Lola Flanery

Lola Flanery

Words by BRITTANY LANDAU

Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Whether she’s fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world in The 100, ruling over the Seelie Court on Shadowhunters, or just heading to class with her friends, 12-year-old Lola Flanery puts everything she has into every role that she plays – both on and off screen.

Lola was born in Los Angeles, but her family moved to Toronto when she was 3-years-old, where she began to dip her feet into the entertainment industry. “Occasionally, I would do some modeling, but when I was about 9 years old, my modeling agent signed me up for an acting class just to see how it would go,” she explains. Three weeks and a few new friends later, Lola realized that acting was for her. “I gave it a shot, auditioned for an acting agent, and that went super well, so that’s how I got into acting. For the past three years, acting has been my life,” she says.

Shortly after, Lola went to her first audition for a horror movie called Lavender and got the role of Alice. “Beginner’s luck,” she jokes. Lola describes the film as “a very scary movie with a different kind of subject matter”. From that point on, her love for acting only grew.

Shortly after Lavender, Lola was cast as Reese Witherspoon’s daughter in 2017’s Home Again. “She’s a very amazing and talented woman and she stands up for what she believes in,” Lola says of Reese, “Playing my role in Home Again was very different from what I normally do because Isabel is kind of a shy, nervous girl. It was out of my comfort zone, but Reese was always there and she was always very happy and fun to work with,” she says.

This Spring, Lola can be spotted across television screens as both the Seelie Queen in Shadowhunters and Madi in The 100.

“When I first booked the role of Shadowhunters, I was so confused about what the character was because she is like a fairy queen that’s like a billion years old, but it’s so rad,” Lola says of the Seelie Queen.

As for her character on The 100, she can’t give away everything just yet, but promises that “she’s going to be the most awesome 12-year-old you have ever met.” She immediately connected to her castmates and feels right at home on set. “They’re all super nice and welcoming. It’s like a new family,” she says.

With The 100 being filmed in Vancouver, Lola is close to her friends, but still finds it hard to create a balance between her school, home, and work lives. “I had to be in Vancouver for six months which was a very extended period of time. I think the hardest part wasn’t so much being away from my friends and family, but was probably schoolwork and catching up with it while also keeping on top of work,” she says. “It is hard because there’s two different lifestyles you’re living - school and work - which is a very unusual combination. I think it’s just handling management of your time, which isn’t normally something a child has to learn, but as my mom will tell you, I am not the best at it. I’m trying. It’s a work in progress.”

Despite the challenges she faces, Lola wants to keep acting in her future. “I want to do more of the roles that I am doing now. I’m used to just being a sister or a kid version of the main character, so I really enjoyed playing my characters on Shadowhunters and The 100 since they’re not your average little kid,” she says, “I think I want to do more of that to get more out of my comfort zone and be more adventurous with it.” Eventually, Lola wants to transition to a different entertainment role. “Acting is definitely something I want to continue and pursue, but what I do want to be eventually is a director. I want to make my own movies and film my own movies,” she admits.

While Lola chases her big dreams, getting an education is still very important to her. “When I first started out, I always thought, whether it be in high school or college, that I would take a break from acting to focus on that general aspect of school since it’s so important. Schoolwork does come first. I hope to go to high school and college and get the basis of life down, but I definitely want to keep acting,” she explains.

However, Lola knows she should focus on just being a kid for now. She still enjoys hanging out with her friends and binge watching cartoons, just like any other kid her age. “I really love cartoons and I have been getting a couple of auditions for voice acting roles which is pretty cool because you get more channeled into your voice rather than physical movement,” she says. “I really like silly little cartoons, which my mom despises. I really like South Park which isn’t really for my age, but nonetheless, it is an animated cartoon. My guilty pleasure is Spongebob Squarepants. I just really like your average kids cartoons.”