Q: Congratulations on Season 2 of FALLOUT! What has been your favorite part of the filming process? What’s been the most difficult?

Thank you so much! My favorite part of filming is [craft services]. My second favorite part is getting to fake murder people. And my third favorite part of filming is the moment when you forget all the chaos around you and melt into your character and just for a few minutes or seconds you feel totally at home there. When they yell “cut” and you and your scene partner know you found a version of the scene that totally works and get big dumb smiles on your face. It’s so silly and fun and powerful. It’s truly an honor to get to be a part of this show where I get to work with a cast and crew who are not only wickedly talented but also just really great human beings.

Q: What was the casting process like for landing this incredible role? Was there a moment you knew you’d gotten it, or were you really not sure how things were going to play out? 

When I was first submitted for the audition by my managers, casting didn’t want to see me! I had only done a few small guest stars at this point. My managers had a feeling the show was a good fit for me, so they said 'fuck it' and sent me the audition materials and script anyway. I’m grateful to have reps that go to bat for me! I read the script and immediately had that feeling of, “I have to be a part of this.” It was just so epic and camp and new. The audition was only one scene (the scene where Lucy and I walk down the hall of the vault talking about sex in 101), and there was no indication that the character was a recurring role. I taped the scene over and over until 2AM, and my managers sent it off. I never feel awesome after auditions, but I made my reader laugh so that felt good? I didn’t hear anything for two weeks so I figured it didn’t work out. My partner and I went on a trip to Italy, and I got a call while I was there that I was going to start work on Monday as Steph, and that it was a recurring character! I flew home as fast as I could and started filming just a few days later. 

Q: FALLOUT is based on a popular video game. Is it stressful being part of an adaptation in that way, knowing fans might be expecting certain things? Have there been any favorite fan reactions to your character or the show in general? 

We were given a gift, which was that FALLOUT's writers and showrunners, Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (who is also a Harvard grad!), wrote the show to fit within the FALLOUT “canon” without replicating one of the stories featured in the games. So instead of recreating existing lore, they are adding to it! Honestly, their writing was just so good I couldn’t imagine people not enjoying it, whether they were gamers or not. But yes, I learned that the gaming community is very protective of the games, and it was a huge relief to see how much they love the show.

I loved how much people freaked out over the fork going into my eye. To this day, that fight scene might have been my favorite thing ever to film. For Season 2, I have recently loved reading reviews and comments saying that I’m scary. If you know me, I kind of have golden retriever energy in real life, so it feels good to slither around as Steph.

Q: Did you play any of the video game in preparation for immersing yourself in the world? Do you feel like the post-apocalyptic setting speaks to where we are as a society right now at all?

I tried to! I was ultimately not good enough at gaming to get past the first few levels, so instead I watched a lot of pro gamers play FALLOUT on Twitch and YouTube, which is actually very entertaining and helped me understand the humor, tone, and stakes of the world. FALLOUT can be interpreted as a cautionary tale, and there were many moments when I would read a script (particularly in S2) and feel shaken to my core because it felt like only a slightly more sarcastic and hyperbolic telling of a story I was reading in the news that morning. I think the show marries heavier themes of the corruption of centralized power, the illusion of safety and control, and the capacity for human survival with a wink, a smile, and an exploding head. I just feel lucky to be a part of FALLOUT’s universe

Q: According to Amazon, FALLOUT was the second most-watched title in the history of the platform when it premiered. How did it feel knowing so many people were watching? Do you ever get recognized on the street?

That was crazy. The day it aired, I didn’t have any clue how to conceptualize millions of people watching. I still don’t. I made some boundaries for myself around interacting with fans and strangers on the internet that have been helpful. Being on FALLOUT has both totally changed my life and also not at all. I get recognized very rarely (I think the eyepatch helps!), but I’m starting to experience it a bit more now that Season 2 is out, which is kind of cool but I have mixed feelings about.  All in all, the fans have been so amazing and positive, and I’m really grateful. 

Q: The Season 2 premiere just aired on Wednesday. FALLOUT has already been renewed for Season 3. What does this mean for Steph? 

I can’t say anything about my potential involvement in Season 3 yet without giving spoilers (ask me again on Feb 4th once the last episode of Season 2 airs!), but I am so beyond excited that the show has been renewed. I’m also really anxious for people to see the last few episodes of Season 2. Episode 7 was my favorite to film and has some exciting developments for Steph. 

Q: Pivoting a little, how did your time at Harvard prepare you for what you’re doing today?

More than anything, I fell in love with acting at Harvard. Getting to be in plays and musicals with your friends is just the best, and I really needed that time to grow in confidence and learn how to be a human being. Remo Airaldi was a big part of my growth in the ways that he pushed me to learn about my peaks and valleys. Scott Zigler’s comedy class was also a big one for me. I really liked college for the most part, and having the freedom to try new things and fail was really good for me.

Q: Are there particular acting craft books you recommend or methodologies that you utilize in your work? 

I still use the PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR THE ACTOR (Practical Aesthetics Method), which was introduced to me by Scott Zigler at Harvard. I like the focus on being present and identifying achievable actions in a scene. I also recently started working with an on-camera teacher in NYC (Jon Shear, another Harvard grad!) who encourages doing only flat-reads during rehearsals and using two “contrasting energies” to discover a scene. That’s been pretty effortless to implement on set and is another great addition to the toolkit.

Q: Looking to the future, are you working on anything else? What’s on the horizon post-FALLOUT? Is there a dream role, project, or collaborator? 

Nope, so whoever is reading this, please cast me in something!! I’m only kind of kidding… I do have a movie coming out in 2026 called INTO THE SKY that we shot last year that is really fun, and it's having a festival premiere that will hopefully be announced soon. There’s another indie feature that we are hoping to shoot this year as well, but I’m really just going into 2026 open-minded and open-handed. I would love to do a play in NYC. I would really enjoy working on a period piece, maybe something with pirates? I dream of working with Chloé Zhao - HAMNET tore me to pieces. I also want to find a way to keep making art with friends and people I love, because that really fills me up. 

Q: Finally, was there a piece of advice a mentor gave you that has stayed with you to this day? 

You are interesting enough.