NiceGirlsTV Pays Tribute to Pemberley Digital/Exclusive Interview with Brent Bailey

Back in April of 2012, the online series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries debuted on YouTube, focusing on a modern day version of the eponymous character, her sisters and friends as well as the men who come into their lives. The 100th episode (its last) aired a little over a year later and the webseries went on to not only win several Streamy Awards but also an Emmy Award.

Pemberley Digital may have been borne out of that web series, but it went on to bring avid fans the web series Welcome to Sanditon, Emma Approved, Frankenstein MD and The March Family Letters.

In an ongoing salute to all things Pemberley Digital, NiceGirlsTV will be paying tribute to just some of the actors who have played a role in those amazing web series.

To start things off, the following is part one of a special two-part exclusive interview with actor Brent Bailey, who portrayed Alex Knightley in Emma Approved:

Question: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Where you grew up? Went to school?

Brent: I moved around a lot as a kid. I was born in Tucson, AZ and then moved to Austin, TX when I was 5. At the age of 7 I moved to Houston, TX and then moved to Scottsdale, AZ when I was 10. My dad works for a company called Discount Tire Co, so each time he got promoted we moved. The corporate office is in Scottsdale, so once he got there we stopped moving around. I stayed in Arizona until right after I turned 22 and then I made the move out to Los Angeles, CA.

I was a pretty normal kid. I was extremely curious about computers and anything electronic. I was always taking things apart to understand how they worked, and then putting them back together. I built my own computer when I was in high school. When I wasn’t messing around with computers I was playing sports. I loved basketball, baseball and bowling. I actually even got offered a scholarship to ASU for bowling, but eventually I decided to go to DeVry to get my Bachelors of Science in Computer Information Systems. I graduated with my undergrad at 19 years old and got a full time job as a web developer with Discount Tire and started taking night classes at Keller Graduate School. At 21 I graduated with my Masters in Business and then decided it was time for a change. I quit my job, rented out my house, packed my stuff and made the journey to LA to live with my best friend Harley Jay.

Question: What made you want to get into acting?

Brent: To be honest, it kind of happened by accident. I had never done theater, or had any real desire to act until I was about 21 years old. I found myself sitting at a cubical in front of a computer for 40-60 hours a week making great money, but just not happy. I knew that I could stay at the job and work my way up the latter and have a great life, but I also knew if I took a big chance by starting all over I could find another job that excited me and made me truly happy. When I first moved to LA I decided to do background work to help pay the bills, and the second I stepped on my first movie set, I knew this was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

Question: What was the casting process like for Emma Approved?

Brent: In a way it was very traditional, but it was kind of a long process. I actually auditioned for Lizzie Bennet Diaries twice and the Pemberley Team knew they liked me, they just hadn’t found the role that they wanted me to play quite yet. So in a way, my audition for LBD was kind of my first audition for Knightley. When I came into read for Knightley I already knew the team and I think we all kind of just knew that we finally had found the role that I was meant to play. All we had to do next was see if I had chemistry with Joanna Sotomura… I guess you all know what the answer to that was.

Question: Were you intimidated at all to play Alex Knightley?

Brent: I wasn’t. I knew that he was such a fun character that on the surface seemed very calm and collected, but beneath it all he was such a fun and caring soul. He is intelligent and focused, but also will do everything he can for those around him. A lot of the qualities I brought to the role were really just myself, so I had a blast bringing my own personality to the role and also borrowing some tips from the amazing Paul Rudd.

Please come back next month for part-two of our exclusive interview with Brent Bailey.