Sacred Lies: The Singing Bones is Jordan Alexander’s first starring role in a TV series, and the singer-actress started off in the deep end by playing the main character of Elsie in the mystery series produced by Blumhouse Television. She’s the one the entire show orbits around, so what was it like for her to take on that challenge?
Jordan spoke about that, and why she was originally attracted to the Facebook Watch series, in our interview ahead of this week’s episode. Find out what she had to say before you check out the newest episode today only on Facebook Watch.
And if you’re a Sacred Lies fan, check out our interview with series writer and showrunner Raelle Tucker.
Nerdophiles: What was it about Sacred Lies that made you want to play Elsie?
Jordan Alexander: The story and the depth of the writing. I was just really blown away and really drawn in to the actual story. I thought it would just be incredible to be a part of this, because I’m going to enjoy it immensely, regardless.
NP: Many musicians have ventured into acting, so can you explain what that transition is like, especially for a series like Sacred Lies where you are the lead of the entire show?
JA: it was incredible. I haven’t really been doing acting for that long, but being able to incorporate music and playing guitar and songwriting into this series was just really incredible. It felt just so all-encompassing and I felt like I was able to express myself in so many different ways throughout the duration of the show. It was just really amazing.
NP: Is your process preparing with a script at all similar to how you would prepare with a song? Or are they completely different?
JA: I don’t find it to be similar at all. In the sense that you dig into yourself and you find that emotion and that reality in yourself for the art, then yes, there’s that. But my process [for acting] is, I definitely like to do a lot of character building. I like to figure out who that person is, and why they are the way that they are, and any little type of reaction that they might have, I want to have a lot of depth behind that, because that’s reality. That’s people. We don’t do anything, large or small, for no reason.
NP: Did you have a lot of information to work with for Elsie’s character? Or were you finding out clues as the season went on, like the viewing audience will?
JA: It was more on the secretive side, I would say. It was a need-to-know basis, for sure. The writing was ongoing while we were shooting. I think midway through shooting I had read all of the scripts, or maybe a little even later than that. So there were a lot of things that were unknown to me – but honestly, it was riveting just being held on a line like that.
NP: Is there a favorite Sacred Lies scene for you? What moment sticks with you about this character?
JA: Absolutely. I would say my favorite is Elsie’s reaction to the first time you see her be kicked out of a foster home. I feel like it’s super badass and I feel like it will give everyone that really nice gut feeling that they got what was theirs.
I think that going into this show, I just want people to keep a really open mind, because there is so much depth in the writing and so many twists and turns. I think that [it’s about] being very attentive as well as keeping your mindset very broad, to make sure that you’re capturing all of the beautiful nuances of this show. The writing is impeccable, the storyline is just so amazing, and I don’t want anyone to miss any delicious part of it.
New episodes of Sacred Lies: The Singing Bones premiere Thursdays at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET exclusively on Facebook Watch.
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