Show Notes
This week on That Was Us, we’re joined in studio by Lyric Ross, who grew up before our eyes as Deja Pearson on This Is Us. From booking the role at just thirteen to navigating life and her career as a young adult, Lyric reflects on her years on the show, the challenges that shaped her, and the person she’s becoming beyond Deja.
In this episode, Lyric chats about:
• Moving back to Los Angeles after returning to Chicago following This Is Us and what she hopes to find in this next chapter
• Getting her start as an actor in Chicago and the childhood moment that first sparked her love of performing
• Booking This Is Us at thirteen and Sterling’s memories of knowing she was the right person to play Deja
• The work ethic her mother instilled in her and learning to trust herself as a performer
• Cutting her hair for Deja and the complicated experience of navigating beauty, identity, and self-esteem as a young Black girl
• Her journey from struggling with low self-esteem to seeing her own beauty and finding confidence through her faith
• What it means to see herself as a child of God and how her faith has shaped her identity
• Working with Joy Brunson and Asante Black and the challenges and rewards of some of Deja’s most emotional storylines
• Why watching herself on screen is still one of the hardest parts of being an actor
• The qualities she admires in Deja, including her boldness, bravery, and self-assurance
• Navigating the transition from child actor to young adult and searching for more mature, challenging roles
• Continuing to build her career beyond This Is Us, including her role in Ironheart on Disney+
And a friendly reminder, you can catch new episodes of That Was Us every Monday, a day early, exclusively on Hulu. Available on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts on Tuesdays like usual!
That Was Us is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith.
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🍋 About the Show:
The stars of This Is Us, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan, dive back into the world of the Pearsons, reliving each episode and all the life lessons that came with it.
Together, they dig in and dig deep, have the tough conversations, bring in very special and familiar guests, share never-before-heard behind-the-scenes moments, and feature listeners in highly anticipated fan segments.
Join your favorite family back in the living room to examine our past, cherish our present, and look to the future with new episodes of That Was Us every Tuesday.
Executive Producers: Natalie Holysz and Rob Holysz
Creative Producer: Sam Skelton
Production Coordinator: Andrew Rowley
Video Editor: Todd Hughlett
Mix & Master: Jason Richards
About Headgum:
Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com.
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