{"id":49082,"date":"2022-02-02T14:02:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T14:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=49082"},"modified":"2022-02-03T15:44:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T15:44:24","slug":"alexa-swinton-and-just-like-that","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/alexa-swinton-and-just-like-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexa Swinton Is The Voice of a New Generation on \u2018And Just Like That\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Alexa
Alexa Swinton (Photo: Brandon Leger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of Alexa Swinton\u2019s first memories is of being attacked by a zombie. She was three years old, cowering on the lower bunk of a set of bunkbeds with some other kids and, improbably, the iconic late theater actress Elaine Stritch. Her mother was hiding beneath the bed. Suddenly, the rabid undead creature burst through a wall, trying to reach the children.<\/p>\n

This is the charming way the 12-year-old actor and her mother, Inna, describe filming Swinton\u2019s scene in artist Matthew Barney\u2019s River of Fundament<\/em>. The provocative six- hour film, released as part of the former Mr. Bjo\u0308rk<\/a>\u2019s 2014 MoCA exhibition, is loosely based on Norman Mailer\u2019s 1983 novel Ancient Evenings<\/em> and its themes involve rebirth, the American auto industry, Mailer\u2019s own death and other more… scatological<\/em> imagery. It was also Swinton\u2019s very first role. Both mother and daughter describe River of Fundament<\/em>, succinctly, as \u201ca zombie movie,\u201d which, all things considered, is probably for the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was scary!\u201d Swinton recalls, laughing. \u201cI didn\u2019t know it was a movie!\u201d<\/p>\n

She also remembers the famously irascible Stritch telling Inna, \u201cWe have to get this kid away from here! She\u2019s stealing my spotlight!\u201d<\/p>\n

Born into a family of performers \u2014 both of her siblings are \u201cin the business,\u201d and Inna is an actor, screenwriter and stand- up comic \u2014 Swinton seems to have been destined for the spotlight, and she\u2019s had no trouble seizing it for herself. Most recently, she\u2019s been getting raves for her role in HBO Max\u2019s Sex and the City<\/em><\/a> revival, And Just Like That<\/em><\/a>, playing the younger and more rebellious of Charlotte York-Goldenblatt\u2019s two children, Rose (and, later in the series, Rock). Last summer, Swinton appeared in M. Night Shyamalan\u2019s horror flick Old<\/em>, and before that she starred opposite Allison Tolman in ABC\u2019s short-lived sci-fi drama Emergence<\/em>. She\u2019s also played the daughter of Paul Giamatti\u2019s character on Showtime\u2019s Billions<\/em> since the show premiered in 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Alexa
Alexa Swinton (Photo: Brandon Leger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In July, when photos<\/a> of the And Just Like That<\/em> cast surfaced online, people immediately noticed Swinton\u2019s character\u2019s eclectic style: she wore a black tuxedo print T-shirt over an ankle length Oscar de la Renta floral print dress with sneakers and an adorable knit cap with an owl\u2019s face on it. That first glimpse announced a character who had no trouble whatsoever expressing exactly who they are via their own quirky sense of style. It also begged the question of how the hyper-feminine, comparatively conservative Charlotte (played by the sneakily hilarious Kristin Davis<\/a>) would cope with such a free-spirited child.<\/p>\n

Swinton points to a specific scene in the show\u2019s sixth episode as illustrative of the characters\u2019 dynamic. Charlotte is surprised by her children\u2019s characterization of her cherished collection of Madame Alexander international dolls as \u201cculturally insensitive.\u201d Swinton plays the scene with a dry, laidback ease that serves as the perfect contrast to Davis\u2019s prim, sputtering alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlotte has these two kids,\u201d Swinton explains. \u201cThey\u2019re Gen Z, they\u2019re on TikTok<\/a>, they\u2019re on social media, and they\u2019re kinda like the people that are representing younger people in the world today.\u201d The humor, as Swinton sees it, comes from the kids patiently, but firmly, explaining the world as they see it to the frequently befuddled Charlotte.<\/p>\n

\"Kristin
Kristin Davis, Evan Handler and Alexa Swinton in And Just Like That<\/i> (Photo: Craig Blankenhorn \/ HBO Max)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swinton \u201chas a unique personality and brings a new quality to Charlotte\u2019s family, both as a character and an actor,\u201d Davis said of her young costar via email.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a dynamic that\u2019s reminiscent of the character\u2019s reactions to her three much more bawdy friends in the original series. It also reminds Swinton of her relationship with her own mother. \u201cI think I definitely try to teach her what might be more… appropriate<\/em>,\u201d she says with a mischievous laugh.<\/p>\n

Inna agrees: \u201cYou taught me about pronouns when you were six<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust the other day, actually, I was talking about neo-pronouns to my mom,\u201d Swinton says. \u201cI sent her an article about how to use them just because she was curious. And I think that\u2019s a lot like what Lily and Rock are like with Charlotte. It\u2019s that vibe where they\u2019re like, \u2018You know what, this is what\u2019s happening right now. We love you, we just want to let you know.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It turned out that Swinton\u2019s character\u2019s look was just the tip of the iceberg. Over the course of the season, Charlotte\u2019s youngest, who was named Rose and assigned the female gender at birth, has increasingly asserted a less conventional identity. \u201cI don\u2019t feel like a girl,\u201d they admitted in one episode. In another, they changed their name to Rock and, later, got a short, shaggy haircut.<\/p>\n

\"Alexa
Alexa Swinton in And Just Like That<\/i> (Photo: Craig Blankenhorn \/ HBO Max)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swinton, who resolutely refers to her character as Rock and uses gender neutral pronouns to describe them \u2013 while using she\/her offscreen \u2013 was aware of the character\u2019s journey before she ever got the role. Her audition process included the scene in which Rock tells Charlotte that they don\u2019t feel like a girl. \u201cI was like, I\u2019m glad we\u2019re finally getting something like this, because I haven\u2019t seen it<\/em>,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Swinton acknowledges that the experience of questioning and having to explain her gender identity is not familiar to her personally. She was, though, well aware of transgender issues and the concept of non-binary<\/a> gender as many young people of her generation are. But, she says, her understanding of where Rock was coming from is largely thanks to a friend she met online during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe identified as female before, and it took a lot of figuring out, and he needed someone to talk to, and so it was just helpful to have someone who wasn\u2019t going to be there in person and have prior judgements,\u201d Swinton explains. \u201cI learned a lot about the actual experience of trying to figure out who you are as a person and how much you rely on your friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing Rock has, of course, only deepened Swinton\u2019s empathy for others in similar situations. \u201cI just really feel for the people who are 12 years old and figuring out their identity and figuring it out with their friends and family.\u201d At the same time, she says, it\u2019s refreshing that the show doesn\u2019t problematize Rock\u2019s identity, that it depicts a family learning to adjust their expectations and preconceptions in a loving and supportive way. \u201cI feel like Rock was very fortunate to have Charlotte and their family just be there, because not a lot of people have that,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Family is important to Swinton, too. When asked to tell the story of her life, she says she has to start with her parents and grandparents. Mom Inna, who was born in Russia, immigrated to the U.S. with her own parents when she was 9 years old, and Swinton speaks fluent Russian. Her maternal grandparents live with her family, and she is steeped in her mother\u2019s Russian-Jewish heritage. She\u2019s grown up with stories of what life was like for her grandparents in the former Soviet Union. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to be very thankful for what I have,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the Swinton family launched The Swinton Show<\/em>, a YouTube channel featuring videos of Inna and her three children performing. One of the earliest clips is of a six-year-old Alexa singing \u201cI\u2019ve Got No Strings\u201d from Disney\u2019s Pinocchio<\/em>. More recent videos feature Swinton singing \u201cLet It Snow\u201d and TikTok star Anson Seabra\u2019s \u201cWelcome to Wonderland.\u201d At an age when most kids split their time between school and extracurricular activities, Swinton thinks of acting as a competitive sport. \u201cI have to train a lot,\u201d she explains. \u201cI have to have a skillset for it, because some parts require other things that you need to be able to do, like ice skating and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alexa
Alexa Swinton (Photo: Brandon Leger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But The Swinton Show<\/em> is more of a fun creative outlet. \u201cIt\u2019s like the fun drills you do,\u201d Swinton explains. \u201cLike when you play basketball and you get to just have a fun time playing horse? You still try your very best and you still want to win, but you also just have fun doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also spent the past few years getting a master class on set from the likes of Giamatti, Tolman, and Shyamalan. Since working on And Just Like That<\/em>, Kristin Davis in particular has been a major influence. Swinton says she liked Davis from the instant they met at the show\u2019s first table read. \u201cShe was very comfortable with me, which made me very comfortable with her,\u201d Swinton says. Davis, she says, helped her adjust to long, late night shoots and was never too busy to run lines with her. \u201cShe was just like, \u2018If you need help learning your lines, I\u2019m right here, I can help with that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlexa has been acting professionally for most of her life, so I didn\u2019t really try to give her any advice about the industry,\u201d Davis recalls. \u201cAlexa is very confident and doesn\u2019t seem to need much praise, which is unusual for someone her age, and so perfect for the part of Rose\/Rock.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Oh, and there\u2019s one other tiny aspect of working on And Just Like That<\/em> that has been especially thrilling for Swinton: the fashion. She\u2019s all about color, design, aesthetics. Though she\u2019s still too young to see Sex and the City<\/em>, she was familiar with the characters and their style from watching fashion videos on YouTube, and took particular issue with one famous episode in which Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker<\/a>) is forced to remove her shoes at a party only to see them stolen. \u201cI would never<\/em>,\u201d she insists. \u201cI would literally just hold them!\u201d<\/p>\n

The ladies of SATC<\/em> have big Manolos to fill, but as an It Girl in the making, Swinton seems poised to step into them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":49088,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23,16,3925],"yoast_head":"\nAlexa Swinton Is The Voice of a New Generation on \u2018And Just Like That\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the youngest actor on \u2018And Just Like That,\u2019 Alexa Swinton is bringing a new perspective to HBO\u2019s \u2018Sex and the City\u2019 revival.\" \/>\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\/alexa-swinton-and-just-like-that\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alexa Swinton Is 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