Tall Girl 2 is now streaming on Netflix. The film features returning stars Ava Michelle, Griffin Gluck, Sabrina Carpenter, Anjelika Washington, Luke Eisner, Angela Kinsey, and Steve Zahn. Newcomer Jan Luis Castellanos also makes a splash as a new love interest for Jodi.
“After her inspiring speech at the homecoming dance, Jodi (Ava Michelle) is no longer just the ‘tall girl’ – she’s popular, confident, has a boyfriend, and just booked the lead role in this year’s school musical,” says the official synopsis. “But as the pressure of her newfound popularity intensifies, so do her insecurities, and new relationships are formed while old ones are tested. As the world she built starts to crumble around her, Jodi realizes that standing tall was only just the beginning.”
ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Tall Girl 2 star Angela Kinsley about the Netflix film, her bond with her on-screen daughters, and its portrayal of anxiety.
Tyler Treese: You’ve done two of these films now, can you speak to your bond with your on-screen daughters in Ava Michelle and Sabrina Carpenter?
Angela Kinsey: I love these girls. They’re such sweet, wonderful girls, and I had so much fun getting to know them in Tall Girl. So by the time we got to Tall Girl 2, we really had a very organic bond and connection. And I just find myself wanting to protect them like a real mom, like out in the world. I just felt like Ava put her heart and soul into Tall Girl 2. Her performance is amazing as Jody and Sabrina, I was like “Sabrina, I feel like I could be your mom!” Because like we were standing side-by-side and we just are so similar in stature and I was like, “Sabrina, maybe you should take me on the road with, I could pretend to be your mom, meet your friends, make sure you have snacks.”
RELATED: Interview: Tall Girl 2 Stars Ava Michelle and Anjelika Washington
In the film, there’s this really powerful anxiety attack scene and you’re prepared, you know what to do. Can you talk me through that scene and just the preparation that went into that?
As an actor, I was really happy that that scene was in the movie because I felt like in Tall Girl, the first one, that maybe Helaine wasn’t quite there for her girls the way I would want her to be. She was very funny, she was kind of reliving her pageant days in the first movie. But I felt like in the second movie, she got to really show up for Jodi and talk her through a very scary moment, you know? And if you’re having a panic attack, it’s very scary and we all have anxiety, we’ve all had moments where it overtakes us. So, to learn at a young age that when that happens, that you’re going be okay, and to just take a minute and breathe and just know that you’re enough and that what you’re feeling is normal and that you will get through it. So, I just sort of thought about all those moments in my life where I have felt overwhelmed. And if my daughter was going through the same thing, my daughter in real life, how I would want to be there for her and get her through it. So I thought it was a really moving scene and for me and Ava and Steve Zahn,
I thought there was another great scene where you kind of realize that while being supportive, you’re also accidentally putting some pressure on your daughter and you have that conversation there. I’m sure that’s something every parent can relate to. Can you just speak to that theme?
I think as parents, you’re sort of sometimes just brainstorming out loud about your child and their future and their interest and their activities. And, I think sometimes when you’re talking like that in front of them, you don’t realize maybe some of the expectation and the burden of that expectation you’re putting on them. And I thought it was really great that they were like, wait a second. You know what? We’ve been throwing too much at you. We’re so sorry, this is your life, and we are here to help you and not put pressure on you. So I think it’s just a really wonderful thing in the movie to see them realize that. But then also the message is that as parents, you are doing the best that you can. You’re not always going to be perfect, but just to be able to own that and talk it out as a family.
