Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Hightown’s Crystal Lee Brown

Daytime Emmy-nominated actress Crystal Lee Brown is known for the dynamic characters she’s brought to life in projects like Giants, Mindhunter, and Black Lightning.

This year, she joined the cast of STARZ’s critically-acclaimed drama Hightown as the no-nonsense therapist Janelle who forms an unlikely bond with one of the inmates.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Crystal about her mission as a storyteller, Hightown Season 2, and more!

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling?
Crystal: When I was younger, my mom and I would sit down and watch old movies together. The ones that stick out the most to me are Imitation of Life, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with Meryl Streep, and The George McKenna Story with Denzel Washington (before they were household names). This was in 1984. I’m telling my age here. [laughs] I was mesmerized by seeing these performers tell these stories in a fun-loving, authentic way. From there I was hooked.

PC: You got your start working on the stage. What has that transition been like going from theater to film and television?
Crystal: It was a huge jump and a huge difference. When I started in theater, it was local community theater. I started out at Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia. When I moved to New York, I did way off-Broadway theater. That was my foundation. It helped me immensely when I jumped into television and film. I still love theater. I wish there was a huge theater community in LA. There is a community here, but not like New York. But I always will have a love for theater because the show has to go on. There are no stops. There are no cuts. There are no edits. It’s just raw.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Crystal: My mother, for sure. My mother is a retired police officer as well as a retired drill sergeant in the United States Army. Her dedication, her courage for her family, and her protectiveness over us allowed me to see a real-life superhero. I always say I grew up with a superhero in my house, so that translates into why I do what I do. It’s not about me. I do it for my daughter, just like my mom did it for her children.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Crystal: Being nominated for a Daytime Emmy is still one of the highlights, if not the highlight of my career. We don’t do this for the accolades or awards.

The acknowledgment from the television academy—from my voting peers—gave me an immense feeling of gratitude that our work is important. The work is important. That work affected people in a way that they wanted to acknowledge. I’m immensely grateful for that.

PC: You’re currently one of the stars of Hightown. What should audiences know about your character?
Crystal: I play Janelle. My character is a typical, no-nonsense therapist in a correctional facility. I care about my patients, one in particular being Osito, who’s played by the phenomenal Atkins Estimond. The stigma or stereotyped perception of jail is negative, but I think viewers can see there’s a fine balance of humanity there between Osito and me. Not everyone in jail is bad.

PC: What was that collaboration like working with Atkins as you approached the dynamic that we see unfold between your characters over the course of the season?
Crystal: We shot this during the height of the pandemic, so we were talking on Zoom a lot. That really laid the foundation for us in terms of relationships, friendships, character development, and just being able to get to know each other on a personal level. That’s what you see on screen because we didn’t meet until we got to set, so we had to create a line of communication and something tangible that we could build on.

PC: Did you feel any pressure heading into this project?
Crystal: For sure! I fell in love with the characters and the storylines of the show. Prior to joining, I binge-watched the whole first season. I became a fan. I had to go back and rewatch it with a different perspective, so I could understand the world that I was jumping into. I needed to understand these characters. There is a relationship that grows between Janelle and Osito. I had to figure out what was likable about this guy because he’s the villain on the show. He’s one of the bad guys.

I had to find the humanity in him, as well as the other characters, even though I didn’t get to work with anyone apart from Atkins. It’s a family, and everyone’s storyline is intertwined with one another’s, so I needed to know how each character affects him because that ends up affecting me. I had to binge-watch the first season twice, but from two different perspectives.

PC: There are so many timely and relevant themes that this show tackles in both seasons. Was there one in particular that hit home for you?
Crystal: The addiction theme is heavy. As a community, as a world, even personally, we all know what that looks like—whether we have a loved one or know someone who’s dealing with addiction or whatever level that is. It was imperative that we show audiences that through our lead Monica [Raymund]. They can see the effects that it has on people, how people recover from that, what redemption looks like, how it affects everyone around them, and what the domino effect of that is. We all know that and experience that.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Crystal: Anything Housewives.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Crystal: Growing up, I would rewatch Teen Wolf with Michael J. Fox over and over again. I would rewatch A Nightmare on Elm Street. I had my classic movies like Home Alone. Now my daughter…I can’t get her to stop watching the same thing over and over again. I’m like, “You watched that 30,000 times already,” and then I’m like, “I used to do the same thing.” [laughs] We can watch Home Alone until the wheels fall off, so I would say that.

PC: Favorite book?
Crystal: Feeding the Soul by Tabitha Brown.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Crystal: Hamilton really got us through the pandemic. When it came out on Disney+ that was the only thing that we watched religiously. To be able to see it live in person in the front row two weeks ago was so exciting.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Crystal: New Edition and New Kids on the Block were my favorite bands growing up. They’re making a comeback now. The older boy bands are doing a lot of award shows. They just performed at the American Music Awards.

Meanwhile, my ten-year-old daughter was waiting for BTS to come on. She was like, “I don’t know who these people are, but I need to listen to ‘Butter.’” That tells you the generational gap that we’re in. [laughs]

PC: Dream role?
Crystal: My dream role is to play my mom’s life story.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Crystal: Zendaya.

To keep up with Crystal, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Hightown Season 2 on STARZ today.

Photo Credit: Bobby Quillard Photography