Written By: Jayme Face
You first saw Jayna Sweet in Disney’s Lemonade Mouth, but she’s grown up a lot since then starring in Facebook Watch’s Turnt and Directing her own short film Daughter. Check out our interview!
Photo Credit: Session Nine Photography
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your show Turnt and your character, Natalie?
Jayna Sweet: Totally! Turnt is a vibrant, realistic drama that follows a group of high school classmates. It’s about all these teens coming-of-age, discovering themselves, and figuring out where they belong, all while navigating this “digital age” that we live in. Natalie is one of my favorite characters ever. When you first meet her, she’s dealing with a lot of insecurity and doesn’t have many friends. She’s incredibly intelligent, observant, and funny, but doesn’t feel like she fits in – or even really know where to begin. She goes on a huge journey over the course of the season when she becomes very infatuated and engrossed with an idea of “perfection” that she builds up in her mind and does everything she can to try to reach that image and become what she believes is “perfect.”
upfrontNY: What makes Turnt different than other teen shows?
Jayna Sweet: I think a big factor is how relatable, raw, and real Turnt is. There’s no sugar-coating going on, and we explore real issues that teenagers are going through today. The level of representation for the LGBTQ+ community on our show is also a huge differentiator. It’s something missing in a lot of TV, and Turnt does its darnedest to give voice to those stories and experiences.
upfrontNY: It is on Facebook Watch, does that make a difference as opposed to other platforms?
Jayna Sweet: I’d say it makes a huge difference! It’s not as cut-and-dry as it might be on another platform or network. It’s certainly a whole new realm, which is equally nerve-wracking and exciting to experience. Thinking back to when Netflix started producing original content, at first, we as consumers and viewers really had no idea what it was going to be like. I think Facebook Watch is going through that phase now – we’re all waiting on the edge of our seat to see how it turns out and what kind of content the platform is excited to showcase.
upfrontNY: You were in a short called Daughter which you also directed how was that, shifting gears? And tell us about the film!
Jayna Sweet: Yes! For my 21st birthday, my dad wrote the script as a female-driven, modern retelling of “The Prodigal Son,” and wanted us to co-produce and act in it together. We’ve been taking it around to festivals for a bit, which has been a lot of fun. Directing is something I’ve always felt drawn to, so it was fun to live it out on the shoot. Directing while also acting is definitely a challenge, and I had to learn to trust the opinions of my creative team a lot more, as opposed to only going with what I was seeing or feeling. But, I also had to trust myself a lot more than I normally do. Trusting my instincts as an actor, trusting the work I had done leading up to production, trusting my decisions… All-in-all, it was a big exercise in trust.
upfrontNY: You are also a singer can you tell us more about your music?
Jayna Sweet: I’ve loved music my whole life, but grew up thinking I was a terrible singer. Sometime when I was nearing my teenage years, I was jamming in the car with my dad and he turned to me and said, “I think you just found your voice.” From there, I started honing in on what made my voice unique, and really embraced it when I got my first guitar for my 13th birthday and began writing songs a lot more. I’d classify my music as folk-pop. Songwriting is the ultimate form of journaling for me and is one of my favorite creative outlets.
upfrontNY: How did you first get interested in singing and acting?
Jayna Sweet: As crazy (or cliché) as this sounds, I’ve just always known. When I was three years old, I told my parents I knew I wanted to be a performer, and they took my word for it. I started out dancing and performed in my first musical when I was five. I just never stopped. My love for acting, music, and all art has only grown with me. I grew up doing musical theatre and show choir, went to an arts high school, and fell in love with film and TV when I was around fourteen. I can’t imagine ever doing anything else.
upfrontNY: You are also involved in philanthropic work such as the ASPCA and WWF; can you tell us more about your work with them?
Jayna Sweet: I’ve given monthly to the ASPCA and WWF since I was fifteen or sixteen and had my own allowance to do with whatever I chose. I’d love to be more involved in-person with them. I have so much respect for animal rights causes and have always dreamed of founding my own animal charities when I’m older. My parents instilled a love for philanthropy in me, as they’ve been donors of both time and money ever since I can remember. They actively work with the Humane Society through their event space, because, and we’ve served at an orphanage in Kenya together as a family. There’s nothing like using your means (be they financial, time, or skills and talents) to stand up for what you believe in and work toward being the change you want to see in the world.
upfrontNY: You are also very open about your eating disorder recovery, what made you want to talk about it and how did becoming vegan help you?
Jayna Sweet: The main reason I strive to be open about my eating disorder recovery is that when I was in the thick of it, I wasn’t hearing about how challenging recovery is, I was only being told that it was this amazing thing we should want to get to, so recovery itself started to feel like one more standard of perfection that I could never reach. I want people to see hope and the light at the end of the tunnel, but I don’t want to feed into that perfection obsession. I’ve always been an open book and was raised to talk openly about my emotions and struggles, so it sort of comes second-nature to me. Veganism was the major shift for me in my recovery journey. After nearly a decade of a constant recovery-relapse-recovery-
Don’t forget to follow Jayna on Social Media!
Instagram: @Jayna_Sweet
Twitter: @Jayna_Sweet
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