After training with the renowned Joffrey Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre, Bronwyn Reed is making her big stage debut as Baby in the national tour of “Dirty Dancing.” She tells Backstage about taking on such an iconic character.
On snagging the role of Baby.
“It really just fell into my lap. It’s rare and crazy because usually the process is that you or your agent submits you for a role. I didn’t even have an agent at the time because my agent had dropped me, so I was on my own and doing my own thing. I was very flattered that [casting director] Laura Stanczyk reached out, despite the fact that I didn’t have representation. She really fought for me [and] wanted me to get this. It was a very organic process. I read once, and five minutes later they told me they wanted me to do it, which was amazing.”
On her relationship with her ‘Dirty Dancing’ role originator, Jennifer Grey.
“My mom actually went to acting school with Jennifer Grey. They were training in New York together as younger women. I’m not close with Jennifer, but I always thought that was an interesting little tidbit. We knew her in a small way.”
On taking on an iconic character.
“I didn’t actually feel pressure. I mostly felt excitement. Everyone in the process has been really flexible in allowing me to really create my own version of her. I’m not trying to copy Jennifer. I’m not playing the Baby that is in the movie. I’m playing my take on her.”
On diversifying one’s skills as an actor.
“I think as actors, the ideal thing is to be a channel to portray all types of people and people with different qualities. I think the more you know how to do, whether it is dance or singing or something about astrophysics or basketball—it could literally be anything. The more you know what to do, the more tricks you have up your sleeve as an actor. That’s so helpful.”
On working on ‘Law & Order: SVU.’
“My experience with ‘SVU’ was a total dream. I was lucky to be a part of it. I initially went in for a small guest star role. It turned out that that didn’t work out. I think they just went with someone else. Months later, completely out of the blue, I was offered a role on the show. Everyone kind of thought that it was going to be one or two episodes—a small little arc. It turned out to be nine.”
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