Lexi Underwood is conscious of the “smartphone face” sensation. But it surely’s not one thing she’s notably apprehensive about when she’s performing—regardless of having been born in 2003. Portraying the quintessential ’90s teen appears to be her candy spot.
“Hear, I want that I used to be a ’90s teen for the style, for brownie factors, and simply to be cool, however I’m additionally okay with being a teen now,” the Merciless Summer season star tells Bazaar.com over Zoom, sitting casually on what seems to be like the ground and speaking animatedly. “If I’m at a celebration, I’m actually good at simply slowly creeping in a nook and being on my cellphone. I simply couldn’t think about what you do in case you don’t have one,” she laughs. “Let’s depart that previously.”
As a teen rising up simply earlier than the flip of the millennium, Isabella—Underwood’s character within the Freeform sequence—has no drawback getting by and not using a cellphone. And it’s protected to say the teenager drama wouldn’t be practically as enjoyable to observe if characters had them anyway. The absence of telephones makes viewers surprise throughout irritating scenes: What would they do in a state of affairs like that?
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The primary season of Merciless Summer season aired to a lot fanfare in 2021, specializing in the strain between two ladies within the early ’90s, one in all whom goes lacking, the opposite seemingly taking her place. The second season, which stars Underwood and takes place on the finish of the last decade, transforms the sequence into an anthology, introducing viewers to a complete new city, forged, and thriller, although the format of the present—the story jumps throughout three totally different timelines—stays the identical.
Even earlier than being forged within the new season, the 19-year-old actress was a fan of the present. She fondly recollects bingeing all 10 episodes once they arrived on Hulu, texting with mates about what they thought had occurred. “One thing that I beloved a lot concerning the first season was the construction of it, with the three totally different timelines,” Underwood says. “I noticed how they have been taking that however making it much more complicated and layered for season two.”
To this point, that layering contains the problems that are likely to come up with teen feminine friendship as Isabella, the extreme however fun-loving daughter of diplomats who has spent extra time overseas than in America, comes to stick with Megan (Sadie Stanley) and her household within the Pacific Northwest for the ladies’ senior 12 months of highschool. Because the three timelines unfold—summer season 1999, winter 1999, and summer season 2000—we witness the rocky starting, steadfast center, and chilling finish of an intense friendship and love triangle that leaves the boy concerned useless … and that’s solely a quick synopsis. As every episode unravels, increasingly secrets and techniques are uncovered—which can also be roughly how Underwood discovered about her personal character’s destiny.
“They instructed us nothing alongside the best way, and we saved asking who did it,” she says. “It is exhausting as an actor, in case you’re taking part in summer season 2000 roles and you haven’t any clue whether or not or not your character is telling the reality or if the opposite individual is telling the reality. There have been so many various theories that got here up simply because we had no clue.”
Was Underwood scared Isabella had one thing to do with the homicide? Completely, she says—however she remained on her character’s aspect nonetheless. “I like Isabella a lot. It’s by no means your job to evaluate your character. So each time I used to be like, I’m Staff Isabella. I’m supporting her; she made the suitable choice—even when she didn’t. I help ladies’s rights and girls’s wrongs,” Underwood says, smiling. “I used to be simply remaining optimistic, and I feel everyone was doing that for his or her characters, as a result of no one needed their character to go that approach.”
Whereas not figuring out something concerning the destiny (or potential motives) of a personality you’re portraying looks as if it might be irritating, Underwood didn’t thoughts it. As a viewer, she says, she loves reveals like Black Mirror that hold you on the sting of your seat: “I like having the ability to watch reveals unfold like that, and I feel that it’s actually enjoyable to have the ability to see the viewers members provide you with their very own theories.”
Lexi Underwood as Isabella in Merciless Summer season
Talking of theories, sure, Underwood has seen all of your takes on simply how a lot Isabella is like her character Pearl from Little Fires In every single place (“I’m on Twitter and I’m loving it”), which propelled the actress to a brand new degree of fame in 2020. She’d already made a connection between the 2 roles forward of filming, and was considerate about bringing a few of Pearl to Isabella, particularly since she noticed them as having very comparable cores.
“It was actually fascinating having the ability to not solely play two characters within the ’90s, but additionally to play two characters which can be so comparable with regards to craving stability and at all times having what they wanted, however not essentially what they needed, or vice versa,” she says. “I really feel like Isabella is only a extra mature model of Pearl.”
Extra mature, perhaps, however nonetheless mysterious and by no means excellent. “I really feel like Isabella would get on my nerves. She is certainly a little bit of a clingy buddy, and he or she takes issues a bit far,” Underwood says. A touch towards what’s to come back? That’s for her to know and us to seek out out, however the actress thinks we’ll be content material with how the second season finally comes collectively.
“Once I obtained the final episode, I had no clue what was gonna occur and I used to be so extremely shocked,” she says. “It’s not ‘Who did it?’ however extra ‘How did it occur?’ I feel that folks will probably be actually happy with the ending.”
Contributor
Brooke LaMantia is an NYC-based tradition and trend freelance author whose work has appeared in The Lower, Cosmopolitan, W Journal, InStyle, NYLON, and extra.
