‘I would not have asked for a better project’ [Exclusive Video Interview] – GoldDerby

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“Walking into the ‘Grease’ universe is very scary and huge shoes to fill,” says “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” star Cheyenne Isabel Wells. She plays Olivia on the Paramount+ musical series that premiered April 6. “I would not have asked for a better project to come into this industry with. We get to dance, we get to sing, we get to act, we get to do everything!” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

“Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” takes place four years before the original “Grease.” In 1954, before rock ‘n’ roll ruled and before the T-Birds were the coolest kids in school, four fed-up outcasts dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever.

SEE ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ costume designer Samantha Hawkins on ‘interesting challenge’ of vintage musical pieces [Exclusive Video Interview]

“I love everything about Olivia,” Wells reveals. “She’s a big mess, but she’s an amazing mess. Going into it a big person that I looked up to was Marilyn Monroe. In the series there’s a moment where Olivia has that. But even in real life, when I was preparing, she was a huge person to look up to for this character. More for like movement, and stuff like that, but also the way she spoke. Also, a lot of Olivia is also in Cheyenne. Getting to put that ‘cool’ part that I’ve always wanted to be in real life out on screen is absolutely amazing and so fun.”

Wells describes bringing her Latin heritage to the series as “an honor.” She recalls her grandmother’s own experience from that era when speaking Spanish in public was frowned upon. “I remember my mom telling me stories…and every time she would go out in public it was like, ‘You can not speak Spanish.’ So my mom stopped speaking Spanish completely. It was not okay. The tradition stops for awhile. It was so nice having [creator Annabel Oakes] and the writers put the Spanish in. It gives Latin girls [a chance] to see themselves.”

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