Saylor Bell Curda makes her action-comedy debut in ‘Twisted Metal’

JoySauce spoke with Curda about finding her comedic edge through Mayhem, stunting the stunt team with her athlete background, and finding sisterhood with Beatriz.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Rendy Jones: How did you land the role of Mayhem?
Saylor Bell Curda: I was a lucky duck. I did my audition and I connected with Mayhem right off the bat. I love characters who are chaotic, messy, and don't really give a damn. Those are my favorite people to play. I had to think about how to be her during my first episode. It took me a minute to get into that headspace, but it was almost like once I had finally done an episode of being this crazy random girl who's in the apocalypse, I finally was like, “I think I have a good hold on her.”

RJ: You come from a long background of comedic work, especially in family sitcoms. What was it like taking those experiences into an edgier adult-oriented space?
SBC: I've spent a lot of my life doing family television-type comedies where everything is light, funny, and simple. Here, I'm experiencing a set that is so dangerous. It was wacky jumping into it. But I actually think that it was a blessing in disguise because I could go crazier and I could play stupider. I could be whatever I wanted to be because it was the apocalypse. It was honestly a freeing moment. Other things are very, by the book, but Twisted Metal is just a beautiful sh*t show. It's my favorite.

RJ: Tell me about exploring that action-comedic side of yourself, going from something like a live studio audience space into an open world without the validation of a laugh track.
SBC: It definitely took a lot of me relying on the people around me, a lot of me talking to Stephanie and being like, “Do you think I did well in that scene?” Or going to our showrunner MJ (Smith) and being like, “Do you have any notes?” I feel like I can tell when my acting is off, when a scene ends and I'm like, “Oof. I did not feel that one.” But I do think it is so dependent on the people that you're working with, and thank God that all of them were so amazing because it truly made being Mayhem the easiest time of my life.

Talking about stunts, I had such a good time. I'm a very physical person, especially in my comedy. It was almost like being let out of a cage. You get to do all of this crazy physical stuff that I've never had the opportunity to do. It felt so natural. I have a long background of different physical activities: I'm a black belt in taekwondo. I did gymnastics and I still play sports to this day. There was something very comforting about doing stunts because I would be with all of these people who knew exactly what they were doing. I could watch them do it once and I would actually be able to do it. I'd be like, “Wait, whoa, guys, I did it!”

RJ: I adore how you have this younger sister, wildcard energy where you’re keeping all these veterans on their toes. Did all that come from experience?
SBC: I'm very much a younger sister. I am a little sister to four older siblings. Even the instant that I met Stephanie, I was like, “You're an older sister, aren't you?” And she was like, “You're a younger sister, aren't you?” We worked together so well. It felt like this sisterly thing. She was a sister, she was my work sister, and she helped me with everything that I needed. We had plenty of conversations too that had nothing to do with work. If I was having crises at home or I had issues, I would go to her. We were also in a different country that I had never been to before, and I didn't know anybody.

RJ: Where was it?
SBC: We were in Toronto, which I'm obsessed with now. I'm in love with that place. But it was such a blessing to have Stephanie there because it wasn't only in the scenes. It was so personal and private to me too. We would spend days where it was her and I sitting in our little chairs and I would get really overwhelmed, because I was meeting all of these new people all at once. I was by far the youngest and felt intimidated by what this experience was going to be like. Stephanie was always the person I would talk to, and she always had the exact right things to say and always had the right words. It’s like I have another older sister now.

RJ: It's refreshing to see such a diverse cast go freely in this action environment. Is there anything you took away from collaborating with them?
SBC: Entering in a season that isn't the first, where everyone has really established their relationships with each other is one of the hardest things. I've done that time and again with High School Musical and Walker. I almost feel used to it. It's always a really heavy thought of like, “All these people know each other. All these people know their characters much better than I know mine.” I don't know how I end up being so lucky every time. I feel like the flow of me entering in those specific shows felt so seamless. And it is no different than Twisted Metal. I think it was even scarier to me than anything just because I knew I was going to be the youngest there and I was definitely intimidated by the size of the crew and by the actors I was working with. 

It’s also rare that you have an entire cast that are all really lovely humans, and you have all these people who are taking care of you because they want to make sure you're doing your best. And that’s exactly how every single person on our crew was. It was a crazy series of lucky events that brought every last one of us together. It was, and I know everyone will agree, really special. Those four months were chaotic but so fulfilling.