Join us for a special episode of The Pilot Podcast where we interview Bethany Antonia, star of Netflix series Get Even!
We dive into Bethany’s character Margot going from the audition to the characters growth and development during the season. Also, did you know that Bethany plays Animal Crossing?
Bethany Antonia’s Social Media:
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Editing done by Matt Quandt from I Edit Podcasts
BJ 0:09
Welcome to The Pilot Podcast! This week, we have a very special episode. Today we're joined by actor Bethany Antonia, who you most recently saw play Margot in Netflix's Get Even.
Mitu 0:20
Welcome, Bethany! We're thrilled to have you join us today. Would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners?
Bethany Antonia 0:25
Hello, thank you so much for having me. I'm Bethany Antonia and I play Margot in Getting Even and I'm a British actor.
BJ 0:33
Awesome! Okay, so let's just dive right in. How did you get involved with Get Even?
Bethany Antonia 0:38
So, I had the script sent to me through my agent. And I was actually away at the time. I was- I was doing a play. And I was told that it was based on a book and that they were making this new series, and I just came down and I did I did an audition and then did a couple of recalls and then got offered the role. Super simple.
BJ 0:59
How long did that process take?
Bethany Antonia 1:01
It was actually really speedy compared to- compared to usual. I mean, not speedy. In between first audition and getting the role, it was maybe two months, but it felt like it was super speedy because we had our first audition. And then nothing, just no news. And then it was like four or five weeks until the first callback. And then from the callback to just being on set, it was like a week. We have like a callback. A second callback. The next day was the chemistry read. And then we were moving to Manchester to film within like two days. We had- I remember, we found out we had the role on the Tuesday. They offered us the role on a Tuesday, and the read through was the Thursday morning, and we got off the role at Tuesday night.
Mitu 1:43
How was preparing your energy between wanting the job, suddenly getting the job, and then having to immediately perform the job?
Bethany Antonia 1:51
So hard because you really try to like not get invested when you're auditioning. You try and just think, "It's just another one. It's just another option to see or chance to meet someone." And you- you like block that part of your brain off from like diving in your head you want to be in Manchester but you- you won't let yourself get that because if you don't get it it's so devastating. So for me I was trying to like live my life go about normal, but like not living my life really struggling like to stay sane. And my agent called and he - I remember it was the weekend - and he was like, "We're not gonna know till Monday, I'm afraid. Just go out with your friends this weekend. Have a great time. Don't think about it." And I was like "okay!" And so then Monday came around and nothing, right? So I was like, "It's gone. It's gone." Tuesday, I was gonna spend the whole day sulking. So Tuesday I went to see my grandparents and I was just moping and then the phone rang and he was like, "You've got the job!" And I was like, "Oh my God!" And then I had like, like I said one day to like pack all of my life into a suitcase and move to the north for three months. So I didn't really have time to adapt my energy. I just kind of had to go with it. And like fix it on the train, like change my energy on the train.
Mitu 3:00
Oh my gosh.
BJ 3:01
I guess that's part of the job. You just have to be ready to go.
Bethany Antonia 3:05
Yeah. And I think it kind of comes naturally. Like, as soon as we were in the read through, you know, everyone's in the same boat. You've all just got there for the first time. I think that energy of being with the rest of the cast, it just naturally just falls into place.
BJ 3:17
Awesome. So how about we talk a little bit about your character Margot? So we see that she is this awesome young woman kicking butt in every sense of the word, from actual fighting to scheming to your character dominating gaming. How did it feel the play such a force of a person?
Bethany Antonia 3:34
So cool. You know, Margot was such a refreshing character that I don't feel like we see ever on TV. It was the first time I'd had the chance to audition for a role like this. A young Black girl who's like a gamer and isn't sassy. She's just a nerd and just wants to do her own thing alone. Like that never happens, right? So it was such a breath of fresh air when I got that script through. And getting to play her was just so much. Her- her bedroom was like the coolest thing I've ever seen. I was just like, "Let me stay here all day." She's got like this triple setup!
Mitu 4:08
Yeah! The three screen set up.
BJ 4:11
I was jealous.
Bethany Antonia 4:11
Yeah, so it was like the coolest thing. And I felt I was really lucky. I got some really cool storylines with her. And she's just kind of an artist's dream. Just she was a mix of everything. I got to be sad. I got to have two love interests. Just like an amazing character.
BJ 4:27
Very exciting! And kind of diving deeper into that. You know, Margot goes from shyer and more reserved to, without giving away spoilers, being right in the thick of the action. So what sort of decisions did you have to make as an actor to portray that growth throughout the season?
Bethany Antonia 4:43
Yeah, I wanted- So, it's kind of hard on this 10 episodes because I wanted it to feel authentic but at the same time, she has to go through so many different things so quickly. And especially because that what the girls are doing is so high energy and so high impact. I didn't want it to be lost, her own personal growth journey and I didn't want it to go from like one episode she sat alone crying in the toilet to next episode, she's like storming around the school like a badass, right? So I really wanted to make sure that it felt natural. So I did like a big timeline of hers and tried to figure out where the shifts could be like the tiny little moments that would make her a little bit more confident. And there were some really nice little scenes like there's a scene with Christopher, the character, Christopher, where they're in the computer room, and they have a little chat. And that for me was like a turning point for her where she's built up and then just like picking nice little moments where I could like make a decision. And then from that moment onward, she's gonna be like this was really helpful, because I didn't want it to get lost at all, her self development journey.
BJ 5:41
Did you get a chance to talk to the writers or the director as you were planning out this timeline?
Bethany Antonia 5:47
Yeah. So I mean, as I say, it was such a quick turnaround. But we did get a chance to sit with Holly, who was the lead writer of the series, and she kind of gave us so much that she'd been working on for months about our characters. And she was always sending us stuff over email and just like ideas, and also Gretchen McNeil, the writer of the books was incredible. When I got the role, I emailed her and I just said like, "What? What's your take on Margot? How would you like us to play her?" Because that's the thing when you're playing a character from a book, there's this little bit of pressure because you want to do the author justice, right? You don't want them to watch the show and be like, that's not my character. You want them to be happy, so, I dropped her an email and just said like, "Is there anything that you specifically want Margot to feel like?" She was brilliant, she sent over so much stuff. So I definitely have held off off the bat.
BJ 6:33
That's so awesome. Because when you have these book adaptations, you're always wondering what did the author and even what did the fans of the book envision for this character and how do you portray that in live action? That can be difficult.
Bethany Antonia 6:46
Yeah, absolutely. It can. We actually read- So I hadn't read the books when I got the script through. But as soon as I had my first recall, I read both of them I read Get Even Get Dirty. And so that when we have the chemistry reads, I was kind of like, up to date with the book, but when we started filming, we all actually read the books together as a cast, we were just the first two weeks, we were all just reading the books. So it was definitely important to all of us to make it feel right. And like you say, for the fans of the books originally to feel happy, and to feel like this was the show that they envisioned.
Mitu 7:19
With your crew. So speaking of the chemistry reads, with DGM, you're bound together by this higher mission, but you're also in different walks of school and social life, you wouldn't necessarily present to the other students as this group of best friends. So how was it portraying that? Because there is this great chemistry between y'all, but you also are so great at showing that complication too within that group.
Bethany Antonia 7:45
Yeah, I think well, when I got the role, actually, I thought that I would spend more time with the girls than we actually did. We filmed all of our scenes back to back so actually filming we all spend more time with our individual friends or like friendship groups than we did as a cohort, which I think really helped create that look of attention. It looked like we were all from different places, because we actually, while we've been pulled from different parts of the rooms to come and do these scenes, I think that helps. But I think just- just Andy Briley, the casting director, did such a great job at finding girls who did feel like they were from completely different walks of life because we all were. We were all completely different. And it was nice because we all had so much to learn about each other. Well, as soon as we started filming, it was like playing four different people who had lived completely different lives. And we had like three months to learn about each other. So I think it was just brilliant casting. I think he did a great job.
Mitu 8:36
And your character is a gamer. Do you game at all in your daily life?
Bethany Antonia 8:41
I do a little bit. I mean, Margot is like an epic gamer. She's like queen of the gamers. I mean, I have like a Nintendo Switch. And I game on that.
BJ 8:50
Awesome! I love the Switch.
Bethany Antonia 8:53
So I play on that, but I mean, Margot like takes it to a whole new level. That girl could game all day every day for the rest of her life.
Mitu 9:00
And you're not quite there yet with your Switch.
Bethany Antonia 9:02
Not quite there yet.
Mitu 9:02
Maybe one day.
Bethany Antonia 9:04
I'm following her lead. She's inspired me a lot.
Mitu 9:07
What are some of your favorite Switch games?
Bethany Antonia 9:09
So I love Zelda. You know Zelda?
BJ & Mitu 9:11
Yeah!
Bethany Antonia 9:12
And Animal Crossing right now it's just like all I can think about.
Mitu 9:16
I live with my partner and he loves Animal Crossing and I don't know what the game is. I don't know how it's played, but I always see him like on this island. He's like doing different designs and he often will complain to me in the morning like when we're having coffee like about the turnip prices. He's like-
Bethany Antonia 9:32
Yeah!
Mitu 9:33
I'm like really like getting killed on the market today and, and then really like, talks about it.
Bethany Antonia 9:39
Yeah, it's part of my daily routine, genuinely. It's like wake up, I go downstairs, I do some yoga and then Animal Crossing for like an hour. You should play it's really cool. It's really cool.
Mitu 9:48
I will. I'll jump in. I'll make my own little island. Is that- is that something y'all do? That's a thing, right?
Bethany Antonia 9:53
Yeah!
Mitu 9:54
Okay, good.
Bethany Antonia 9:55
You get your little island and then you have to sell turnips to get like- Turnips is like the stock market of the island. When you get loads of money to make your island incredible. I'm going to check back in like a month and see where you're at with your island.
Mitu 10:06
No, hold me accountable. I like that. I will. I did make a little profile on his switch. So I'll do it.
Bethany Antonia 10:13
Very good.
Mitu 10:13
So, speaking of being extremely online, I went on Twitter and I looked up Get Even and I just saw reaction GIF and meme after meme that was like, again, we don't want to do spoilers, but it's just like, "No Margot, snap out of it. Don't trust him." Or like "Yes, Margot, like get it," you know. And I won't say who people are yelling about but there's a couple characters and it was just so fun to scroll through. But since you play Margot This is a character with someone you might be personally invested in. So how does it feel witnessing that fandom discussion online?
Bethany Antonia 10:48
It's so surreal. So like, the first few days that the show came out- The show came out in England in February, and it did well, people watched it but it didn't have like a big online reaction at all. Because the kind of people that were watching it- just, it's kind of different over here, there's not that much of like a Twitter craze, so I wasn't used to it at all. And then seeing just hundreds of people talking about this character who you feel so protective of. I found myself getting really defensive. People get really worked up about things, and I was just getting really defensive or really just like overwhelmed and flattered at some of the nice things people say, but I've definitely like taking her on as like my little sister who I'm protective of. Any tweets, I'm like, making sure they're okay.
Mitu 11:32
I feel very protective of Margot, too. I just love that character. And like you said, it's so rare to get to see a Black girl, be that dynamic on a show and you get to have your own love interests. Like you said, you get to have your own story and your character development, and we're not witnessing Margot in relation to someone else. We're seeing her come into herself and it was just so powerful for me and I was like, "when my nieces' get a little bit older, I'll let them watch it."
Bethany Antonia 12:00
Aw
Mitu 12:01
They're, they're under 10 years old now. So not yet.
Bethany Antonia 12:04
Not yet. Not quite!
Mitu 12:05
But in a few years! I honestly keep this like mental list of movies and shows that do right by Black girls that I'm like, "Okay, when my nieces are like 13, we'll like, sit down and watch this.
Bethany Antonia 12:16
Yeah. Oh, that's so lovely to hear. There was this lovely article that someone wrote for Teen Vogue, saying that, like, here we have a young Black girl with two, not one, but two love interests. And it's not a byproduct of someone else. And it doesn't end with her being the joker of the pack and it doesn't end at her expense. Because when I was reading it, I was really scared that she- this was going to be a big joke. And at the end of the series, it was going to be like, "Oh, that's why she had two boyfriends." Like of course, they weren't actually interested in her because that's just so what we're used to seeing. We're just so used to seeing Black woman at the pit of everyone's jokes. And so it was so refreshing that I got to the end of Episode 10 and she was fine. She was in tact. You know that the fact that I expected that, really, but I just feel so privileged to play her. I really do.
Mitu 12:27
And you also look so great to in the show - and great now! - but meaning sometimes you'll see- I'll talk about this with Beej often when we review shows, and sometimes I'll see a Black women on screen and I'm like, oh, there was no one who was like culturally competent, if you will, doing their hair or makeup, and you just looked so great. And we got to see you as yourself. And everyone is free to wear their hair however they like, but it was just really cool to see you just like wear your hair out.
Bethany Antonia 13:34
Yeah.
Mitu 13:35
How did that feel? Or how did that work?
Bethany Antonia 13:37
That was, as soon as I read the first page of dialogue for Margot, I was like, "If I get this role, she's going to have an afro." I just decided. Because for me as a kid, that was all I needed to see. I needed to see one girl who looks like me rocking her natural hair and being proud of it. And I grew up chemically straightening my hair for years and years to the point where it would fall out in clumps in my hands, and I really think that would have been different if I had just seen one girl that looked like me on television, so as soon as I got the script, I was like, she's gonna have an afro if I get the part. And every audition, I went with my afro like a little bit bigger every single time.
Mitu 14:13
Ease them into it.
Bethany Antonia 14:14
Yeah, like manipulation slowly.
BJ 14:17
Just get used to this.
Bethany Antonia 14:19
So they couldn't see Margot any other way. And then when I got the role, one of the executive producers actually we had a really lovely chat he came in he said, "You know, I really want Margot to have an afro, how do you feel about this?" And he wanted her to have like a hair journey. He wanted to show that she was getting more confident, but he didn't want her to suddenly get a boyfriend and then throw her hair away or like to stop doing putting it away and see that Afro as like this default unkept version of herself. He wanted it to look like she was taking care of herself but also being proud of her hair. And that's just so rare like to have a conversation like that with a producer who isn't Black or anything just bringing it up because he's thought about it was so refreshing. And then the different hairstyles that I had throughout the show, the hair and makeup team were just amazing at coming up with different ideas. And I had like this super cool plait in the back of my head one day and like, but it was just like it was just a dream. But you don't get to do that on many things ever. So it was just so nice. And I'm so glad that I like drilled it in there really early.
Mitu 15:18
Yeah, it was really cool to see. I read Gabrielle Union's book last year, We're Gonna Need More Wine. And she talks about how difficult it was until recently getting to play with her own hair and having people who knew how to play with it and even incorporate it into the story. And it was wild to hear her experiences on like what I thought were pretty major movies and shows and having to sort of get there with her hair in a way that was that didn't have to be as difficult as it was. And so it was it's very refreshing to both see you on screen but also to learn from you now that it got to be part of your journey.
Bethany Antonia 15:53
Yeah, I'll have to read that book. It sounds like it's brilliant.
Mitu 15:56
I loved it. It's very, very good.
Bethany Antonia 15:58
I was so surprised at how it was when I first entered the industry. I remember my first ever job, it was a pretty big soap in the UK and I went on it and I was so excited to go to hair and makeup and I went completely bare faced and my hair was just in a bun or whatever. And I got there and they were like, "So we think you look great. You can just go as you are." And I was like, devastated, like little me was expecting to have this like makeover. And I quickly realized that like they just don't do that. They don't have the knowledge, they don't have the capacity. They don't- the desire to like to make a change, they just want you to- they can't do it, so just gonna leave it and that's how it is. And so I quickly learned that that's how it was. And that has been my experience for a really long time. I was just so lucky, even that they were so willing to learn and to- and to do what was best for the character.
BJ 16:50
Hopefully this marks a change in the industry. It's always good that people are paying attention to those details which really matter and will impact not only the cast but the viewers as well.
Bethany Antonia 17:01
Yeah hundred percent.
BJ 17:03
So it seems like you really got to know Margot even develop her look. We're curious which one of the characters on the show do you think you would be friends with?
Bethany Antonia 17:13
Oh, I think I would be friends with Ed who's played by Dylan Brady. He's a very good friend now in real life. We did our chemistry read together. And so like from the get go, our characters just felt like the best of friends. But I think in the show he would be my friend because he's just like, easy breezy. He's just fun. Or Christopher, he's played by Jake- Jake Dunn because I just love that character. They're both like the drama nerds who just like don't want to be in any trouble. They just want to live their lives and stay out of drama.
BJ 17:45
Kind of going back to Twitter and people picking favorite characters. What's it like interacting with a global fan base because now that it's debuted on Netflix you have this international audience who are meeting these characters and wanting to know more about you?
Bethany Antonia 18:01
Yeah, that's been really exciting actually. Getting DMs off people from all different countries and having to use like Google translate to try and strike up some sort of conversation and getting it completely wrong. I did the other- the other week someone tweeted me from Brazil and I google translated the response and just got all my friends messaging me like, "That is wrong. Delete it." I'm like, "I tried!" But it's been- it's really nice because people really go out of their way to try and strike up a conversation with you and to find the best way that you can understand each other about the things that they like about the show. So it's just been super cool. And I've been so surprised at how big of a fan base it's gotten in different countries. I just didn't, especially the ones that aren't English speaking, I just didn't think that it would, that it would have that reach. And it really has. It's just been so nice.
BJ 18:01
Yeah, it's really impacted people including our own listeners who were emailing us who like really wanted us to review the show.
Bethany Antonia 18:54
Wow, that's so cool! It's also- when it came out in England. It was a very specific age bracket. I feel like. I feel like I could kind of pinpoint exactly who was watching it. Whereas it's been completely different. Now it's launched globally, all different kinds of people have been messaging and getting in touch, which is really nice, because I think that's what we always wanted for the show. We wanted it to feel like it could be watched wherever.
BJ 19:18
So we're also curious, you know, what is next on the horizon for you? And can you share anything about the future of DGM and Get Even?
Bethany Antonia 19:28
Well, we- We're all really hoping for a second season, you know, I'd be lying if I said we weren't. Nothing's been confirmed as of yet but the show's doing really well. So we're all kind of like sitting here, fingers crossed really tightly, that we get to- we get to do another season. COVID kind of ruined everything for everyone.
BJ 19:46
Yeah.
Bethany Antonia 19:46
So everything's been pushed back for me. I was supposed to be filming something this summer that's been pushed back, but I can't talk about it, but it's been pushed back for indefinitely.
BJ 19:55
Oh no.
Bethany Antonia 19:56
And things are slowly starting to pick back up now. So I think for me in the future, I'm just hoping to first of all, get a second season of a great show, and just have like a really varied career. I want to just do different things. I want to come to the States. I want to- I want to work in film. I want to work in musical theater. I want to just do so many different things. And I just hope that this is a really nice like stepping stone for that.
Mitu 20:17
How do you prepare for roles when you're doing a play versus a musical versus film and show? Does that preparation look different for you as a performer?
Bethany Antonia 20:29
Yeah, I think I mean, for me, they all kind of start in the same way. I like to find out everything I can about the character before I even look at the text. So I do this thing where I pretend that I'm on like a first date with them, and they tell me everything that they want to tell me. And I decide if I like them or not, or if I'm going to stay. And then it's just about applying it to the different texts, television and film has a very different tone to theatre and musical theater. And you have to kind of explore that for each character as a separate entity and decide how they're going to be and how they're going to sound. The good thing with theatre is that you get to make lots of different choices and try them out over periods of time and see which one works best versus television and film, you have to kind of make a choice and stick with it. But my process for preparing is definitely the same for both of them. I just like to know everything about the character.
BJ 21:15
And so we've read that you've had this desire and passion for film and entertainment since you were a child. What started that and what got you interested in this career path?
Bethany Antonia 21:25
Yeah, um, so I actually moved to France for a little while with my family when I was six. Me, my mom and my grandparents moved there. And then I came home when I was 11/12. So I lived there for about six years and over there their education system is just so different to the one I had in the UK. They're so creatively focused, we would go into the forest and make plays and do dance routines and write songs for our parents as they picked us up. It was just so- all the focus was on the creative arts, it felt like. And my first ever experience of acting was we did Into the Woods in the actual woods and I was in and out of trees and, and so I did that for my whole childhood. And then I came back to the UK. And it was like math, english, science. And I was like, "Whoa, where's the trees in the forest?" It was just so surreal to me because I didn't know anything else. My earliest memories are of France, so I did- that was all I knew. And I kind of found drama lessons in school and they quickly became my like, favorite place. My safe place. And I think it's because it just felt like what I'd known the whole time. But I still then didn't know that it was something I was going to do as a career. I just loved acting and knew that it made me so happy. And then I used to watch like television programs and films and recreate them for fun in my room. And I just like write out the scripts to things and perform them to anyone that would listen and make them sit for like a two-hour rendition of whatever I'd watched that day. And then one day I was watching television, and there were some children in the show that I was watching and I was like, "Oh my gosh, they're my age. So that means that I can be doing what they're doing." And that was it. I got the bug. I was gonna be a child actor and no one was gonna stop me.
Mitu 23:05
That is incredible. Wow, I'm just picturing like free children in a forest performing. And that just seems beautiful. I love that.
Bethany Antonia 23:13
Yeah, honestly. It was incredible. It was such a beautiful way to grow up. And that was so like I say, I mean, their school system is slightly different to ours. So you don't go into like hardcore education until you're a bit older. But there was just no emphasis on having to be intelligent, it was more just like do what makes you feel good. We want you to find who you are before you go into the school system. And then you can learn these things that can help you through life, but for now, just like do you and I just think that was such a beautiful way to grow up. Like I just got to have free reign over anything that I wanted to do and- and there was no fear. That's the thing. There was absolutely no fear. So I came back to England and there was so much fear. And the only way to get out of that was to go to drama classes and to have no fear again.
BJ 23:57
Yeah, that makes sense though because there's gonna be so much pressure and fear and things to learn as you get older so enjoy those early ages and just be creative.
Bethany Antonia 24:08
Yeah, absolutely. It's so smart. I always said if I had children, I'd love to bring them up over there in that way, because I think it just did me so much good. I don't know if I'd be acting if I hadn't had that.
Mitu 24:18
Where can our listeners find and support you and your work?
Bethany Antonia 24:21
Yeah, so I'm pretty active on social media. So I have Instagram, which is just @bethanyantonia and Twitter, which is @BethanyAntonia_, and I'm trying to be more and more active on there every single day and just engage with you guys about the show and what you like. That's where you'll find any updates about a potential season two, if we get one.
Mitu 24:39
Oh, truly, fingers crossed. We need to finish that story out. Thank you so much for joining us today.
BJ 24:46
Yeah, thank you.
Bethany Antonia 24:47
Aw, thank you so much for having me. It's been lovely.
BJ 24:49
This is was a lot of fun. And we'll put all of your links in our show notes for our listeners.
Bethany Antonia 24:53
Amazing. Thank you so much!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai