Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Alex Newell Interview

Automatically transcribed; may contain errors.

first the glee project and glee itself what made you want to audition for it um you know i didn't know that i was auditioning for the glee project at all when i auditioned um way way way way back then it was on the show glee itself was such a big hit and was so giant that they were looking for new cast members in this um format on myspace and then from that format on myspace we got we got oh they got um over like 34 submission 34 000 submissions and they kind of just scrapped the whole idea because they found grant gustin outside of it all and then maybe like a couple months after that they um started this competition i guess this whole competition outside of lee and i remember getting a email on facebook like a dm on facebook all those years ago being like hey you're being considered to be on this new show the glee project blah blah blah blah and i was just like what what is this what is happening and so i deleted it and that submission that i did on myspace turned into like real emails and real calls to fly me out to really audition for the glee project how do you feel about it now looking back all those years it's something that i would never do again why not it was a lot of work i mean the show itself was it took a lot out of me as an 18 year old freshly still in high school um kind of flying cross country away from my single parent mom with my only child syndrome very attached to me um and it was reality tv competitions are doozy they really really are um am i happy that i did it absolutely do i cherish that i did it at 100 but would i do it again no by no way means necessary a cautionary tale to anyone out there who wants to try out for a competition show um let's move on to actually getting on glee what was you excited were you nervous were you both was this like a big chance for you how did you see your role well you know i saw it in this gaze of you have two episodes to make the most out of it you know that was my consolation prize of like losing the glee project it was here you can have two episodes and a song on the christmas album and i think in my mind it was just cherish the moment that you're doing all of this and kind of make the most of it and then those two episodes turned into three those three episodes turned into being a recurring guest and then that recurring guest turned into being a full series regular yeah which is phenomenal um let's move on to zoe now because what a great show you know tell me a little bit about mo how do you approach the character i approach mo in the sense of it how would i if i were watching this show what do i want to see what what if i were a fan of this show what do i want this character that reminds me so much of myself to be what is what is the thing that is going to be most relatable and honest and real to that person hmm definitely um how would you describe mo and zoe's relationship you know at first it's that friend that you never think is going to be your friend the friend that kind of comes out of nowhere um i i i love my friends that i have around me because they're 100 honest with me and they don't care who i am they don't care how many television shows i've been on how many broadway credits i have how many accolades i have they don't care they're somebody that will tell me the truth as i need to hear it and i love that mo is that for zoe sometimes the truth hurts sometimes it's good for you sometimes you don't want to hear it but at the end of the day somebody has to hold up that mirror and hold you accountable for it and zoey does that for mo as well in a sense it's almost like they're brutally honest with each other sometimes but they do it in from a place of love and they do it from a place of sometimes humor which is you know in keeping with the show so you know i love their their transactions i love watching them interact uh can we talk a little bit about the last episode that aired because obviously it was um emotional i'm sure for you i talked with john and he you know discussed how emotional it was for him but from your perspective how do you feel they handled the discrimination topics discrimination in the workplace is something that always happens it's been happening for quite literal ever and shining light on that while allowing non-people of color to take responsibility for their flaws and their blind sides and their ignorance is kind of what needs to be shown and to have them themselves realize it in a way is different than us screaming and yelling at them and i think the show handled that brilliantly absolutely one of the things i said to john was so many times that type of episode can come across as preachy but it was so interesting to me to see the scene in the office between um [Music] i lost his character's name simon and zoe where he she's like well you know i'm a woman in tech and he was like i'm a black man like you can't even if you feel like you can relate you can't yeah and it wasn't shoved in your face it was just very matter of fact it's a lot of self-reflectiveness i really is and i said to john you know there are times where i may have made a joke or thought something and didn't really think anything of it because i don't think of myself as as discriminating against others but i may have hurt someone without even realizing it so i feel like this episode was such an eye-opener for myself i think for a lot of other people um so kudos to you and the whole cast uh let's talk a little bit about musical numbers what has been your favorite so far on the show either yours or someone else's i will always say peter gallagher's true colors no matter how many times he sings it or i see it completely because it's so brilliantly beautifully done um that's probably number one it always sticks out on my mind i swear that was the number that got us picked up completely no one can no one can tell me it otherwise but um that i don't i i i for my own personal music numbers i don't remember half of them if there's like vacuum after i'm done they just go away forever um but yeah peters that's my number one all-time favorite yeah it was it was amazing really amazing um and like you said really kind of opened a lot of people's eyes to the show so it's wonderful what did you think when you first heard the premise for the show were you like what you know i come from a musical television show already and i come from a musical theater background so i was just like huh okay i guess this is i'm so used to suspending disbelief at every juncture i was just like okay but yeah it happens that can happen it's a cool concept and it is a cool concept of you know this is why i think i got the role is because i love music so much every form of it every facet of it um and the line that mo says in the pilot a good song can make you feel things words can't express is something that i actually believe a good song can express everything that you can't always say in words because it's just so universal and you always remember where you heard that song or when you heard that song and it's it's a it's a it's a bridge for a lot of people as well so the song of and the term of heart song that concept is just so brilliant and beautiful in itself absolutely i 100 agree and i also think it can be the song but with a particular singer so even you know i can hear a song and for example true colors i think it's a beautiful song peter gallagher singing it in that context was just i mean it made me feel something different even taught me as a whole it's like you hear dolly parton's i will always love you you love it you think it's pretty thick it's stunning but then you hear whitney houston saying it and you're just like that's revolutionary where did this song come from right exactly what song would you love to be able to sing on the show oh my goodness i am such a music snob and i can't think of anything right now i put you on the hot seat a thumb that i would love to sing i don't know um um i who have nothing i have nothing um ain't no way by aretha there's so many yeah yeah there john had kind of had that same reaction there's so many i want to do i don't know which one i would pick um do you see yourself as a role model or spokesperson for the lgbt community um do you want that role if you do see yourself that way i always say this i never preface or see myself as a role model because then it becomes disgenuine when you take on all of that responsibility if you can live your life authentically and beautifully and true to who you are and you show that you're a role model regardless without thinking that you're a role model because then you just do it to be the role model and i think when you start thinking about it you become complacent in it have you gotten feedback from individuals who are like you are my role model you you know i am i am so i feel more encouraged to to be myself because of your being yourself yeah and it fuels you to be more visible in the sense of being that for them but when i hear a role model i always think of just like i have to do this for the people i have to do it it's like no you can still live your full authentic life and be happy in that and that work alone is making you the role model i agree with your statement you know you do become disingenuous maybe a little bit when you think like a role model um what can you tell us about what's next for mo what is next for mo um mo gets a new love interest for the second half of the season um they moe and max open up the restaurant finally yeah we're excited about that what else is going on there's a lot of like things i think the biggest thing right now is the um new love interest are you happy with the way mo is the character mo is going and growing and and moving along um you know i always am a huge proponent of family life and i really want to sweet talk about moe's mother but i really want to meet noe's mother um and family in general to see what that dynamic would be and what it's like and to see the people that cultivated this this person and made that person who they are today um i think that this season is a lot of growth for mo and growing up in the sense of not being in their early 20s anymore and not kind of living as much of a carefree life but uh structured carefree life being responsible for other people and things hence the the restaurant in a sense who would you want to play moe's mother i have so many people i always say niecy nash because i'm obsessed with lindsey nash yes or like musical theater fans i would love like lilius white or um audra mcdonald yes yeah great yeah yeah okay you're hearing that producers we need to make that happen if there's a season three hopefully there will be um where would you like to see mo headed in season three obviously there's a new love interest this season so will that grow and develop do we won't see that fall apart what would you like to see from up i would love to see the love interest develop more you know you don't really often get to see black queer love on network television for more than just a blip yeah and growing up i mean even 10 years ago you know glee you didn't really see it as much now it is is much more prevalent um just just embracing all types of love is much more prevalent on television which is a wonderful thing um so you know i applaud you do you ever feel nervous about something they want you to do on the show like how is it going to come across to people honestly i guess yes but if so i talk it out i do i talk it out and i like i ask questions i'm a huge they get sick of me i ask so many questions like why why just why why would you why would anybody do that to be honest not an argument but like a a a why questioning of why are we still knocking on each other's doors zoe and i we're always going to each other's door and knocking and i'm just like why are we still doing this we've done 20 episodes now why are we still on the doors knocking it's very true you know i guess it's a sense of privacy um but you tend to be very analytical in that way if you're constantly asking why why why how does that help you and does it hurt you at all in in playing the role of moe it hurts sometimes but most times it helps because we're not making a movie we're making a television show so everything is so fast paced and we have different writers writing different things and we have different people have different visions of things and we have different directors coming in with their visions of everything and it's just like hold on i'm confused which which version of mo are we doing and it's the actor's job to kind of bridge everybody's ideas together and still ring true to the character so i asked why just because i would like to know everybody's thought process of where they're at so that i can mesh all of that into a nice little blender and produce the happiest product have you ever gotten some of that feedback and been like absolutely i was like no that's not what it is i mean an example would be like we were doing that um that um episode where we heard ice age most sage the restaurant and had that karaoke party and max got very upset at mo and i came we did that like coming back together scene and the director at the time was just like yeah you're both angry at each other and like you're lashing out at each other and i said no i'm not i wouldn't be laughing out i said this is the game like i have lashed out at max so many times now that for me and mo it's i'm stoic i'll let you have your moment take as much time as you need and then everyone's just like oh okay that's why i ask why a lot because it's like sometimes we can find a better medium for things absolutely it's always good to question even if you get the answer you don't necessarily want yeah sometimes the answer is just completely left field and i'm just like well good that's a good thing um very quickly which is which do you feel is more important to you which feeds your soul more acting or singing which feeds my soul more i mean i guess the easiest answer is singing i mean i've been doing it since i was two so there's such a sense of love and genuine trust in it all and you know with um doing eight shows a week and kind of doing concerts and touring and having like vocal damage every now and again and having to like relearn how to use this craft that i've cultivated and learning it and leaning on it and not letting it fall is just it's a beautiful thing because i feel like this is something special it's like my own little baby down there it i have to say you are a magnificent singer magnificent and again that goes not only to the instrument itself but your emotion involved in it which changes the feel of the song always so um thank you for that thank you for such a great character because i love mo you gotta love mo um and thanks so much for talking with me i can't wait to see the end of season two and crossing fingers for season three so that we get more of mo i love it thank you so much hit like smash subscribe and get notified for whenever reviews interviews and news go live you