rafejeni salysberry regann
Janean Mcconnaughhay
Queue: What film or TV show made you first fall in love with acting?
Lily Collins: I would have to say that The Breakfast Club was actually the first movie that I watched and thought that I wanted to really be a part of that world and be an actor. I loved that movie so much. I loved any of the John Hughes films, and all the characters that he created, and just how real they felt. I still watch them today and feel the exact same way.
What was your first role, and could you tell us a little bit about that experience?
LC: I used to do musical theater in school, and plays, but my first professional job, ironically, was the reboot of90210.Obviously the original one was a Darren Star show, so little did I know that one day over 10 years later, I would be able to be working with Darren himself.
I was in two episodes. It was the prom episodes, and I played a character named Phoebe. I was someone who was running for prom queen, lost, proceeded to get really drunk, and then in the second episode was throwing up in a toilet, talking to one of the lead characters.
The day that I shot that second scene of throwing up in a toilet, I went back to my trailer and got a phone call saying that I had booked my first movie, which was The Blind Side. That was a week after my 20th birthday, which is really crazy now that I think about it, because I was 20 shooting the new 90210, and then on my 30th birthday, Darren called me to tell me I was Emily. So it was a full 10 years. Maybe at 40 something will happen.
What is one thing that you always bring on set?
LC: I always bring headphones on set because I usually make playlists for every character that I play. If I have a break in the middle of shooting, I like to listen to music, either to get back into that headspace or take a little breather.
It's officially summer: that heinous point in the year when so much good television evaporates and we must crawl into the depths of Netflix and Hulu to survive until winter. It is this level of desperation that recently flung me in the unlikely direction of the first season of Beverly Hills 90210.
I originally decided to revisit Brandon, Brenda, and the gang because I imagined they would unintentionally make me laugh out loud a lot. And they did -- any and all scenes involving surfing or dancing are a guaranteed laugh riot in this thing. Comedy gold also comes in the kinds of scenes that involve Brenda crashing a driver's ed vehicle because she sees Henry Winkler (why him?!), and dialogue that leaps in all kinds of absurd directions on the regular ("Janet Jackson has laryngitis! Kenny is drunk and you have to come and get me!")
I had not, however, anticipated falling into a binge-watch situation, but did because -- surprise! -- Beverly Hills 90210 is, for the most part, entirely un-ironically, a really great TV show. Obviously, we're not talking Breaking Bad levels of excellence or anything, but if we can keep My So-Called Life on a pedestal, the first season of 90210 deserves a place on the podium as well (even if the rich kid characters are inherently less likable than Rickie Vasquez and Rayanne Graff).
90210 was undoubtedly what we looked to in the pre-Kardashian age to find out how rich kids in LA lived, and for millennials, this thing is a goldmine of information about How Teenagers Used to Live. Seeing all of these hot young things trying to organize their lives while tethered to landlines, phone booths, and library desks is moderately heartbreaking in 2017, especially in the episode where the Walsh family's landline breaks and the telephone company tells them they are "lucky to have a number."
The other remarkable thing to note is that, in 1990, photos were literally never taken unless you were (a) working on the school newspaper (those used to exist!), (b) on vacation, or (c) about to go to a dance. And forget about casually making videos -- those puppies required borrowing 25 pounds of equipment. Don't even get me started on the alarm clock situation, or the fact that both men and women felt okay about wearing vests over absolutely anything, on an almost-daily basis.
Despite all of the nonsense that dates the show, 90210 is still masterful at passing on life lessons. There are substance abuse problems (for both parents and teens) peppered throughout the series. Issues of privilege also weave throughout, thanks to Brenda trying to keep up with her super rich friends, and the fact that Andrea is from a poor part of town and committing school district fraud to go to a good high school.
Season 1 also tackles date rape, safe sex, AIDs, cancer scares, drunk driving, single parenting, adoption, virginity loss, and, in two separate episodes ("East Side Story" and "Every Dream Has Its Price Tag"), the issue of underpaid immigrants. Not bad for what could've just been, essentially, a super long advertisement for rampant capitalism.
On the downside, 90210 is consistently an overwhelmingly white prospect. People of color are generally reduced to corridor and crowd scenes and, once you notice, it is an aggravating thing to behold every episode. One of the only occasions that affords black characters the opportunity to speak is in "One On One," an episode that concerns itself with the fact that West Beverly High recruits African American students from outside the school district to populate their basketball team.
The premise is problematic as hell on a plethora of levels, but the episode ultimately succeeds in highlighting still-relevant issues around race, education, and white privilege. Furthermore, because the audience is automatically inclined to sympathize with Brandon and Steve, and both characters reveal themselves to be racist in the episode, it ultimately forces viewers to examine their own prejudices -- which, if you're a teen watching a show this incredibly white, is probably pretty damn necessary.
Ultimately, even if you only come to Beverly Hills 90210 to see men wearing crop-tops, David Austin Green doing Vanilla Ice dancing, Jason Priestley having an affair with paisley shirts, and a bunch of 25-year-olds pretending to be high school students, it's worth sticking around for everything else the show offers. Sure, Beverly Hills 90210 is ridiculous -- but it's also surprisingly underrated.
Ah, the classic high school series. With characters and storylines that attempt to relate to the average teenage experience, the best high school series makes an effort to connect with its audience. From the 90s cheese of Beverly Hills, 90210, and Dawson's Creek to the more broody The O.C. in the early 2000s, teen shows have dominated the screen for decades.
The rise of streaming hasn't derailed this trend, and Netflix appears keen to capitalize on this market. Offering more unique takes on the genre, going beyond teen issues to horror and science-fiction elements, Netflix is the home of high school drama series. From the intriguing Riverdale to the titillating lite, teens will surely relate to the best teenage shows available on the streaming service.
After spending most of her high school journey living under the radar, senior Erika Vu (Lana Condor) decides to cut loose and make the most of her remaining teenage years. Unfortunately, she wakes up the next morning as a ghost, and with the help of her best friend, Erika is forced to make up for lost time beyond the grave.
The fun Netflix teen showBoo, Bitch puts a fresh spin on the high school formula by making its lead one of the undead, and while most teens cannot relate to being a ghost, it still allows for some funny scenarios. While the script does veer a bit too close to other, better high school-set stories, the performances from Condor and the rest of the cast make it worth watching.
A throwback to the schlocky teen shows of the 1990s, Riverdale is a teen show that's nothing like high school, as it finds its cast dealing with regular teenage issues such as solving a murder. Based on the famous Archie comics, Riverdale became a phenomenon after its release in 2017, with each new season regularly rating among the most watched on Netflix.
Despite how campy the show has been across its six seasons, sometimes veering into melodrama, it has remained self-aware, acknowledging that it knows just how ridiculous it can be. It also manages to pull in viewers as it keeps a central mystery every season, keeping viewers guessing which direction the show will go to. The show's success has led to spin-offs, including Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Katy Keene.
The Spanish mystery drama lite is among Netflix's best guilty pleasures. Set at a prestigious Spanish private high school, the show follows a different mystery each season, with the students of Las Encinas Academy becoming reluctant participants in crimes that go from kidnapping to murder.
Overblown, melodramatic, and highly addictive, lite is a provocative and underrated high school series on Netflix that deliberately challenges the teen genre's established rules. Criticism about its highly sexualized plots is rampant, but the show remains a guilty pleasure for its loyal audience. Most original cast members are gone, but somehow lite keeps reinventing itself, and its loyal audience couldn't be more thankful. With its final season on the horizon, fans should reacquaint themselves with lite's Season 7 cliffhanger finale.
After years spent on the run trying to escape her deadly past, young mother Georgia (Brianne Howey) is looking to settle down with her teenage daughter Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and 9-year-old son Austin (Diesel La Torraca). The family soon learns that some secrets can not stay buried, however, as shadows from the past threaten to tear them apart.
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