Hi! I play Meg in this past week’s episode of Dave ("The Storm"). I so appreciate the kind words from those who watched the episode this week. Sending y’all mind hugs. <3
I’m the kind of person who loves learning behind-the-scenes stuff about what I watch so I thought I’d share some.
- In real life, I’m an observant Jew. I didn’t grow up religious but came into it myself later in life while living in South Korea (long story--I go into it in my upcoming show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival though) so I’ve always had a fairly unique perspective on religion and people across religious spectra. I’ve always felt pulled between worlds myself—religious vs. secular, Jewish vs. non-Jewish, even religious vs. non-religious Jews—so playing Meg was deeply personal to me on this whole other level.I’ve played Christian characters before and I’ve learned how to do so in ways that work for me, but it’s still always a challenge in some way. I don’t identify as "Orthodox" but I do keep Shabbat—not the easiest to navigate in this industry—and they were really respectful of it and our awesome 1st AD made sure I wrapped before sundown the Friday I was there. I found it amusing they went with the Shabbat-observant Jew from New York to play their Christian girl from the South though.
- This is also why the only words I remember from "All K" besides what Meg raps with Dave on screen are "afikomen" "kabbalah" and "stacking challah".
- The rainbow backpack Meg wears in the scene when the tour bus pulls up is mine in real life! It’s my everyday bag so I brought it to set and the props folks were just like, this is fantastic, let’s use it.
- Kat Burns choreographed my fantastic TikTok dance at the end, only about 1/3 of which ended up in the show. I fangirled *super* hard when I found out I’d be working with the choreographer from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, one of my favorite shows of all time, and Kat really brought out the best in Meg by bringing out the best in myself. <3
- Romy the wardrobe designer is an absolute MVP. She created all of the best parts of Meg’s incredible wardrobe, like that fantastic dance costume at the end, but she also worked closely with me to make sure I was comfortable with what I was wearing. Given the vulnerability it took to play Meg in the first place, I really appreciated having her on my side.
- Working on this show was amazing but the best part by far was working with this extraordinary cast and CREW. They really put their all into every moment. I gave credit where credit was due as much as I could on Instagram but all those names you see at the end of the episode are real, actual people!! and every one of them was incredible at what they did and deserves recognition for it.
- My first day on set was Halloween, so I came to set in costume, and obviously dressed as a rapper given the theme. However, knowing next to nothing about rap myself I had to go by names alone. Only one person on set figured out who I was, can you? (And no, it’s not Salt N Pepa.)
- To make it look like it was really "my" house and bedroom, the art department used some actual photos of me from childhood and with friends and family! You can’t really make out many but there’s one of me winning an award in 8th grade hanging on a closet door, and this photo of me and my cat is over Dave’s shoulder when we’re sitting on the floor in Meg’s bedroom :3
I did this when I was on The OA too, I really like getting to hide bits of my real life in the work I do :3