Discussing the Switched at Birth Finale with Vanessa Marano
Talk Nerdy With Us caught up with Vanessa Marano to discuss the season finale of Switched at Birth. Tune into the finale this Monday at 8/7c pm and read our interview below.
Last time we talked you told me that you were really nerdy about musicals.
Yes!!!!
What’s the most recent musical you’ve listened to or seen?
I saw Hamilton in New York. I’m absolutely obsessed with it. I can’t even handle how obsessed I am with it. It’s actually consuming my life. (Laughs). Is it a good thing, or is it a problem? It’s becoming a problem. I am so obsessed with that musical. I’m so glad I got to see it too, because I know what I usually do with musicals is wait for the soundtrack to come out, I listen to the soundtrack on repeat, wait for the Tony performance, and then I go see it.
I just, by fortune, ended up in New York, seeing Spring Awakening, with Marlee Matlin, actually, and Daniel Durant. That was the reason I was out there was to see them do the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening, which was amazing. My uncle had tickets to go see Hamilton, and I was like, “Uh, me, I want those. I want those, now.”
The Switched At Birth, the finale is coming up, so what can you tease us about Monday’s episode?
There’s so much happening! There’s the whole Regina has been living with a fugitive, and not telling anybody thing, coming to a head. There’s the whole Bay, Emmett, Travis love triangle, that’s actually getting revealed to Bay that that triangle even exists, because she has unknowingly been in a triangle, and she doesn’t even realize it until this episode. (Laughs). Then of course there’s the Daphne, Mingo situation with Dr. Quinn.
Another triangle.
We’re all about the triangles. We got a full on diamond happening. (Laughs).
At the end of the last episode, we saw Bay tell her parents about Regina, and it kind of seems like it’s going back to season one, where it’s the Kennish’s versus the Vasquez’s. Were you surprised when you got that script, that she told her parents, and went against Regina?
No, I’m not, because of how that episode turned out. I think at the end of the day, she knew it was … When that episode started, Bay didn’t know any information. She was like, “Oh, you have an ex-wife, and she stole your kid? That’s terrible.” Then by the end of the episode, she’s like, “Hold on a second. What? He stole the kid? That’s bad!” I think she just knew it was the right thing to do, and as hard as it was for her to go against Regina, she was making the wrong decision. At the end of the day, Regina’s been messing up a lot, and kind of put Bay in a very unfair position. It’s kind of like the roles of parent and child got reversed.
You guys just got picked up for a season five, congratulations!
Thank you very much!
What would you like to see Bay do in season five?
Well, the episode ends in a way that it completely dictates where season five is going to go.
Is it a cliff-hanger?
Yes, it’s a weird cliff-hanger. I can’t even describe this cliff-hanger, it comes out of left field. I don’t think anyone is going to see it coming.
Do you think Bay should give Travis a shot, or do you think they should stay just friends?
I think she should give him a shot, selfishly because I like working with Ryan Lane, and I love doing scenes with him. If she turns him down, then we would probably not be doing as many scenes together. I also think it’s such a sweet relationship, they had their hearts broken at the same time, and sometimes the best and strongest relationships bloom out of friendships that you didn’t even see coming.
Very true! Halloween is coming up, what is your go-to Halloween costume?
Well, my birthday is Halloween, actually. That is a pretty big day for me. I would say my go-to is, if I’m at work especially, because I wear costumes for work … I’m in wardrobe, so I can’t really come in to work fully as decked out as I would want to be, but I have a Jack O’lantern shirt, like a pumpkin hat that I usually bring with me into work to celebrate the season. I’m not working this year, which is pretty exciting. I have not fully committed to what I’m going to be yet. That being said, my one friend wanted all of us to go as different Julia Roberts characters.
That’s a genius idea!
Yeah. I would want to actually point out though that this group of people is the majority boys, too. (Laughs). There’s only one other girl in this group, and we were all going to go as Julia Roberts characters.
Since ABC Family is changing to Freeform, how do you think that’s going to change Switched at Birth? Do you think it’s going to change the storyline at all?
I think with the whole re-branding of the network as Freeform will open the doors to it not just being high school anymore, and not just being family storytelling. It really will become about young adults thriving in the world, and then failing, and picking themselves back up again. I think Switched At Birth actually is at a really great place, because the young ladies of Switched At Birth are now out in the real world, and becoming adults, and really having to pick themselves up and stand on their own two feet, which I think is what the network is trying to do with their programming.