Pop-Culturalist.com

Emily Osment and Olivia Macklin are two of the stars of Netflix’s Pretty Smart.

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

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Emily and Olivia about Pretty Smart, how they approached the dynamic between their characters, and how the show balances comedy and drama.

PC: To start, could you introduce us to your characters in the series and what attracted you to this role? Emily, do you want to kick us off?
Emily: I play Chelsea, a Harvard graduate turned lawyer who unexpectedly gets dumped by her boyfriend and is forced to move in with her estranged sister, Claire. Claire lives in Venice Beach and is very far away from where Chelsea is both cognitively and physically. We get to see the two of them rebuild their relationship over Season 1. I’m excited for the world to see that because it’s heartwarming.

Olivia: I play Claire, Chelsea’s sister. She’s an incredibly easygoing, fun-loving, warm, kind person who’s just really good with where she’s at. When we meet her, she’s not exactly aspirational. She is just very content with coasting and is in that place in your life where you maybe don’t have much but you have your friendships and that’s all you need. Claire’s fun, happy, and sweet.

PC: Like you were both saying, the series is about these two sisters reconnecting. For both of you, what was that collaboration like bringing that dynamic to life on screen? Olivia, do you want to start?
Olivia: Absolutely. That’s not unfamiliar territory for me. I have a lot of siblings. I have four sisters. But one who’s two years older and incredibly smart is actually also named Emily. She’s a teacher. In many ways, our dynamic is very similar to Chelsea and Claire’s. I was really excited because I can relate to this and anyone with siblings can relate to either being different and having to navigate that or really loving each other and having each other’s back. You see both sides of that coin with these sisters. It was super easy to do with Emily. We had a lot of fun.

We were really supportive of one another. We had so much fun with the goofy moments and we were really on the same page. At one point, it said in the script that Emily was supposed to lift me, but I am considerably taller than Emily. We had tried lifting each other and we were like, “Wouldn’t it be way funnier if I lifted you?” It’s one of my favorite moments. It’s right at the top, but it’s hilarious that I picked her up and spun her around.

Emily: You were supposed to jump into my arms or something.

Olivia: That’s what it was. I was supposed to jump into her arms.

Emily: I’m significantly shorter than Olivia. I was like, “I don’t know if this is going to work.”

Olivia: I was like, “I’m going to crush this poor petite woman.” Instead, I thought, “How hilarious would it be if I lifted her up in the air?” I love that we did the cockeyed choice. But then some of my favorite moments are when they really connect with each other and it’s super grounded. That’s the beauty of this show. There’s a lot of broad comedy, but when we really get to the heart of a matter, our writers did it so well.

PC: Emily, you’re no stranger to comedy. What is it about this genre that excites you as a creative?
Emily: There are a lot of avenues in multicam comedies that I’d like to explore. I’ve always wanted to direct multicam. I hope to see that down the pipeline at some point. I like the friendships that you make and the connections that you make. The schedule’s fantastic. I like being able to tell a story front to back in twenty-two minutes. It’s a feat in comedy writing to be able to tell anything quickly. It’s a wonderful format and it brings joy to many people, especially after the year we’ve had. It’s nice to be a part of something that’s comforting.

PC: Olivia, your character has a lot of great one-liners. How much of that was improvised? Is there a scene that you’re particularly excited for your fans to see?
Olivia: Oh my gosh. Our writers are incredible, and I think when you’re dealing with a script that’s so technically proficient, I didn’t want to stray away too much. I didn’t need to. As far as a scene I’m excited for audiences to see, I’ll say the physical comedy moments. I have quite a few with Emily. I have quite a few with Michael Hsu Rosen who plays Jayden. He and I are bouncing orbs.

Emily: Bouncing orbs of light.

Olivia: We really played off of each other. There’s a moment where Jayden is trying to play it cool, so he starts beatboxing. Michael apparently is an amazing natural beatboxer and he breakdances a bit too, but Claire’s such a beta to him that she’s being his hype girl in the background and vibing with him. It’s those little moments where you fill in a story. They’re so silly and fun.

PC: Emily, we see from the trailer that Chelsea begins to develop feelings for Grant. What can you tease about that dynamic and how it’ll affect her relationship with Claire?
Emily: I’m sure you can guess what that may do to Claire if she finds out that her older sister has feelings for her ex-boyfriend. But at the end of the day, you can’t stop how you feel about somebody. You’ll see Chelsea’s struggle with what’s right and what’s not going to hurt her sister, who she recently reconnected with. That’s another separate journey that she has to take. She’s got the journey with herself (reconnecting with herself), reconnecting with her sister, and potentially opening up the door to having feelings for someone she never thought she would date. She’s going through a lot.

PC: Final question for the both of you. The series does a beautiful job balancing comedy and drama. For you both as actresses, is one more challenging than the other? Emily, do you want to kick us off?
Emily: It’s interesting that they are both so different. In terms of what’s challenging, it’s a format that I understand, but I often find comedy more difficult than drama because comedy can get stale the more you do it. It’s hard to keep it fresh and to keep it real and natural, especially with multicam. You’re saying the same thing a lot. It’s difficult to make sure it’s coming across as genuine every time. That’s the most challenging part.

Olivia: I would agree. It’s incredible when you see a comedian who can do great drama. You find that more with greats like Steve Carell and Melissa McCarthy. It can be a little bit harder to go from drama to comedy. I just have great respect for great comedic actors. I always think of people that I admire the most and wonder whether they would think what I’m doing is funny. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, I’m just learning. Comedy is harder but so gratifying, especially when you’re working with great actors.

Emily and Gregg [Sulkin] are such pros in the multi-camera format, but also Cinthya [Carmona] and Michael are absolutely incredible. I had such a different dynamic with all four of them, but by the end, we all had such distinct shorthands. It’s like, “I know what you bring and I know how I can build off of that,” or “I’m going to throw this ball and I know you’re going to catch it.” There’s nothing better.

Make sure to follow Emily (Twitter/Instagram) and Olivia (Instagram). Watch Pretty Smart today.

Photo Credit: Patrick McElhenney/Netflix