Exclusive Interview: Gregg Sulkin, Cinthya Carmona, and Michael Hsu Rosen Chat Pretty Smart

Gregg Sulkin, Cinthya Carmona, and Michael Hsu Rosen are bringing the laughs in their new series, Pretty Smart.

After getting unexpectedly dumped by her boyfriend, Chelsea (Emily Osment)—a high-brow, Harvard-educated intellectual and aspiring novelist—is forced to move in with her bubbly, carefree, not-so-intellectual West Coast sister, Claire (Olivia Macklin), and her three lovably eccentric, not-so-intellectual roommates: Grant (Gregg Sulkin), a distractingly handsome personal trainer, Solana (Cinthya Carmona), a former lawyer turned healer, and Jayden (Michael Hsu Rosen), a social media influencer. But Chelsea’s tough, sometimes judgemental exterior starts to soften as she gets to know her new friends, and they begin to form an unlikely found family.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Gregg, Cinthya, and Michael about Pretty Smart, approaching the comedy genre, and more.

PC: To start, could you each introduce us to your character and what attracted you to this role? Gregg, do you want to kick us off?
Gregg: I’m Gregg Sulkin. I play Grant on Pretty Smart. There were a few things that attracted me to this role. Grant is so honest and lovable, and what you see is what you get. Also, I had a challenge on my hands. The writers asked me, “Are you ready to get in shape? Are you willing to get in shape for the role?” I said, “Yeah!” They said, “No, no, no, no. Really in shape.” I didn’t have any other choice when I signed up. Getting in shape was a challenge for sure.

Cinthya: I loved getting the chance to work with such incredible producers and writers. I’m such a big fan of them and their work, especially Pamela Fryman. She’s a legend. I loved the script from day one. It reminded me of the sitcoms that I loved. I felt like I was reading or watching an episode of Friends. It was my dream to work on a sitcom like this. Solana is such a kick-ass character. She’s a super headstrong, stubborn, ambitious lawyer who somewhere along her law journey goes off and becomes a healer. It’s still up in the air whether or not she’s really good at it. That’s really funny. It’s fun. I’ve had so much fun playing Solana. She’s an awesome character.

Michael: For me, it’s really similar to Cinthya. I read the script and thought, “Oh my God. This is so funny and silly.” The jokes are dumb. I mean that in the best possible way. They make me laugh. In a sitcom format, the bigger the better. We just went for it. I hope that we achieved that. I certainly laughed a lot making the show. It was such a welcome change of pace from lockdown in New York—getting to fly to LA and be on the lot and laugh all day. It was awesome.

PC: Gregg, you’re the founder of Gridlock and the company’s mission is to help others break through which we see as part of Grant’s storyline this season. Was that something you collaborated with the writers about? Did that help you connect to the character on a deeper level?
Gregg: No, but what was coincidental was I actually started Gridlock before I started the show. My first t-shirt that we made at Gridlock was called the Grant Tee. My brother’s name in real life is actually Grant. It was named after him, so it was meant to be. I felt that. It was definitely a character that I wanted to play. I feel very connected to Grant. He’s a very fun character to play. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to be honest. I’ve always wanted to be on a Netflix multicam show. That dream is now a reality. I think that we did a decent job and I’m excited for people to see it.

PC: Cinthya, you’re known for the dynamic roles you’ve brought to life on the screen. What has it been like getting to dive back into comedy?
Cinthya: I had a little taste of comedy in one of my very first series years ago. But I didn’t really get the chance to do it again until now. This is my first multicam sitcom. It was a dream job for me because I grew up watching all of these ’90s sitcoms that I am still obsessed with. This was such a big challenge in so many ways because it was something that I had never done before. I was working with some sitcom assassins over here, and working with such a great group of producers, writers, cast, and crew. It was incredible.

I learned so much. It was more challenging than anything I’ve ever done, to be honest. Sometimes people will look at drama and think that’s the most challenging because it’s pain, you’re crying, you’re dealing with death, but comedy is actually pretty hard; real, real talent in comedy is genius. I got to witness it every day and I got to laugh. I had a good time and I’ve worked with some lovely people on the show. It was a lot of fun. If we laugh, hopefully, we can make you laugh. That’s the goal.

PC: Michael, you have a theater background, and on the stage, everything needs to be more outward and amplified. Did you draw on your past experience when building this character?
Michael: Oh yeah, absolutely. Every job informs the next. What’s so fun about working on a sitcom—it’s also my first sitcom—was the hybrid of the two. Having to find the broadness and the size but also remembering that there are certain beats that are going to play better if they’re smaller. Finding the levels and playing those levels was incredible. As Cinthya said, legendary director Pamela Fryman got to the point where she was coming to me in between takes and was like, “Okay, seven.” Or she would be like, “Ten, ten, ten.” That give-and-take of size and scale was really, really fun and challenging. The theater experience definitely helped. No matter what kind of acting you’re doing, learning how to slog through a play eight shows a week for potentially years teaches you some very useful techniques.

Cinthya: You’re still fantastic at it, Michael. Jesus.

Michael: Oh, stop.

Gregg: Yeah, it’s funny. Michael says that it’s his first multicam, but after having done theater, you can tell. Michael has it.

Michael: All right guys, stop. Thank you, guys. But I think we’re all really wonderfully daring on this show and we just try to go for the laugh. Again, they made me laugh. It was the best time.

Make sure to follow Gregg (Twitter/Instagram), Cinthya (Twitter/Instagram), and Michael (Instagram). Watch Pretty Smart on Netflix today.

Photo Credit: Patrick McElhenney/Netflix