Kiernan Shipka Shares Her First Date, Big Splurge & More

I run a few meme accounts that people don't know are me.

So I'm deep in meme culture.

I'm, I'm...

One would say I'm too deep in meme culture.

Hi, Teen Vogue.

I'm Kiernan Shipka, and I'm going to be sharing

my firsts with you.

[mellow music]

First time I got turned down for a role I wanted

or didn't book something,

I mean, I, I don't remember the exact first time,

but I remember one of the first big ones

that I really, really wanted that I never,

that I didn't get,

was Hunger Games.

I really wanted, I really wanted to be in Hunger Games.

You sort of realize that some things

just aren't meant to be

for reasons that you maybe don't know at the time.

And I've made peace with that and with rejection.

You kind of have to in this industry,

but in the moment when you want something

and you don't get it, it's, it's, it's not fun.

Ah, man, I mean, that first time

that she got caught smoking.

My first herbal cigarette,

my first smoking on camera,

first, obviously, smoking ever, was such a moment.

I felt so bad,

and it was so, so kind of fun.

First slap.

First Betty Draper slap, with those acrylic nails.

Oof!

So many firsts.

All the first were on that show!

Every first I had almost was on Mad Men.

The first person I would want to cast

in a Sally Draper spinoff

would be her therapist,

and the person that I would like to play that role, I mean,

I could go in a million different directions,

but I'm friends with Ike Barinholtz,

and I think he's one of the funniest people on the planet,

and I think he would make a great therapist for Sally.

We'd come up with some really funny character.

The first time I met the Sabrina cast,

well, I did chemistry reads with a couple characters.

So the first person I met from the Sabrina cast was...

It was either Ross Lynch or Jaz Sinclair.

I was doing all those chem reads at the same time,

and then Chance Perdomo and Michelle Gomez.

Those were the first four people that I met from the cast.

Everyone that walked into that audition after we'd read,

I immediately knew, oh, that's the person.

Everyone was so wonderful

and just embodied those characters

from the minute that they started speaking

and diving into scenes.

And it was just...

When Chance left, I remember thinking,

okay, great, that's our Ambrose.

And then when Jaz left,

it was like, oh, okay, awesome.

We've got Ros.

And then like, you know,

Ross was obviously just the perfect Harvey.

It was just obvious and clear when they left the room

that those were the people that were going

to be playing those parts.

The first Sabrina castmate to make me break

is probably Lucy Davis.

She's an improviser,

and when the director doesn't call cut immediately,

she will take those 10 seconds

to make sure something funny happens.

And it got to the point where every time

that I was in a scene with Lucy,

or anyone was in a scene with Lucy,

they knew not to call cut right away,

because she would always do something in the end

that is, that is just unique and so,

just deeply funny and original.

I think my first memory of wanting to be an actor

was probably while I was doing it, sort of?

I mean I was always kind of performing and always loved it,

so the moment it registered that, wow,

this is something I'd really like to do

was when I was already working.

I mean, I think Mad Men really sort of affirmed to me

that this is something enjoyable and fun.

And every day that I went to work, I was excited.

And to me, that's a telltale sign

that you're in the right line of work,

if you, if you're giddy over your 6:00 AM call time

because you just...

It just means you get to do it sooner?

I mean, that's someone that loves what they do.

But if it makes you feel energized, then that's a good sign.

First time I saw myself in a meme

was probably,

probably this photo of me as Sabrina

next to this giant devilish goat thing.

And I'm like doing the thumbs up,

and it's, like, me versus my music taste,

blah, blah,

blah, blah blah.

That, that sort of thing.

I run a few meme accounts that people don't know are me.

So I'm deep in meme culture.

I'm, I'm...

One would say I'm too deep in meme culture.

It's to a point of no return.

I love a meme.

I'm a secret meme-er.

[Kiernan chuckling]

A first date that is very memorable

was this tasting menu

at a restaurant called Trois Mec in L.A.

and then went to a diner after,

101 Coffee Shop at the time, it was.

It was very romantic.

I kind of have, as I've gotten older,

just an almost no-small-talk policy.

I just think it's much more beneficial

to everyone...

Dating, friendship, just life in general.

I think it's just more fun

to ask bigger questions and have fun

and sort of skip the weather.

We all know what temperature it is outside.

You know? Let's get into it.

My first drink I ordered when I was 21 was...

I remember I was in Mexico,

and I was flying back to L.A. on my birthday,

but I ordered an Aperol spritz, and I chugged it down.

I was running late for my flight.

Chugged down an Aperol spritz in the middle of the day.

I don't know exactly why, but it felt right.

And then I had another sort of spritzy drink,

was my first kind of legal order in the United States.

And it was a Mezcal grapefruit Campari situation.

So kind of a, kind of a little spritz,

had a spritz moment that day.

And then I probably had a glass of wine

and then they sent shots of tequila.

The first time I was starstruck

was by Tony Hale from Arrested Development and Veep

at the 2014 Emmys.

I was such a fan of Arrested Development.

I was such a fan of Veep.

And I was currently watching those two things.

And the Emmys when Mad Men was going on were very fun.

It was nice to kind of hob-knob

with the other the other cool casts.

And I just remember meeting Tony

and kind of going, looking at him and going up to him,

and just, the words outta my mouth were...

I couldn't say sentences that that felt cohesive.

I didn't embarrass myself too much,

or if I did, it was okay.

Ooh, I have so many.

I make a playlist every month.

There's a lot of Fiona Apple on this one right now.

I've been listening to a lot of Fiona Apple.

Obviously, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray.

All That is just, speaks to me.

The first item I grab in my skincare routine

probably depends on whether or not it's morning or night.

If it's morning, it's not even a product.

It's just a cloth and some water

to sort of wet my face and dry my face,

'cause I don't really do a cleanser in the morning, usually.

And in the evenings

it would be a cleanser.

I have skin that's, that's, that's been through it.

I feel like I go through phases

of wearing a lot of makeup,

especially when I'm filming something.

So my skin's pretty resilient.

It's not, it's not super-sensitive to products.

It's more sensitive to how I'm sleeping

and how I'm treating myself otherwise.

I can always tell when my skin starts to break out

that something has...

Something else needs to be checked.

The first thing that felt like a splurge,

especially a fashion splurge, was when I was 12.

There were these pair of Chanel steel-toed, boots, booties,

and my foot hasn't grown since then,

so I still have them and I still wear them.

The steel toes fell,

like actually kind of started to fall off

after a couple years, maybe five years in.

And then I had to get them kind of re-stuck on,

but they're going strong.

The first time that I felt sincerely proud of myself.

Hmm.

It might have been when I got a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

That felt like something

that I had worked really hard to do,

and the accomplishment felt earned

and like it was something

that I put a lot of literal blood, sweat, and tears into.

But, honestly, these days,

I'm really proud when I'm around my friends,

because I feel like I'm a good friend,

and I'm surrounded by people that are good friends to me.

And I'm proud that I've surrounded myself

with wonderful, loving people and can be a loving person.

I think I'm the wise-mom friend.

I think I kind of...

I like giving advice. I like being a sounding board.

I like being the therapist friend.

Also, I would say,

I also really have liked being the pump-up friend.

I don't think people compliment each other enough.

I don't think friends compliment each other enough.

Because when you're around someone a lot,

you're very used to them being beautiful and funny and smart

and all the things,

but it's really nice to hear it.

And I love, I love complimenting my friends,

and I love hyping people up,

because I think everyone needs to hear it a little more.

[gentle theme music]