By Alexia McKay
When it comes to acting, Lauren ‘Lolo’ Spencer strives to play roles that resonate genuinely with her real-life character and the causes she supports. From HBO’s Sex lives of College Girls to her latest role in Disney Junior’s Firebuds, the 35-year-old Cal State University Northridge graduate hopes to show representation and spark inspiration with each intentional role she takes.
“I’ve definitely had rejected roles, because for some reason, it just didn’t resonate with me,” Spencer tells RoyalTee during a recent Zoom interview. “Maybe I didn’t like the storyline, maybe I didn’t like the way the character was written. Maybe I didn’t like the dialogue, or just how the project in general is written. So yeah, everything is very intentional.”
Her latest role in the new Disney Junior animated series is no different. Directed by Kris Wimberly, best known for his work in Disney’s Elena of Avalor, Firebuds is about the children of first responders, who also happen to have mini-talking car sidekicks. Declan Whaley as Bo, Terrence Little Gardenhigh as Flash, Vivian Vencer as Violet, Lily Sanfelippo as Axl, JeCobi Swain as Jayden, and Caleb Paddock as Piston round up the group. The cast also includes Padma Lakshmi, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Spencer plays the character, Jazmyn ‘Jazzy’ Jones, a young Black girl with spina bifida, who is part of the group. Together she and her friends embark on adventures to help their community and learn what it truly means to be a hero.
The series premieres on Sept. 21 on Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
The role is Spencer’s first animated project and one that is near and dear to her heart. The Sex Lives of College Girls star was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, which makes her a wheelchair user and a disability advocate. Her character, Jocelyn, in the HBO series also has a disability but it doesn’t stop her from living her best college life at the fictional Essex College.
“I always try to just look for a role that for one going to be authentically representative of people with disabilities first and foremost,” she says. “That’s like, super duper crucial to me. And then also, where I can show a level of humanity to the character, where it’s more about who the character is, rather than their story being centered around their disability.”
She added, “So those are the things that I really do pay attention to, and then just as an actress, just really wanting to do something that I feel like I would enjoy playing.”
The Disney Junior star is also the CEO and founder of Live Solo, an empowering brand dedicated to young adults with disabilities.
Spencer says her character’s creativity reminds her of herself as a little girl. Unlike her tot-size character, Spencer does not come from a family of first responders, but a creative one of musicians, families, singers, and other right-brain outlets in the industry. “Jazzy has that same spirit, that same creative spirit of creating the world that she wants to see,” she says, “creating the world that she wants to be a part of. And so I was able to resonate with that because I was the same kind of kid I was building things.” Spencer recalls building clubhouses in her backyard, playing in her grandmother’s clothes and jewelry, wearing her mother’s high heels, putting on fashion shows, and walking around the house carrying a briefcase.
“It’s really interesting to be able to kind of revisit, the fun and the excitement and innocence that only a child has through the lens of Jazzy,” she says. “So that’s where her and I really connect and make sense.”
Spencer hopes that the series will inspire families and kids to embrace the diversity of our world, including seeing people from different communities, backgrounds, and cultures.
“Firebuds could be the representation of all of these kids from all these different backgrounds round, coming together, to simply have fun, and want to save the world and be eager about helping each other and helping your fellow person.”
She added, “So when the kids start to interact with each other, they don’t have to only rely on the ones that look just like them, that they can befriend, and help others and help their community in a way that is just truly helpful and empowering to them. Because once the kids get it, then we can rest assured that that generation as they grow older, will hopefully create a better world each time.”
Watch the full interview below:
