A Well-Executed Combination of Humor and Vulnerability and Emotion: Kaitlin Olson on Champions | Int

You play Alex, a character who wants to be an actress, and we see her performing Shakespeare for middle schoolers. Is she a good actress?

Yes, I think that’s one of the things that’s so wonderful about her, that she lives in this tiny town. She probably doesn’t want to be there. She’s probably staying there because she wants to protect her brother and make sure that he’s safe, she works as a teacher, but her love is acting. I think that she’s very passionate about it. And even though it’s on such a small scale, it doesn’t matter to her. It’s where she feels happiest. So, yes, she’s probably a pretty great Shakespearean actress.

I loved it when Alex told Marcus that acting was her basketball because she showed that she really knows her stuff. And she used a story from Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale to communicate to the team something Marcus had not been able to explain.

Marcus is just oblivious to the fact that it’s his responsibility to change his tactic in getting Johnny to understand. It’s really representative of how people who are not disabled need to adjust their perspective a little bit. You meet people where they are, and when you do, they can thrive. So, when Alex recognizes that she just needs to use the Winter’s Tale reference with him, and then he’ll get it, that’s such a powerful message for inclusion and how it’s our job to sometimes adjust our tactics to help people thrive.

What did you do to connect to the actor who plays your brother, Kevin Iannucci, to give us a sense of their relationship over a lifetime?

It was important to both Kevin and myself that we meet each other before we were on camera together. And honestly, I don't think we needed to dig too far into each other’s past. We just had to get to know each other. And the truth is, Kevin is just a big beautiful heart. He is just such a loving, wonderful, present young man. And he was so excited to be there and so ready to learn and to deliver his best. And just developing that connection was enough for us. It was very easy for me to know my character would be fiercely protective of him and value him.

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