Exclusive Interview: Carina Conti Discusses Landing Her Dream Role in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

Carina Conti has quickly emerged as one of the breakout stars of 2022! She’s captivating audiences with her performance in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

The must-see series finds Carina playing the role of a young Paula Abdul as she kickstarts her career as a Laker’s girl.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Carina about her career, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and more.

PC: You’re a triple threat. How did you initially discover your passion for the arts?
Carina: My mother was an actress in the ’70s and ’80s, so performing has always been part of my life. I grew up dancing and doing local musicals and because we lived in Orlando doing commercials for Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld. Most of the music I grew up listening to was musical soundtracks, and getting to perform in this wholehearted way—singing, dancing, and acting simultaneously—is still my favorite thing in the world.

PC: Is there an aspect of your craft that comes more naturally? Is there one that’s more challenging?
Carina: I consider myself an actor, dancer, and singer in that order. I love to sing, but I’ve found that’s the most challenging part to find practice opportunities for. I end up doing vocal warmups in my closet and belting Legally Blonde in the shower. My neighbors hate me.

PC: What have you learned as a dancer that you’ve been able to apply to your acting career and vice versa?
Carina: Body language! Oh my goodness! It’s amazing how fundamentally a person changes when they live in their body differently. In dance, I try to be as aware and deliberate about my positioning as possible so that when I perform I can take that for granted and just live. So when a character feels like a stretch for me, I start with their physicality. This involves their self-esteem, their status, their background, their drive…I embody what it might be like to be that person, and then I just live.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Carina: My favorite actress has always been Natalie Portman. She marries a sweetness and a ferocity that I recognize in myself and being able to admire this duality in someone else enables me to reconcile and celebrate it in my own work.

PC: You’re starring in the highly anticipated Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. What can fans expect from the series?
Carina: This show is about ordinary, passionate people who work, struggle, and fight to do what they love, to create something dazzling from the status quo, and to emerge from obscurity to become legends.

PC: You’re playing the iconic Paula Abdul. Did you feel any pressure portraying this legend?
Carina: I have too much respect for Paula to try to imitate her. I pick up on Paula’s beat (pun intended), and for the rest I use myself. I use my own passion and experiences to step into the sneakers of a seventeen-year-old girl who more than anything in the world wants to dance…even if she has to break some rules to do it. That’s a feeling I know firsthand. I auditioned four times for this role, and Paula auditioned four times to be a Laker’s girl. The pressure goes away when you offer what you have—all you have—and trust that you were chosen for a reason.

PC: When you’re embodying a living legend is the preparation different? How did you prepare to step into her shoes?
Carina: In all the interviews and performances that I watched of early Paula, what stood out to me most was the way she lights up in a whole different way when she starts dancing. Again, there’s that dichotomy between overt sweetness and inner ferocity—the duality that resonates with me too. In dance, she has the freedom to be everything she is all at once. And I get that. When I dance, I feel liberated to be my fullest self. This is what the prep work is for: to find the ways that your and the character’s spirits overlap.

PC: What do you hope audiences take away after they watch the series?
Carina: The past year has been tough for artists. And I use the term “artist” broadly—I mean it to encompass anyone who is deeply driven and passionate about what they do. I want this show to be a source of inspiration and of hope. This is a story of rebirth coming to us exactly when we need it most: in our own toughest moment of reinvention.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Carina: Love Island UK!

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Carina: Joe Wright’s 2005 Pride & Prejudice.

PC: Favorite book?
Carina: The Picture of Dorian Gray.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Carina: Chicago. Oh my goodness do I love Chicago.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Carina: A lot of My Chemical Romance. [laughs]

To keep up with Carina, follow her on Instagram. Watch Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO Max.