Aleyse Shannon faced a big challenge in joining Leverage: Redemption. Not only was the Two Sentence Horror Stories alum playing a new character in the IMDb TV series, but that character Breanna Casey was written as the foster sister of Leverage favorite Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge, who moved from series regular to recurring cast member for the revival).
As Leverage: Redemption continues streaming exclusively on IMDb TV, Aleyse spoke with me about what it felt like to join an established cast and how she approached the challenge of portraying a character who’s supposed to be connected to an existing hero. Get to know both Aleyse and Breanna in this interview, and don’t forget to check out my past Leverage conversations with Noah Wyle and Gina Bellman for more about Redemption.
Brittany Frederick: What appealed to you about joining Leverage: Redemption?
Aleyse Shannon: When I got this audition we were in the middle of a pandemic and still thick into quarantine, and what better opportunity than [to] go meet new people, work safely and have such a freaking fun time on a set with these guys? (laughs) I binge watched the original Leverage and I was just stoked. I couldn’t believe who I was about to go meet and hang out with and work with.
BF: Your character Breanna could easily invite skepticism from the audience. She’s given this backstory of being Hardison’s foster sister; how did you approach that backstory and make it feel believable to the audience?
AS: I just tried to bring as much of who I am and my sensibility and the technology that I was raised with to the table. I’ll say this about Aldis Hodge—he’s always been there for me, he’s never been [anything] but a phone call away. That is my big brother in real life. Just a groove that he was playing in that I could go and play my instrument in as well. He was there to offer that for me.
BF: And then you also have to have her bring this younger point of view, without coming off as being too stereotypical. Was that easy for you or did you have to familiarize yourself with anything?
AS: We’re raised with Instagram and TikTok and all of the little apps and stuff like that, so it was natural. You’ve got to bring the quirk and the millenialness and get it all done, so that’s what I did.
Leverage: Redemption is streaming now on IMDb TV.
Article content is (c)2020-2023 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram.
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