Jesse Leigh: A Non-Binary Actor on Finding Roles That Resonate With Them
Jesse Leigh has been acting since they were in elementary school. They now star in NBC’s new sitcom Rutherford Falls as Bobbie, a high school student working as an assistant to Nathan Rutherford, played by Ed Helms. Jesse talks to us about Rutherford Falls and their acting journey.
How did you first get into acting? At what point in your acting journey did you commit to making it a career?
It started in elementary school. I was doing an after-school program and we did the show Oliver. I got the role of Oliver, so that was really exciting. And then I just started doing community theater and started taking dance classes and voice classes. I was just really inspired by musicals. One year, when I was around 10 or 11, I went to New York and saw Wicked on Broadway. I realized that these performers were getting paid to be on stage ... this was their actual job. That's when I realized that I wanted to do it. I went to Orange County School of the Arts for high school, and I was in the musical theater conservatory. The training there was just very, very rigorous, and I had to be very disciplined there. I got a little tired of it, to be honest, because it was just so much that for a brief moment I wanted to become a dermatologist. For my first couple of years of school, I started taking science classes, started taking calculus classes. I just realized now I am meant to be an artist... and I just realized that I was the only thing in my way.
Your character in Rutherford Falls, Bobbie Yang, is a non-binary, first-generation American who works as Nathan Rutherford's intern/executive assistant. How often do you see auditions for nonbinary roles? What was the audition process like for Rutherford Falls?
Well, I started professionally about five years ago, and back then there were no non-binary roles. I mean, it's really just something that's been popping off that Hollywood has noticed and taken into account. There are just so many more characters now that are on the gender spectrum, not either male or female. They're not stuck on the binary. There were trans roles when I started out, but they were one-note and very stereotypical. But when I read for the role of Bobbie, the role was originally male-identifying and gay. I kind of wanted to make the role myself. So therefore I wore what I wear every day—my bell-bottoms—and I put on a cute wing liner and some blush. I totally just walked it. I went in from my audition one week and then got the screen tests the next week. Within a span of two weeks, I had found out that I got the role of Bobbie.
Do you know at what point during the audition process they decided to make Bobbie’s character non-binary?
It wasn't until I actually booked the role that I sat down with the writers and they had asked me about growing up and being non-binary and stories about being non-binary from my childhood. I felt super lucky that the character was kind of sculpted around my life.
How much of yourself do you see in Bobbie? Is there anything you wish your younger self had learned from Bobbie?
I see a lot of myself in Bobbie. We’re both very career-driven. I would say that Bobbie has a lot more confidence than I did when I was 16. I was in high school and I was very quiet and very reserved, and it's fun to play a role that is someone that I would have looked up to when I was younger. It's super fun to play someone who is young, but also who is just exuding confidence.
Rutherford Falls is a fictional small town in upstate New York that borders a Native American reservation. What was the town you grew up in like? Did it share any similarities with Rutherford Falls?
I grew up in Manhattan Beach, so it really is not anything like the town of Rutherford Falls. They're very different, but they are both very small towns and they're both kind of bubbles in a way. Lately, in the news, there has been a beach in Manhattan Beach called Bruce's Beach that is historically African-American-owned, and the land used to belong to the Bruce family, but unfortunately, the land was stripped away from the family about a century ago. It provided an opportunity for the African-American community to enjoy the beach since they were still segregated back then. So now, there has been discussion in Manhattan Beach of returning the land back to the Bruce family, which is super important. There weren't stories like this when I was growing up in the town, so it's super exciting to hear that it's happening now. I would say the place I grew up in sort of relates to the town of Rutherford Falls in that sense.
We've seen renewed discussion on the removal of controversial statues and monuments, particularly in the context of Confederate monuments. In Rutherford Falls, we see Nathan Rutherford's fight against removing a historical statue of his ancestor removed. There's a lot to unpack in the relations with Native American reservations and the complicated and troubling history of our country. Do you remember having these discussions in school or growing up?
I honestly don't remember talking about that and I blame the textbooks that we had back then. There are screenshots of textbooks circulating on Twitter of how little they really dive into Native American history and how completely whitewashed [history] is. The story of Rutherford Falls and the TV show does a really good job in comparing two characters, Nathan Rutherford, played by Ed Helms, and his legacy. Nathan is Caucasian, and he's very proud of his last name, the Rutherford name. We also meet the character of Reagan Wells; she's Native American, and she's also very proud of her nation that borders the town of Rutherford Falls. It's really great to see the juxtaposition between Nathan having this privilege and Reagan who doesn’t. We see Reagan's character has to work harder because she's someone of color and because she's Native American, and it's very true to life. Both characters are kind of going after the same thing, but it's a lot more difficult for Regan’s character because she's Native.
What sort of ways to grapple with history would you say Rutherford Falls suggests?
A lot of it starts with the media and what we see on television and what we see in movies. Rutherford Falls is so special in that it has five Native American writers, which is one of the largest numbers of Native American writers ever in a writer's room. The Native writers are able to tell stories that are unique and that are fresh and stories that we haven't seen before on screen. I think one of the first steps to [having accurate portrayals] on-screen [is] having a diverse writer's room.
Are there any character arcs or plots you want to see your character go through moving forwards?
I would love to see Bobbie take on the Big Apple. We're in upstate New York, so it would be super fun to see Bobbie Yang go to the big city and, I don’t know, get into trouble there. I think Bobbie has a future in public relations, so I think a big city would benefit Bobbie more. Also, I'm not opposed to having Bobbie find some romance. To find a partner in season two, I think, would be really fun.
Particularly in the past year, we've seen a spike in anti-Asian sentiments, though these sentiments can be found throughout our country's history. How do you think the representation of Asian Americans on screen in the past has contributed to these issues or helped raise awareness of these issues?
In the past, I mean, not even in the past, just recently, Asians have always been the butt of jokes, especially in sitcoms and comedy movies. These jokes certainly haven’t helped towards the spike in anti-Asian sentiments, and it did not help to have a racist president at the same time. So, I'm excited and happy that there's more discussion and there has been more visibility on-screen, and Asian characters for once are getting fleshed out backgrounds and full-on backstories. We're not just, you know, a few lines, and then we're killed off or we're not seen in the series anymore. I'm excited to see all these new television shows. There's a new show called Kung Fu on The CW, and I'm super excited. It's a primarily Asian cast, and I just followed all of them, and it's just super exciting.
What do you think is the line between tokenism vs. representation? Is this line blurry, or do you think intentions are clear?
I think we can notice if someone's intentions were clear or not, and that's told through the character's backstory. If we get to understand the character and know where they're coming from and their specific objectives and what they want in life, that's a clear intention, that writers wanted to have characters that represent people offscreen and diverse characters. We're starting to see a lot more LGBTQ+ characters and a lot more Asian Americans, and it all goes back to the writing. If the character is obviously there for a reason, or if they're just there to have like a few lines or be various stereotypes and just very on the surface, [that’s how we can tell].
Do you have a dream role or project?
You know what, they're making a movie version of Wicked. It has been in the works for, I think, like 10 years now, so I'm just going to manifest that and put that out there, speak that into the universe. But I would love to do a Tennessee Williams play. And then something on-screen, just something out of the comedy genre, like something dramatic, like The Handmaid's Tale or something where I'm playing a superhero would be really fun. I want to fly and combat evil, you know?
Finally, if you were starting your own new city/town, what are three things you would require from all inhabitants?
One, everyone's got to love each other. Absolutely. Be kind to each other, too. Everyone's got to have a dog. The dog should be adopted. And three, there's no gender binary. Everyone can just exist on the spectrum where they want to. There are no questions asked.
STORY JAMIE YI
PHOTOS KELLY BALCH