Glamorous star Miss Benny is ready for her Carrie Bradshaw moment
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Netflix Miss Benny
WARNING: This post contains spoilers for Netflix's Glamorous.
Like the gender non-conforming makeup maven she plays on Glamorous, Miss Benny is ready to make her mark.
"I never would have thought when I was a kid growing up in a small house in Texas that one day I would be able to do the thing I've dreamed of my whole life," the former Fuller House, American Horror Stories, and Love, Victor guest star tells EW of starring as Marco Mejia on Netflix's news series, which kicks off with Marco joining a beauty empire run by the iconic Madolyn Addison (Kim Cattrall).
We spoke to the 24-year-old actress — who came out as trans just days after this interview — and recording artist about where her love of performing began, what this moment means to her, and her take on Marco's meaningful step forward in the season finale.
Amanda Matlovich/Netflix
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What is your earliest memory of performing?
MISS BENNY: I have three older siblings and we were all homeschooled. We lived in a small house, but we had a camcorder, so I remember we would dress up and make these home movies. I think because I was the youngest, I was always the star of them. Making movies and little skits was always really fun for me, so I always knew I wanted to do something with performing.
What was your first professional project?
I did a bunch of commercials in Texas, and I believe the first one I ever did was for a math learning program. They actually taught us math while we were filming and I was really bad at math as a kid, so it was humiliating having to do math on camera. Then I proceeded to do Super Soaker, Nerf gun ads — and at one point I did Furby, and Totino's Pizza Rolls. I was working the circuit when it came to commercials.
Then when I came to L.A., I started to get into sketch comedy, which then eventually led me to doing sketch work for AwesomenessTV on Nickelodeon.
What did you learn from your run of guest-star gigs?
I learned with Fuller House specifically, because I played the first gay character in the Full House universe, that there was a strong desire on the studio front — and from the audience front — for queer stories and queer characters. It was very validating for me, because as a queer actor I found that I would go into so many rooms and be told that it wasn't time yet, or that someone like me wasn't really fit to be a leading character on TV. All my guest-star spots were confirming to me that something was bubbling. Then, when the script for Glamorous came around, I remember thinking very distinctly, "This is the one. This is the moment."
I heard a couple years ago the idea of knowing who you are, and knowing who you can be. In my case, it was not fighting against the fact that I am a flamboyant queer person. It might take waiting for my wave to come, but I don't want to diminish parts of myself to get a chance to appear. The more I've accepted myself and brought myself to auditions and meetings, the more I've been rewarded for it.
What stands out the most from your Glamorous audition?
I was so used to the way I had to audition before, where I would go in as myself and I'd be told to tone myself down. So I went into the Glamorous audition toned down already, in anticipation of that. The only note they gave me for my callback was "we want you to be yourself." They knew me to be a very flamboyant and vibrant person. That's something they were looking for, so the next audition I didn't hold back at all. It felt like the first time in a casting office I'd ever been told that I wasn't doing too much, and it was validating.
What was your favorite part of shooting Glamourous — and what was the most challenging?
The cast is just incredible. Everybody's so funny and loves the show. We all feel protective over it and how important it is. It was fun to create escapist television.
The only challenging part was I'd only ever [played] the friend of the lead character, so I'd never gotten to work the same hours as a leading character. I was working 14- to 16-hour days for five months. I learned a lot from that experience, as far as how I protect my stamina and how to speak up for myself when I feel strongly about a decision. I have so many amazing tools that I wouldn't have otherwise. That's what happens when queer people finally get these opportunities to be part of something on this scale.
I've always looked up to leading women of TV shows and movies that I've watched. I always had fantasies about Carrie Bradshaw, a fabulous figure balancing love life and friendships. Something I love about [Glamorous] is we get to see somebody like Marco, who we don't normally see in a leading role, go through a love triangle and be seen as attractive and climb the ranks at work. Getting to have those same experiences that we've seen and loved before, but this time through somebody we don't normally get to see have those things.
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What was filming with Kim Cattrall like?
Incredible. I was starstruck the whole time. Fortunately, Marco is also supposed to be starstruck, so it was pretty easy to channel into that. I was a huge Sex and the City fan, and Samantha's specifically was such an icon to me. It was cool getting to see her deliver her monologues and one liners in front of me, and see those isms that she brings to the character.
Marco and Chad (Zane Phillips) have this fascinating dynamic on Glamorous, what was it like to play that?
The Chad-and-Marco dynamic is one of my favorites, because they're both different products of the same environment — of overbearing, headstrong moms — but they have completely different responses to it. They butt heads in the way that me and my siblings do. What was really funny about it was that our size and personality differences on screen made it feel like a Tom and Jerry situation. We played our scenes with just a little bit of underlying sense of flirting. It felt like at the end of every scene we were like, "Are we about to kiss?"
All of Marco's relationships with the other gay men on the show were special because Marco is such a particular type of queer person, specifically a queer man in this season, and seeing how somebody like Chad, who doesn't see himself as "that gay" be around Marco who is absolutely "that gay" is fun. Hopefully it will create a lot of great conversation.
Amanda Matlovich/Netflix
What was your reaction to Marco's step forward on their journey of self discovery in the finale?
The ending of the show is very intentional. I worked closely with [Glamorous creator] Jordon Nardino on how we allow this snapshot of identity discovery to exist on the show, and show somebody at the very precipice of self discovery. It was important to me that anything to do with Marco's gender identity not be a twist. I wanted it to happen amidst everything else going on in Marco's life because my journey of self discovery has happened in the background of my first relationships and career.
On the show, Marco and a group of folks stage a performance of Chicago's "Cell Block Tango" during a P-Town trip. What song — other than one of your own — would you choose to do in real life?
It would have to be something silly for a group, so it would be like "We're All In This Together" from High School Musical and we'd do the choreo that they would teach in the commercial breaks. That would be very, very iconic.
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