Whether it’s by dragon boat (which she once competed internationally for btw) or the TTC (yes, you read that right), Chelsea Clark is going places.
When she’s not at university studying Anthropology or hitting up Toronto’s coolest coffee shop with friends, Chelsea Clark is acting in shows such as Degrassi Next Generation or, more recently, the new Netflix Drama, Ginny and Georgia.
Despite what early critics have been reviewing, Chelsea wants people to know that Ginny and Georgia is much more than a modern day version of Gilmore Girls.
"I think to be compared to the Gilmore Girls is pretty freaking cool, but let’s let Ginny and Georgia be its own thing. There can be two shows about a mother daughter duo because there are however many shows about a man,” said Clark.
As much as we all love Lorelai and Rory, it is time for you to meet Ginny and Georgia. Netflix’s upcoming biracial mother daughter duo debuting on the streaming service later this month.
While we were chatting, I noticed Chelsea’s face light up when I asked her about the show. What Chelsea loves most about the new series is the female empowerment it offers.
“I am really excited for this show to come out. One of the main things that I want people to know is that the whole atmosphere of the show itself and also of the set and working with these people, was very focused on female empowerment, female collectiveness, and really helping raise your peers and not being in competition with everyone. That was a total breath of fresh air,” said Clark.
Ginny and Georgia also stars a few familiar faces including Jennifer Robertson aka Jocelyn from Schitt’s Creek, and Scott Porter aka Jason Street from Friday Night Lights.
“I’m going to be honest, I didn’t watch Schitt’s Creek and I didn’t know that Jennifer was on it until after the first month. I think I was able to bypass the starstruckness of it and be chill about it because I was genuinely living under a rock. And with Scott Porter, I sort of had to remind myself of why I knew him. It was cool to know that I was able to be in the same room as them and be considered an equal and to work alongside them. They were really amazing. There was a lot of friendliness on set,” said Clark.
Chelsea plays the role of Norah on the show. One of Chelsea’s favorite things about playing Norah was that she got to have bangs. Okay, maybe it’s not one of her favorite things, but she did feel like that was worth mentioning when I asked her to tell me about Norah.
“She’s super cool, very supportive, very loyal, and a lot of her life in Ginny and Georgia is her girls and being a part of that friend group and being there for everybody,” said Chelsea.
Chelsea believes that once Ginny and Georgia premieres, a lot of people will feel respected on screen in a way they may have never been before.
“The way the show was created and written, there was a lot of reflection and understanding of racial dynamics. The show is about a white mother and a biracial daughter. There was always a safe space. The show talks about those racial dynamics and being biracial. You’ll see the difference that Ginny is going to navigate the world vs. the way that other people do. I think Ginny and Georgia really highlights them in a way that isn’t shoving it down your throat. It’s not just one diversity that is higher,” said Chelsea.
When I asked Mud’s signature question, “What Does It Mean To Be Young Today?,” Chelsea first looked at me as if I was one of her anthropology professors putting her on the spot in front of the whole class. However, she had a very insightful answer to my “loaded question.”
“To be young today is to be unapologetically yourself. I think what is really cool about our generation is that we’re done with all of the weird bureaucracy and all of the weird power dynamics and racial dynamics. Everyone now is really willing to call things out and to not play into the cycle,” said Clark.
From our one conversation, I could tell that Chelsea is definitely unapologetically herself and always able to share anything whether it’s what her show represents or how she got into Dragon Boat racing.
Ginny and Georgia is not the only thing the bubbly actress has on her radar this year. She was very candid and told me she could not say too much about other future endeavors. However she did say, “I’m very fortunate because as an artist, Covid has made it very difficult to work which I’m sure everyone can understand and even as a human being it’s been extremely difficult. I’m really fortunate that I’m still able to go and do what I love.”
Even though we may not know what those other projects are just yet, we still have the opportunity to watch Chelsea Clark do what she loves in Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia when it premieres on Feb 24th.