- Hey, it's Francia Raisa, and I'm in studio with
The Hollywood Reporter.
- So the second half of Grown-ish season two
premieres June 5th on Freeform,
and it picks up right where we left off,
where Zoey is about to find out about Ana, your character,
and Aaron, her ex, that you guys are hooking up.
So how can we expect her to react to that?
- Well, kinda shocked the way that we kinda left her off.
I don't think you really know how to react
with something like that, like putting myself in her shoes,
hearing about a friend hooking up with
someone that we used to hook up with.
And even in the trailer, he was like,
you know, we've been naked together.
So it's just like a lot to take in,
so I can imagine her feelings are all over the place
and angry and confused because she's in a relationship
so why does she care.
Just questions about her life.
- Do you think Ana broke girl code by doing that?
Because it is kinda complicated.
Zoey's dating Luca now, but she was with Aaron.
- That's such a complicated question for me to answer
because as an older woman, I'm like, that's not cool.
But when you're younger, it's kinda normal I guess.
That happened a little.
Well, that happened a little bit with some friends
because think about it, when you're in school,
that's who you see every single day.
Mind you, there's so many guys around and people around,
but it happens, where it's like,
hey, I kinda like him, whatever.
And I noticed back in high school,
and I didn't go to college, but it just was,
it was a conversation and it was cool.
But as you get older, it's not.
So as an older woman, I'm like, yeah she broke girl code.
That wasn't okay.
But I think being younger, one of my best friends,
her best friend dated her ex.
It was her freshman year, it was her sweetheart,
and then sophomore year, they were together for a while.
Back then, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it,
but now I'm like, that was wrong.
So it just kinda depends.
- Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like
a friend broke girl code?
Or not really?
- No, not really.
- That's good.
- My friends and I have really different taste in men.
- It always works out well that way.
- Yeah, it worked out well.
And now, my boyfriend, they're like, he's hot.
I'm like, I know, I got him, thanks.
- And he's mine.
- And he's mine, and checkmate.
- And on the show, what does now the future hold
for Ana and Zoey's friendship?
- I'm glad they touched on this subject
because friendship, I think you go through
different stages of life.
I think this just helps them grow in forgiveness,
in grace, and understanding and communication,
so I think there's gonna be a lot of,
all of that in the future for them
and just a little growth period for each one.
- For Ana and Aaron, what can we expect
for the future of their relationship?
- A lot of fun, like they've been having.
And there's a little twist that happens
towards the end of the season,
a little twist that I'm curious to see
how the audience reacts to it.
But I as an artist had a lot of fun
bringing this to the table.
- That's very exciting, a little tease of what's to come.
- I'm trying not to give away too much.
- And now, for Zoey, she can kinda be sometimes
immature and selfish, even with Ana trying to tell her
about the relationship with Aaron.
She kept on trying to tell her,
but Zoey was kinda so in her world
with the academic probation thing and everything going on,
she didn't even hear it.
- Well, Zoey's always in her own world.
It's her world and Luca's world,
which is funny because with her friends,
it's like, Zoey, Zoey, Zoey,
but when it comes to Luca, it's very much what Luca wants
and what Luca needs.
And if he wants to be vegan, okay I'm vegan too.
If I want to watch this movie,
okay I'll watch this movie too.
So I think she's really definitely learning balance,
and I think with this situation that happens
between her friendship with Ana,
it's definitely gonna help her center herself a little bit
and kinda realize a lot.
- And how do you think Ana will evolve
and change this season?
- Wow, Ana, Ana put herself in a situation.
She definitely did.
I really wanted her to loosen up this second season
because I felt like she was so uptight first season
and I think she loosened up a little too much.
- That happens in college, you know what I mean.
- It happens. - You're like
out here living your life, figuring out who you are.
- Yeah, and you got to do it when you're young,
so I'm glad that happened to her at a young age
and not in the real world
because there's more consequences in the real world.
I think she's definitely gonna learn a lot of balance.
- And the show definitely touches on that.
These young kids in college figuring out who they are
and growing up.
When you look back at yourself, when you were 19 or 20,
what's something you know now
that you wish you would have known then?
- It's not the end of the world.
I'm queen of, my life is over, this is never,
I'm never gonna come back from this,
and I'm still alive, things are forgotten.
And I think one of the things
that I have to even remember is
sometimes I run into people that I knew when I was 19 or 20
and I haven't seen them since
and I feel like I'm that age again when I see them
and I'm trying to justify my actions
or speak as I'm still 19 or 20.
I'm like, I'm not that person,
so it's okay, it's part of growing up,
it's part of growing stages, you learn,
you're not the same person,
you don't have to act like the same person
when you run into them just because
that's how they knew you.
And that's been a challenge that I've been kinda enduring,
so I think I would tell her, it's not that serious,
it's okay, everyone will forget, move on.
- And you've opened up in other interviews
about kinda growing and evolving,
becoming more confident with age
and coming into your own in Hollywood.
How do you feel like you did that?
- A lot of therapy, a lot of church.
I'm very open about therapy.
And I was depressed and I was going crazy.
I just felt like I
was really trying to meet everyone else's expectations of me
so I didn't know what my own was
and I was trying to so hard
to make it in this entertainment industry
that I was just trying to see what worked.
And I just couldn't do it anymore.
I was crying all the time, I was depressed.
My friends had an intervention.
My acting coach said I need to go therapy
or I'm not gonna coach you.
So I had to get some serious help.
And I just started learning to say, that's not my voice.
Even if I sometimes don't understand what that means,
I know that that doesn't feel right,
so I'm gonna say no.
And I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?
Someone says okay or I don't agree?
Okay, well, it's not me so.
It's still a challenge, and it's hard.
The person that I was when I turned 30
is not one what I'm becoming as I'm going to 31,
so it gets confusing because now I'm like, okay,
do I still like these things, am I still like that,
or what's going on.
But it's just part of growing up, just learn to accept it.
And something my therapist said is,
nothing in life is fair, nothing is logical,
and once you accept that, you'll understand freedom.
- And you've also opened up about being
a Latina in Hollywood and how when you were younger,
you used to feel kinda pressured to
fit a certain stereotype or look or act a certain way.
How did you overcome that,
and what was the turning point for you
when you decided I'm not gonna care about
that ideology anymore of trying to fit in to a certain mold,
I'm just gonna be me?
- I think the same situation was I was in therapy
and I was trying to figure myself out.
Again, I was really trying to make it.
And whatever worked for
whoever became the big hit at the time,
I always refer to Sofia Vergara
because when Modern Family came out, it blew up.
And I've known Sofia since she was doing novellas.
And so, all of a sudden, it was,
you need to wear a tight dress,
you need to get an accent, you need to be loud.
And guys that's a character she's playing.
Also, if that's her, that's her.
I can't pretend to be that.
I don't have an accent.
I lost it when I was little.
This is me.
So I did feed into it for a little bit,
and then as I started getting to learn myself a little more,
I realized I don't want to dress that way
and I don't want to be loud.
And honestly, a lot of women coming out
and just speaking their truth has made me
become a little more brave in talking about myself
and wanting to really be myself,
to kind of encourage other people
because it's hard right now.
With social media and television
and being more outspoken, it's hard.
I can see even myself, I look at J.Lo, and I'm like,
I wish I was you.
But, you know,
it's not healthy. - It's like, you gotta
own who you are, yeah.
- Yeah, it's not healthy.
You gotta own who you are, you really do.
So again, therapy.
- Well, speaking of speaking your truth,
just recently on Twitter,
you wrote an open letter to Constance Wu
about how she was upset about her show getting renewed
because then she didn't get to do another project.
What inspired you to write that,
and why'd you feel it was important to do that?
- It sucks when you can't do a job,
and I just kinda wanted to put
a bit of perspective out there.
I've been in that situation where I couldn't do something
and it could have changed my life
or it could have put me in a level that I'm not at
or I want in the industry.
And I just wanted to put a little perspective out there
because that's something I had to tell myself,
like you know what, maybe this went to someone
that actually needed it.
And I really wanted her to look at the glass half full
rather than half empty.
That didn't work out, but.
- It's an opportunity for someone else.
And that even goes back to, you know what I mean,
being a Latina in Hollywood
and speaking up for minority women,
it's like you want to give everybody an opportunity.
- She's done so much.
The fact that Crazy Rich Asians worked
meant so much for all of us.
The fact that Little is working means so much.
The fact that Gina Rodriguez is doing what she's doing
means so much because it's opening so many doors.
I just wanted to put that into perspective for her.
And I was going back and forth,
I don't even know if she saw it,
but I really, I just wanted to say just say, hey,
this is what you did for me, so this sucks,
but thank you.
- And now also on Freeform, you were in Life-Size 2
with Tyra Banks.
And she is receiving tons of praise right now
for her new Sports Illustrated cover,
for speaking out about body positivity and self-love.
Have you seen that, and what was your reaction to that?
- I loved her cover and everything about it so much
because that's who I know.
That is who I know.
When we shot Life-Size 2, I kid you not,
I brought a huge suitcase because I was like,
I have to dress nice and I have to have my fashion game up.
And she was so chill.
She brought a carry-on.
We were there for over a month
with three dresses and she rotated them.
She was eating.
She's like, girl, I love food.
We went to the spa and we were in the hot tub.
And she was just like so chill.
And so, when that came about and she was speaking about
the way that her body is transforming and everything,
I was like, that's who I know,
and it was really nice for me to see that
because I've always admired her my whole life basically.
- Well, we can't wait to see what happens
the rest of this season on Grown-ish and how Ana evolves
and what happens with Ana and Aaron.
So thank you so much for.
- Me too, I haven't seen it.
I don't remember, but thanks.