Peyton List, who first made a name for herself as a Disney up-and-comer in “Jessie” and “Bunked,” is venturing into deep territory in Paramount+’s “School Spirits” — a move the actress has since Wishing she entered the industry for the first time.
“I wanted to do Disney so badly, but… I kept auditioning for more movies and shows and all kinds of different projects that deep down as a kid,” List told TheWrap. stating that she wanted to explore more complex themes before being cast in a Disney show. “I want to be able to play different characters and show more humanity.”
Now, as List plays Maddie in the Paramount+ high school drama with a terrifying twist, List says the nuanced role feels “natural” to her, noting that Maddie needs to be less a character performance and more a “real person.” sounds more like.
“It didn’t feel forced, because it felt so natural,” List said, adding that her resemblance to Maddie prompted her to imagine her own reactions to situations. “I would just think, ‘Well, what would I think in this situation,’ but I also know that we’re very different in a lot of ways — she doesn’t really want to be a team player, she wants to do her own thing.” I am a team player and want to be part of a group.
List straddles reality and the afterworld as Maddie, a high school student who dies suddenly and mysteriously, leaves her friends and family to piece together the puzzle pieces of her disappearance. While Noah avoids being labeled as dead without any sign of his body, Maddie appears as a ghost at her high school and sees her loved ones searching for her, while the students and teachers We are introduced to a group of teenagers who have experienced an unfortunate fate. In school.
Although the afterlife support group welcomes Maddy with open arms, her stubbornness makes her resistant to fully integrating herself into the afterlife, causing a rift among her dead comrades, who have listed “notes”. have accepted their fate.” “She’s determined to find her death and get the hell out of the way, and she’s not just going to sit back and complacent,” List explains.
List said, “With it so fresh and unknown … she can’t let it go.” “There are so many people who need her, and she just wants to be there and so she can’t let go or move on… She thinks she’s really dead once she accepts it.” … [and] She doesn’t want to accept it.
As Maddie struggles to piece together the events of an fateful afternoon that ultimately results in her death, she is immediately concerned for the well-being of her mother, whose alcoholism keeps Maddie on her toes. Because she can remember. While Maddie worries that her absence may sink her mother further into her addiction, she is surprised to find her mother sober as she searches for Maddie with her friends.
List said, “It’s really heartbreaking for her to see her mom doing OK without her, because all she wanted was for her to be OK.” “For her to be better off without him in her life … is the most heartbreaking thing for Maddie … but in a way she’s like, ‘Maybe this will help me move on and help me accept this. Will get that if she gets well.'”
To pile things on, Maddie also struggles with conflicting feelings about her boyfriend, Javier, as he and his friends go back and forth on how they view his involvement in Maddie’s death, and whether he cares for her. without he must accept him as his ex in the world of the living. partnership. Amidst the difficult realization that she will no longer be able to be with Javier, as well as the ongoing investigation into his death, Maddie finds a moment of connection with her dead co-worker, Wally, as the pair reunite with their mother in their fractious life. Gets tied on the relationship. ,
“It was something I struggled with,” List said, “how much slack should I cut down here?” How far in should I let him in? “But I think those moments happen — in the worst moments of your life, there can be lightness, and there can be humor.”
‘School Spirits’ is now streaming on Paramount+.
