Brittney Wilson interview
Brittney Wilson says she can't wait to get back to London to meet up with the cast again.
Could you introduce your character?
Ashley is a bit of a hot mess. She's kind of running away from everything that's happening in her life. And she's just decided to go on this trip with May, who is actually funding the whole thing, which obviously she is a-ok with.
She comes from not a very privileged family, which is the opposite to May's family, which is quite wealthy. She's a scholarship kid, so she's going to school on scholarship. You learn very soon that she's not all that she might seem, but she hasn't always made the right decisions, so she's kind of on this journey of discovery but finding out very quickly that she can't really run away from what's happening at home.
She's a pretty fun character though. She's kind of a lucy-goosey, I'm cool to do whatever, kind of go-getter girl. So I've had a lot of fun playing her.
She's not at all two dimensional though. There's a lot going on and you very quickly work that all out. How easy is it for you?
She's a lot like me. I found when I read it that I kind of get this girl. I think that I'm kind of sarcastic, I say what's on my mind. So that part for me was really easy to grasp. But as the story's gone and we've developed the characters and I've developed Ashley, it's been fun to find those different layers to her. I get to do things that I would never get to do in my real life.
She's a very positive element to the group. She's really the one that keeps the group going. For you, the performance has to be quite energetic.
Yeah, keeping her energy up on shoot can be challenging at times because of the elements. The travel, the hours, the heat - it's a lot! I think that because we're such good friends off-camera, it really keeps us going.
You're a really tight group. That must have helped?
Yeah, we all hit it off really quickly. When we met in London, the first night in London, we just had an awesome time together! It's really rare for that to happen, where every single person gets along. I mean, not all personalities gel, but we just became this tight-knit little group and family, so that really helps us when we're dealing with the heat and being exhausted with the travel and that stuff.
It really makes it a lot easier when you're with your friends, having a good time and making the best of it at every moment. Because sometimes, it's hard, but it's good. We're very lucky.
Have you done this kind of traveling before?
I'm literally experiencing it at the exact same time as Ashley.
I've never left North America before. Never been outside - I lived in LA for a bit, and travelled some of Canada, but I've barely done any travelling. I've always said, 'I'm going to travel when they pay me to!' [LAUGHS] 'When I'm working, that's when I'll travel!' I'm always very focused on my career, so like, being able to be focused on your career and do something that you've wanted to do for your entire life, it's really great! This was a huge step for me. Huge, it's crazy. I mean the culture shock is really cool, being able to actually see these places that you've heard so much about but never got to actually experience.
Some of that awe, I guess, is probably happening on camera? When you guys were on the Great Wall, I can see from some of the footage you're not acting.
We weren't acting when we got up there. I mean it was the most beautiful view. It was like, it was surreal because you're like 'the Great Wall of China! Are we seriously walking on the Great Wall of China? And shooting a TV show? This is insane!' not many people get to do that, so whilst all of us where up there, we were just looking around going: 'we are so lucky right now!' it was so cool.
Do you get the sense that it's more about the lack of communication between you as a group, than it does that you're in South East Asia?
Absolutely, I think we misunderstand each other more than we misunderstand somebody speaking to us in a foreign language! Definitely! I mean everybody's always taking something in the wrong way in the show. Taking a look the wrong way, you know, those little subtle things. I definitely think there's more of a miscommunication within the group, than it is in our environment. Definitely.
Has it been weird to be offline for some much of the shoot?
I Googled every place before we were going, and every time we got there it was completely different than what I expected. You see things in the movies and in the media and all those kinds of things. But to actually be there and experience these kinds of things is something totally different. I hope that our show shows exactly what it's like because basically we are travelling, and we're experiencing these different things whilst we're shooting - so it really is us doing it in that moment!
Can we talk about the locations? What's been a standout moment for you?
I think for me it was Vietnam. I love Vietnam, and we only got to spend three days there, which was so unfortunate. We all got there and loved Ho Chi Minh City, and we didn't get to go to the museums or anything so I'm definitely going back! Definitely going back in my own time to explore more! The amount of traffic in Vietnam was insane! All the mopeds blew my mind! I was warned about the amount of traffic - it was crazy!
Did you notice the vast differences between the countries you were travelling in?
Oh yeah, definitely. I think that for me, everywhere I've gone: everyone has been so helpful. I got a little lost in Vietnam and couldn't find my way to meet up with everyone, and I knew I had it on the map in front of me, and I was asking random people. I had this one lady who walked me to the pub that I was meeting everybody at! Everywhere I've gone, everyone has been so nice and so helpful. If you don't understand what they're saying: they try to make you understand what they're saying, it's really cool.
You had to jump around episodically when shooting - does that add pressure to the process?
Yeah definitely! For us we actually started with Episode 4, where we were supposed to have this tight-knit group already and then we had to go back and do Episode 1 later. For us we had to act like we weren't friends at that point - so that was the struggle. It wasn't really the struggle of having to have this tight-knit group right off the bat - it was a struggle, getting out of that! Pretending to not really know each other - that was more difficult.
Do you ever have moments where you're like: 'I'm being a bit of an Ashley right now?'
Oh yeah, big time! We find ourselves sometimes saying lines in reference to a situation that we're in outside of work. Like 'Oh, that was a May line!' Or 'Oh that was a Greg!' All the time!
Do you ever get to the point where you're like, 'I wonder what Ashley would do?'
Ashley makes the wrong decisions! I go the opposite of what Ashley would do. I'm like 'Ok, time to make a Brittney decision here, not an Ashley one!'
As this is a comedy drama, because you've got the laughs, does it make those serious moments more effective?
Yeah I think so! The writing is so great that it's kind of all there on the page so they kind of let us take it from there and explore that and explore the different levels of both drama and comedy. We have a lot of freedom, and when you have great writing, it's very easy to make it all work.
Do you get a sense that the characters are all looking for different things; do you get what Ashley's looking for?
I've definitely had moments where somebody has said: 'Let's try it this way' and I've had that moments where I've just gone: 'But I really just don't think that she would say that' And you know, you've always heard about actors saying 'Oh I don't think my character would say that', and I don't want to come across as a douche and say that, but also sometimes there really is those moments where you say 'I think this is kind of more so what I would do, or Ashley would do.' So, you know, you kind of have to be more polite, otherwise you look like a dick! But yeah I've definitely had my moments where I've gone, 'You know, I think this is the right way.' And then we all come to an agreement!
Do you think that's why they punished you by making you do the Karaoke scene?
Oh the Karaoke! [laughs] It was so much fun! I am actually a singer so for me to sing badly was the best thing ever! The pressure's taken off, I was like 'Ok I don't have to be perfect here. I can just sing however I want to - badly!' It was definitely a standout moment for me - it was one of the most fun scenes that we've shot. And then Anders came in and just killed the rest of it. We had so much fun doing that scene together! It was great - the wedding was an awesome episode for us - we had a lot of fun!
Has this changed your view of British boys?
Yes! Anders and Ade - total assholes. No I'm just kidding! Tim - total dick! [Laughs] I Love them! I had so much fun in London, and people in London were fantastic. I can't wait to go back, we always talk about it we always say how we can't wait to be back in London hanging out.