The Big Leap breakout Simone Recasner talks representation and how personal her role is
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Simone Recasner is ready to take a leap.
The 29-year-old newcomer is headlining Fox's new ensemble dance drama The Big Leap, playing Gabby Lewis, a single mom who gets a second chance at her dance dreams on a reality show after sidelining her career goals to raise her son.
Recasner, who grew up in Los Angeles with an actor father, is on the brink of a breakout moment as one of the most engaging and earnest parts of the show, which combines the choreography and concept of So You Think You Can Dance with the deep roots of a network TV drama.
Ahead of the show's Monday night premiere, we called up Recasner to chat about her dance experience, why this role means so much to her, and more.
Sandy Morris/FOX Simone Recasner on 'The Big Leap'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you first get interested in acting and performing, and what are your earliest memories of it?
SIMONE RECASNER: My dad is an actor, as well as my sister. I was super-immersed in the world. Everybody was always in some way or another associated with the business. Then when I was about 12 years old I saw a play at the Fountain Theatre, a little 99-seat theater [in Los Angeles], and I saw this play by Dael Orlandersmith called Yellowman, and it changed my life. It was talking about a subject that I had never been able to put words to, which is colorism within the Black community. I was at this young age where I was feeling things I didn't know how to word. Then also the amazing performances. I just left the theater and at 12 years old I said, "I'm going to be an actor."
What was your first professional gig?
There's not really a fine pinpoint on that. Because I did stuff as a kid, like my dad's friends would let me be in the background at a nail salon or something. My first production in New York was this play called Ain't No Mo' that I did at the Public, which was my dream theater to work in. I went to school around the corner, and every single time I passed the building I'd always mutter under my breath, "I'm going to work inside you someday," and then somehow that was the first stage I got a job in New York. It was a literal dream come true. In many ways, if I'm honest, this job, The Big Leap, feels like my first job as well. This is definitely my first job in this type of a position on a TV and film set.
Dance means so much in Gabby's life. Do you also have a deep dance background? Is it as meaningful to you as it is to her?
It is meaningful in a very different way; it's meaningful as an observer. This is my first time dancing professionally. So it's certainly been a big jump — or a big leap. [Laughs] It's certainly been a big jump for me to be in a position where I have to dance like I am somebody who used to dance like she was planning to be a professional. It's not just a cerebral experience. I think in the pilot alone I had six dance numbers I had to learn.
What was your dance training like? Was it intense?
Oh man. We've had days that are 10-hour-long days of dancing. It's been everything from contemporary, a lot of barre work and ballet training, and just trying to get in touch with the basics and make up for the fact that I haven't been doing that my whole life. Lots and lots of hip-hop and learning about weight shifts. It's been amazing also to do it with people that I loved when I was a kid watching So You Think You Can Dance, which was my first big introduction to dance on that national stage. A lot of our choreographers are from that world, so getting to dance with them was pretty incredible.
What is your favorite thing about Gabby?
My favorite thing is her bravery. She's so brave, even in moments she falters. She's not always in a space of perfect openness, but when she finally decides to get behind something, she goes 100 percent. She's somebody who can be incredibly self-conscious but doesn't let that stop her. Even if her brain is telling her that people are judging her, she keeps going forward. That is a quality I admire so much. It's amazing to get to embody that, and hopefully it'll seep into my actual personal life.
What do you find most challenging about her? Maybe the physical, dancing aspect?
I don't know. Yes it is challenging, but also the choreography team has provided so much support. I've never experienced playing a character and going through a similar experience that they're going through. So yes, we could say the physical component, but I feel braver than I ever did, even a few weeks ago, in dance. She's going through a very similar experience where as she keeps pushing herself to the precipice of what she thinks is her edge, she keeps moving forward and finding out that she has a support system, that she is able to lean on the people around her. But also ultimately then learns that she's able to lean on herself. I'm going through that experience actively.
Part of Gabby's journey is her relationship with her weight. Is the prospect of representing that a burden or a gift?
Yes to everything. All of the above. In a lot of ways, I didn't even believe I could be on TV. I didn't see myself being on TV, definitely not network TV. And it's because I literally never saw myself reflected on TV. So I am excited beyond belief. It's hard for me to really fathom what that could potentially mean to another little kid, or adults, any age. It's exciting that we do delve into the conversation of her body because it is very much important to the work that she's doing, but also what's amazing is that then the show also goes beyond that. That fact exists of her being a big dancer in a world that still worships smaller bodies. But then we also get to see her be a great mom, a horrible mom, a horrible daughter, a great daughter — all the facets that make a person a person. I hope that there can be a million more plus-size people on TV and in people's living rooms.
How did you make the single-mom aspect of her story resonate for you as that's not your personal experience?
A nickname I've had since I was a kid that continuously follows me is Mama Simone, so I'm just a naturally mothering type.
The pilot ends with this amazing Dirty Dancing-worthy lift. Can you tell us more about bringing that to life?
Being lifted was 100 percent a fear of mine. I just had to first of all trust the people around me, trust Ser'Darius [Blain]. But ultimately, it was so thrilling to be living my dream. Gabby has this idea in her mind of who can be centered in a story, even though she wants to dance, when we first meet her. She doesn't necessarily see herself as the center of it and core itself. To have her be front and center at the physical top of the mountain, and then also having to embody that myself, was very overwhelming. It was not hard to reach for the emotions of being totally overwhelmed with the glass ceiling on her dreams being broken.
The show within the show is building its cast at the same time I assume you were building relationships with your fellow cast members. How weirdly meta has this whole experience been?
It's so meta. I think of the show a lot as almost a superhero experience, where the show itself is about putting this group of people together and they all have superpowers, and their superpowers, you might not even notice them, but because we're highlighting each person, we get to come together. The goal is to put on a performance. But the inner workings of how everybody relates to one another, and how they can relate to themselves, is really good for showing the superpower itself.
The television landscape has changed profoundly in the last decade, but what does it mean to you to be the fresh new face on a network TV drama in this day and age?
It means more than I can say it. It is something I didn't see for myself, even as a trained person who is very much planning to make a career in this industry. I did not envision network TV embracing me in this way. I'm actively learning what it means as I'm going. It feels so monumental, and on a deeply personal level. I hope it makes people feel vindicated or good or empowered. The thing that gets me most revved up and in my feelings is imagining if I could go back and show the show to little 8-year-old me who was being forced on diets that were not helpful or healthy for her. She was always a healthy kid but the world was telling her she was too big. I wish that I could go back and show this to that kid. Then imagining that there are other kids out there like me really hits a part of me.
Related content:
