sydney meyer

Set to star in Netflix’s highly anticipated Grand Army, we talked to Sydney Meyer to get the inside scoop on her role, her time on set and more!

words by VANESSA SALLES photo by ALEX OZEROV

Tell us about Grand Army! What is it about

the show that drew you in and made you want to be involved?

Grand Army is a portrait of today’s American youth. It’s a gritty look at teenagers from a range of socio-political, and racial backgrounds fighting to make their mark and be heard in their community. The show is so raw and honest and it deals with so many important and relevant issues. I was actually working the auditions as a reader and I knew it was a special project and that I wanted to be a part of it. I tried to get an audition but I was told I was too old for the project. I ended up working the table read for the first two episodes and I met the Showrunner and the rest of the cast there. I was lucky enough that they decided to take a chance on me and cast me as Anna the same week.

How would you describe your role? What should viewers expect from Anna?

Anna is the motherly figure of her group. She’s incredibly smart and nurturing. She’s Joey’s best friend since childhood and Tim’s twin sister. She’s loyal, quick to laugh, and she doesn’t mind not being the center of attention. I think Anna is such a relatable character. We watch her become stuck in the middle of certain events and she has to decide what she stands for and who she is going to be. She’s a more moderate character so I think I really sympathized with her struggle of being placed in the middle of things and having to really make a choice.

With the series exploring a range of important social issues, how would you describe the vibe on set?

Honestly, sometimes the vibe on set was pretty heavy. We became like a family and we were all so close but the subject matter of the show definitely was not lost on us. We took it seriously and it affected us. There would be times after a table read that we would all need to take a break and sit and just talk out our feelings before we went back to filming. We had an intimacy coordinator on set that was amazing and so compassionate. She would sit with us and talk with us, check in on us when she knew we had scenes that would affect us emotionally. We had to take care of each other in order to do the work and be vulnerable in that way.

Overall, what do you hope viewers take away from watching this series?

I really just hope that this show opens up conversations. I hope that if there are issues that people have had difficulty broaching in their lives with the people they care about, that this show will be a catalyst to open that conversation up in a new way.

What would you say has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned this year?

I think the biggest lesson for me this year has been patience. I tend to be a person of action and I can get impatient with myself and with others. I’m always looking for forward motion. I think I really learned this year that patience is a type of care and respect that you can give to yourself and to others.

What has quarantined life looked like for you these last few months?

Well, I got engaged so my fiancé and I have been planning our wedding which has been wonderful! We’ve been spending time with my parents. I’ve been reading a lot, writing music, and spending a lot of time with our cat. We try to keep creative whether that’s photoshoots or writing or scene work. It’s been a balance of staying active and also being appreciative of this time and allowing ourselves to stop and breathe.