Seri DeYoung Talks Good Trouble Season 4, Her Work as an Actress and Director, and More!

Seri DeYoung is one of Hollywood’s most versatile talents. She’s written, produced, and directed projects including Summer, Maybe, Still Life, and Tender Points: A Fibromyalgia Journey, and starred in acclaimed film and television programs like S.W.A.T., Adam Ruins Everything, and Into the Dark. She’s best known for her breakout role in Freeform’s Good Trouble.

The highly-anticipated spin-off of the groundbreaking family drama The Fosters, Good Trouble follows Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) as they embark on the next phase of their young adult lives in Los Angeles. Mariana tackles the male-dominated world of tech and Callie faces the harsh realities of the federal legal system clerking for a federal judge. Seri shines as the ambitious software engineer Claire Badgley.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Seri about her work in front of and behind the camera, Good Trouble Season 4, and more!

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling?
Seri: Oh my gosh. That’s such a deep and beautiful question. My mother is an elementary school librarian. I was really raised on stories. She collected these books that were various cultural retellings from around the world of Cinderella, which is such a simple story that we’re all familiar with. I found it so interesting that every single culture has their own interpretation. I remember early on thinking that was so interesting and cool. That’s a very Joseph Campbell answer, but that was it. It’s in my family. It’s in my blood.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Seri: That’s another good question. I’m very lucky. Right when I moved to LA, I had this built-in mentor because I came out here and I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have any family here. I didn’t have any industry connections other than the ones I was barely able to make. But there was this one friend of a friend of a friend. I got connected with this writer. His name is Mark Fergus.

At the time, Iron Man had just come out. He wrote that. He was one of my early mentors, and I remember that he always treated me like I was this really smart kid. I was nineteen. He valued me and was interested in my opinions and what I had to say.

It gave me this feeling that my thoughts and opinions matter. I have a lot to learn, and I learned a ton from him. Throughout my career, he’s been an incredible mentor to me. As a kid, it gave me the confidence that a grownup could be receptive to me and my ideas.

PC: In addition to the incredible work that you’ve done on screen, you’re also a director, writer, and producer. How have your experiences behind the camera made you a stronger actor and vice versa?
Seri: I’ve been acting since I was a teenager. I started directing about ten years ago. I did short films. The biggest change when I began directing was the audition table. I was watching all these tapes and seeing what all these actors were doing. I realized, “Oh my gosh. You can be absolutely brilliant, talented, and lovely, and you might not get the job because there was someone who may have just made more sense within the context of this world, whether that be because of their age, height, or something that seems arbitrary but isn’t.” These are all factors that matter. That was such a relief to have that lifted off of myself.

I could stop beating myself up after not getting jobs and wondering, “What could I have done differently? Should I have done this better?” I always want to be learning and growing as an actress and working on my craft, but I can do that and be kind to myself. It lifted this burden off of me, seeing the decisions that are made from the other side. It also made me so much more cognizant of being efficient because as a director your number one job is to make your day. It definitely gave me a more holistic perspective of being part of a team.

Often actors aren’t part of the setup. They’re put aside. But it’s intentional to give them the space to protect their energy. Having that perspective of knowing how it all comes together and the priority of time and efficiency, that’s a perspective that I don’t think I would’ve gained as quickly as an actress or that it would’ve had as much of an impact on me. I would say being a director has made me more efficient.

As a director, speaking to actors and giving them notes and adjustments is probably the most nuanced and challenging part of the job because you have to do it on the spot. There are other nuanced and challenging parts of directing. You can only say so many words to an actor before their brains turn into something else. It certainly helped me to be able to refine my language when I’m speaking to actors.

In general, the way that I approach acting is very sensual. I really lean into the five scenes when I’m prepping for a shoot or prepping for an audition. That’s the world-building that I do with my acting. I approached my directing that way as well.

PC: You’re one of the stars of Good Trouble. This is the longest that you’ve lived with a particular character. Has anything surprised you about the experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway thus far?
Seri: The biggest takeaway for me is how it’s felt to be part of such a strong and kind family. The people of Good Trouble—the showrunners, the writers, the lead actors (especially Cierra Ramirez and Maia Mitchell who came over from The Fosters)—have created one of the most wonderful environments I’ve ever had the pleasure of working in.

Now that I’ve been there for so long, it’s reset how I feel a set should run and how I can approach a new space. Often, sets can be really intimidating. It’s really easy for there to be tension and egos. That’s what happens all the time, and you get used to it, right? None of that existed on Good Trouble. It’s teamwork and kindness that rule the show there. That’s had a huge impact on me because it’s the energy that I take with me to any job that I work on, whether it’s something that I’m directing or something I’m acting in. What an incredible gift.

PC: In Season 4, we see your character really come into her own. Were you able to draw any parallels from your own life as you approached her journey? How did you create the space for yourself to step into her shoes?
Seri: I’ll say there have been comparisons and contrasts. I’d say one comparison is that Claire is very ambitious. She’s going to take every opportunity that she can get. I absolutely know what that feels like. I work in a hyper-competitive industry, especially as a director. It’s getting better in terms of the opportunities for female directors versus male directors, but you still feel that it’s a boys’ club. The boys’ club is very much still alive. I understand that feeling of wanting to get there and prove yourself and wanting to do your job well.

The contrast is that Claire is very competitive. In her heart, she is always scrambling to feel like she’s doing good enough. We’ve seen this in the episodes where she gets a little competitive with Mariana. It’s still happening. I feel like it’s become more good-natured. We had a beautiful conversation about it a few seasons ago where we were talking about there being more than one seat at the table. That’s something that Claire has struggled with. Whereas any time that I see a female director win, I’m her biggest cheerleader. I’m so happy to see other women succeeding. It’s like the more female success we see, the better it gets for all of us.

PC: You’ve brought so much nuance to this character. What’s been your favorite scene to film throughout the four seasons? Which has been the most challenging for you?
Seri: Some of the parts that were really fun were when we had Raj come around. It was like Raj and Claire were dating and that added this really complicated layer to my relationship with Mariana. That was definitely fun to play.

Then there was this scene where Mariana and Claire are trying to resolve the resentment and the lack of trust between them, and they’re trying to come together as things were happening at the very end of Season 3. All of that was really challenging. But I remember that episode. Michael Medico directed the episode. He’s directed a number of them in the past. I remember being so grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to explore all the colors of things that were happening there. I was really grateful for his support and collaboration.

PC: If we’re lucky enough to get a fifth season, where would you like to see Claire’s storyline head?
Seri: What’s exciting is that our app Bulk Beauty just launched, and it’s doing well. We’re starting to hit these trials and tribulations that come from growing and that come from entering a public space and from being in a position of leadership. We started dealing with that in Season 4. I’d be really excited to see what else happens in Season 5. We started our journey working for a boss, a company, and a system that we didn’t agree with. A lot of things were unethical. It’s really interesting to go from a position where you’re criticizing leadership to then being the leaders and realizing maybe everything’s not so simple. That’s something I’m really interested in exploring.

PC: There are so many different facets to your talent. Besides Good Trouble, what’s next for you?
Seri: I directed a short film over the pandemic, and that is going through film festivals right now. It’s called Distance. We just premiered at Dances with Films. Up next, will be screening at the Burbank International Film Festival, which is a fantastic film festival. I’m really excited to go there.

I also directed a feature-length documentary, and that’s going to be available this fall. I don’t think I can give a specific date yet, but we’re working with a distribution company to get it all packaged and ready to go. That’s something that I’ve been working on for four years. It’s really gratifying to be getting that out there in the world and getting it seen.

To keep up with Seri, follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo Credit: Paul Smith