Written By: Jayme Face
Alexa Swinton is an actress, author and co-founder of a production company… Oh and she’s 10 years old! You can catch this talented kid on the highly anticipated ABC drama Emergence which premiered on Tuesday September 24!
Alexa Swinton – Photo Credit: Emily Assiran
Hair & Make-up- Evy Drew
Stylist- Jenn Rosado
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about Emergence and your character, Piper?
Alexa Swinton: Emergence is really about this little girl who appears at this mysterious plane crash site and how this police chief (Allison Tolman) takes her in and how the family revolves around this strange little girl who can’t even remember her own name.
upfrontNY: Piper has some unusual abilities, if you could pick one of those abilities what would it be?
Alexa Swinton: Oh, wow! That’s a good question! I think, maybe the ability to survive a plane crash without having any scratches on her.
upfrontNY: What was the best part about filming a mystery like this?
Alexa Swinton: The cool thing about filming a mystery like this is that mystery is my favorite genre ever. It’s my favorite type of book and everything. So, I’m really glad I could film a mystery. I’m so excited to be doing it.
upfrontNY: What’s your favorite part about filming in New Jersey?
Alexa Swinton: The fact that I live here. I get to live with my family and deal with my siblings every day. And that means fighting with them too but – I’m in the middle – that’s all good. It’s also a bit of an adventure as I get to discover new parts of the state that I hadn’t visited before like Island Beach State Park – so beautiful! And we get to showcase the state in the show.
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about the film Sometime Other Than Now?
Alexa Swinton: Yeah, Sometime Other Than Now is about this guy who abandoned his daughter when she was very young and now he’s coming back. I’m the daughter’s daughter and essentially it’s about how he tries to get back into her life.
I worked with amazing actors – Kate Walsh, Donal Logue, Trieste Dunn. Donal was great to work with – he taught me guitar in the movie as part of the story, but he also taught me to play during breaks! And he gave me a gift of a real guitar – because he’s a collector and he is so generous. I also enjoyed working with the director, Dylan McCormick.
upfrontNY: Do other people in the family act?
Alexa Swinton: Yes, my mother is an actress and a stand-up comedian, my 7 year old brother is an actor and recently made his stand-up debut at a comedy club in New York, he was on Little Big Shots and a whole bunch of TV shows. My older sister Ava sings and is a musician.
upfrontNY: Since your family is full of performers do you ever get to work together?
Alexa Swinton: Yes, I actually have! I have done a number of projects with them – we do things together all the time!
My brother, sister and I perform concerts together. Recently we did a small fundraiser at my great-great aunt’s senior home and we love to perform at senior homes. I love music and think it is such a special thing to give as a gift to people who may not be able to otherwise get to live shows.
We also did a short film about vampires that I wrote, called “Veggie Burger” and my dad was the cinematographer while my mom helped with some of the jokes. We shot it on our vacation in Arizona and Maxim was my lead actor. Maxim threatened to quit all the time because we wanted to go hiking and Ava demanded a hot tub scene!
My siblings, my mom, and I also do comedy skits on our YouTube. Maxim, my mom, and I have also worked on Off-Broadway together in my mom’s original play, “Kooky Spook.”
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about the book you are writing?
Alexa Swinton: My mom and I are writing a book called “The Life of Skylie.” It’s about this girl named Skylie. It’s about her adventures in the fourth grade and living in a multi-generational and multicultural house.
upfrontNY: Do you draw from your own experiences? Are there any parallels?
Alexa Swinton: Oh, for sure! I come back every single day and I’m like “mom this is what happened at school !”and she uses that in the book!
upfrontNY: You helped found Match Girl Productions can you tell us more about that?
Alexa Swinton: I did, yes. Match Girl is actually my mom’s favorite story. So, when we were thinking of a production name we thought Match Girl would be perfect because it was my mom’s favorite story as a young girl and one of my favorite stories she would read to me in bed as a little kid.
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your debut album?
Alexa Swinton: I am working on an album. I am a songwriter and have been since I was little. I make up melodies and my mom has always said – record it – so you remember! And actually – I am now working with a producer to write and record these songs. It has been tricky juggling this while working on “Emergence” and doing my school work.
upfrontNY: You love to cook, what are your favorite dishes to cook?
Alexa Swinton: Well my favorite dish that my dad cooks for me is definitely his soufflé. It’s the most delicious thing he makes and only on birthdays if we ask him. It’s very specific and it takes a lot of time so he only makes it when we ask him very, very nicely. But my personal favorite thing to cook is cake. Any types of cake with chocolate in it because I’m a big cake and chocolate fan. Chocolate is my favorite food ever. Really, it’s my favorite food! I like to make chocolate cake with this caramel sauce to pour over it. It’s really the most delicious thing ever.
upfrontNY: Is there anything you would like to let our readers to know about?
Alexa Swinton: My brother and I actually do these really cool news skits on YouTube kind of like the ones on SNL. It’s a comedy show my mom writes. It’s really cool! You can check it out on YouTube right now on our page, The Swinton Show.
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