Amirah J Talks Playing Ava on High Potential, Finale, and What’s Next!

[00:00:09] Amirah, thank you for joining me today on Pop Culture Unplugged. Good, thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here. Exciting times. We have High Potential on ABC. There's been a lot of talk about this show. The fans are loving it from what I've been reading. When people want to watch the show, they go on Reddit. You read a lot of things on Reddit. What's your thoughts about all this? What's your thoughts about the series that you're on? I love it. I mean, looking at all of the fans' reactions and all the numbers it's breaking and everything,

[00:00:39] it's so crazy to see. But I love this show. I love all my castmates and everyone has been so incredible. The crew and the writers and everyone is so amazing to work with, so I'm really happy to be a part of something like this. And what I like too about Ava, she's a strong-willed, rebellious teenager. How did you approach to understand this character, to connect with her, and how did you decide you wanted to play this character? I mean, I feel like I can relate to her in some ways of my

[00:01:08] own being that we're both teenage girls and we kind of have everything that a teenage girl goes through. But she definitely has had a much different upbringing than I have had and has a lot of different things going on in her life, trying to find her footing in her family and not knowing where her dad is or if her dad's even alive and finding a connection to her mother. So I think just trying to

[00:01:32] make that as realistic as possible when I'm playing Ava and finding ways to make it feel grounded and real. What do you love about Ava? I love her fashion. It's much different than my, like how I typically dress in my day-to-day life. So it kind of feels like I'm like playing dress up when I'm on set, which is really fun. Is there anything you would change about her? Honestly, no. I don't think

[00:02:00] I changed anything about her. I think all of her flaws and quirks makes her who she is and makes her such an interesting and relatable character. What if she was a real person? Would you be friends with somebody like Ava? I feel like I know some people in my friend group and in my life that are kind of like this character. So I feel like I would be friends with her in my real life. So you mentioned, you know, the relationship between the mother and daughter, you know, Ava and Morgan is, you know, it's a major focal

[00:02:29] point of the series. How did you and Caitlin Olsen work to develop the dynamic, the chemistry for this season? I mean, as the season kind of went on through filming, I feel like me and Caitlin's relationship grew and just our chemistry got better. But even with certain scenes, you know, kind of Caitlin getting like my input on certain things and asking like about certain lines,

[00:02:54] if I would say it, if I would do things like this and kind of just taking my input into consideration makes everything feel more real. And then Caitlin just being a mother in her personal life almost gives her a nurturing and motherly, like guiding way, like naturally. So it makes everything feel super like comfortable and real. Especially in like the last few episodes too, you know, we've seen, you know, you mentioned Ava's father,

[00:03:23] Roman. How do you think like shapes, shapes her up now in the future, like in the family? And like, how did you like, you see her, she gets emotional through the series for the, about this. Yes. I think it's definitely hard for her seeing that her younger siblings kind of have it all in her mind. It's like they have both of their parents and, you know, my younger brother in the show kind of has the IQ and the smartness that their mom has. And so she feels like she's kind of an outcast in

[00:03:53] this family. And now knowing that her dad did not just abandon her and learning that from Lieutenant Soto and everything, it kind of gives her a sense of hope. And maybe that like she can have it all one day, like her siblings have, which I think is, is nice for her to kind of know and realize. When you read the mid-season finale script, what went through your mind?

[00:04:18] I was so excited. I kind of got a little like sneak peek about it. And like, I heard a lot of like talk about it before of like, oh, there's a big episode coming up, like the mid-season finale or whatever. But then when I actually got to read it, I was so excited to go and film it. And really just showcase my work. I love doing like dramatic, intense scenes that were in that

[00:04:45] episode. I think that that's the most fun and that's the way for me to show my work the best. So I was over the moon when I found out that that was a part of the season. When I mentioned the script too, like how excited as an actor, how excited do you get when you get the script and you're looking at it and you're like, oh my God, I cannot wait to go film this. And I can't wait for people to see it. Like, what goes through your mind?

[00:05:11] I mean, I love like looking at a script and then figuring it out how to like, how I'm going to turn it into a real scene and like how it's going to actually come to life. And so, you know, looking at a script and then going into set and filming it and the director, that episode was incredible. And one of my favorite directors that we had had this season, his vision for the episode was incredible. And he was also very collaborative with everybody,

[00:05:39] which made it such an incredible experience and being outside of Ava's normal realm and like her normal environment. That episode was really fun and working with my other castmates who I don't usually get to work with a lot. It was just a really fun, fun episode to film. How would you describe Ava's like journey, personal journey, like throughout the season, especially, you know, you're the themes of the show, you know, you have like crime solving,

[00:06:08] personal drama, you know, family drama, you name it. How would you describe? I think that her journey would be described as a lot of, she has had a lot of growth throughout the season. I think not only just with her mom and learning how to be more vulnerable and show her emotions and that like, that's okay to have these emotions and to feel these certain ways

[00:06:32] about her dad, about her family, about her mom, about whatever it is. But also accepting the life that she has and growing closer to her siblings and to her stepfather and accepting him and her life as a father figure, I think has been really important for her. Is there a specific scene or episode that's been, that stands out to you for this season?

[00:07:01] Probably the mid-season finale and then our finale, which is coming out in like a week, I believe. I think next week, yeah. Yes, yes. So, you know, we mentioned, you know, the show has, you know, like family relationships between Ava and Morgan, you know, and it resonates with a lot of the viewers also. What kind of feedback have you received about Ava's storyline? Have you received anything from fans, audience, family, friends?

[00:07:29] I've received a lot even from like people at my school and like my teachers and like the dean at my school have come up to me and like, oh wow, like this, this show. Like I remember after one of the episodes aired, my dean came up to me and was like, I don't like to do this with our students, but like this episode really impacted me and I was getting emotional watching it and your scenes with your mom and the show have been so incredible. And I love that because then that means that,

[00:07:56] you know, people really can relate to this show and find certain characters that they see themselves in, which I think is really important. We mentioned the final episode, the season finale coming up. What can fans expect from Ava's storyline in the final episode without, you know, you could tease. I don't want to do spoilers. You could tease. Yeah. I think we find some answers

[00:08:20] about her dad in that episode. We find out a little hints about that. And we kind of just see her connect with her family. And I think it's a really, the way that we kind of wrap up the season is really nice and really beautiful. What would you like to see if we get a season two, what would you like to, what would you like to see about Ava? Two, I would like to dive more into like her

[00:08:49] childhood in a way, like what it was like when it was just her and Morgan before her siblings came along and how those years shaped her and affected her and how she felt when her stepdad came along and when her younger siblings came along and kind of why she is the way that she is. That makes sense. Would you say this is your favorite character you've played so far? Yeah, definitely. I love, I love Ava and I'm really excited to learn more about her.

[00:09:19] Yeah. Do you have a message for the fans of the show? Um, just thank you for watching, seeing all the numbers and seeing everything has been so crazy. And, you know, all the feedback that we've been getting is so amazing. And I'm just really grateful that I have this opportunity and that I get to be a part of this story. And I'm so happy that there's so many people out there that are relating to our characters and our show. And yeah,

[00:09:48] just thank you so much. Thank you for watching and, uh, supporting us. Last question. Who's your, uh, another favorite character from the show? That's obviously not Ava. If you had to pick one. Probably Lieutenant Soto. I love her character. Um, and I think that they should definitely kind of dive into more of her backstory season two. I love her character. What's next for you now? Any other products you're allowed to tell us about the, uh, coming up,

[00:10:15] working on or. I mean, definitely auditioning and seeing what else I can do, but I would love to do a movie soon. Um, and honestly, anything I can get my hands on really just this show has opened so many doors for me and led me to so many other opportunities, which I'm extremely grateful for. So hopefully a lot of fun, exciting things to come in the future. Amira, how can the viewers and listeners now find you on social media to keep up with you?

[00:10:44] Yes. Uh, my Instagram is the Amira J. I'm, um, always posting about the show on there and also posting my personal life on there. So you kind of get the best of both worlds. Amazing. Amira, I want to thank you for giving me from this today. Uh, good luck with this end of the season and, uh, hopefully we see season two. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.