Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Runaways’ Clarissa Thibeaux

Clarissa Thibeaux has run away with the hearts of audiences around the world for her portrayal as shape-shifter Xavin. Since joining the cast of Marvel’s Runaways in Season 2, Clarissa has broken ground as one of the few black LGBTQ+ characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a role and honor that Clarissa doesn’t take lightly. Pop Culturalist caught up with Clarissa to chat about her character’s development, joining the series, and the love she’s received from fans.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Clarissa: As a kid, I would watch all these television shows. I thought maybe I could do that. I know when I was really young, it felt like a calling. I remember the first touch I had with acting was listening to Radio Disney on my way to school and hearing an ad for John Robert Powers Acting Agency. They were looking for kids to be the next star of a Disney TV show. I wrote down the number in my little planner. The next day, I called them and made an appointment for 10 a.m. on Saturday. I was only nine at the time. When I finished creating that appointment by myself, I went up to my mom and said I had an appointment with a famous actor and she needed to take me. [laughs] That was my earliest memory of wanting to pursue a career in acting. That whole incident didn’t end up working out. It took two thousand dollars to get your kid started and my mom wasn’t having it. [laughs] When I was thirteen, I started doing theater and Shakespeare. Then I did theater all through high school. I graduated with a theater arts degree. So, acting has been a big part of my life.

PC: What’s that transition been like going from theater to film and television?
Clarissa: It’s crazy. It’s such a different type of acting. When you’re in the theater, you’re sometimes in a theater that seats five hundred. You need to make sure the little old lady in the back can hear and see you. So you have to be larger than life. In film, especially with a character like Xavin, it’s all the subtleties. It’s the little things that communicate so much. If I’m doing a play, it’s about dialing it all the way up. If I’m shooting something for film, it’s navigating that space in between giving enough but not too much, so that it’s realistic and you’re communicating enough feelings.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Clarissa: That’s a very good question. The first thing that popped into my mind when you said that was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Brandy [Norwood]. That movie was one of the first times as a child that I saw a black female lead and people of color getting to do things that I hadn’t seen before. I loved that movie. I still love that movie. That was probably one of the biggest influences in my little brain at the time.

Runaways

PC: You joined the cast of Runaways in Season 2. When you’re working on a project that’s based on a comic book series, how challenging is it to make the character your own while staying faithful to the source material?
Clarissa: I like when a show is based on a comic book. I had the opportunity to read the comic books and see what the possibilities were. I got to see Xavin’s relationship with the other characters. It’s interesting because no matter what you do as an actor, you bring a little bit of yourself to each role. With Xavin, because Xavin’s not human [laughs] and quite a muted character, it was nice to have the comics and work with the writers and directors and really build out who Xavin was, is, and will be.

PC: Did you feel any pressure heading into this project given the magnitude of your character and what it means to various communities?
Clarissa: Yeah! The whole casting process was so fast. I didn’t have a ton of time before we started shooting to do a ton of research. I did as much as I could, but I really understood the magnitude of what Xavin meant to the fans after Season 2 came out. So many of the fans reached out and told me their personal stories on what Xavin meant to them when they read them in the comics. That really helped me to see the big picture of the character and informed what I did with the character in Season 3. It was such an honor to play such a limitless character like Xavin. It’s been an amazing experience. The fans have helped me really understand the grandness that is Xavin.

PC: Having been a part of this cast for two seasons, when you look back, is there a moment that stands out?
Clarissa: Hmm…that’s a very good question. There’s a scene in Season 2 where my character is blasted by Jonah. I hit a big pillar, fall to the ground, and disappear. When that scene happened, there was a stunt double who was hooked up to this huge rig. The director was like, “Come watch so you can see how to lay on the ground.” I’m watching it and it was so violent how they pulled her and how she fell onto the ground. [laughs] I had never seen anything like that. My whole face was mortified. I was like, “Is she still alive?” She gets up and everyone was clapping. It was absolutely amazing. The director looks at me and was like, “You’ve never seen anything like that before.” [laughs] My face was probably ghost white. That’ll be a memory that I keep forever.

PC: Which of your character’s relationships has been your favorite to explore and why? Has it changed from Season 2 to Season 3?
Clarissa: For Season 3, I would have to say Xavin’s relationship with Molly. It’s so fun to explore. It was my favorite relationship that came out of Season 3. I feel like we had such a pure bonding experience. Molly got to learn more about being a warrior from Xavin, and Xavin got to learn how to be more human from Molly. It was a nice tradeoff between the two of them. In Season 2, I think one of my favorite dynamics was Xavin and Nico and how at odds they were with each other. Conflict is always fun to play.

PC: Besides Runaways, you’re working on a ton of other projects. Are there any you can talk about at this time?
Clarissa: Yeah, one of the projects is called RxR. One of my very good friends and I wrote it together. We’re producing and creating it together. It’s about two women who form an unlikely friendship in a cancer support group. That has been such a passion project for us. We recently did a crowdfunding campaign and raised ten thousand dollars, which was great. Now, we’re in preproduction. We have a lot of amazing women attached. That’s been the one that’s been taking up most of my mind lately. The other ones I don’t think I can talk about. [laughs] That one I can talk about because I’m making it.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Clarissa: I don’t know if it’s a guilty pleasure, but recently I started watching Superstore. I never watched it, and I started binging it. I’ve made it through four seasons in a month. [laughs] They’re so funny.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Clarissa: I have the AMC Movie Pass, so I do see a lot of films. The problem with that is I can’t always remember what I’ve seen. [laughs] I’m getting flashes of a million different things that I’m not sure if I saw or if I only saw the trailer.

PC: Favorite book?
Clarissa: Historically, one of my favorite books is called Double Luck by Lu Chi Fa. It’s an autobiography about Lu Chi Fa being a Chinese orphan during Communism. It’s an amazing story. That’s probably my favorite nonfiction. My favorite fiction is Kindred by Octavia Butler. Reading it was rough. There were a lot of moments where I was very angry. But it’s an amazing book. It’s one of the only books that I’ve read about black people time-traveling. I really enjoyed Kindred.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Clarissa: My favorite musical has always been West Side Story. I haven’t seen it live. I’ve only seen the movie. I cried like a baby at the end with Tony. My favorite play, which I did in college, is Machinal by Sophie Treadwell.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Clarissa: I’ve been listening to a ton of French rap lately. There’s an artist called Black M. He’s so good. Another woman named Sally. She has this song called “JFLA.” I love her music. Also, Rap City, who is an American artist. It’s been a lot of rap lately. I usually listen to alternative folk music. But lately, I’ve been really into these artists that almost feel like spoken word, and the topics that they’re talking about are really interesting, relevant, and woke.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Clarissa: Lisa Bonet. I get compared to her a lot.

To keep up with Clarissa, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Binge-watch Runaways on Hulu today!

Photo Credit: Storm Santos