Getty Kiersey Clemons at the press junket for "RENT" at Fox Studio Lot.
Rent: Live airs tonight on Fox at 8pm ET. Actress Kiersey Clemons stars as Joanne Jefferson, the lawyer girlfriend of Maureen (played by Vanessa Hudgens).
Ahead of her live musical performance, Clemons told Collider that she was first introduced to the Broadway musical and its iconic songs when she was in high school: “I first saw it when I was 14, and we sang ‘Seasons of Love’ in our recital. I think that’s a lot of people’s introduction to it. I loved it. I just loved everyone’s spirit in the show and how, despite everything they were struggling with, I wanted to be a part of their family.”
Here’s what you need to know about Kiersey Clemons:
1. She Grew Up in a Music-Loving Family
In an interview with In Style, she discussed her close relationship with her family and how important it is for her to live near them in Palos Verdes, California, saying “I’m a big sister and a co-parent with my mom before anything. That’s my root of all. It’s my foundation.”
She also talked about her upbringing, and how she grew up surrounded by music and performing, which helped shape her: “I grew up with a lot of karaoke and dancing and good movies. We all like to entertain and perform. Everyone’s really funny. Everyone can carry a tune. My grandma was a ballerina.”
2. She Got Her Start on the Disney Channel
Many of Clemons’ first acting roles were in Disney Channel shows. According to her IMDB page, Kiersey’s first acting credit was a role on Shake it Up. She also had a guest star role on Good Luck Charlie, before playing the recurring role of Kira Starr on Austin & Ally. She also was in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cloud 9.
Clemons will be returning to her Disney roots when she plays the role of Darling in the live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp.
3. She Openly Identifies As Queer
Clemons’ break out role was in the independent film Dope, in which she got to play a queer character named Diggy. Of the fact that she’s gotten to play multiple black queer roles already in her young career, she told Out Magazine “I’ve played Black queer characters more than once or twice, which a lot of queer people do not get to do. I got a tweet and someone said like, ‘This person only plays queer people.’ We never say anything to white men about just playing straight white men who drink whiskey — and they do it all the time!”
When Out asked her what the role of Joanne means to her, she told them she believes Joanne “has this weakness for people like Maureen because she wants to be like her,” adding “I want to make these complexities more apparent. I am trying to throw in these bits of vulnerability.”
4. She Recently Played Nick Offerman’s Daughter in ‘Hearts Beat Loud’
In the independent film Hearts Beat Loud, written and directed by Brett Haley, Clemons got to play Sam, a biracial queer character preparing to go off to college. Nick Offerman played her white single father (her mother passed away when she was young), and both her character’s biracial background and sexual orientation got to just be facts about the character rather than points of conflict or drama in the movie. Clemons noted this in an interview with IndieWire, saying “Normally, we see movies where the conflict is being gay, and I’m really happy that there’s finally a movie where that’s not the conflict in this person’s life. Although that is the case for some, there are people all over the world that are queer and their conflict isn’t their relationship or their sexuality. It was nice to step away from that typical storyline.”
5. She Appeared in Lady Gaga’s Music Video for ‘Til it Happens to You’
Kiersey Clemons starred in Lady Gaga’s music video for “Til it Happens to You” alongside Nikki Reed. The song is about sexual assault and was written for the documentary The Hunting Ground. Teen Vogue reported that Clemons’ acting prowess is “well on display” in the video.
In the video, which is difficult to watch but shares a critical message, scenes of sexual assaults in “common” places are used to highlight the rape epidemic that college and high school students are facing. Please be advised that the video, shared above, contains graphic content that might be triggering to some.