The Big Picture

Welcome to a new episode of Collider Ladies Night with Gen V breakout star, Lizze Broadway. Gen V marks Broadway’s first lead role in a series. She plays Emma, a supe struggling with insecurities, feeling “unlovable, gross and ugly, who also exhibits great strength, heart and potential for growth. While on Ladies Night, Broadway discussed her choice to give herself five years to try acting and what’s happened since.

Back in April I was watching Dexter Fletcher’s Ghosted. The majority of the movie focuses on Chris Evans and Ana de Armas’ characters, Cole and Sadie, but at the beginning of the film, there’s a delightful short sequence that unfolds at Cole’s family home. That sequence includes some pitch-perfect interactions between Evans and the actor playing his sister — someone I was unfamiliar with at the time.

About four months later, I began my Gen V journey and was instantly taken by the entire cast, but especially by the actor playing Emma. Who was it? It was the same artist. It’s Lizze Broadway.

Broadway shoulders one of the most complex storylines in The Boys spin-off series. Emma is a supe with the ability to get small, but in order to do so, she must purge to shrink to the size of an ant and then eat to grow tall again. Constant body image monitoring and pressure from her own mother leaves Emma with a warped perception of the value of her powers and feeling “unlovable, gross and ugly.” However, Broadway makes it abundantly clear that Emma is bubbling over with heart, strength and immense potential, and while the character doesn’t get to live happily ever after at the end of Season 1 of Gen V, she certainly has begun a journey of finding and embracing self-worth, and understanding how she influences others for the better.

There were a number of shows I was eager to circle back to via Collider Ladies Night when SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative deal with the AMPTP. One was Gen V, and while I’d love to chat with every member of this wildly talented ensemble in the future, Broadway was at the top of the list. An actor who truly burst onto the scene with natural screen presence, an infectious energy, and the ability to make the most of every ounce of her range as an actor, crushing Emma’s mic drop one-liners and commanding the screen in one of Gen V’s most emotionally devastating scenes.

It was an honor to have Broadway on Collider Ladies Night (her first interview ever!) to learn more about her journey to Hollywood and how she wound up delivering a scene-stealing performance in the hit Prime Video show.

When someone exhibits that much raw talent right out the gate, it’s easy to assume they’ve dreamed of becoming an actor since they were young. Broadway, however, had something else in mind initially, following in the footsteps of her mother’s family and studying computer science:

“I acted when I was younger but just as a hobby. I didn’t know if I necessarily wanted to do it. And then, four years ago, I had a friend who was in the industry, and I was like, ‘Okay, either I’m gonna be a computer science engineer or an actor.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll give myself five years,’ and this was fall of 2019. Now I’m sitting here with you. So, in a way, I kind of fell into it and this is my time of taking it seriously.”

Not only is Broadway taking it seriously, but she’s also excelling in this line of work. What was the first thing that happened that convinced Broadway she had made the right choice? That it was worth taking a chance on acting, and she had put herself on the right path? It was working with Ghosted director Dexter Fletcher. She explained:

“I love him very much. When you’re on set, he’s just so excited, you know what I mean? He really saw something in me before I even saw myself. Because he was also an actor before he was a director, so I felt very seen by him. In that moment, just us collaborating together, he’s like, ‘You’re on the right path, kid.’ And I think I needed to hear that from someone who’s – I mean, he’s Dexter Fletcher, you know? And I think that was the moment that I was like, ‘Hey kid, you’re on the right track,’ because this industry is so crazy. You never know.”

Dexter Fletcher knew it on the set of Ghosted. I picked up on it while watching the movie. And now, a significant viewership has seen the power of that special something Broadway has that makes her a natural at the craft via Gen V.

Image via Apple

But, of course, naturals also benefit from putting in the work and Broadway did just that while prepping to take on the role of Emma. She revealed that she created her own personal 40-page biography for the character. While it was a deeply personal document, she did share a few details it focused on:

“A lot of her relationship with her mom, like when she got small for the first time, all her sexual experiences, her relationship with her dad. God, I haven’t read that in so long, but that’s kind of the story. And that she had to be perfect. All these root memories that really made her believe that she’s not good enough, that she has to stay small, that she’s gross, and that she’s ugly. So that’s what I journaled through in 40 pages, root memories that Emma would have to come up with those beliefs.”

It’s one thing to journal about such experiences, but it’s another to bring that to screen with such respect, sincerity, and nuance as Broadway does in Gen V. What was the key to pulling that off so beautifully? Broadway gives a lot of that credit to showrunners Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas for creating an on-set environment where it felt safe to fail.

“I love those women and I don’t want to be weird, but they gave me such a safe space to fail. I would come in with 50 questions and they wouldn’t make me feel silly for asking them, even if one worked — or 100 questions. They’d invite them in. So, because of them, I’m truly a more confident artist.”

Image via Prime Video

One particular thing that Broadway brought to the table that you can see in the final version of the show? Her desire to ensure that Emma’s transformation throughout Season 1 was internal and external. She explained:

“I’m a very visual person, so with Emma, as much as it’s an internal journey she’s going through, I really wanted it to be visual for the audience. I had the privilege of collaborating with Lauren Montgomery, our amazing costume designer, and for the first two episodes, like I said, the funniest people are the saddest, so you’ll see her wearing a lot of smiley faces and a lot of vibrant clothing to mask how she feels inside, right? And then when you hit 103, that’s its own visual journey with the big clothes and then the sad beauty and then the hero moment. And then I got to work with Colin Penman in Indiana, who was my makeup artist, because I liked the idea of shedding the skin, so I had a spray tan in 101, and Emma shed her skin when she was gaining confidence, after 106 when she started getting confident. That’s what I love to bring, is just the visual aspect. I don’t know if the audience will see, but that’s what I love.”

All of that character work leads to, what I think, is the crown jewel of Gen V Season 1, a scene that is the ultimate performance showcase for Broadway and also for Asa Germann. It’s the scene when Emma and Sam have a heart-to-heart in the middle of the Godolkin University bloodbath. Broadway recalled what it was like bringing that devastating conversation to life:

“I didn’t know how it was gonna turn out. That was something that I prepped, but then I allowed myself freedom because I didn’t know what Sam was gonna do, and it’s purely Emma’s reaction off Sam. So that was really nerve-wracking going into that scene trusting, ‘I don’t know what’s gonna happen.’ So it was all this prep up to this finale, and I just had to let go.”

Image via Prime Video

That conversation will undoubtedly shape Emma’s arc going forward for a multitude of reasons, a big one being Sam’s heartbreaking last line, “You’re not a hero,” the line that makes Emma realize her power isn’t only triggered by food, but rather can coincide with how big or small she feels emotionally.

While discussing what could lie ahead for the character, Broadway pinpointed Emma’s greatest strength at the end of Season 1, and also her greatest weakness:

“I don’t think she truly got over her insecurities yet. No. So that’s something that we need to work through again. And her biggest strength, I think she could be a fighter. I think she has a lot of strength, even just physically. I would love Jordan to train her. I think that would be a fun dynamic, you know? I don’t think Emma’s storyline was wrapped up. I think she really is still struggling, and as much growth as she went through, I think there’s just a lot more to go.”

If the quality of her work in Gen V Season 1 is any indication, not only will Emma’s storyline continue to be one of the richest of the bunch in the Boys/Gen V world, but Broadway’s talent is bound to continue to catch more eyes and send her star soaring even higher.

Eager to hear more about Broadway’s journey as an actor thus far and her experience working on Gen V? Be sure to catch her full Collider Ladies Night interview in the video at the top of this article, or you can listen to the conversation in podcast form below:

Gen V From the world of “The Boys” comes “Gen V,” which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test competing for the school’s top ranking. Release Date September 29, 2023 Cast Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Maddie Phillips, Lizzie Broadway Main Genre Action Rating TV-MA Seasons 1
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