Having previously played Stacey in Weather Girl for the multi-award-winning sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, Julia McDermott will reprise her role in the one-person play when it transfers to the Soho Theatre in London, opening on Wednesday 5th March until Saturday 5th April. Weather Girl was written for Julia by her long-time collaborator and partner Brian Watkins, having first met at Juilliard, and Julia has previously performed in Brian’s play Epiphany in Ireland. Answering our questions, we talked to Julia about her upcoming starring role of Stacey in Weather Girl at Soho Theatre, the multi-award-winning sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe last year and working with Brian Watkins.

From Wednesday 5th March, you will be starring as Stacey in Weather Girl at Soho Theatre in London, can you tell us about the show and how would you describe Stacey?

The play is about a California weather reporter who loses her sh*t because of climate change. It’s about a woman facing an unthinkable crisis in the place she loves, a Cassandra with a passion for Prosecco. Cracks start to form in her perfect outer shell and the truth begins to pour out.

Was there anything that drew you to Weather Girl and how was it reading Brian Watkins’ script for the first time?

Brian and I are long-time collaborators and partners, and he wrote Weather Girl for me. I read it for the first time with him at our kitchen table. It was so surreal to read something written for you by someone you love dearly. He sometimes knows me better than I know myself, and so to see that reflected on the page through this wild, and original story, was very emotional for both of us. The play is about the place we love, California, and the things we care about, but is written in our weird humour through this character, Stacey, who I’ve always wanted to play and he had always believed I could play.

How is it getting into character as Stacey and what do you enjoy most about playing her?

Stacey is a wild ride, and I find surrendering to that ride, staying present, and surprising myself every night is when I really feel in her body. I enjoy how vast her journey is, she is seemingly the stereotype of a blonde California weather reporter but her “perfect” facade starts to crack open. Even in her drunkenness, she is the smartest person in the room, noticing every little detail in real time. She’s reckless and flawed but has a deep well of empathy and is desperately trying to figure out how we survive the absurdity of the modern world. I love stepping into her heels every night.

How do you find the experience performing in a one-person play, and how is it telling the Weather Girl story?

Absolutely terrifying! While also being the most rewarding artistic experience of my life. This play is so incredibly personal to me – it was written for me by the person I love, for the people I love, and about the place I love. So I feel an immense amount of responsibility to do it justice. I was born and raised in LA, and I have many family and friends who have lost their homes and been displaced due to the fires. So I feel very honoured to tell this specific story, at this particular time. This is a very funny play, but I don’t take my job lightly. I really want to make my people and my home proud.

Why would you recommend booking tickets to see Weather Girl in London, which is booking until Saturday 5th April at Soho Theatre, and who do you think the show will appeal to?

Weather Girl is a fast and funny runaway train of a play. It is an hour packed with everything from wildfires to tech bros, large amounts of Prosecco, magical mothers, and maybe a little bit of a miracle. I think everyone can relate to the show because at its core it is about trying to survive the absurdity of the modern world that we all live in. Which is impossible and quite entertaining.

What was it like performing the multi-award-winning sell-out run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe last summer and seeing the audience response to the production?

It was a total blast. There is no place in the world like the Edinburgh Fringe. I was blown away by a place that felt so supportive of artists. The collective spirit, everyone cheering each other on, with little money (duct taping sets together, changing costumes in supply closets, malfunctioning haze machines) is something every artist should experience. It gets you back to the pure love of making art from scratch. I had no idea how people would respond to our little strange love letter to California so many miles away, but I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for the play.

What are you looking forward to for taking the show to London next month?

It has always been a dream of mine to perform in London (my 10-year-old self is absolutely losing her mind). I have lots of family and friends in the UK and so many people flying across the pond to see the show, so I’m really looking forward to sharing this experience with my loved ones.

You have previously worked on another of Brian’s plays – Epiphany – in Ireland, can you tell us about this?

It was amazing. Brian and I first met at Juilliard where I workshopped a bunch of his new plays, and Epiphany was one of them. It was my first job out of school so I was pretty nervous, but it was such a great experience. The Druid Theater Company is so impressive. The cast was ridiculously talented and kind and Garry Hynes is a legend. I learned so much from everyone there and I had more Guinness than I’d like to admit.

How did you get into acting and was it something you always wanted to do professionally?

My grandmother would insist my sister and I perform for her every night after dinner starting at the age of four. I tried out a lot of material with her (lots of stand-up routines comprising of only knock-knock jokes and strange interpretive dances to pop songs) but that lead me to taking up singing, then community theatre, then school productions and then eventually studying acting at Juilliard. I always loved telling stories and trying to understand the human experience. I never wanted to do anything else (except be on the U.S. woman’s national soccer team). And my whole family is the best and has been so supportive every step of the way.

What are some of your favourite films, TV and theatre shows to watch?

Well, that is so hard, there are so many to choose from, but my favourites from this past year or so were…

Film: Anora.

TV: I always go back to – Barry, Succession, and Fleabag. Masterpieces.

Theatre: Geoff Sobelle’s FOOD. Incredible. And People, Places and Things, I saw again for the second time this summer, and it blew me away like it did the first time, 8 years ago at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn.

How do you like to spend your time away from acting?

I like to sing and tinker on the guitar, I’ve gotten into watercolours, I occasionally work at a flower shop and make arrangements. But I’d be in the ocean every day if I could, that’s my happy place.