Editor’s Note: Since this interview was conducted, Paramount+, made the abhorrent decision to cancel, and subsequently pull the entire season of the show from its streaming service. To learn more about how to #SaveRiseOfThePinkLadies see note at the end of the article!
If we’re being brutally honest, who hasn’t felt like an outcast trying to survive high school’s endless trials and tribulations at some point? Enter the fictional world of Rydell High, which features a teenage ecosystem on the verge of a moral liberation and singing. Lots of singing.
Whether you’re a fan of the original Grease, or a newcomer to the zany world of high school gangs and pithy teen dramas showcasing real world issues, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies has got it all! It takes place in 1954, four years before the events of Grease, and follows four social rejects of Rydell High as they navigate their teenage years all while forming the notable ‘girl gang’ the Pink Ladies. Jane (Marisa Davila), Olivia (Cheyenne Isabel Wells), Cynthia (Ari Notartomaso) and Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara) set out to define the schools ‘new cool,’ and in pink jackets nonetheless.
Nancy Nakagawa, (played by Tricia Fukuhara) the most quirky-minded member of Rydell’s revered girl gang, has quickly become a fan-favorite in the ROTPL fictional world. Fukuhara brings charm, and an overzealously magnetic personality to this role.
I recently spoke with Fukuhara about Nancy’s fashion-forward attitude, living up to the expectations of the fans of the classic franchise, and all the happenings of Season 1 of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.
It’s time to THINK PINK…
MCKENZIE MORRELL: Did you feel any kind of pressure starring in the prequel to Grease?
TRICIA FUKUHARA: Oh yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
MM: How did you combat the pressure? How did you deal with living up to the expectation of representing a new breed of teens in this genre on the show?
TF: Oh my gosh. Honestly I felt that pressure every day. But it was mainly like a responsibility to do justice to all of these characters for all of the fans of the original Grease and to make sure that they’re happy as well, and to bring something new, and I think what I had to do was just trust myself and know that I am enough, that we’re all enough here, and we are bringing something special just by being us. The fact that we weren’t characters from the original, I think was really nice. I really felt for the young women who play Rizzo and Frenchie like, oh gosh, you really have it hard!
MM: A lot of pressure. Yeah, seeing all those Easter eggs has been fun. I’m like, oh my gosh, that’s great how they’re weaving things in, and obviously how the season ends bringing Danny’s brother Franky Zuko into the mix too. In terms of Nancy, we do get to see many facades of her. What three emojis would you use to describe her personality to your friends?
TF: You know, it’s funny, I’ve never gotten this question about emojis and her personality, but when I use emojis to talk about Nancy, I usually use the needle thread or they have the spool of thread, as well. But in the original logo that we had all over our slates, and our little signs and everything backstage. It’s got the G for Grease and then it has four little things coming out of the side, and each one represents one of the pinks.
MM: Oh my God. Yeah. Oh my gosh. That’s awesome. Yeah. Haven’t seen that. Maybe that must be like a production thing.
TF: Yeah, I love it. But as far as emojis for a personality, I feel like there’s something maybe kind of flashy or fashiony. Probably an eye roll. The smirking cat. And then the clown.
MM: She’s definitely quirky! I’m sure there are similarities and differences between you and your character, but was there any aspect that you related to the most or any traits and nuances that you were struggling to connect to on a personal level, since you guys were so different?
TF: Sure. Oh yeah, a lot for all of that. When I first saw her breakdown, I was auditioning all the time, right? And you see things and sometimes you immediately get this person right away. This one I was like: Oh, this is going to be kind of hard. I’m not really sure, but I’ll have to find a way in. She likes fashion. She’s so confident. She’s so sure of herself and everything. I wear clothes and sometimes I believe in myself, but I think that’s why she was so fun to play because she was so different from me. She has got a presence and she doesn’t take crap from people, and I take a lot of crap from people.
MM: You can’t take crap from people!
TF: I know, I’m working on not doing that and it’s gotten a lot better and I think I’ve learned a lot from her in that respect, but we both definitely have trouble asking for help. I think we’re both strong willed and very stubborn and are always down to stand up for what’s right. I also feel like lots of people were outcasts in high school, but I definitely could relate to what that feels like. I had that. But also her creativity for sure. I may not make clothing, but I knit and crochet and I love scrapbooking, so I’ve got the physical love to make crafts as well.
MM: Yeah, definitely. There’s different ways to have creative outlets. I always quote Buffy when I’m talking about my fashion sense and I’ll be saying how I have the fashion sense of a doily, because I wear a T-shirt and jeans, like it’s pretty basic. I don’t really need to impress anybody. I’m just like: this is what I look like.
TF: Yeah, and that’s great. I mean, as we should right, it is what it is. Nancy is on every moment. We’re definitely different in that way. I also wear T-shirts and jeans and I probably have like five nice outfits to go hang out with friends at night and she’s got like five for the day.
MM: She’s definitely on point all the time! I love her costume changes, that’s for sure.
TF: I love that she’s very career-oriented. I’ve always been like that as well and the whole mantra that we don’t need to focus on boys. She wants to get a career, move to New York—oh, that was another thing. She wanted to move to New York. I moved to New York. Maybe we are the same person.
MM: Perhaps you have little bits of each other in yourselves, but obviously Nancy’s a bit of a wild card. Sometimes she’s hot, cold, she’s all over the place. Was there anything about her during the first season that you were surprised about or any of her actions that she took that you were just shocked that she went that route?
TF: I’m shocked that she ended up with Potato.
MM: Yes!
TF: Shook. I was like, are we sure about this? I remember going up to our showrunner and being: but shouldn’t she be single?
MM: But she kind of found herself through it. She was very anti-crush and boyfriends and stuff, and then she kind of worked it in where it wasn’t overtaking her life, like it was just a nice additive, you know?
TF: I think so. I think that she has a lot to learn from Potato and Potato could learn a lot from her, too. It seems like a lot of people ship them, so maybe they’re onto something that I’m not. I just wanted her to be a strong, single, independent young woman.
MM: Well, maybe season two. We’ll see. I mean I was intrigued by that because it was just so out of left field, like these are the two most unlikely pairs of the show, but they kind of balance each other out in a weird way, I guess? Why do you think they gravitated towards each other? What’s your reasoning for them coming together?
TF: Well, I think that Potato honestly could have been with anybody. It seems like he’s kind of a flirt. You see him flirting with Dot, you see him flirting with the girls from St. Bernadette’s. I don’t think it necessarily had to be Nancy. I think that Nancy kinda chose him, and it was all in that Halloween episode, right? I think she was excited that somebody was nice to her and really saw her for who she was and wasn’t judgmental. She couldn’t help but feel drawn to that and she wanted that from a person. I don’t necessarily—there’s some people who are like: maybe Nancy is asexual, maybe she’s aromantic, maybe she’s all these things. I’m like, I don’t know what she is, but I think that she does feel something for Potato and may not know what that is yet.
MM: Yeah. It’s good to explore those avenues to see where she lands. There’s obviously so many amazing songs throughout the season. I legit have had the soundtrack on a loop since I concluded the show. I know it’s kind of like choosing your favorite child but what is your favorite song? It could be one that you’re featured in, it could be from another cast member, but what would you say is your go-to?
TF: Oh my gosh. Wow, let me go pull up the cast recording and look through it because, here’s the thing, I know this is controversial, but ever since I heard it in the car when I was still living in Los Angeles, before we started production, I heard it “In the Club” and I was shocked by the lyrics. I go, did they just say that? No, they didn’t. No, I don’t think so and then I listened to it and I was like, I’m about to get into a car accident. But I love that song. I feel like it’s so Jazzy and it’s really important and I’m just kind of shocked. I’m so glad that we’re in a place where we can broadcast that on a TV show and actually say those things out loud, even if it’s in a jazzy whisper. People don’t even notice it necessarily, I really like that song. I also really, really enjoy “Please, Please, Please.” I think that that’s an underrated song and I think it’s a really nice vibe. It’s so fun.
MM: That was a good execution. Yeah.
TF: And there’s really cool harmonies. If you listen closely, there’s some really cool vocal part work. But “Crushing Me” is so good—If we’re talking about a song that I work out to? I think it’s “Crushing Me.”
MM: You can’t go wrong with any of the choices, really.
TF: You really can’t. “Take The Wheel” is really good… Yeah, they’re all really great.
MM: I know, normally when you have a soundtrack, you shuffle through and skip songs, but I find myself listening to every single one of them and singing along to it, and you don’t get that very often with soundtracks, because I feel like I like five out of the ten songs, and then this one is like, every one of them just hits. It just has a different mood. You’re like yeah, yeah, yeah!
TF: We call it a no skip soundtrack.
MM: That is perfect. Why don’t I think of that? That’s awesome.
TF: It’s exactly what you just said. What is your favorite though?
MM: Oh god…
TF: I know, it’s okay. I just gave you four.
MM: I mean, I’ve been really obsessed with “Brutal Honesty.”
TF: Oh my gosh, you’re right! Why did I forget that was on it!
MM: “Girl Gang”—obsessed with that one. I don’t know why. I just love visually watching it, I love all the pieces coming together, and then probably maybe “Take The Wheel.” Right now, those are my top-top ones.
TF: But it might change tomorrow based on your mood, right?
MM: Oh it does, yeah. It depends on where I’m at. Where I’m driving to, the length of it, all that good stuff. There are so many amazing characters with all different layers to them. If you could play one of the other characters for a day, who would it be and what would you do as that character?
TF: Oh my gosh. Wait, this is a great question. I’ve never been asked this before. I’ve never thought about this. Oh my gosh. Who would I want to play? What would I do with the character? Man, they’re all pretty good. Everyone is so good at their roles, they all bring such wonderful things. I think I would have an incredible time as one of the Thespians and I would love to just make absolutely wild choices and roll all over the walls and do weird stuff. I think I’d want to play a Thespian.
MM: That would be awesome. I could see you doing that.
TF: Or the opposite. I’d love to play Susan and just take it to a place that is so catty and mean, where you’re afraid that they might kill you.
MM: We saw a lot of funny moments, some not so funny moments, we got a really nice moment between Nancy and Cynthia, that moment of clarity and acceptance—why do you think the writers chose to have Cynthia confide in Nancy instead of her coming out to one of the other Pink Ladies or characters?
TF: I think that from the beginning you start to see that, even amongst the four of them, they all are finding the person who they gravitate towards a little more. Olivia and Jane have always had a connection and that kind of leaves Nancy and Cynthia together, but also I think they understand each other on a similar vibe and wavelength. What it’s like to be an outcast and I think that Cynthia knows that with Nancy, it’s going to be okay, especially since Nancy has already had her big number where she describes this world without boys but that is not something that the other two Pink Ladies are about. They very much have their love interests who are, you know, heterosexual men, and that’s not Nancy at all. We’re not sure what’s going on with Nancy at that point and I think that’s probably a big reason why Cynthia feels like she can confide in Nancy and I just think like you see them over the series getting closer. I always feel like Nancy was hanging out with Cynthia at their house. It’s just all these scenes that you don’t see and they got drunk together. Once you get drunk with someone at that age, of course they’re gonna be the person you come out to.
MM: What do you think that Nancy wrote on that note that she gave to Cynthia back and forth? Did you develop your own backstory on what that said or was it conveyed to you? Where did it go in your head?
TF: Well, I like to leave that up to the audience. I do have an answer for that but I feel like that’s part of what makes the scene so powerful is that we don’t reveal what was written on that note and it was really nice. The writers actually gave us the choice to write whatever we wanted and said: this is what we think they might be writing about, but ultimately that is up to you, so do with it what you wish and I will say that I wrote something different every single take. And I will also say that I am not left-handed but Nancy is, so actually my writing was not always completely legible. Everyone was like: what did you write Tricia? Whose to really say? ‘Cause Ari laughs when they open up the note and most of the time they’re laughing because they could not read my writing. They were like what did you write to me? And I was like, well this time I wrote this, this says this, this says that.
MM: Oh no, that’s hilarious. Nancy obviously has her whole persona, she’s fashion forward, she has these big goals to move to New York City and become some amazing fashion designer. What was your favorite outfit of hers to wear and did you have a least favorite to wear?
TF: Oh gosh. This is one of those like choose your favorite child questions just like the music, because everything Nancy wears is pretty phenomenal. I will say that I loved her Lobster skirt, I thought that was so fun. I really loved the colors and maybe it’s because seafoam is my favorite color. I was really excited about that. I just thought that was so cool, usually it’s a poodle but now it’s a lobster. That one was really fun. I also really enjoyed bad Nancy in her leather outfit with a snake. That was a little collaborative too, they asked me which snake I wanted to go with, we brought in someone who works with leather exclusively, it felt like a nice big team project.
MM: That’s amazing, though, that you get to collaborate and have some input into it.
TF: I really liked those outfits, but they were all pretty great. Least favorite I wouldn’t say that I have, because everything she wears is kind of awesome. Some were tighter than others, I’ll say that. Sometimes I could not sit down and so I didn’t love those because I couldn’t sit down.
MM: There’s so many great moments in the show. One of my favorite scenes was when Nancy smacks Mr. Daniels on his wedding day with that iconic line about Olivia being a child. I was really happy to see that somebody was acknowledging that this is not right. Did you have fun with that slap, did you actually get to do a slap, how was that scene executed?
TF: Oh, did I have fun? As someone who has taken many years of stage combat, to finally get to put that to use, is so very exciting. But let me say this– the first take I ran down the aisle, and I jumped, and slapped him diagonally. Not really, of course, but it was so big and they said: We think that might be a little too Marvel, can you bring it back? Then we did it again and then they said, okay actually why don’t we stop, run and then stop, and then bring him closer to you and keep it small, so it was supposed to be a lot more epic. It’s so funny, just imagine the pow! But I will say I did make contact with his nose one time. I got the tip of his nose. Because you want it to look real right? You want to get as close as possible. It’s hard to get that close. But luckily I wasn’t doing the grand smackdown, I was just doing it very lightly with my left hand, and I’m not left-handed so, he’s fine.
MM: Oh yeah, that was fun. In all of my interviews I like to add my signature question… if you were to construct a donut based on Nancy’s personality what kind of donut would it be and what toppings would be on it?
TF: That’s a really hard question.
MM: I’ve gotten some really interesting answers, so I’m curious to see what you say.
TF: A Nancy donut… Well it’s going to be super fancy obviously. Have you heard of Voodoo Donuts? They have a voodoo doll. Why do I feel like that’s her donut? It’s kind of like that but maybe it’s an outfit instead of a voodoo doll. Maybe it’s like this voodoo doll in a fancy outfit. Nancy likes to wear green, that’s kind of a fashion-don’t so for Nancy it’s a fashion-do.
MM: And what flavors would she be?
TF: We had a Frosty Palace popup at Mel’s Diner and her ice cream shake flavor was mint chocolate chip so I’m guessing that has already been decided by the powers that be.
MM: Is there something that you would like to explore in season two, like what is your dream storyline for Nancy in season two?
TF: I would like to see why she is the way she is, what led her to have that song “World Without Boys.” I feel like she has a history… I also would like to see how Nancy got into fashion and I think I’d like a flashback to when she was in camp. I’d like to see what that was like for her because that’s a large chunk of her life you know?
MM: Definitely. Hopefully we get to explore that some more and is there anything that you would like to add, what can the fans do to ensure we get many more seasons of the show?
TF: I’m not really sure what’s supposed to help as far as metrics. I know a lot of things have to do with data and viewers but I think that any positive reviews on IMDb probably help or any of the sites where people review things. I think anything like that would help, just telling people about it, spreading the word. Grease is the word. Telling people about the music and just getting people involved.
MM: Hopefully there are many more seasons. I’m excited to see what’s on the horizon for you.
TF: Absolutely. Thank you so much for being here, reaching out, and chatting with me too. It’s been really nice.
To find out how you can #SaveRiseOfThePinkLadies, be sure to follow @saveourpinks
