Chad Star on the Rise: Alexa Loo

MIXED ASIAN MEDIA - JUNE 9, 2021

By Stephanie Mieko Cohen

PHOTOGRAPHY: BRENDAN MEADOWS

STYLING: ZADRIAN SMITH AND SARAH EDMISTON

HAIR: ERIN KLASSEN

MAKEUP: KATIE ELWOOD

I had zero expectations when I sat down to watch TBS’s new series, Chad. If anything, I thought to myself, “Well, nothing can top PEN15.” Then I watched the pilot, and I lost my mind. I was cackling on the couch by myself. Chad is a single-camera comedy starring Nasim Pedrad, the 39-year-old Saturday Night Live actress who portrays a 14-year-old Persian teenage boy. Chad is a high school freshman who desperately wants to fit in with the cool kids. He’s a real jerk, casually using words like “playa pimp,” throwing tantrums, and trying so hard to fit in. However, Pedrad flawlessly balances his awkwardness with endearment, so much so that it makes you want to punch Chad in the face and also give him a hug. The show is bold, daring, and hysterical with more cringey, second-hand embarrassment than you can possibly imagine. But it also has a lot of heart. I had the pleasure of chatting with one of the stars of Chad, Alexa Loo, who plays Chad’s Hapa classmate and frenemy, Denise.

Tell us a little about yourself. What was it like growing up in Vancouver?

I’ve lived in Vancouver my whole life. I went to a fine arts elementary school where we did plays every year and had dance class and music class, so I was really exposed to the arts at a young age. I started training in all types of dance (jazz, tap, contemporary), but I was always really drawn to ballet. I started doing training camps and summer intensives with the professional ballet programs here. I started acting through dancing, and I made that transition [my freshman year] of high school. I’m 18 now. I still dance 5-6 days a week! I took a little break from dancing while filming Chad in Portland, but I jumped right back into it when I came home. My whole family, including my younger brother, is really into sports, and I’m the opposite.

What makes you Hapa? Do you have any favorite traditions or favorite foods from each side of your family? 

My Dad is Chinese — he was born in Montreal. My Mom is English and Scottish. Chinese New Year was always something that was fun to celebrate. Not everyone I went to school with got to celebrate that, so that was a special memory I liked… like getting the red envelopes. As far as food, I love dim sum, everything on the menu is amazing. I also love hot pot.

Tell us about your Chad audition and landing the role!

So, I had a little bit of theatre background from my fine arts school, but I was mostly in the program for dance and art. That’s what I was really passionate about. I was dancing five days a week outside of school. I got signed to my agency as a dancer originally. I wanted to work in the dance business as a professional dancer in film and television. My agents had me read some scripts and said, “We think we can send you in for acting stuff… we think you have potential.” I never thought of myself as an actor because I’m more of an introvert and never saw that for myself, but as soon as I started getting into the acting business, saw how everything works, and began really diving into scripts, I started to really enjoy it. Now I love it!

As far as the Chad audition goes, I was 15 at the time, and I got a self-tape request for the role. At that point in my acting career, I hadn’t gotten a lot of series regular or big auditions, just because it’s hard to get those opportunities, especially ones that cast out from L.A. since I live in Vancouver. So, I self-taped with my acting coach about three times, I believe, and I sent in tape after tape… just making small adjustments of the character each time. Then they asked me to Skype audition with the casting team in L.A., including Nasim and all the producers. It was totally scary at first because I had never done something like that, but it was such a unique experience. Then when I found out I had gotten the part, I couldn’t believe it. I was over the moon!

That is so cool! I was going to say it is one thing to be in the physical room with the team, but to be on a Skype call with that many people is another level!

Totally. Now it’s kinda the norm to do Skype calls with coronavirus and that’s how the industry is going. But back then, I didn’t have as much experience with self-tapes in general, let alone Skyping with someone in a different country!

Oh totally! Speaking of creative teams, I personally have been dying to know, what was it like working with Nasim? I’m such a fan!

I never really thought of myself as a funny person or someone who could work in comedy, but seeing her work, I learned so much about comedic timing and improv. A lot of her work was improvised on set. It was loosely based on what she had written for herself, but a lot of it was improvised on her part. It was so amazing watching her work because every time it was funnier and funnier . One of the hardest things about filming was not breaking character when she was doing her stuff because it was so hilarious to be in that moment! There were takes after takes after takes because if, say, there were five people in the scene, one of them is going to break each time, so we just had to keep going until we all stayed in character.

So most of the show was improvised? Or mainly Nasim?

She’s a writer for the show… it’s her baby. She understands the direction she wants to go in, and she’s a master at what she does, so she understands the character enough that she can just play off of whatever she wants. The rest of us mostly stayed on script. There was some minimal improvisation, but she took the reins on that.

How do you, Alexa, relate to your character Denise?

Like I said before, I don’t think of myself as a funny person, and I don’t think Denise is necessarily a funny person either. I think I’m very grounded and very down to earth, like she is. I also admire her character a lot because she has such great determination and drive to everything she does. Also, as you see on the show, she’s also not afraid to call people out, and lay everything out. That’s something I personally wouldn’t do [in real life]. I love that about her, it’s so much fun to play.

So you feel like you’re able to say the things as Denise that you wouldn’t necessarily say in life as Alexa. That’s awesome. What would you like to see for Denise in Season 2?

Maybe a little more into her home life and background!

Do you have a favorite episode?

I love them all so much, but I think I had the most fun filming Episode 4. It’s called “KPop.” There was a great group of people working in that episode, and filming the dance routine and just rehearsing that was so much fun.

What advice would you give to young performers like yourself who are trying to break into the business?

Don’t let things in your head or preconceived ideas you make for yourself hold you back. Don’t think, “Oh because I look a certain way or I’m not this height, I’m never going to get a leading role or get cast in this project.” Rules are made for everyone. Especially now, there’s more diversity in the industry and opportunities are popping up everywhere. If you put those negative ideas in your head, you’re not going to perform to your best ability, and you’re only going to hold yourself back.

You are still so young and have a long career ahead of you, but do you think being Hapa has helped or hindered you from getting roles?

Being Hapa, I kinda went through a phase where I was like, “I’m never going to get cast in a white-presenting role, and I’m never going to get cast in an Asian-presenting role because I’m not really either.” Even for the role in Chad, the character originally had a different name… a more Asian representing name. I’m not 100% sure, but I’m 90% sure the character was supposed to be fully Asian when they sent out the audition, and they changed the name after I was cast. I definitely had those ideas in my head early on where I was like, “They’re not gonna cast me because I don’t look this way.” It took me a while, especially through getting this role, to realize I was holding myself back by doing that. I think I’m now much more open to different ideas and roles and opportunities.

Absolutely. It’s so easy to get into our own way as mixed-race actors by thinking we don’t fit into one box or the other. We can switch the narrative for ourselves and decide we can check multiple boxes!

Totally. Yes!

I know you dance 5-6 times a week, but when you have a free moment, what else do you like to do for fun?

I love to paint. I love creative writing, short stories. Just hanging out with my friends, going to the beach. Things like that!

Do you have any favorite TV shows?

I’m a sucker for comedy shows. Besides Chad (laughs), I really like The Good Place. It’s a comedy but also has this psychological and ethical back story to it that’s really interesting. I love that show.

Do you have any projects you are currently working on and/or coming up?

I’m close to graduating high school (I’m graduating in June), so I’m focusing on that. There’s always new opportunities coming up in the future and I’m really excited for what’s coming up next.