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 **STEVEN KHALIL** dress. Photo by Ian Phillips. You can catch Maisie Richardson-Sellers in her newest role as Chloe Winthrop in Netflix's _Kissing Booth 2_, but chances are you’ve probably already seen her on your screen. Known for her work in _DC’s Legends of Tomorrow_, _The Originals_, and breakout role in _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_, the 28-year-old British actress has made a name for herself. When not in front of the screen, Maisie can be found writing, directing, creating and advocating for a more real and inclusive depiction of the world within film and television.  Read our conversation about her role in _The Kissing Booth 2_, diversity in Hollywood, how she’s staying productive during quarantine and more! **I want to start our conversation with The Kissing Booth 2 since it just came out, what was it like being a part of the sequel when the first film already had such a big following, were you at all a fan of the first film?** It’s actually funny, I had never seen it. I completely somehow missed the phenomenon of the first one. I’m very specific about watching TV, I don't spend much time on social media, so I missed it. So, when I went to the audition and it was a secret audition whereby the names of the characters were changed, there was no project title, so when I found out what it was in my last audition it was exciting. I went and watched it and I loved it. So, it was definitely a happy surprise in that respect. But in terms of joining this preexisting world, it was really amazing, because you know you’re going into something that has already been established. In one way it allows you to relax a bit because you’re not having to create from scratch, but in the same way, it is a bit more stress because sequels are notoriously--- they don’t live up to the first one. And of course, you never want to be one of those, so I think we all went above and beyond to try and find new ways to create and new ways to bring new energy and new perspectives to the second film, which I think we did pretty well. **You play Chloe Winthrop, Noah Flynn’s new Harvard-attending potential love interest. What is your favorite aspect of Chloe’s personality or character?** I love the fact that with every environment she’s in, she’ll just walk into a room and she’ll adapt to whatever the needed energy is for that space in order to elevate and uplift everyone else around her. She’s a sort of social chameleon in that sense. Having traveled the world and lived in Zimbabwe and Italy and England and America. She’s very versatile and curious and open and not afraid to shine, which I think is a beautiful thing for a strong woman to do in a film.  **Do you relate to Chloe at all?** Definitely! I’ve lived in many worlds. I think I’m a less refined, more sort of nerdy and weirdo version of Chloe. I went to Oxford and got a degree in anthropology and archeology, so I think we definitely have that passion for learning and for education, as well. And just everywhere I go I try and assimilate myself into the local cultures. I try to get as far off the beat track as possible and just absorb and I think she’s very like that as well. **It was a fun movie to watch and I’m sure a fun movie to film: Do you have a favorite memory from the set?** From the set, it’d probably be the pool playing scene, because I had to learn very quickly how to be a pool shark. I was training with this world champion pool player which is a childhood dream of mine. So I went from zero to full on, no stunt double. Managed to sink all the shots and remember my lines, which I was very proud of so definitely one of the most challenging parts but it was also one of the most rewarding days on set.   CHARLES AND RON dress and SACKITEM bag. Photo by Ian Phillips. **In reference to your interview with _Elle_, you said one of your favorite aspects of playing Chloe was bringing a bit of diversity to film, which was lacking in the first one. Do you think a lack of diversity is a problem in a lot of the film and entertainment industry?** Definitely, I think especially within this genre of YA rom-com there is not nearly enough diversity and the problem is it alienates a massive population of the world who are also avid watchers and who also want to see themselves represented. It creates a world that does not represent the world that we live in, which I think is a massive shame. So, I think films like _Kissing Booth_ is just baby steps towards what needs to be seen across the board whereby we are having diversity, not just for the sake of having diversity, we are having diversity because that is the world we live in. It does not have to be that storyline, the whole character's storyline, that doesn’t have to be constantly discussed in the film. It’s just that we live in a world where there are people of different ethnicities, different genders, different sexualities. I’m excited for the industry to start moving towards true representation in a positive way. It’s so important for people to see when they’re growing up, both people who are from a marginalized community, but also people who don’t get exposed to diversity in their daily life. So, they’re only experiencing it through the content they’re watching and interacting with. So, I feel like we have a responsibility therefore to elevate the content we’re creating and to stay a few steps ahead of social consciousness. **Jumping onto another show you’re in, _DC’s Legends of Tomorrow_, where you play a pansexual shapeshifter, Charlie, you also play Amaya. What was the experience like playing and creating two different characters within the same series?** It was a dream for me, because I come from theater so I’m used to playing a whole new character every few months and that is part of the joy of acting for me is creating those worlds. So, to be able to do that within the same show was a real gift. And also the two characters are just so different, because Amaya is this very pragmatic, serious, moraled, work-focused superhero from the 1940s and Charlie is this punk rock, trouble-maker, shapeshifter from London. I think they would hate each other if they were ever in the same room, so that was really fun to create and it meant that my relationships with each of the other cast-mates completely changed from one character to the next. I got to reinvent all of the connections, People who Amaya would love, Charlie would hate and vice versa and start from scratch again. So, it was a real gift. **Was that at all difficult for you to do?** No! I mean it was so exciting. For me the joy is in the challenge, anytime that I feel unsure if I’m going to be able to do justice to something, it just makes me work ten times harder. If I’m ever bored, or if I’m ever feeling like I’m not being challenged or pushed, that’s when I sort of sink a little bit. So, to have that opportunity to really push myself and to dig deep was great fun.  **SPIRITHOODS** jacket and **RAGA** dress. Photo by Ian Phillips. **I read that you won’t be returning to the sixth season of {_DC’s Legends of Tomorrow_}, but was there anything you learned about yourself as an actor through being on the show over the past several years?** Definitely! I learned to take risks in ways that--- I hadn’t really explored comedy yet, I had been in predominantly serious pieces. So, it was amazing to have that opportunity to invent in the moment on screen, and to play and to feed off of each other. I think definitely just throwing it all away and just trusting your instincts is something which just has to work on that show, because you’re trying to save the universe everything week. It’s so big and outside of the norm, that you have to find ways to relate to that, alternative ways to relate to that, and to make those experiences still feel even though they’re so extraordinary. So it was a really good challenge. **You said it was your first time doing comedy, and since then you’ve done so many different genres, is there a genre that maybe you haven’t done that you want to do?** I’d love some more really intense, gritty, extreme real-life roles. I’ve touched upon that, but I haven’t done a full feature of that, I’d love to do that. Some of my favorite directors are Barry Jenkins with _Moonlight_, Dee Rees with _Pariah_ and _Mudbound_, Sean Baker with _Tangerine_, and _The Florida Project_. You know, these snapshots of life which are told in such an organic and truthful way, they’re just so honest and gut-wrenching and you learn so much from and they really challenge your conceptions and challenge you as an audience member. So I’d love to do a piece that’d enable me to do that.  **In addition to acting, you just co-wrote and directed a short film, _Sunday’s Child_, have you always had an interest in writing and directing?** Yes, I mean when I was at Oxford I actually directed a couple plays. My first play was _For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide_ / When the Rainbow is Enuf which is this fantastic play that looks at the black female experience across America and the diversity and similarities within that. That really set off that love for directing, just to see that process from a different perspective and I also acted in that one as well. So, I’ve always had the bug but I never thought of putting it together with screen until I was on _Legends_ and I was looking around me and it was just such a white male world and I was seeing all these really interesting storylines with people of color, but being told and directed by people who didn’t have any experience of that experience. It just really made me want to start changing that, which is why I started my production company, well it’s going to be launching this year, and did _Sunday’s Child_ because I want to start creating art that’s made by the people whose stories are being told. So diversifying from every stage of the creative process, which we did with _Sunday’s Child_ and it just created such a fantastic environment when all these different thoughts and minds and experiences, and genders and ethnicities were all going to work together sharing experiences in order to create the best story possible.  **How would you describe _Sunday’s Child_ and what does it mean to you to be able to create it?** The film is a “it gets better” message for all of those who haven’t found their community and it’s also a love note to those who have and who are embracing others outside of their community. It follows one young queer woman of color on a day, who has just moved to L.A and she’s isolated and struggling with self-acceptance and her family’s acceptance of her sexuality and through the course of this one day you see her go from a very isolated, a very depressed place and then she discovers this vibrant community of queer, trans people of color and artists just so freely and effervescently themselves and they just see her and accept her for exactly who she is and that enables her to take the step down the road to self-acceptance. So, for me, it’s a beautiful story, because it’s tender and it’s honest and it draws from real-life experiences of mine and another friend of mine. It’s very cinematic, for me, cinematography is so important as part of a tool for storytelling and it’s my first piece so it’s very special to me! I’ve learned so much seeing it, we’ve had such a fantastic team and I’m really proud of it.  **KAFTAN STUDIO** jacket. Photo by Ian Phillips. **Like you said, not only did you co-write and direct this film, you also launched the production company it was created under. Can we see similar themes of that of S_unday’s Child_ in future films by this company?** Definitely! The production company is a space to elevate stories about marginalized communities and the LGBTQ+ individuals and also to provide a platform and resources for other marginalized individuals who want to tell their stories. So, I think there will be a huge range of content. We have a couple of documentaries that we were actually thinking about in the early stages and we have two TV shows we are currently developing, another short film, so we’ve got lots of little things with different creative teams at the moment that are sort of in incubation as they’re being written or developed. It’s a really exciting time, but there is definitely not one story that we’re telling. I think the beautiful thing about it is the diversity of the experience of people of color and that is what we want to lean into, those unique individual stories.  **You obviously have so many projects coming out, have you found anytime for any hobbies or things just to do for fun?** To be honest the fun during quarantine for me has been developing the production company. I’ve been writing a lot with my partner, which has been amazing. She’s a singer/songwriter, but also we just discovered a fantastic writer, so we’ve been writing and brainstorming together. Got a puppy, so I’ve been raising my first child which has been great fun. Tried out gardening, failed pretty hard, nothing really grew. It's really hard in L.A. And just kind of really take some time for some self-care. I think often when you’re go, go, go, I personally forget to take time to nurture myself and to check in and allow myself to be still and patient and take a day just to read. To take a day just to sit and watch Netflix if I want. To just go for a two-hour walk without my phone, just look at nature. All these treats that suddenly, easily get dismissed when you’re on a tight schedule. I’ve been really challenging myself to lean into those moments and it's really fed me. I feel like I’m in a good place at the moment. **Have you found it difficult to stay productive and creative during this quarantine or are you just letting things come natural to you?** It’s been very up and down. There've been whole weeks when I found it hard to do anything at all, and then weeks when I’ve been sort of frantically creating. But, I’ve been trying to allow those ebbs and flows and not judge them, trying to work with them rather than against them. The world is in such a bizarre and sad position right now and there’s so much pain and suffering, but I personally think we’re all tacked into that, we’re all feeling that energy and those waves. We all know people who are suffering, or who have lost people now so I’m just trying to be patient with myself and be gentle with myself, and not expect too much and just see what comes naturally. **Jumping back to _The Kissing Booth_, the third film just got announced, is there anything you can tell us about Chloe’s’ role in the film?** We get to see some more of her backstory which is really exciting for me. So, we get to learn more about her outside of the whole Noah/Elle situation. It’s such a fun film we had the best time filming it because it’s set in that sort of romantic summer that’s in between highschool and university and all the final madness and the love and the change, the growth, the challenge, the unease that comes when you’re doing this huge transition. So, it’s a really fun special piece. Photographer:Ian Phillips Stylist: Kimberly Goodnight at [mediaplaygroundpr.com](http://mediaplaygroundpr.com/)  Make up Robert Bryan at [www.eamgmt.com](http://www.eamgmt.com/) Hair: Dimitris Giannetos at [thewallgroup.com](mailto:kit@thewallgroup.com) Makeup: Robert Bryan at [Exclusive Artists](https://www.eamgmt.com) using Dior Beauty Location and Special thanks:  [maisonpriveepr.com](http://maisonpriveepr.com/)  Production: The Park Showroom