Kylie Jefferson wants everyone to know ballerinas come in every shape, size and colour, and hopes Netflix’s newest drama “Tiny Pretty Things” can prove that.
“It was the complete intention so that we could move past this conversation of Black women being such a mystery in the ballet world,” Jefferson told ET Canada.
“Black ballerinas are all over history so I would love if anything else to be a catalyst in progressing this conversation in the dance world so we can move forward to unprecedented levels with the physicality, which is most important,” she added.
Described as a cross between “Pretty Little Liars” and “Black Swan”, the series is based on the best-selling novel from Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. The drama follows the world of an elite ballet academy in Chicago, and charts the rise and fall of young adults from all walks of life on the verge of greatness.
Jefferson leads as Neveah, the rebel with raw talent and fierce determination, who lands a last minute sport in the prestigious Archer School of Ballet. And as the story doesn’t shy away from exposing the blatant racism in the dance world, Jefferson found symmetry from her own experience when she was working towards her Fine Arts degree in contemporary dance at the Boston Conservatory.
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“At the Boston Conservatory, you get different girls from different walks of life and financial backgrounds, and that gives you a different level of security,” Jefferson said. “Some of those girls had problems with the roles I was getting, and I remember I would get called into dance division directors office like, ‘What did I do this time? I’m leaving those girls alone. Why are they still complaining about me?’ What is that? What is this world where you feel like you get to complain about the part that someone else got? When it came down to privilege, that hurt me. That hurt me a lot.”
“Something I realized is that I only had talent, and people thought they could take away from that,” she added. “It was so hard for me to get through. I had a hard time with my own identity at the time because I just couldn’t understand why I was so often made out to be the problem.”
As a classically trained ballerina herself, Jefferson appreciates the opportunity Netflix gave to real dancers, rather than actors who required dance doubles.
“It means the world honestly because it definitely reiterated what my purpose is,” Jefferson said. “The endless nights of wondering how I’m going to make all of this stuff work and tie it all together to make an impact, Netflix did it so effortlessly, but to me it means the world. It’s that simple concept of wanting dancers who can act, instead of the other way around, that gave me the opportunity.”
But getting the role wasn’t as simple. According to Jefferson, the hardest part of the audition process was finding open studio time in Los Angeles because “every dancer and actor in Los Angeles” reserved the space to shoot their own self tape.
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“It was so hard to book a studio,” Jefferson said. “‘Tiny Pretty Things’ was the first job of any kind to come my way, and I was a little shy of auditioning at first because I didn’t think much of my acting, but it kept resurfacing so I told myself, ‘Okay girl, you’re skinny right now so we might as well give this a go.’ Fast forward to me trying to book studios, I couldn’t get a studio to be available for the life of me.”
“I would call different studios and they would ask me if it was for that show, and I was like, ‘Yes, do you have availability or no,” she added.
Luckily for Jefferson, she was able to reserve a block at 7 p.m. the night before the tapes were due, and still ended up getting hired for the job. Fast forward to today, Jefferson is now considering Dec. 14, the day her debut series drops on Netflix, her official 2020 Christmas.
“My family and I are having such a great time because my little brother plays in the NFL, as well, so it’s been a very interesting and amazing past two years for us,” Jefferson said. “It just feels like we’re always celebrating something, which is such a blessing to be able to even say. Right now, I’m letting December 14th be my Christmas because what else could a girl really ask for?”
Watch “Tiny Pretty Things” Dec. 14 only on Netflix.
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