Pop Culturalist Chats with To Kill a Mockingbird’s Celia Keenan-Bolger

Eight times a week, Celia Keenan-Bolger steps onto stage at the Shubert Theatre and transforms into a child: Scout Finch, the plucky, overall-clad heroine at the heart of a celebrated new adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Whenever adults play children on stage or in film, it is almost always tricky and sometimes awkward—but not for Keenan-Bolger, whose Scout is a pitch-perfect revelation of fidgety curiosity and clear-eyed justice. Considering her resumé, this isn’t too surprising: from blockbuster musicals to Tony-nominated comedic and dramatic performances—in shows like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter and the Starcatcher, and The Glass Menagerie—Celia Keenan-Bolger has proven again and again that there’s nothing she can’t do.

She chatted with us about the challenges of playing a child, the timeliness of this production, and how she just wants to hang out with Michelle Obama.

PC: How did you prepare for your role as Scout? 
Celia: I was interested in trying to capture Scout’s physical life. I’m lucky enough to have a 3.5 year-old, and we spend a lot of time at the playground. I found myself watching kids who are Scout’s age to see how they move through the world. They do NOT sit still.

Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gideon Glick, and Will Pullen

PC: Have you felt any pressure in taking on such an iconic character?
Celia: When we started rehearsals, I definitely felt a lot of pressure. I told the director [Bartlett Sher] early on that I thought audiences would not want to watch adults playing kids. But as we started rehearsing, the work was really gratifying and it helped me focus less on expectations and more on the play in front of us.

PC: To Kill a Mockingbird takes on a heavy subject that, unfortunately, remains relevant to today’s society. Since you richly inhabit this story every day, how do you stay balanced to prevent the emotional themes from overwhelming you?
Celia: I feel incredibly lucky to be in a Broadway play that is so culturally relevant; it’s a rare experience. And getting to perform this play during a time where it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless, being a part of something that brings people together and asks big questions about our country, feels really worth it, even when it’s hard.

PC: What has been the most difficult scene to perform?
Celia: There’s a scene where we go peek in Boo Radley’s window, and it has a lot of running and yelling. There are days (like today) when I’m on the fourth show in two days where that can feel a little exhausting.

PC: What do you hope audiences will take away from this production?
Celia: I hope audiences will feel the comfort of processing some big questions about our country’s relationship to race and facts and decency with 1,400 other people.

PC: If you could have a role in another stage adaptation of a classic piece of literature, what would it be?
Celia: I’d love to play Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Last TV Show You’ve Binge-Watched
Russian Doll

Favorite Film of the Moment
Do the Right Thing

Favorite Book
Let the Great World Spin

Favorite Play or Musical 
Sunday in the Park with George

Artist/Band You Could Listen to on Repeat
Beyoncé

Place You’d Most Like to Visit
Berlin

If You Weren’t an Actor, You’d Be a…
Therapist

Person You’d Most Like to Meet Someday
Michelle Obama, but can we do more than just meet? Like, have an actual sit-down with coffee and a snack?

Make sure to follow Celia Keenan-Bolger on Twitter and Instagram!
For more information on To Kill a Mockingbird, click here.

Photo Credit: Julieta Cervantes