Exclusive Interview: Savannah Lee May Talks A Cowgirl’s Song, Julie and the Phantoms, and More

Savannah Lee May is one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars. She’s brought dynamic characters to life in projects including Cousins for Life, Knight Squad, and Julie and the Phantoms.

Her latest film, A Cowgirl’s Song, finds Savannah stepping into the shoes of an aspiring teen singer who goes to live with her retired country music star grandma when her father is imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit. Along with her sister, they convince their grandma to come out of retirement and play a concert to raise money for their dad’s defense.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Savannah about A Cowgirl’s Song and the film’s timely message. Plus, she shares a heartfelt message to the Julie and the Phantoms fans.

PC: Tell us about A Cowgirl’s Song, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Savannah: A Cowgirl’s Song is about a young girl named Hailey. She’s an aspiring country singer-songwriter. She grew up with her grandma, who is this massive country icon. There’s a lot of pressure on her shoulders to try and live up to expectations. The whole film is about her trying to find confidence and get over her fear of stage fright and become the performer she wants to be. It was really interesting. When I got the sides for the audition, I automatically felt this super strong connection to Hailey.

I grew up around country music. My grandpa was a country singer in Texas. He’s the one who taught me how to play guitar. I felt this strong, personal hold with Hailey. I was like, “Wow. I’ve never felt so connected with a character before in terms of my upbringing.” I thought I could do an okay job, maybe a good job, trying to bring that character to life by adding in a bit of my own personal experience.

PC: You did a fantastic job. That’s actually a perfect segue to this next question. You were able to draw a lot of parallels between yourself and Hailey. What was that character development process like for you?
Savannah: I really took inspiration from my own stage fright that I used to have with my singing. I was always comfortable dancing. I grew up a dancer first. Then as I got older, I got way more comfortable acting on stage and performing. But every now and then, still to this day, I get a little nervous when it comes to singing. I don’t know why. That’s always been the one aspect that I get a bit more nervous about. I really thought with this film and with Hailey I could put that part of myself into her.

I was like, “I can relate to this. I get nervous.” I would be so scared of what people thought of me that it was hard to put myself out there vocally, so that was the biggest similarity with Hailey. The whole film was about family and never giving up on your dreams. There are so many themes that my own life touched on. The biggest thing that I always tell people is never to give up. Always follow your dreams and never give up on yourself.

PC: You’ve said in previous interviews that Julie and the Phantoms played a huge role in preparing you for this project. What did you learn on that series that you were able to apply here?
Savannah: Julie and the Phantoms was the first TV project that I had done that included music, recording studios, and a soundtrack. I was actually cast later in the game than the other cast members. I had to learn the songs that I had on Julie and the Phantoms within a couple of vocal lessons and then record them in the studio a few days later. It was a crazy fast process. I’m very lucky I grew up in a musical theater academy in Houston. That really prepared me. You can get thrown something last minute, so you have to be ready.

Luckily, I had that training. The experience of going into a recording studio and having to do that so fast really prepared me for A Cowgirl’s Song. It was about two weeks after I booked A Cowgirl’s Song that they sent me all of the music. I was in seven songs on the soundtrack. They sent it all to me, and they were like, “Okay, we’ll see you in Oklahoma in two days. We’ll start recording then.” I basically had 24 to 48 hours to learn seven songs. Then I had to go into the recording studio and record. On Julie and the Phantoms, I had two songs. That prepared me to learn a whole soundtrack in 48 hours.

PC: What was more challenging for you: learning and maintaining that Southern accent or recording those seven songs in 48 hours?
Savannah: Going into the studio to record the songs so fast was definitely more difficult. Since I grew up in Texas, a lot of my family has really thick country accents, so I grew up around it. But I started musical theater at such a young age, you learn to articulate and pronunciate every single word just right. I really think doing that at such a young age took away any slight country accent that I may have had at any point. Funnily enough, when I auditioned for A Cowgirl’s Song, I didn’t even use a country accent in my audition. I didn’t even use it in the tape. But the first day on set, being in Chickasha, I was like, “I have to do a little something. This is way too country.” I was dressed up in a cowgirl hat and boots. It wouldn’t have felt right to have a super articulate dialect in this film. I was like, “I can’t do that.” I tried an accent in my first scene and our director liked it. No one ever said anything against it. So I was like, “All right. I guess we’ll do that.” It was funny, there were times on set in between scenes that the country accent would come back in. It was really funny to witness that on and off set.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, one of the major themes of this film is family. There’s great chemistry that comes off the screen between all of you. How were you able to build that bond?
Savannah: Cheryl Ladd and Darci Lynne are two of the sweetest and most welcoming and heartwarming people I’ve ever met. That alone and that energy between the three of us really pulled us together as a family on and off set. I’ve said in multiple interviews and I’ll continue to say it, I feel like I gained a real-life younger sister out of Darci. I really connected with her on so many different things. She grew up in Oklahoma. I grew up in Texas. She started performing at a very young age, and I started performing at a very young age. There were so many similarities between us. This was her first movie and her first big acting job. I was around her age when I booked my first acting job.

To be able to see her go through that at the same age that I did was really cool to witness. I did feel like I stepped into a big sister role with her. I was always like, “You need anything? If you have any questions, I’ve got your back. Don’t worry about it.” Because I had that from my cast members when I first started, and it really meant a lot to me. We’d go have lunch together and talk and get to know each other. It was this beautiful thing that just naturally happened, and it played well on camera.

PC: You’ve done so much television throughout your career. A Cowgirl’s Song is your second feature film. How do those two filming experiences and mediums differ?
Savannah: With every project, it’s very different. Every set that you go on, you have different types of people. You have different types of surroundings. With Julie and the Phantoms, we were in Vancouver, which was this beautiful, gorgeous city. When we did A Cowgirl’s Song, we were in this small town of Chickasha. It was cute and sweet. It’s definitely interesting with every film and character you take on to see how your surroundings play such a big part on set and during filming. Everything is different, so you approach every project in a different way. But there are some similarities in terms of how I approach a project. I go through the same routines and everything. But it’s always fun to go to a new place and be with new people. It’s always a blast.

PC: You’ve been a part of so many projects that have amazing soundtracks. What was your favorite song from this film to perform and why?
Savannah: That’s a tough one. I feel like each song had a special meaning, for me personally or for the film. I really loved performing “Hailey’s Comet” on the big stage. I loved being there with all the big lights. That was the first time I had done a song in a film or anything where it was just me standing there with a big microphone and these huge lights in an actual theater. That was really fun and cool to film. It was this really cool full-circle moment. I grew up on the stage and always wondered if I would have that moment, and then I did. It was a crazy moment, but that was one of my favorites.

Then I love “You Remind Me” with Cheryl [Ladd]. That moment is so sweet and genuine between Hailey and Erin. It’s something that I loved doing. I remember there was a moment when we were sitting there on set. They were getting the cameras and lighting set up. Cheryl and I decided to run the song because even though they played the track with you, I would still sing it live and play the guitar live so that it matched with the track. It makes it easier for editing too. Cheryl and I sat on set and ran it for fun.

Then I remember at a certain moment, it got dead silent. Everyone was sitting there watching us. It was this really sweet moment of Cheryl and I just practicing. Everyone was telling us afterwards that it felt like they were watching Hailey and Erin having a special moment. It was this crazy moment, but those two songs were definitely special memories for me.

PC: Another major theme within this film is overcoming adversities, which is really relevant to the times that we’re living in right now. What has it meant to you to be a part of a project that’s spreading that message? What do you hope audiences take away after they see it?
Savannah: Like you said, it’s so big and apparent right now in this day and age. It really did mean a lot to me that there was that message in the film. It’s not just this sweet little movie about family and country music. Those are big elements, of course, but to be able to be a part of something where your characters are struggling with so many things and they’re trying to overcome them, it was a really special thing to get to portray on camera and to get to play out.

I really hope people take away from it that things can get really hard and that when everything seems like it’s at the very bottom, if you keep fighting, if you keep working for it, if you keep saying what you believe in, then it will get easier. You’ll start to rise up from it. I really hope people take that away from the film.

PC: Beautifully said. Besides this film, you have another project coming out soon. Is there anything you can tell us about Keep Moving?
Savannah: I’m really excited for people to see this one. I play a character named Lex. She’s moving to a new town, school, and atmosphere. It’s a very big dance film. There are hardly any moments where I’m not dancing in it, which meant so much to me personally because dance was my first passion. It was my first love. It’s the reason why I’m in the entertainment industry. I always watched these huge dance films like Step Up. I always wanted to be a part of a movie like that. When I got offered Keep Moving, it was so exciting. This was the kind of movie I always wanted to do. I’m thrilled for people to see it.

PC: Fans were devastated to learn that Netflix wasn’t picking up Julie and the Phantoms for a second season despite the show’s success. When you look back at that experience, what do you remember most? I also wanted to give you an opportunity to share any message that you wanted with your fans who supported the show and continue to support the show.
Savannah: There are so many memories that I have from filming and when the show premiered. Like you said, I’ve been a part of different film and TV projects before, but there was something so special about Julie and the Phantoms—besides the fact that it was my number one dream in my career to work with Kenny Ortega. But there were so many things about that process that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. I learned so much working on that series. It fired my drive. There was also this amazing camaraderie with the cast. We really did turn into this family.

We knew we were creating something really special on set and something that we would all carry with us. But then when the show premiered, it had this slow-burn effect. I still get fans contacting me through Instagram or Twitter. They’re like, “I just watched the show. It’s so good.” The fact that our show is still affecting people after almost two years since its premiere, that’s something that I don’t think any of us expected. We have the best fans in the industry. I will stand by that statement. I’ve never seen any fan base so dedicated to a series or movie. It truly does mean the world to me and the rest of the cast.

It’s something that I’m always going to be proud to say that I was a part of. And even though, yes, we were all very devastated when Netflix decided to not pick it up for another season, we all knew that, “Hey, we did our job with at least one season. At least it will always be out there for people to learn from so they never give up on what they want and always believe in themselves.” I want to thank the fans for continuous love and support. That show changed my life in so many ways, and I’ll always be very, very blessed and grateful for it.

PC: You’ve done so much already in your career. What’s left on that bucket list?
Savannah: I’d absolutely love to do an action movie or a similar project. I love superhero movies. The Marvel universe would be so sick. Another dream role of mine is to play Rapunzel in the live-action Tangled, if they ever decided to do that. That’s my favorite Disney princess. It’s my favorite movie. I’d probably pass out or die if I even got the change to audition for it. Those are two very big bucket list things. There are a ton more, but those are two right now.

To keep up with Savannah, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch A Cowgirl’s Song everywhere you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Sarah Krick