Exclusive Interview with Chasing Life’s Jessica Meraz
Jessica Meraz stars as Natalie Ortiz, half-sister to April and Brenna Carver, in ABC Family’s Chasing Life. When we first meet Natalie she’s a bit wild to put it softly, she lives her life to the fullest and is always down for a good time. When audiences last saw Natalie she was dumping her boyfriend, Dominic. Talk Nerdy With Us recently got to chat with Jessica! Read our interview below!
Natalie officially became a series regular the second half of the first season. Did you watch the episodes you weren’t in to kind of see where the story was going?
“Oh, definitely, yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative). WIt didn’t air for like a year after we shot the first season so I watched the episodes before I shot them. Does that make sense? I definitely knew what was going on in the story.”
This week April and Beth went on a vacation. Where is the best and worst place that you’ve vacationed?
“The best place I have vacationed is Spain. I went last year for new years and it was just so rich in everything. Culture, art, history, fun, bars. The worst place I’ve ever been, oh my god. Hm. I can’t think of one that I really disliked. Probably like summer camp when I was a kid. I think I was miserable at this one summer camp. I got a bloody nose and poison ivy. I just was not into it.”
Obviously in the premiere for season 2, Natalie and Dom broke up. Are you personally, as Jessica, team Natalie and Dom?
“Am I team them? You know, I’m not. I think that Natalie needs to find something completely separated from any kind of competition with her sisters. I, personally could never date somebody that my sister did. What I understand were Natalie’s … Dominick is also hard to resist.”
Are you team April and Dom or team April and Leo?
“I’m team April and Leo.”
What has been your favorite episode so far?
“Probably the season finale of season 1.”
You tweeted a little bit ago about a song playing on Chasing Life that you Shazammed…
“Yeah. It was actually the wrong song that came up as being Shazam. I Shazammed it and this weird song showed up, but when I tried to download it, it was not the song that I was looking for. I contacted the studio that does music for the show and I was like, “Can you get me that song?” and she emailed to me and it’s, I’ll tell you what it’s called. It is called To Be Loved by Lucy Schwartz. It’s not available yet though.”
Has that been your favorite song that’s played on Chasing Life?
“I think so. This is the one that has made me go out of my way to find out what it was.”
This week they talked a little bit about Natalie reading, so what’s your all time favorite book?
“All time favorite book. Wow. Recently it has been Goldfinch. I read that last year or the year before and I really, really enjoyed it. It was really suspenseful and really exciting. I’m probably always reading something.”
During season 1, Natalie bartended. Did you personally have any experience of being a bartender or was that kind of all for the character? Did you have to do any training for how to handle bottles or anything?
“I never had to make any fancy drinks while we were shooting. I never bartended in real life, but I waitressed when I was in college.”
Natalie and Beth are roommates, but if you and Aisha were roommates in real life, what would your apartment look like?
“Well, hopefully something like their’s does. Their’s is awesome. I actually was thinking I want to buy the white Christmas lights and make a heart around one wall of my room just like Aisha in the show in their apartment.”
This is our last question, but what else are you currently working on?
“I will be on an episode of Drunk History, coming up in a couple of months. I’m not sure exactly what day, but I’m really excited for that to finally come out. I’m working on something else, but I can’t give out any information about any part of it.”