Introducing April Starring Willa Fitzgerald

Willa Fitzgerald was photographed by Alison Engstrom at Tiny’s & The Bar Upstairs. She was styled by Sarah Slutsky; makeup by Gita Bass; hair by Chris Naselli; styling assistance by Carlee Princell. She is wearing a Giambattista Valli dress.

Willa is wearing a Macgraw dress; Vice Versa rings; Eva Fehren ear cuff; Maria Tash ring and earrings; Monica Rich Kosann necklace.

I am an only child and I think by default a necessary component of that is having a pretty active imagination. I was always making up games to play by myself, running around my backyard, being a bunch of different characters, and playing with my imaginary friends. But I was actually a serious and studious child and a bookworm. My parents were musicians when I was growing up—they were in a band for 20 years even before I was even a thought. They are both creative people and I think as a kid, it’s a natural thing to rebel against what your parents are like. So for a long time, I said I wasn’t going to be like that, and I went hard into just being a nerd, learning as much as I possibly could, and being good at school. But quite young, when I was in fifth grade I started doing Forensics at my school, which is a competitive acting competition. I did that instead of playing sports and I was really good at it. Whenever you are reinforced in that way, with something you naturally like to do, it makes you like it even more. I was always acting, it was a huge part of both my high school and college life, but I think for a long time I was serious about exploring some of my other options because there were a lot of things I liked to do and a lot of ways to use my brain. We all get to that  point where we have to make a decision and the decision was made and I realized I wanted to give it a shot and see if I could make it a career. It was something that provided me with that excitement and rightness that nothing else did. I felt more confident making that decision because I had been conscientious about exploring all the other options. 

Willa is wearing a Julie de Libran blazer and skirt; Vice Versa rings; Eva Fehren ear cuff and earring; Maria Tash earrings.

Oh yeah, and I think that’s why it was never a thing I wanted to do as a career because I saw that with my parents. My parents were musicians for all of those years and then my dad’s stable career pivot was to be a prop master for movies and TV shows (laughs). He went from one creative field to another creative field as a kid. I saw the ways in which pursuing a creative life is inherently destabilizing, and I saw the ways they created stability within that and the difficulties of trying to create stability within that. So that was why I was cautious and circumspect about making that decision. With all of my friends who are actors, we talk and joke about how being a working actor, the most important skill is learning to not work (laughs). A good year of employment is six months of working–that’s the, wow, I was really busy this year (laughs). That is a lot of other time in your year to contend with, make your peace with, and define whatever feels like exciting productivity during that time. 

I think that’s the eternal quest for me, understanding what I want to do and enjoy doing in the times I am not actively shooting something. I think over the past two years a lot of actors and freelancers felt more comfortable than some people in that crazy uncertainty. It had a tinge of familiarity even though it was unprecedented.

There was certainly a lot of serendipity when I started my career—I got my agents in a wild way. I was sent emails from a director asking me to put myself on tape for a movie he wanted to get made when I was in the spring semester of my senior year. I had done some interning and written my senior thesis on The Wooster Group, which is an experiential theater company in New York. He had seen me talking about them on a blog and said I looked right for the part. This was before I even knew what a tape was, I remember I did it with my friends who were with me and we were both in front of the camera, which was funny; we were recording this on an actual camera, cell phone cameras weren’t a thing (laughs). I ended up not getting the job but he said he thought I was really good and would pass my tapes onto an agent he knew because he owed them a favor. I didn’t think I would hear anything, but then my agents–Rachel and Ellen–assistant called me when I was at work and they asked me to come to New York and have a meeting with them. I thought when I graduated I would take a year off and try to do the thing in New York and see what happened and maybe, depending on what happened, go back to grad school.  When I went and met with them they said they loved me and wanted to represent me. There wasn’t a contact or anything, but they said they would love to work for me. 

Willa is wearing a Rasario blazer and skirt; Repossi earrings and ring; Vice Versa rings.

Well, I still remember leaving college and having panic attacks regularly because I would think, what am I doing? The early 20s are very hard but that was a wonderful thing to have when I graduated. I then started working quite fast. After I graduated, I got my first job doing a play in the Berkshire Theater Festival, then I booked my first job from doing a tape when I was out there, which was Alpha House, Amazon Prime’s first show, with John Goodman and Amy Sedaris. I was on the show for two years. 

I found my feet quickly but with that came the real self-consciousness and stress of having to learn how to do this job of acting on camera, while also creating things that would be seen by everybody for as long as the video evidence is available (laughs). I remember that was a very scary feeling but in a lot of ways it’s the best and most privileged way to get to learn how to do a job. 

Willa is wearing Patou sweater, skirt, and blazer; Malone Souliers boots; Calzedonia socks; Vice Versa rings; Eva Fehren ear cuff and earring; Maria Tash earrings.

Every job is still a learning experience and I think that’s why I love what I do so much because fundamentally, I am most excited by learning and discovering things. It’s why my job never gets old because I am always able to end an experience at work, or prep for a job, and realize I figured out something new. So it was definitely years, but I had a turning point in some dimension in 2017, about four years after I started, when I was shooting Little Woman in Ireland. It was an incredible job for so many reasons–I was in Ireland, I was 26 at the time, and I was having a fresh experience of the world in a lot of ways. I was working with these three other women who were playing my sisters and the actor who was playing Laurie. We were all within six years of each other but we were at the same moment in our career, where we had gotten this great, cool job on the BBC and we were all very hopeful. We were especially excited about getting the opportunity to retell an amazing story that had been told before by so many cool generations of actors. Emily Watson was playing our mom on the show, who was incredible; it was both a personal revolution because it was three months on location, with this group of people—we all fell in love with each other. Professionally, it was interesting because, I had admired all of the people I was working with and we had conversations about acting, the creative process, what we had been learning, and the things we were self-conscious about. It was a very open environment in a way that I think is very rare; I have not experienced it since and never before. I think it was just the kismet of all of us being a certain age and being together 24/7, except when you are sleeping. We were truly inseparable.

Reading the first pilot episode, it was clear to me that she was going to be fun to play. She’s very different from me in a lot of ways but I think I was immediately drawn to her wit, intelligence, and opinionated perspective on things. I was excited by the dynamic of Reacher being faced with this female foil who is as strong as he is–emotionally and intellectually–and would be a great sparring partner with him. Whenever I am looking at jobs and scripts, I ask: is this exciting to me and why is this exciting to me? She felt very different from the characters I have played–I have often played morally ambiguous, or even amoral people, who were not necessarily being rooted for. It’s fun to play a character that people like; it has been amazing how much people have loved Roscoe, it has exceeded my expectations. People have found a lot in that character to fall in love with and that’s been fun to experience.

I think Alan (Ritchson) had the hardest job in that sense, I think we were all sweating enough for him (laughs). He was the one who had huge shoes to fill and I think he did it so wonderfully with charisma and charm. I am excited to see what he does in future seasons. I have done a lot of book adaptations at this point–Little Women, The Goldfinch, Dare Me–it’s always rewarding, exciting, and challenging in its own way because you are interpreting material. It’s an extra bible on top of the script but first and foremost you are doing the script and the character, as seen through the writer’s lens. In this case, we had Nick Santora who loves those books so much and comes at it in such a reverent way but he also brought his personality and views of the world into the story he was making. It’s been exciting to see Lee’s response to it especially to Roscoe, because Nick’s Roscoe and my Roscoe are different than the book. It was a decision I consciously made, it was just a reflection of the script and the dynamic I saw on the page. It’s a different relationship to a text than I have had before.

Will is wearing a Claudia Li gown; Eva Fehren ear cuff; Vice Versa rings.

Willa is wearing a Rosetta Getty dress; Vice Versa rings.

Yes, it will be coming out in the fall. I think most of us, if not all of us, know someone intimately, or not, who struggles with addiction. I was very aware of wanting to represent and investigate that experience with a lot of diligence, accuracy, and love. I think a lot of people look at addiction and see those people and think they are weak, bad, or don’t have it together. There is a lot of negative talk around addiction and it was important for me to do what I could in that role to flesh out what it can look like. It’s a disease and needs support and medical care. 

I was working with Jack Huston for the most part, and it was during covid, pre-vaccine, and we got shut down. By the time we started shooting, we had been together for about three and a half weeks just waiting to work in Puerto Rico. There are some scenes in the movie that we shot that were all improv and were really intense. I don’t think we ever could have done that together if we hadn’t had that time to build that relationship with trust and respect. We had this man Robby with us, who is a recovering addict, and he owns a bunch of sober and recovery houses. He was there to walk us through logistics and make us feel safe in what we were trying to portray. I remember after one day of shooting, he came over to us and was crying, he said, that was it. It was hard for him but great for us to have him and have his blessing. Yes, there have been many opioid shows on TV, but it’s truly a silent epidemic that is killing so many people.

I spent the majority of 2020 protesting on the streets of New York. I have been very moved by the Black Lives Matter movement and want to help in any way I can. Specifically, I am focusing on environmental justice. Right now, I am continuing to work with an organization down in Memphis called Memphis Cap, which is working to stop the Byhalia pipeline. I also have worked a lot with the Innocence Project; I ran the New York Marathon for them last year. I did a lot of Instagram Live conversations with people who work with their organization and even people who were exonerated. Both of those things are parts of the puzzle for BLM.

I’d do a big long walk with my dog down the Brooklyn Promenade, on the way to Dumbo. I’d spend some time on the grass over there maybe go to some of those outdoor art galleries they have. Then I’d go back home, make a great meal, and maybe go for a bike ride. In New York, what I love the most is being outside and seeing all of the people and doing a lot of people watching. Walks are how I structure my free time and how I get in touch with ideas. 

Willa is wearing a Giambattista Valli dress; Jamie Wolf earrings; Eva Fehren ear cuff; Maria Tash ring.

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A special thank you to Tiny’s; Mona Creative; and to the team.