Shay Rudolph stars in Netflix’s ‘The Baby-Sitters Club,’ bringing Stacey McGill to life once again. HL spoke with Shay about how she prepared for the role and more.

The Baby-Sitters Club debuted July 3 on Netflix and instantly melted our hearts. Stacey, Kristy, Dawn, Claudia, and Mary-Anne haven’t been seen since the ’90s, but now they’re back with a Gen-Z twist. The Netflix series is just as touching and relatable as Ann M. Martin’s books, the movie, and the TV show were back in the day.

HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Shay Rudolph about stepping into the role of Stacey McGill. The young actress opened up about how she researched diabetes so she could “accurately” portray Stacey. Shay also revealed which Baby-Sitters Club characters she’s the most similar to and what she’d like to see in a second season. (Hint: it’s a trip to the Big Apple!)

Shay RudolphShay Rudolph as Stacey in ‘The Baby-Sitters Club.’ (Netflix)

When you got the role of Stacey, how did you prepare? Did you watch the movie? Did you read the books?
Shay Rudolph: Well, I usually prepare for every role that I do, but this one was especially easy to prepare for because there’s so much content out there with all of the books. I had a lot of fun doing my research. I ordered as many books as I could before shooting started and had a ton of fun reading them on a road trip up to Canada.

Like in the books, Stacey has diabetes in the show. What was the research process like for you? How did you approach this aspect of Stacey? 
Shay Rudolph: I interviewed some teenagers my age that have juvenile Type 1 diabetes. I just talked on the phone with them and asked them a lot of questions about what it feels like when they know their blood sugar is dropping, how it’s affected their friendships and day-to-day life, how you use an insulin pump, and things like that. That really helped me connect with Stacey and get to know her a little better because I wanted to portray diabetes as accurately as I could so that anybody at home watching this with diabetes could really feel represented on screen.

When you look at all the characters, who are you most like? 
Shay Rudolph: Actually, I feel like I’m the most like Claudia. I feel like I have a lot of each of the girls in me. That’s something that’s really cool. Everybody that watches this or has read the books knows that they have little pieces of each of the girls, but I definitely am a lot like Claudia and Dawn. I really like art. I’ve been super creative for my entire life. I’ve always loved painting, and I’m always doing arts and crafts. I’m a Dawn because I’m a vegetarian. I’m from California and I’m like a super eco-activist.

 » Read More

Login

Welcome to WriteUpCafe Community

Join our community to engage with fellow bloggers and increase the visibility of your blog.
Join WriteUpCafe