Center Stage

Exploring the vivacity of her imaginations as a child, Britt Baron already knew what she was going to be even when she was growing up. For her, it all started with the influence of whichever character she saw and eventually imitated them through pretending as a kid. Encouraged by her parents through and through with whatever she wanted to become, Britt was still told to cherish her youth first and pursue acting later on. “I asked my mom if I could start auditioning professionally when I was in elementary school, but she said she wanted me to learn how to ride a bike–be a normal kid first–and if I still wanted to be an actor as an adult, she would support me,” she recalls.

Taking advantage of her school’s curriculum, she jumped into a theater program offered and used this as a training ground for her eventual entrance to University of Michigan. “I went to the University of Michigan and earned my BFA in Performance. My agent is an alumnus of Michigan and was in the audience the night I performed an improv clown sketch. After the show, she started sending me out on self-taped auditions and eventually signed me when I moved to Los Angeles, and it’s all history from there,” Britt exclaims. Going through the motions of transitioning from theater to TV, she felt a wave of culture shock with the change. “With theater, you usually rehearse for a month before you perform, you are given an opportunity to play and explore in the rehearsal space. In television, there is little to no rehearsal time, and you often shoot scenes completely out of order; so as an actor, you really have to track where you are in the timeline of the story.”

Behind the glamour, Britt faced the “no pain, no gain” concept head on. Through acting, she got to embrace different characters with the roles she played–just like the punk rock gal she embodies in Netflix hit series GLOW as Justine “Scab” Biagi. Unveiling a completely new vibe that she saves for when the camera is rolling, she sees the differences between herself and her character. “I’d like to think that I am much friendlier and more goofy than Justine is, especially with the other GLOW girls,” she shares. The contrast between the two doesn’t stop there; Justine is sulky and sullen, filling in the resident teen post-up with her devotion to movies and a thing for the pizza delivery guy. Though she starts the series on the sidelines, her storyline pushes her to the center of the ring as a well-rounded contender. Despite the polar opposite characteristics, Britt does confess to a connection to Justine in style. “We both wear black Converse–I even have a photo of my costume pair of Converse and my real pair next to each other, and they are almost identically torn up. I am at times definitely stubborn,” Britt describes in detail. “But I will admit I went through a phase in high school where I painted my nails black and listened to Avril Lavigne while lamenting about how nobody understood me,” she adds.

Aside from the impact she is leaving in the industry, Britt uses her fame as a platform for a good cause by being an advocate for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) especially after losing her cousin Kelly to suicide. “Mental health and depression are treated as something to be ashamed of, and it really, really shouldn’t be,” she says. “We need to reach out to one another, we need to talk about mental health. There is still so much that is misunderstood or not heard at all about mental health.” Along with the amount of success pouring over Britt, projects and stints still await the budding actress as the spotlight continues to glow for her.

@brittbaron

“In television, you often shoot scenes completely out of order; so as an actor, you really have to track where you are in the timeline of the story.”

By Therese Baluyot

Photographed by Jessica Castro

Styled by Lo VonRumpf

Hair Charles Dujic

Makeup Andre Sarmiento