{"id":37915,"date":"2021-10-15T13:56:55","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T13:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=37915"},"modified":"2021-10-15T20:28:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T20:28:46","slug":"shalita-grant-you-season-3-interview","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/shalita-grant-you-season-3-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Shalita Grant\u2019s Monster Mom-fluencer Is More Than a Match for Joe and Love on \u2018You\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Shalita
Shalita Grant (Photo: Jason LaVeris\/FilmMagic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far, each season of You<\/em><\/a> has moved the action to a new location. In Season 1, which aired on Lifetime, bookish New Yorker Joe (Penn Badgely) stalked struggling writer Beck (Elizabeth Lail) all over Manhattan with deadly results. Season 2 moved to Netflix, and Joe fled to LA, where he fell for Love (Victoria Pedretti), a pastry chef with her own murderous tendencies. The new season, out today, finds the couple and their newborn baby boy in Madre Linda, a tony suburb of San Francisco populated by tech bros and their Insta famous spouses. And the most Insta famous of them all is Sherry (Shalita Grant) a queen bee who wields her mom-fluencer status like a weapon.<\/p>\n

Grant, who had a scene-stealing turn as novice lawyer Cassidy Diamond in Season 3 of Search Party<\/em>, thinks of Sherry as more of a mama bear than a queen bee. \u201cShe\u2019s protecting her inner circle,\u201d Grant explains. \u201cBecause what goes on in the inner circle — the inner <\/em>most circle of Madre Linda — is buck wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

As fans get ready to binge Season 3, Grant chatted with GRAZIA<\/em> about just how wild things get in the suburbs when everyone\u2019s favorite serial killers move to town.<\/p>\n

What was your first impression of the character when you first encountered her on the page? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh my god! I was like, What? I get to be this terrible?<\/em> I\u2019ve never been this terrible. So, that was what I initially thought. But then I had these conversations — after I got the job, of course — with the producers and learned the arch, what is behind this and all of that. I wouldn\u2019t say that Sherry is someone who is close to my heart. She\u2019s kinda hard to love — but lovable, eventually.<\/p>\n

\"Shalita
Shalita Grant and Travis van Winkle in You<\/i> (Photo: John P. Fleenor\/Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ok, so without giving too much away, what can you tease about how your character evolves over the season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will say that when you meet Sherry, you think you know why she is the way that she is. And she is deplorable in a lot of ways. But as Love and Joe enter the inner circle of Madre Linda — and Madre Linda is a character in Season 3. All these characters make up this community. And so, you get to see what it\u2019s like in this inner circle, and what makes these people tick. But then, Love and Sherry and [Sherry\u2019s husband Cary, played by Travis Van Winkle] and Joe, they get close in ways you did not expect, and everything falls apart. And Sherry and Cary make history in the You<\/em> [world].<\/p>\n

The show kind of has changed settings each season, which means that Penn and Victoria are kind of the only main characters returning. Did if feel like joining an established show or new show entirely? <\/strong><\/p>\n

It was like a little bit of both. It was like joining an established series in that all of the producers are the same, and Joe is still No. 1 and Love from the previous season. But it is a different world, and even for Victoria and Penn, they too were like, Ok, this is what it\u2019s like in this world\u2026<\/em> So, it was really fun for me because I watched Season 1 and some of Season 2 before I knew I was going to be on the show. I was a fan and knew the series. So, coming on, it was super cool to work on something that I really liked. And also, it gave me the onus to totally be<\/em>. There was now, like, fitting in<\/em>. Sherry is a series regular for this season, so to really establish this woman — that was really cool.<\/p>\n

So, Sherry is Insta famous. Were there influencers or mom-fluencers that you followed or studied to get into this character? <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, because, honestly\u2026 We did a day or two of photos for [Sherry\u2019s] Instagram. So, you know, I had Instagram for a while. So, I know the poses, you know what I mean? But for Sherry, what I really leaned on was my experience as an actress, because there is the me that goes to work and does the acting. And then there\u2019s the me that knows that there are a lot of people that know who I am because they watch these shows. So, you have to learn how to\u2026do that. Social media, in and of itself, is still something that I\u2019m struggling with, honestly. You know, the authenticity of it? We actually had a company running my Instagram from 2015\u20132020, because I was just like, It\u2019s not my thing<\/em>. So, I would take photos and give them to them, and then approve posts. But I didn\u2019t run it. But in 2020, I was like, I\u2019m gonna run my Instagram and Twitter. It\u2019s time for me to learn it and try to find a way to deal with it. <\/em>But there is a line for oversharing and undersharing, so I really leaned into the very real world that I was in — and leaning on her being great at it. Luckily, it didn\u2019t really factor into the story so much. But it did factor into how I handled myself, how I carried myself with the other characters, and what is Sherry on<\/em> and what is Sherry off<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Shalita
Shalita Grant (left) with Chris O’Shea and Shannon Chan-Kent in You<\/i> (Photo: John P. Fleenor\/Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Again, if this is too much of a spoiler, let me know, but what is behind the need she seems to have to be the queen bee, to be seen, to present this very curated, very managed self to the world? <\/strong><\/p>\n

[Laughs<\/em>] There is a reason\u2026 I\u2019ll say this: One of the first mistakes I made as an actress with Sherry was, I thought: B*tch\u2026but there\u2019s nothin\u2019 else behind that<\/em>. And the producers were like, \u201cNo. <\/em>She\u2019s not a b*tch in the way that you\u2019re thinking. She\u2019s more of a mamma bear.\u201d She\u2019s protecting her inner circle. Because what goes on in the inner circle — the inner <\/em>most circle of Madre Linda — is buck wild.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re such a distinctive performer. How much of your own stamp were you able to put on the character? How much did she end up evolving to suit you as a performer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I pride myself on being a character actress. So, the thing that is a common theme with all of my characters is authenticity. Finding that authentic aspect of that character and their experience. The conversations that I had with the producers [on You<\/em>] were super helpful. And\u2026I knew that I had to cry in this, and before, that was my Achilles heel. Baby went to Julliard, and I can do Shakespeare, I can do Moli\u00e8re, I can do drama, comedy, whatever you want! But b*tch couldn\u2019t cry on cue. So, I was like, I need to figure this out for myself! <\/em>And one of the first things that I did with Sherry was I had to go back to step one and I sat down at the dining room table and I thought, What does everyone say about Sherry? What does Sherry say about herself? And what do the producers say about Sherry?<\/em> And that\u2019s a beautiful acting exercise. It looks like a serial killer page, but at the end you get a really good sense of the intention with the character and who the character is. So, that was my first way in, and from there I was able to live. They say, you don\u2019t want to create<\/em> moments, you want to be so in process that you live<\/em> them.<\/p>\n

So, with any character I\u2019m playing, I\u2019m always trying to build my playground, because I really<\/em> like playing. I love to play. Work is play! Any opportunity I can find to play — and not get in trouble — I\u2019m gonna find it. So, that\u2019s what I did with Sherry. That\u2019s how I added my own\u2026but it feels weird to say it\u2019s me<\/em>, because it wasn\u2019t. The playfulness is me, but what we came up with is Sherry\u2019s bag.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny, the show kind of makes a suburban mom-fluencer seem more unlikable than a pair of serial killers. What is it about this type of woman — who is almost an archetype at this point — that makes her so unlikeable?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s because she\u2019s so\u2026 I can\u2019t find the word. It\u2019s because she\u2019s so perfect. We don\u2019t like people who embody everything that we\u2019re supposed<\/em> to be. Being in close proximity to someone who embodies that patriarchal standard, that hair, nails, eyes, body — and also pushes that on other people. But also gaslights them. That\u2019s where we are right now: Let me tell you, there\u2019s something wrong with you, but I have the thing that\u2019s gonna fix it, and for $79.95 you could feel better about your life. <\/em>That\u2019s what Sherry does. She\u2019s like, I had to lose so much weight after my twins<\/em>. And you know what that is. She\u2019s coming from a place in our society [where] there\u2019s not much you can say about her. And as a woman in a circle of women, we\u2019re all playing the game of pretty<\/em>. And that feminine<\/em> game. And to play a character who uses her femininity, and wields her femininity as a weapon, that\u2019s the thing that\u2019s so unlikable about her. In our society femininity should be soft, should be quiet, should be enjoyed, but enjoyed on the observer\u2019s terms. But Sherry, her femininity is in your face. But she gaslights you and says, Oh my gosh, I make mistakes. I\u2019m just a human<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Shalita
Shalita Grant (left) with Victoria Pedretti and Penn Badgley in You<\/i> (Photo: John P. Fleenor\/Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s her dynamic with Joe and Love like early on? <\/strong><\/p>\n

She\u2019s watching them. They\u2019re new to her town and they didn\u2019t kiss her ring. The first scene, she knows everything about them. Clearly, she\u2019s been waiting for the introduction. She\u2019s been waiting for them to meet her so she can access if they\u2019re worthy of being in Madre Linda and, like, what circle of the Madre Linda hell they can go into.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve talked a lot about Madre Linda, and you mentioned that the town is almost a character this season. Seasons 1 and 2 were very much about obsession and a kind of toxic masculinity. What do you think this show has to say about the suburbs? Are there specific themes you think this season is exploring?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We could talk about this all day! [Victoria\u2019s character\u2019s] name is Love<\/em>, so it\u2019s hard to not think about love<\/em> when you\u2019re talking about the character, and also the course of love. And so that\u2019s what Season 3 does. Season 3 asks the question, What happens when you get everything you think you want?<\/em> And for me, one of my mantras has been: I don\u2019t have everything that I want, but I want everything that I have.<\/em> And if that rings true for me, that includes the problems that come with what you have. Everything comes with problems. What are the problems you\u2019re willing to deal with?<\/p>\n

So, for this season, you\u2019re in suburbia, and for Joe, the star of the show, the serial killer — we learn that he doesn\u2019t come from a two-parent home, he killed his father, he grew up in boys\u2019 homes. This isn\u2019t his world. He\u2019s a fish out of water. For us, as viewers, we know this world, and this is totally normal for us. So, how does a serial killer fit into a perfect, picturesque community.<\/p>\n

Season 3 also deals with community, and what it means to be in a community, what you have to give up to be in a community. It really plays with these themes that are really close to heart, especially now that we\u2019re in a pandemic and we\u2019re all looking at our relationships and our communities, and learning things about our communities.<\/p>\n

\"Shalita
Shalita Grant (left) with Chris O’Shea in You<\/i> (Photo: John P. Fleenor\/Netflix)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do I, personally, need to do to get a Cassidy Diamond solo spin-off series in the Search Party <\/em>extended universe? <\/strong><\/p>\n

[Laughs<\/em>] It\u2019s you and a whole bunch of other people, child! I don\u2019t know! Ya\u2019ll gotta start a petition or something. But, it was crazy for me after Search Party<\/em> seeing so many people saying, Spin-off! Spin-off! Spin-off!<\/em> That was just a testament to the job that I did, and I did it with a full heart. When I got that audition, I went back and watched the first episode to see if it was something that I wanted to do. And then I binged everything. I loved this world, I loved those characters. So, to get into that world and have the fans be so [all about] Cassidy. Wow. That\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

I feel like Cassidy and Sherry are two sides of the same coin in some ways. Like Cassidy is the good witch and Sherry is that bad witch. Do you find that this is a type of role you get offered a lot? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. Ok, so, I feel like I\u2019m aging like fine wine. I feel like the older I get, the better I\u2019m looking. So, in my 20s I could never play any of these people. But we\u2019ll see what happens after You<\/em>. But I will say that I am a character actress. So, playing with femininity, playing with makeup and stuff, for me, it is just playing. If I get to do it again, that\u2019s great. But I am interested to see what other worlds and what other characters I can embody.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":37918,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,16],"yoast_head":"\nShalita Grant Is More Than a Match for Joe and Love on \u2018You\u2019 - Grazia USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shalita Grant chatted with GRAZIA about just how wild things get in the suburbs when everyone\u2019s favorite serial killers move to town in Season 3 of 'You.'\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/shalita-grant-you-season-3-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shalita Grant\u2019s Monster Mom-fluencer Is More Than a Match for Joe and Love on \u2018You\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shalita Grant chatted with GRAZIA about just how wild things get in the suburbs when everyone\u2019s favorite serial killers move to town in Season 3 of 'You.'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/shalita-grant-you-season-3-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-15T20:28:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-537949912-e1634237526730.jpg?fit=2287%2C1290\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2287\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1290\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/shalita-grant-you-season-3-interview\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/shalita-grant-you-season-3-interview\/\",\"name\":\"Shalita Grant Is More Than a Match for Joe and Love on \u2018You\u2019 - 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