AFTER GRACING OUR SCREENS IN WEDNESDAY AS THE EAGER WEREWOLF ROOMMATE, EMMA MYERS CONTINUES TO EXPLORE THE MYSTERY GENRE AS A YOUNG DETECTIVE IN A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER. BASED ON THE BEST-SELLING NOVEL SERIES, MYERS PLAYS PIPPA, A DETERMINED AND SELF-APPOINTED INVESTIGATOR WHO IS SET ON RESOLVING HER TOWN’S TRAGIC MURDER CASE FOR A HIGH-SCHOOL PROJECT. WHILE SHE HAD LITTLE TIME TO NAIL HER ACCENT AS A BRIT, EMMA ADMITS THAT SHE AND HER CHARACTER HAVE A LOT MORE IN COMMON THAN ANY OF THE ROLES SHE PREVIOUSLY PLAYED, WHICH PROVED TO BE MORE OF A CHALLENGE FOR HER AND LED HER TO READ THE BOOKS 4 TIMES, IN TRUE BOOKWORM FASHION. WE SAT WITH EMMA TO DISCUSS THE COMPLEX THEMES OF THE BBC AND NETFLIX, AND HOW LORD OF THE RINGS AND K-POP GROUP SEVENTEEN HAVE INFLUENCED HER LIFE.

Hi Emma, nice to meet you! How are you doing? I hear you’re in Dublin.

I am in Dublin! Shooting season 2 of Wednesday right now, so super busy but very excited.

How's the filming going?

I can tell you that I love the script so much this season, there’s definitely gonna be a lot of fun stuff to look forward to, but that’s about all I'm allowed to say or else I’ll end up on the news.

Were you a Tim Burton fan before getting onto the project?

Oh yeah! Huge Tim Burton fan. I grew up watching his movies and I feel like he was a huge part of my childhood. When I heard that he was doing this, I was so excited. And flash forward to booking it, it's just kind of a crazy dream come true, shooting with a director of films you’ve been watching since you were a kid, it’s such a crazy weird feeling.

At just 22, you’ve got an array of acting gigs and roles already. How did you fall in love with this craft?

I was a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I loved fantasy movies and books, and I remember that Peter Jackson used to release the behind-the-scenes videos from the shooting of the Lord of the Rings movies –I remember watching them and being like, “Ugh, that’s what I wanna do. That's what I wanna do so bad!”. So that’s been plan A from the beginning. Being an actor is always what I wanted to do. And it's worked out so far.

Being an introvert, how has acting helped you?

I’m definitely still introverted, but I think acting, especially because your job is being surrounded by people 24/7, helps to have better people and communication skills. You always have to be talking to someone you don’t know because it's part of the job. It’s definitely helped with my social skills a little bit.

Let’s talk about Netflix’s upcoming show A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. You play the role of the series’ protagonist Pippa who we often watch solo exploring gloomy and forbidden areas. Do you have any favourite moments that you shot?

The ones that stuck with me were the Hastings party from the first episode, the scene in the chemistry lab with Max and Naomi, and then all the scenes that we did in the police station with Dan Da`Silva and Elliot – those were so fun to shoot.

You had to change your accent, how did you prepare for that?

I had a dialect coach. Honestly, I didn’t have long to prepare because I joined so late. We had about 2 weeks before filming to get the accent down, which was the trickiest bit of this job. But we worked with my dialect coach together twice a week, and she was always on speed dial if I needed anything. I also had an entire English cast and crew who could help me out if I needed help figuring out how to say certain things.

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I thought it was interesting that whilst your family life was getting out of control, one thing that Pip always kept on track was resolving the case. How would you say Pip has used the case as a form of escapism?

I think at first, it starts off as just a school project, she’s not really thinking that much about it, she’s thinking it’ll be interesting enough to get into a university. But as it goes on and she gets more involved in it and she finds out that the people she knows in real life are actually involved in it, that’s when it starts to become more personal for her. She definitely uses it as an escape from her own personal life, but really, she’s not escaping much because she’s just as involved in that as she is in her own family life. I don’t think it does her any good.

She’s so intrinsically linked to the murder, so she’s not escaping from anything in the end. And with what happened to Barney, I think it was at that moment that Pip realised the danger and the gravity of the situation she’d gotten engaged in.

I think you can feel so far away from something and think, “This can never happen to me,” until it does. And that’s where Pip runs into some trouble as she thinks it's so far from her, it's whatever, it's not a big deal. Yet she ignores all the warnings she gets and then ends up losing her dog as a result of it. And this is a turning point for her, realising that this is very real stuff happening and at any given time it could turn onto her. That is a very pivotal moment and I think the show portrayed it in the right way.

The show depicts and explores the topics of grooming and suicide. Why do you think it's important to discuss these issues on television in a teen show?

Well, I think that a lot of the time TV shows and movies struggle not only with bringing light to situations, but they sometimes end up glorifying it. We didn’t wanna do that in the show. These are very real things that happen and people think, “Oh, that only happens on TV or in movies,” and you think it’s never gonna happen to you till it does happen to you, and I think it's good to have these things you show people, real situations that happen, and don’t take them too lightly. They’re very serious topics and it's good to draw attention to them without glorifying them for entertainment.

And the way they approached it was done in a way where it made sense, without coming off as gimmicky. How would you say playing Pip challenged you as an actor?

Pip is a lot different to any character I’ve played before, she’s a lot more like myself. And maybe you think it should be easier to play somebody that’s a lot like you, when actually, it is a lot harder. It definitely challenged me, this whole script has challenged me, this job has challenged me. It challenges your mindset, your work ethic and how much you actually want to do this job. But it’s been such a great time, I’m so glad I did it. I’m glad for the things you have to think about when you play these sorts of roles. Pip has really brought me a lot in my life to think about.

The show was filmed in the UK. Did you experience any culture shock when moving to the UK? What did you miss the most about the US?

I miss ice, man, in my water. I miss iced drinks. That is the thing that kills me. It gets hot in the summer, I mean I’m from Florida so it's not as hot, but it does get hot and nobody drinks over here. And when you ask, they look at you like you’re an idiot, when it’s literally boiling outside.

You’re into K-pop – who’s your ult and how did you get into it?

Seventeen is my ult. And I got into K-pop… Well, when me and my best friend were 15, back in 2017, there was a cover of Charlie Puth by Jungkjook and Jimin, and I remember watching it and that opened the door. We got into Seventeen and it's been going strong ever since.

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I feel like that era of BTS was everyone’s gateway into K-pop, like when DNA came out…

Exactly, I think when DNA came out that was the first K-pop music video I’ve ever watched, me and my best friend were like, “ What is this, what’s going on?”

And then you start to watch all the lives and you can’t stop obsessing…

You watch all the shows and all the fun YouTube compilations. I remember I was doing the K-pop stuff when you couldn’t get the English translations for anything, you had to wait a week. I’m a veteran.

What’s the best advice K-pop has taught you?

I wouldn’t say K-pop in general, I would say Seventeen specifically. They are such genuine people, I’ve met them and they are the sweetest guys ever – they really go to show you that no matter how famous you are, no matter what you do for a living, you just have to be kind to everybody. You can tell that they're such genuine people and they treated me with such kindness, and I would definitely say that Seventeen has been the most authentic group I’ve encountered.

But I guess that's why we as fans latch onto certain groups, because of their humility and kindness, it’s rare to see that in the industry.

Who’s your ult?

It varies, but I’ve always loved 2NE1 and Sistar.

Oh, I love 2NE1 and Sistar!

Are there any other projects or roles that you’re getting into?

I just finished filming Minecraft with Jack Black and Jason Momoa. We had a great time filming that, of course, if you’ve ever played Minecraft, you know that it’s based on a video game, I’m really excited about that.