Izzy G. Gives Scary-Good Performance in Under the Bridge
When I log on to Zoom to meet actor Izzy G., I’m caught a little off guard. I’ve spent the past week watching her in Under the Bridge, the Hulu miniseries based on the Rebecca Godfrey book of the same name about the real-life tragic murder of teenager Reena Virk. Her performance in the show is so scary good and convincing that I’m sure I’ll be met with that same cold disposition and frightening stare I’ve seen from her on-screen. Instead, I’m greeted with an enthusiastic and bubbly demeanor. This, I came to learn over the course of our chat, is the real Izzy G.: charismatic, funny, and talented beyond her years.
Sitting on a white couch in her family home, Izzy is buzzing with energy. She admits she’s a little nervous, so to break the ice, I call out her oversize No Doubt band T-shirt, a beloved piece borrowed from a friend, and ask if she watched the group’s big reunion at Coachella. “I saw the Olivia Rodrigo part,” she replies, speaking to the “Vampire” singer’s surprise cameo from weekend one. What she did watch in full, though, was Lana Del Rey’s enchanting headlining performance complete with a Billie Eilish duet of “Ocean Eyes” and “Video Games.” “I’m a big fan of both of them, and to actually see them together… [It’s] like I went into a coma,” she laughs. “I got FOMO.”
(Image credit: Andie Jane)
We could spend the entirety of our time together debriefing on Coachella highlights, but we’re here to talk about Under the Bridge, the series that is sure to put Izzy, and the rest of the show’s young ensemble cast, on the map. The drama, which also stars Riley Keough and Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone, follows the 1997 true crime story of 14-year-old Reena Virk, who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. As the events of that tragic night begin to unfold, the hidden world of the teens accused of the murder comes into focus.
Izzy plays Kelly Ellard, who was charged with second-degree murder following Reena’s death.
(Image credit: Andie Jane)
Coming off the comedy series AJ and the Queen and B Positive, Izzy was looking for something meaty, a juicy project she could really sink her teeth into. Enter Under the Bridge. Diving into the script and researching the actual events, Izzy connected pretty quickly with Reena’s story. Her friend was going through a similar experience with teen bullying at the time.
“It hit me where it was like, ‘I have this amazing opportunity to not only tell Reena Virk’s story but to also tell my best friend’s,'” Izzy says. “It was like, ‘How am I not going to take this? … I know if I get this I’m going to put my whole entire heart and soul into it, so I’m going to do it with everything that I got.'”
And that she does. Izzy’s portrayal of Kelly frequently sent chills down my spine—hence my preconceived notions going into our interview. When I tell her this, she smiles with a sense of achievement. “It’s so funny, though, because whenever people get mad at me for doing my job, I know I did it right,” she says.
(Image credit: Andie Jane)
It’s not like anyone dreams of playing a teen murderer on a television show, but in this case, someone had to do it, and Izzy was up for the challenge. Naturally, there was some initial hesitation around playing Kelly, but Izzy knew she could do it and do it well. She likened it to a ginormous mountain that you have to climb. Looking up at it, it’s scary and tall and a long journey, but she was going to climb it to the best of her ability.
The key for a lot of actors is finding empathy for the character, regardless of their actions. But finding Kelly’s humanity and her innocence didn’t come easy for Izzy, and it left her with the question of how to remind people this character is a real, three-dimensional person. “One thing that I really focused on at the end of the day was [that] I was playing a troubled 15-year-old girl who loved her best friend,” she explains. “That’s what I could relate to—not the troubled part but the 15-year-old girl.”
To really perfect her performance, Izzy spent a lot of time studying Kelly’s mannerisms. When she first got the audition, she spent multiple days researching until the early hours of the morning to find out as much as she could. There were little things she noticed about how Kelly carried herself that she incorporated into the show, like the way she would pull her sleeves over her palms when she was walking.
(Image credit: Andie Jane)
While Izzy considers herself “method” with her research, it’s not how she would describe her acting style. She’s more of a “leave it all on the field” kind of performer. Luckily, there were great moments of levity on set with the cast and crew to balance out the heaviness of the material at hand. Izzy was quick to shout out Ezra Faroque Khan, who plays Manjit Virk, for having everyone laughing as well as Vritika Gupta, who plays Reena. “Tika, seriously, that girl is so brilliant. She is so kind. She is so sweet. I will forever hype her up. She has such a difficult role, and she just had a smile on her face every day. I just love her,” Izzy says.
Reflecting back on shooting the series, Izzy can see her growth both literally and professionally. She was 14 when filming started, and this August, the Los Angeles native turns 16. “Driver’s license!” she says enthusiastically.
(Image credit: Andie Jane)
It’s amazing to think about how much Izzy has accomplished so far in her young career, and she’s just getting started. Looking ahead, she’s excited to see what scripts she connects with next, but working with director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Babylon, and Whiplash) is definitely on her bucket list. “He’s brilliant and does music,” she says. Does Izzy see herself doing a musical? She blushes, leaving me with a coy response: “I connect with music, and I want to do something like that.”
But first things first—her learner’s permit.
Under the Bridge is now streaming on Hulu.
