Starring in The Copenhagen Test, Melissa transcends into a dystopian universe as Michelle – where she is both an ally and adversary – a stark contrast to her true self.
From telenovelas in her early days to scream queen roles as an adult, Melissa Barrera has shone across a variety of imagined worlds. BUST had the opportunity to sit down with Melissa and discuss her new show, how telenovelas coached her for cinema, and what gives her hope.
BUST: You have had such a long and amazing career, so first I wanted to ask, what new things you might have learned from The Copenhagen Test? What kind of new experiences as an actor or artist have you gained?
Melissa: Well, a lot actually. This was a very different job for me. I think it’s the first time on a show or a movie where I’m actually really excited to see the finished product, because I’m going to be very surprised. My storyline is so confined to one lane of the show, so everything else I have no idea what’s going on! There were a lot of amazing actors on the show that I never got to work with, so I’m just very excited to see the whole world of the show. So that was different and exciting. In a lot of the shows that I’m on, I’m used to knowing everything and having shot everything, so you kind of know what it’s going to look like in the end. This is very exciting to me because I get to watch it as an audience member.
BUST: That’s fascinating, I didn’t know that. I’m going through The Copenhagen Test, two episodes in, and I’m eager to see also how the different threads interweave or how they relate to one another. That’s so cool that you were also kind of in the dark about it. I wanted to ask about your dynamic with Simu [Liu]. How you two interplay is really cool. How is it working with him?
Melissa: It was great. He’s so fun and he’s so professional. I think probably like 90% of my stuff is with him. So we had a really intense bonding. We hung out a lot on our off-time because a big part of the show is this relationship between Alexander and Michelle and the mystery that surrounds it and what’s real and what isn’t between them. So we had a lot of fun playing it. And I had a lot of fun playing Michelle because she’s such a mystery. Every episode, you kind of learn something new about her that kind of rocks you. And it was the same for me when I kept getting the newer scripts. I’d be like, “Oh, well, everything that I had thought that I was constructing of the character is out the window”, and I had to start over. And that was a very new kind of experience for me as an actor, where you’re playing a character that has so many holes in their story, in their past, and you try to fill them in so that you have a character that feels very alive when you’re there. The writers just kept changing it on me every episode, so it was fun. It kept me on my toes.
BUST: Wow, what a cool challenge, too, to have new layers of your character revealed to you in the process of playing her.
Melissa: Because when I signed on to the project, I had read two episodes and that was it. So I didn’t know where it was going to go. Every time that we would get a new script, I’d be so excited just to see what they were going to write for me. It was cool.
BUST: Super fun. Well, I’m glad it was so much fun to work on. It’s been enjoyable to watch. It also has quite an atmosphere. Like, you guys are very good at creating a mood. And I wanted to ask how, as a cast and as a crew, as a team, how do you cultivate that kind of tense or intense energy?
Melissa: I think that’s all in the writing and the directing, honestly. I think our job, or what I think is always our job as actors, is to create a history with the characters so that when we get to set, we’re comfortable with each other and we get to play and have fun. The show is so well-written, and we knew that we had a well-written show, which is so nice as an actor, when you know the scripts are good and you can kind of relax. We as a cast had a lot of nights together. We were together at Simu’s and we would play games, and that really helped us to become this family. I think because the world is so big and there’s so many storylines, it kind of helped us all to be in the same tone, and that in itself helps the show feel cohesive; and like you said, have a certain energy about it.
BUST: Yeah, it definitely sounds like bonding is pretty important in any project, but especially one where you’re otherwise not all connecting. It helps create an emotional throughline.
From working on this, do you have any political thriller wisdom or insights for these times? It seems pretty relevant today – the mind control, the surveillance. As I was watching, I was definitely thinking this show is pretty topical. Do you feel like it gave you any new insights about the world we live in or about storytelling about the current state of the world?
Melissa: Yeah, I think I’ve found that everything that we see on TV and in movies needs to come from somewhere. The ideas don’t just appear. I believe that there’s a cloud of information that we as humans can draw from. And so as we’re working on this show, I’m thinking, this is probably already happening. We’ve already started learning about the Tesla chips or the Elon Musk chips that he’s wanting to implant in people’s brains, and I think he already did. So we’re not that far off from that, and I wouldn’t be surprised if governments somewhere in the world are already implementing this sort of surveillance.
BUST: Yeah, and depending on who you ask, it’s either a very real fear, or, on the flip side, there are some who probably think of it very optimistically. They think it’s a great technology, but either way, there is an omniscience now that we are coexisting with, at least in America. But that’s pretty good for political thriller fodder as well.
Melissa: Yeah, I think audiences are getting more and more masochistic in that way, in that we love watching very dystopian things on TV that are so close to our reality. Somehow watching it on TV kind of creates this barrier, or safety, that makes us feel like it’s only fiction, even though it’s right around the corner. So, I don’t know, I myself do personally think it’s terrifying. It amazes me, the capabilities that humans have to advance technology and the things that we’re able to do. But I also think, like, “Why?” I just think it can become very dangerous for all of us.
BUST: I think a lot of people would agree with you on that. And I think there have been many storytellers, many science fiction movies that have warned us what could go wrong. And then a lot of developers are like, “Well, yeah, why not?” So, who knows, but hopefully we emerge from it a wiser species.
Melissa: Listen, from your mouth… Sometimes I feel like, oh, human beings, we literally are our worst enemy. We just want to destroy ourselves and destroy the world. And other times I get so hopeful. I see the beauty in the people that are putting themselves out there for humanity, that are willing to put their bodies on the line for the well-being of a community. And I just think that that’s beautiful. So I think that there’s more good people than bad people. That’s what I choose to believe.
BUST: Totally. That was actually one of my next questions: what is making you hopeful in these times?
Melissa: I’m more and more aware of people fighting for community, of people waking up to the reality of our situation and understanding that if we don’t do something about it, if we don’t do something to take back the power of the people, then we’re cooked, you know? So I’m seeing the awakening happening all over the world and that gives me a lot of hope. Also, students give me a lot of hope. I see students leading movements, and I think that that’s beautiful. I mean, it’s always been like that, right? It’s always been students, but I see it so, so, so clearly, especially right now with everything that’s going on in the world. It makes me so proud of the younger generations that get so much shit you know. And I just think they’re so brave. They understand that they’ve been given the short end of the stick and they have nothing to lose. So they’re really fighting for our world. And I think that’s really beautiful. That gives me a lot of hope.
BUST: Wonderful. Yeah, there are true inspirers and it is a beautiful time for humanity as much as it is a difficult one. And yeah, bless the students of the world. They’re often leading the way and are the most vocal about the pain of humanity and the struggles that we share globally.
Can I ask, because I know in the past you’ve perhaps gotten some criticism of your own for speaking truth, what have been either the silver linings or the positives that have come from that, or from stepping forward and speaking up?
Melissa: I think it’s always important to speak truth to power, even if it’s hard, even if it has consequences. And, you know, it’s always the first few that speak up that get the brunt of it, but then it kind of opens the door for more people to speak up and it creates a wave. I think I always knew, even though it was hard, that eventually the world was going to come around and it was just a matter of time. And fortunately, I had a lot of people on my side that were reminding me of that in the darkest moment. And, you know, it’s true. Eventually, truth always wins, you know? Truth always finds its way out. I was very at peace with my position, and I was very clear, and I feel very proud of that. I feel very proud that I was able to speak my mind. No matter what, I feel like I did the right thing.
BUST: Hell yeah. Getting back to the show, I was reading a bit about your own filmography and you started with telenovelas. How would you say you carry those early experiences with you now as an actor?
Melissa: I mean, honestly, telenovelas are the actor’s bootcamp. It is the absolute best thing that I could have ever done as my first experience on TV because the days are long, the hours are long, and the amount of effective minutes that you’re shooting is insane. And you just kind of have to work through it, and everything else after that feels so easy.
I’m so grateful that that was my first experience. If it had been the other way around, I might have not survived the telenovela rhythm. That was the first thing that I knew, then when I moved to LA and I was shooting on Vida, the days just felt so easy and so short and they were like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna have to change your call instead of getting 12 hours, you’re gonna get 11,’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding? That’s great. 11 hours of turnaround? Cool’. So it was a huge trampoline for me, doing telenovelas. I was working with some of the most iconic telenovela actors in Mexico, learning from them and seeing how they knew where the cameras were, how they were always aware of the light, and, all of these tricks that are very useful just to know as an actor, to be very aware of where everything is so that you can actually give the best performance and make sure that the camera is capturing it in the way that you want it. Little cheat codes I felt like I learned doing telenovelas that still serve me to this day. Also, my memorization skills are insane because of the amount of scenes that I had to memorize. I don’t ever struggle to learn lines. I credit telenovelas for that.
BUST: Do you ever imagine going back to any of those shows? Would you ever try to collaborate again with any of the people from your early days, if you could?
Melissa: Yeah, there’s a lot of people that I loved working with. I feel like I am of the mind of never say never, and all work is dignified work. So yeah, if the right thing comes along with the right collaborators, yeah, for sure, why not?
BUST: What do you hope viewers get out of The Copenhagen Test? What do you hope people take away after they watch it?
Melissa: I hope they have fun watching it. I think it’s a very fun show. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s the kind of show that you really have to pay attention to, because there’s so much going on. And I love those kinds of shows. So I hope that audiences feel intrigued by it. I hope audiences can’t wait to watch the next episode and talk about it. I think it’s very watchable. I think it’s also got a wide appeal. It doesn’t discriminate. People that like elevated shows and thrillers and spy shows are gonna love it. But I think there’s also a little bit of like Truman Show melodrama in there that I think is very appealing for another audience. So I just hope that we have a wide reach and that people enjoy it and tune in.
BUST: Having worked also on scary movies, how do you convey the feeling of being within a scary world?
Melissa: That’s the kind of material that I usually gravitate towards. Those very moody worlds, moody characters. There’s some mystery to them. There’s a dark past. I kind of drop right into that, and I trust that everyone else is going to be doing their job and creating the environment to convey that to an audience. But again, great writers created this world, and knew exactly the kind of show that they wanted to make because it’s very specific. I love spy shows. I grew up watching Alias. I was obsessed with Jennifer Garner and I’ve always kind of loved the spy world. But this feels like it has a twist to it. There’s something different that we haven’t seen before, and that makes it exciting. It’s exciting for me to be a part of it.
BUST: Does mystery play a role just in your daily life or in your world? Or is it just in the cinema and screen world?
Melissa: Just in screen world. I’m literally the most predictable person ever. I have a routine. I do the same things every day. I practically eat the same things every day. I’m not unpredictable at all.
BUST: What is romantic to you these days?
Melissa: Oh God, I’m a sucker for romance. I love romance. It’s my favorite thing. I can find everything romantic. If my husband gets up to brush my dog’s teeth before I do, I find that so romantic. He’s being thoughtful. He cooks for me. He sends me a good morning text when we’re apart. So yeah, it’s the little things, I think, that I find very romantic.
Top Image Courtesy of Sarah Krick
