Most Likely To Succeed
Lexi wears Rowing Blazers
words & Photography by Michelle Malek, Styling by Dio Anthony
Lexi Underwood is the epitome of a multi-hyphenated, audacious visionary. Her love for acting began when she starred in her Broadway debut as Young Nala in ‘The Lion King’ at 11 years old. Since then, she's scored notable roles in Little Fires Everywhere as Pearl and Cruel Summer as Isabella, which coupled with owning her production company named Ultimate Dreamer Productions, Lexi is not only dreaming but succeeding. Entering a new era in her 20s, she's ready to continue the success of her 2023 into 2024. Sitting to chat with Lexi breathes an air of familiarity while simultaneously feeling envious of her cool-girl vibe. Adorned with oversized glasses, perfect skin, and hair, juxtaposed with a laid-back crewneck, we briefly reminisced on our time during our perspective New Years. 2024 brings an air of exciting things for Lexi, and she’s ready to hit the ground running.
Michelle: Last year was your year. Cruel Summer was a huge hit, I being a fan myself, and you were listed on Forbes 30 Under 30. How are you feeling going into this year?
Lexi: I'm feeling super grateful, super blessed. I'm someone that tries not to put a lot of pressure on myself or have high expectations of what I want the outcome of my career or my life to be. And so the fact that I'm doing what I love and all of these things are coming to fruition and manifesting like right in front of me, it just feels so surreal. I don't know, I'm very excited for this year. I hope that we continue to keep the ball rolling, but 2023 was a phenomenal year, and I'm very grateful for it.
Michelle: You crushed it. Do you have any tips on manifesting? Is that something you practice regularly?
“Faith without work is dead in my opinion”
Lexi: I do, actually. I think that the biggest thing I feel like a lot of people have to remember when it comes to manifesting, praying, or whatever you believe in is also just making sure that you're being a good steward over it. Faith without work is dead in my opinion. So I believe that yes, you write things down, you speak it into existence, and then you also make sure that you're actively doing the work to make sure that those things happen as well. It's a combination. But just like anyone, you know, we all hope for the best, and we all want to be successful. I think the biggest thing for me was really getting out of my head and believing that those things were unattainable, especially at this age. In a sense, it kind of made me start to not pour as much energy into the things that I was manifesting, but actually getting out of my head and stepping back into reality and understanding that I'm deserving of all those things. And why wouldn't those things happen to me? That's kind of how I manifest, you know, also alongside doing the work. But I'm just really grateful because I honestly didn't think that, this early on or at this age, I would be having the opportunities or experiences that I'm having. I feel pretty lucky.
Michelle: Everything you've accomplished so far is well-deserved, but you're so right. It's not enough, whatever you believe in, to write it down and wait for it to happen. You have to put in the work, and you are definitely putting in the work, so that is why all of this is happening. I really love this. I want to take it back a little bit and if you can talk about where you grew up. Set the scene for young Lexi!
Lexi: I'm the only one [in my family] who really wanted to pursue being an actor. And so, you know, it was just years of being in school and feeling like I belonged but feeling like there was more to my story and what I could do. There weren't too many outlets for artistic people growing up. It was very foreign. In DC, growing up, you have two choices, which are either sports or politics. And I kind of felt growing up like, all right, where's the space for the people in between? I want to do those things. And so, as I got older, around ten, I fell in love with Broadway. And I was a very, very active person when it came to getting what I wanted. There was an open call for Lion King on Broadway that I found out about. It was my favorite Broadway show. My parents had taken me to see it the year prior, and I found out that they were hosting auditions in the DMV area. I was 10 years old at the time, and I begged my parents to let me go. I skipped school that day, and it was my first audition, first anything, and I booked it! That was pretty surreal because I had no training and no real introduction on how to be a professional in that world. So going from being a regular middle schooler to then being on Broadway was a huge switch. And so with that, I did the national tour for Lion King and then after coming home, I felt like there was still more to my story. That [The Lion King] was incredible, but also, how do you tour, then go to Broadway and then you just go back to a regular classroom? It just felt super weird to me. So I asked my parents if we could go out to LA for maybe two to three months, which turned into nine years now, I think. So it's been a long journey. Since then it hasn't always been a smooth sailing journey, it's definitely had its ups and downs. But all in all, I think that the biggest part about my story is that I'm just so grateful to have had a support system and two parents who believed in me, especially because they weren't necessarily familiar with that world at all. I know that it's probably not always ideal, especially for a 10-year-old child, to be like, "I want to be on Broadway; I want to do improv." It's like, oh, okay, sure. But I feel through and through, the biggest reason why I'm here in this space right now is genuinely because my parents believed in me and I'm grateful for every step that's brought me to this moment.
Michelle: I love that and honestly especially after meeting your mom, I can cosign on how amazing she is. But how was the transition from DC to LA?
Lexi: It was definitely different and interesting, but I felt, I don't know, I felt really seen when it came to just having other people around me. Young kids who were also interested in what I was interested in. I loved being able to actually talk and take a real acting class and take a real vocal lesson, those kinds of things. So, while it was a little tricky trying to navigate, finding new friends, and all of those things, I lived at the infamous Oakwood [apartments]. And so that obviously is a hotspot for young actors. So quickly, within months of being there, it was not hard to find a tribe of people. And to this day, I'm still friends with most of those people that I met back when I first moved out here when I was around 11 or 12. But it was definitely a bit of a culture shock as well. East Coast and West Coast are very, very different. Even just the people and the principles. Everything can just be a little different. But I really love LA, and I love home [DC] too, but LA has also just become truly like a second home to me.
Michelle: Oh yeah, especially when you find friends that young, you sort of grow up together. I think that what makes transitioning easier is having community. I know the entertainment industry can get so lonely. So I'm so glad you have a good support group around you. With the industry being so tough, do you ever deal with imposter syndrome? How do you deal with that?
Lexi: A lot. I definitely have. I feel like a lot of times I had to get out of this space where I felt like I just didn't belong in certain spaces. This was even after Little Fires. Honestly, I feel like I'm just now really breaking out of it, thanks to therapy. But I definitely even find myself in a lot of these spaces just feeling like, okay, well, I'm not doing this and I'm not doing that. But I think that it's really important to be able to take a beat and recognize that five years ago I would have killed to be in the position that I'm in now and understand that I'm in this position for a reason, not just because it magically happened, but because I actually did the work. I deserve to be in those spaces and I deserve to celebrate my work. I feel like a big thing, not even just as artists, I feel as women, as people, we're just so used to having to constantly downplay ourselves, downplay our accomplishments, and always feel that, especially with social media now, there is still more to attain. I think that what I've had to get out of my zone of feeling is, if I never win an Oscar, if I never win an Emmy, does that still make me deserving of being in these spaces and of having what I have. Absolutely. That's not the end all be all. So I can't compare myself and can't view other people's journeys as, you know, the bar because everyone's journey looks different. And so that kind of helps me with imposter syndrome when I'm stepping into spaces, or I feel like I'm not enough, or I just don't belong. I think that it's also important that everybody has felt like that once in their life. And just taking a beat to really be grateful about it because there are some people out there, artists that you know their parents didn't listen to. There are people that can't even afford to move out here to chase their dreams. So it's realizing that we're so grateful and so blessed for what we have and we should really appreciate it and celebrate ourselves.
Michelle: I know sometimes, especially with social media being so prevalent, you have to have major tunnel vision and not draw any comparisons. Your journey is yours, it's your story. And to your point, it's being just thankful enough to have some sort of control over your story and writing it. Is there a person in your life that helps keep you level headed?
Lexi: Definitely my mom, my dad, my grandma. I have some incredible friends, my best friend from back home, Demi. We've been best friends for ten- plus years now. She's definitely the person where I can always call. She's still in DC, but I can call her any hour of the day and she will answer. She'll try to calm me down or reassure me, whatever I need, or if I just need a beat, she's always there. And then I think about being able to work with so many incredible women in this industry where I've been able to also form actual mentorships with them. I feel like the biggest one for me is where it's like, I am always talking to her, always like, is this normal? Am I doing this right? Meagan Good. She's like a big sister to me and has been through it. So many of these women have, you know, Miss Kerry [Kerry Washington], Miss Reese [Reese Witherspoon], talking to Miss Viola [Viola Davis], or even the Cruel Summer cast. Just being able to talk to people who are going through it or have been through it and can actually give you reassuring advice. I have to tell myself that I am on the right path and just because I made this mistake or just because this fell through does not mean that this is the end all be all. So I'm really grateful to be able to also reach out to the women in my life, have intimate conversations, and get real advice because it's not easy. It is absolutely not easy, whether you're just in this industry or a human being trying to figure out life. None of this is easy. And so it's important to be able to have that support system and people that have kind of already been through it to be able to lean on.
Michelle: Oh yeah, it's definitely really hard. Do you ever find that with your mom, especially because she’s never really been in the entertainment industry before, ever find it hard to communicate if you're dealing with something difficult with work?
Lexi: No, my mom has literally been with me every step of the way, so it's kind of hard not to want to vent to her immediately about something. Even if I'm unsure about a script, I'll ask her to read over it to make sure I'm not tripping. So I feel like my mom is definitely my go-to person because she really has been with me throughout this journey from day one. She quit her job when we moved out to LA. So at first it was interesting, but she believed in me. And now we're all in here. We actually own my production company together, so she's now a producer, and she has stepped into her own world of being a creative when she was in the political world for so long, and she's discovered her love for the arts through my love for the arts. It's wonderful to be able to see that manifest itself in reality as well. And just being able to have someone where I can literally talk to anything about, especially when it comes to the industry, with no judgment.
Michelle: I didn't know that you co-owned your production company! I know we’ve talked a little bit about it, but how's that dynamic been? Are you gearing up for anything?
Lexi: Yeah, it's been incredible. We are very big on adaptations of books right now, so we've been actively going out and finding books together. We'll sit down and create the pitch deck together, or I'll create the Bible, and then she'll create the pitch deck or vice versa. It's definitely a team effort and a partnership. It is just the two of us and then my agents and my managers that help, but it's mainly just us. It's really exciting. I know that it takes a while to be able to get projects lifted up off the ground, but I have been able to gain the rights to a lot of different stories, so we're actively in the midst of getting the funding or we have the funding and just getting the script written. So I believe that in 2024, especially at the end of 2024, we'll have a project where we're able to start getting on set and up and running, and fingers crossed, I believe that that is going to happen soon. But I'm really excited because we're dedicated to telling inclusive stories, things that we're not used to seeing- there are just so many. Whether it's books, so many books out there that people are craving, and real-life unsung heroes that people can relate to. So, fingers crossed that we're able to get those projects really up and running because I think that those are things that need to be out in this world.
Michelle: I know it's gonna happen. To kind of wrap it all up in a big bow, I saw on your Instagram bio that you are an “audacious visionary.” How's that going to play into your 2024?
Lexi: So my production company is called Ultimate Dreamer Productions. I came up with the name Ultimate Dreamer for my very first Instagram username when I was 10 years old. The Broadway kids would call me that, actually. I would eat it up. So my mom would ask, "What's an ultimate dreamer?" I wasn't too sure myself, so I started to do my research, I think this was around age 13. I found that an ultimate dreamer is an audacious visionary, and I believe an audacious visionary is someone who goes out and gets what they want regardless of their circumstances and what other people are telling them. And I think that that's the biggest thing for me, regardless of even what my own brain is telling me or whatever things try and get in the way, I will continue to keep going until I reach my end goal. I think that's something that I have been doing, and I hope to continue to do and inspire others to do, you know? I want to encourage people to step into their journey of becoming their own version of what an audacious visionary means to them.
Michelle: Well, you just definitely inspired me and you are the absolute best. I know that this year's gonna be so great. So many people are rooting for you!
Lexi: Thank you so much. It was so good to see you. So good to talk to you.