Anna Camp Has Played a Lot of ‘Uptight, Blond, Bitchy’ Women — but Her ‘Good Girls Revolt’ Role Is Different

Anna Camp is known for playing a certain type of woman. In both Pitch Perfect films and on shows such as True Blood and The Good Wife, the 34-year-old has embraced controlling, type-A roles who don’t take no for an answer. But the actress, who recently married Pitch Perfect co-star Skylar Astin, isn’t necessarily interested in always portraying the same person. And while her latest project, Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt, which premieres Friday, starts off with her character taking on the same ambitious and aggressive traits as usual, it becomes clear as the period drama unfolds that Camp’s Jane Hollander is not her typical character.

The show, set in 1969, is based on real events, following a group of women working at a news magazine who decide to push for equal treatment in the workplace. It takes place during a historically revolutionary time — yet the issues tackled are also shockingly (and even semi-horrifyingly) relevant still. It’s also fun to experience the fashion of the era, especially on Camp, who has a very memorable ‘do. Yahoo Style spoke with the actress about why she signed on for the part, how much hairspray her voluminous style involved, and how being bullied as a teenager helped her become better at her job.

Yahoo Style: What felt exciting about this character to you when you got the script initially?

Anna Camp: To be honest, I was actually a little hesitant to play Jane because I had played so many of the uptight, blond, bitchy, put-together women. We talked and they brought me in and promised me a really huge arc. Jane is the least evolved of the women, and she is really content with the status quo at the time. She doesn’t really realize she has other choices or opportunities than she’s been getting. So, to me, the most attractive thing was that she has so far to go and so much within her to learn. When the revolution happens with music and sex and drugs and the world and all of that stuff, there’s so much that can happen to a person who’s so reserved. I found that to be very intriguing, to see how those changes in the world were going to affect such a seemingly uptight and reserved character.

So we’ll see her evolve through the season?

Yes, absolutely. I definitely wanted to make sure there’s a lot of changes that happen. Jane evolves a lot, and to be honest it doesn’t take place until the last three or four episodes. So I’m really hoping we get a second season because I want to push her character further than they got to do in the first season.

Did you know how big her hair was going to be when you took on the role?

No! They didn’t. And in the pilot, there’s that huge helmet from the first second you see her. You definitely know what type of character she is the minute you see her. I was definitely shocked getting out of the hair chair to see how big it was. My hair never really gets that big again, which I’m kind of thankful for. But it was a great establishing shot of who Jane really is and her place in the office.

How much hairspray did that involve?

That involved so much hairspray. Luckily for me, that’s not my hair. The front is my hair and then they attached a wig onto the back that’s already been teased. But it does take a lot of hairspray.

Do you think the issues the show deals with, like feminism and birth control, feel relevant to present day?

Absolutely. It’s set in 1969 and coming into the ’70s, and that was not that long ago when you really think of it. My mom was in high school. We all know someone who was growing up then, and it’s super close to home. Especially now with what’s going on with this election and the Trump tapes, we’re seeing how women are still being treated. You look at the male roles on the show, and it’s not like you can forgive them or make an excuse for the way they treat the women, but we didn’t know any other way. There wasn’t a term for sexual harassment. There wasn’t a term for sexual discrimination back then. These women had to define it in order to fight against it. Now, in 2016, there is zero excuse for treating women in any degrading way. Or treating anyone in a degrading way. It’s fascinating to see that sexism is still alive and well today. Hopefully people will watch the show and we can keep talking and having conversations about it. Whenever you set out to do a television show or a film you can’t change the world, necessarily. We’re not doctors. We’re not saving lives. But we’re telling stories that can hopefully help people start an engaging conversation. I’m always searching for ways to not have this job feel like it’s selfish, but there are so many ways it can seem that way. But if you are invoking a conversation between people, then I think we are doing our job.

Did you take inspiration from anyone in real life when developing the character?

There are so many people that I know. I’ve been so fortunate to work on the Pitch Perfect franchise, and Elizabeth Banks is someone who has a family and is an actor and a director and a producer and is very driven. She is someone I could compare elements of my character to. I feel like I am, in some respects, similar to Jane. I grew up in the South, and a lot of my friends got married right out of high school and had a family and wanted to do that. That’s part of what Jane is, but throughout the series you find that she finds satisfaction in her career and that’s something I have found. I recently got married, which is wonderful and I’m so thankful for that, but it’s a balance of wanting to be a mom one day and wanting to be a great wife and wanting to be a great career woman.

Does it help that your husband understands the business you’re in?

Yes, it definitely does. There’s such an amazing perk to being in a relationship and being married to someone who also in an actor, who understand the ups and downs of the business. It can be an emotional roller coaster sometimes. There’s definitely so many benefits to being with someone who gets me as an artist and who gets me as a woman. I’m super thankful to have him in my life.

Was it inevitable that you’d say yes to being in Pitch Perfect 3?

How could I not? I knew I’d be really sad if I didn’t. I was really happy — and, to be honest, a little surprised — that they asked me back. My character was a smaller part of Pitch Perfect 2. But I have not read a script. I have no clue what’s going to happen with the third installment. But obviously it’s such an amazing gift to play a character multiple times in a row. That’s the wonderful thing about being on a TV series — it can run for five or six seasons and you get to grow with the role as an actor and change things as you change as a person. To be able to go back to Aubrey and see what she’s up to and how she’s changed and hang with all the other girls, it’s a no-brainer. It’s going to be super fun.

Have you learned anything about yourself in the process of playing all these uptight, controlling women?

I’ve learned that I am so not that. I’ve learned that I am the exact opposite. I get asked all the time, “Why do you play such similar women?” And growing up I was on the other side of the coin. I had one friend. I was a total theater nerd. I didn’t go out. I never partied. I was never popular. I was always on the outside looking in on those types of girls. And, also, at times I was bullied by those types of women. So I think that the reason why I can play them so well is because I’m not like them. I can look at it from the outside looking in. So that’s what I’ve learned: that I’m not like that at all.

Is it really cathartic to play them then?

Yeah! I was super bullied in middle school. I had a lollipop stuck to the back of my head. I had girls writing terrible things about me on the bathroom wall. So, in some ways, I feel like I’m getting my own sideways revenge on how I was treated.

Do you think it’s surprising for your fans to learn you were bullied?

I’m sure there’s a bunch of stuff people don’t know about me. I think it’s great when you find out someone is on paper one thing and when you get to know them more you realize they’re not that at all. I feel like being bullied pushed me to become successful. There’s something that pushes you to become successful once you graduate high school because there’s a part of you that wants to prove to everyone that you can be as awesome as you always thought you were. So perhaps that’s why I’ve gotten success in this business. Because I’m driven to prove to everyone that I wasn’t crazy when I was going to all those theater classes and doing all those things and not going out and drinking like all the popular kids did. I was doing this for a reason. It’s something I was born to do, and it’s something that brings me happiness and fulfillment. Hopefully I will get to work until I’m a very old lady with long gray hair. That’s my goal in life!

And, most important, was there anything you wanted to steal from Jane’s costumes while filming Good Girls Revolt?

You know, I wanted to steal other characters’s clothes. I would have loved to have worn Patti’s coats and hats. I do like my white winter coat. And I do love Jane. But at the end of a shooting day, I’m so ready to rip off that wig and rip off that girdle. It’s so funny because Genevieve [Angelson]’s character doesn’t even wear a bra half the time and I have on this giant, pointed, padded bra that I did not want to steal. I loved Jane’s clothes toward the end of the season, when she starts to loosen up a little more. I can’t wait to see what happens — maybe she’ll end up burning her bra by the end of next season.

That would be the dream.

I know! I would love to do that. To see Jane completely take her hair down and say, “I’m completely getting rid of this whole thing” would be amazing. Let’s do it!

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