Interview with Actress Kelli Berglund about Fosse/Verdon and Now Apocalypse

There’s a lot going on in Now Apocalypse, the new series premiering on March 10 on Starz. On the surface, it’s about a group of friends in Los Angeles attempting to find their way through the usual twenty-something tumult of career quandaries and relationship dilemmas, but there’s more bubbling just below the surface—namely aliens, hallucinations, ominous premonitions, just to name a few. Of course, that’s no great surprise if you consider the show is co-written by Karley Sciortino and Gregg Araki (Kaboom, The Doom Generation, and 13 Reasons Why), who also directed, and produced by Steven Soderbergh—a trio of creative minds who aren’t strangers to edgy, funny, boundary pushing entertainment.

The series also makes great use of its young stars, including Avan Jogia, Beau Mirchoff, and 23-year-old Kelli Berglund, who plays Carly, a struggling actress in a flailing relationship who finds some semblance of control over her life through an unconventional online presence. It’s not the only place you’ll see her this season; Berglund will also play a young Gwen Verdon in the anticipated FX series Fosse/Verdon, produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and directed by Thomas Kail (which premieres April 9). Here, Berglund talks to T&C about the two very different roles.

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Kelli Berglund stars in the new series Now Apocalypse, premiering March 10. (Hair: Mika Fowler Make-Up: Carly Fisher Styling: Matthew Peridi)

**It might be an understatement to call Now Apocalypse offbeat. What did you think when you first learned about the series?**

They sent me all 10 episodes before I even had the job; I think for whoever was going to get this role, they had to show it to them and say, “Are you cool with this?” By episode 10 it gets a bit crazy, and I’ve never done anything like it so reading it was a bit scary, but I loved the character. The show is so unique—it’s shocking in many ways—so I think it’ll also be exciting for people to watch.

How do you even describe it. It’s about friendships and relationships, but it’s also a bit fantastic and has a touch of science fiction.

There’s an exaggeration about it; it definitely touches on stereotypes of Los Angeles, but it’s like a Candyland version.

What’s in store for Carly over the season?

She comes off as being aggressive at first because of the way she dresses and her blunt sense of humor. She’s a struggling actress, which is tearing her apart, and her relationship with her boyfriend isn’t great. People might see her as being really confident and having it together, but she has a lot of insecurities. She finds confidence, though, and applies it to her entire life; she gets a more independent mind set and figures out what she wants. It’s great, because the female characters in this show are the strong ones who know what they want. You don’t see that a lot.

**You’re also going to be on Fosse/Verdon, which is about as different as it can get.**

I play a 16-year-old in the 1940s; it’s a completely different role. My character is a young Gwen Verdon. I’ve been a dancer my entire life and have known about Bob Fosse since I was 10 years old, so when I got this audition I just knew I had to book the role. They needed a dancer, and I knew I could do that! The show is so beautifully done, I’m so excited to be part of it. Even though my scenes are flashbacks to when Gwen was young, and her story is really intense, it was a great experience.

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With these two shows under your belt, is there something you’re hoping to do next that you haven’t been asked about yet?

The last jobs I’ve done have all been so different from each other, which is a good thing. I don’t want to be stuck in one kind of role. I’d love to do something seriously dramatic; I’ve always been good at crying on demand.