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Maeve Press is one of Hollywood’s most exciting up-and-coming talents. From performing at comedy festivals around the States to starring in award-winning indies, Maeve Press is a name you’ll be hearing a lot from in the coming years.

Every Thursday, she’s bringing the laughs in her breakout role in Freeform’s Everything’s Gonna Be Okay. After their father’s untimely death, Nicholas (Josh Thomas) and his two half-sisters, Matilda (Kayla Cromer) and Genevieve (Maeve Press), are left to cope with a devasting loss. Nicholas soon realizes that he must step up to the plate and hold it all together, while navigating a relationship with his boyfriend, Alex (Adam Faison)

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Maeve about her thriving career, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay Season 2, and what’s ahead for her character.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting and comedy?
Maeve: I’ve always loved performing and getting a laugh. My first comedy bit happened accidentally at age four when I referred to my bathing suit as my suitcase. Apparently, that was top-tier comedy for my older sister and parents—they loved it. It was a good laugh. I mean, almost an applause break, so I was hooked. I also do make lots of ridiculous mistakes, so comedy felt like a superpower, turning all my problems into something awesome.

At age eleven, I started doing actual comedy on a stage, always trying to beat that “suitcase” joke. I started acting when I was about seven years old in a movie my parents made. I got to name my character, and I named her Tuesday. I actually was trying to name her after the character in The Addams Family, but I was a day off. Anyway, Tuesday was the first time I got to be someone who was not actually me. I got to make her real and unique but different than myself, and that was amazing.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Maeve: My grandpa was a big comedic influence for me. When I was little, he would tell me stories about when he used to be a gorilla or a hat or something, but in the most serious way. His dry sense of humor was so special and wonderful, and made me see the absurdities in life and embrace them—that’s great comedy. He passed away a few years ago, and I miss him every day.

Also, I grew up in New York City surrounded by the most eclectic group of people and I loved mimicking the people I saw on the subway and trying to come up with their backstory and figure out how I would play them in a play or film.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Maeve: When I was eleven years old, I was put in a comedy camp. We did a week of writing prompts, so we each came up with our own original “comedy set” and then did a show for the parents and grandparents on Friday afternoon in a real comedy club. Well, remarkably, I killed! I wanted to do another week. Maybe I should have quit while I was ahead, because that second week my comedy set was a travesty. [laughs] Utter silence! I bombed. One grandma was so disturbed, she chugged her Bloody Mary and then left the room crying. This was the moment that changed everything because I needed to redeem myself from that horrible bomb, so I immediately begged my dad to take me to an open mic. We went right down to the Klimate Lounge on East 7th Street for Ladies Night! Good news! I killed it! I heard women talk about many things I will not discuss here, but, more importantly, I killed! I guess I’m basically a daredevil, the comedy Evil Knievel!

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay

PC: You’re currently starring in Everything’s Gonna Be Okay and Season 2 just started airing. The show has been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Maeve: I feel like our show is about acceptance and inclusion in a way that is just very real and not preachy at all. We are a group of insecure, imperfect, outsiders and our world is one in which that is not only okay, but also really wonderful. These characters stumble through so many things, but do it with a lot of heart.

PC: What’s ahead for Genevieve in Season 2? What can you tease about her arc?
Maeve: She is really putting herself out there this season. At the end of Season 1, she went and performed a story in a very cool jumpsuit, and now she is really living off of that feeling and trying to figure out how she wants the world and people to see her. She gets messy this season, and we get to see her experience some firsts away from the comfort of her family.

PC: This is your biggest television role to date. Has anything surprised you about the experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway so far?
Maeve: Honestly, I had no idea what to expect, so I’m not sure what has actually surprised me. The first season (pre-COVID), I was quite surprised at the amount of snacks available on set. This past season, we really couldn’t have snacks because we were just isolated in our dressing rooms when not filming, which was a shame, and then everybody was wearing masks, of course, so not a great setup for munching on snacks. That was probably for the best.

Anyway, my biggest takeaway so far is that making a TV show is a true group effort and every single person involved, in front of the camera and behind the scenes is equally important and wonderful!

PC: Which of Genevieve’s relationships has been your favorite to explore and why?
Maeve: I really love playing with Josh [Thomas]. I feel like Genevieve and Nicholas are more alike than she originally wanted to admit. I think deep down she knows she really needs him in her life. This season, they are partners in crime, and it’s been nice to play a happier Genevieve.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Favorite TV show?
Maeve: I literally cannot pick one. I watch so much TV; it’s amazing…or embarrassing. I feel so powerful with all this TV knowledge in my brain. I love shows like Killing Eve, the original Twilight Zone, Schitt’s Creek (who doesn’t love that?!), and there’s a wonderful show called Derry Girls. Oh…and maybe deep down I know my favorite is Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood because he was so kind and created a generation of kids who felt power in their differences and were not ashamed of their emotions. That’s amazing.

PC: Favorite movie?
Maeve: This probably changes multiple times a day, but here are a few: A League of Their Own, Sunset Boulevard, and Roman Holiday.

PC: Favorite book?
Maeve: Is Winnie the Pooh a mature adult answer? [laughs] Okay, how about Make Way for Ducklings? Or Wind in the Willows? Oh, I also recently enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Great Gatsby. Can you tell those were required school reading? Night by Elie Wiesel is really special. I love reading collections of short stories, too. I am open to suggestions.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Maeve: Have you noticed I have trouble picking one thing? A few on my list are Company, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Band’s Visit, Passing Strange, The Color Purple—by the way, Cynthia Erivo sings the most amazing rendition of “I’m Here”, and you should go listen to it immediately—Six Degrees of Separation, and A Raisin in the Sun. I also love Circle, Mirror, Transformation by Annie Baker and Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Maeve: Loudon Wainwright Jr.

PC: Dream role?
Maeve: A time-traveling, radical justice warrior who is obsessed with musical theater and deals with constant self-doubt and impulse control problems but has great fashion sense. This may be cliché, but I would also love to play a superhero—one who is not in super good shape, because I don’t think I have the stamina to work out like Brie Larson, but also I want to run around in a cape. I also have a desire to play a New Yorker lost in a foreign country.

To keep up with Maeve, follow her on Twitter or Instagram. Watch new episodes of Everything’s Gonna Be Okay every Thursday at 10/9c on Freeform.

Photo Credit: Luke Fontana