggressive whereas my character in this version is incredibly passive-aggressive. We had a completely different dynamic to play with. I know John is really excited to further explore the differences between American corporate culture and British corporate culture and how that correlates to artistic integrity and the bottom line of every project and how the projects are packaged together. We still (hopefully) have a lot ahead of us.

PC: That’s the perfect segue to this next question. Your character comes in and she’s reshaping the agency. Can you talk a bit about the collaboration with your fellow actors, showrunners, and writers as you’re creating the space for yourself to dive into these arcs?
Chelsey: For the audition, I was sent this four-page character document that gave me a full backstory on Kirsten. I’d never received anything like that before. I knew that they had already put so much thought into who she was, and that was very exciting for me because I knew that I was coming into a scenario with a showrunner who really loved to work with actors. That’s exactly what it was like. I live in Los Angeles, but the show shoots in London, so I moved with my family to London to shoot it. My first day of work was a rehearsal, which is also something that we don’t do a lot of in American television. But we sat down and we talked about our characters. We talked about this American-British cultural divide and what that means.

One of our directors, Sam Leifer, talked about his experiences of coming to America and pitching and selling shows. The cast talked about the times that they had met with American agents and how those experiences differed from their relationships with British agents. I also interviewed a lot of American agents to talk about their perception of British agents, and the only reason I interviewed just American agents is because that was the perception that I needed to come in with. I needed to have those blinders on. I needed to only have an idea of what an American agent would think of a British agent. Fascinatingly enough, several of the ones I talked to really did have a feeling of superiority over the British agents, which was wild to me. We had a lot of conversations about those things and what they mean and how those reps work together when you have British actors whose careers start doing well. They end up also having American agents from CAA or UTA. That’s when you have those relationships between the two factions.

It’s funny because I was the only American in the room. Somebody would tell a story and the joke is the American. On my first day, everybody would look at me and be like, “Is this okay?” [laughs] I was like, “Yes, of course, this is what I’m here to embody. Let’s do it.”

PC: This is a character-driven series and we see the power struggle between all of the characters. Which of your character’s relationships was your favorite to explore and why?
Chelsey: I don’t want to give away any spoilers. There’s an answer that I want to give but you won’t see that until Episode 7. I was thrilled to work with everyone. I particularly love the arc that my character and Maggie Steed’s character go on. When you meet Kirsten in the beginning, Stella is the most dismissive of her and wants nothing to do with her. She has zero interest in working with her or getting to know her. By the time the season wraps up, she’s the one who connects the most to Kirsten.

As you peel back the layers of Kirsten, you find out what’s really going on with her, which is so much more than anyone would assume from the first couple of episodes. Stella discovers some of the things that Kirsten is struggling with personally, and it’s really the olive branch that starts to make Nightingale Hart feel like home for Kirsten. I love exploring that arc with Maggie. She is incredible to work with and such a supportive scene partner, as well as being hilarious and an absolute blast to shoot with.

PC: The series does such a great job balancing comedy and drama and keeping it grounded. How are you all able to toe that line?
Chelsey: That entirely goes to our showrunner John Morton. I speak for myself, but I’m sure everyone would say this: he’s the reason to do this show. You get this amazing material that does exactly what you voice. You have these hilarious moments and these brilliant little nuanced character quirks, but at the same time, every single character has something that’s real. Some have very real struggles that they’re going through. You’re given the space to explore that. That truly goes back to him. He and the writers are able to get that on the page. He also directed a bit of the season. The other two directors that I worked with, Sam Leifer and M.J. Delaney, did an amazing job also toeing that line and finding that balance.

Then John is in the edit bay making sure at the end of the day that the tone is preserved. The tone is probably the key difference between this version of the show and the French version. What’s so amazing about it is that the tone of the French one is so fun and awesome in its own right. The tone of the British one is also fun and awesome in its own way. It is such a relief to know that they exist in different worlds but they’re both so rich and full.

To keep up with Chelsey, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Ten Percent on Sundance Now.

Photo Credit: Dana Patrick