It seems so long ago that Tavi was the 12-year-old wunderkind whose fashion blog put her on the radar of everyone from Anna Wintour to Karl Lagerfeld. Now, at the comparatively ancient age of 20, Tavi Gevinson is not only the editor-in-chief of Rookie (a whip-smart feminist website for teens) but is also on her way to becoming a Broadway veteran. After well-received turns in Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth and The Crucible, Gevinson is taking on the role of the young Anya in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of The Cherry Orchard, which begins previews on September 15. But if the rising star from Oak Park, Illinois, is nervous about tackling the Chekhov classic, she’s not showing it. “I think, in a way, the play offers a freedom because if there’s any right way to do it, it’s probably been done already, so this should just be our version,” she says. Is she as low-key about her life in the Big Apple? Read on. . . .
Were you excited to work with Diane Lane, who plays your mother in The Cherry Orchard? She is such an amazing actress, who I obviously have admired for so long. And just as a person to work with, she’s so caring and enthusiastic and has such bright energy. She’s like my mom, so it makes sense; she’s very maternal. I’m really excited to be sharing the stage with her.
Did you rehearse with the full set? We’re in a bare studio, but we move into the theater in about a week and a half. We had a press day when I caught a glimpse of the stage, but the set hadn’t been built yet.
As an actor, is it easier when you have the fully designed world around you? You discover so much in the rehearsal room when it’s just about the person-to-person interaction. But what stands out to me about my favorite movies and plays is usually a visual thing. I connect so much to the costumes and the set and the lighting, and when that fills out the world, it becomes more real to me.
Is it very different in that sense from film work? Yeah, I’ve only done really naturalistic film stuff [she notably appeared in Enough Said with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini], but being on a stage is like being in a diorama, or a dollhouse, and that’s part of what is so precious about it to me. I really treasure that aspect of it. I feel like I’m in a void when I’m just on a random location for a film or something.
Have you gotten a good grip on what the production is going to look like? Yes. We have seen little models of the set for each act. I’m sure you can imagine. I was like, ‘Ah, miniatures.’
How would you describe the world that you’re going to inhabit? I don’t want to give anything away, but I just did a production of The Crucible that was not period. This production is similarly kind of free of any details that are so historically accurate that an audience member might find it hard to connect with the characters. I am excited by what you can discover if you take those elements away.
What has your living experience been like in New York so far? I currently live in a one-bedroom in the West Village. I have a lot of stuff, and it’s also very tiny, but I’m very small and I don’t need a lot of space. If you can imagine Grey Gardens, compacted into a very small apartment, that is me.
Decor is probably very important to you . . . I spend so much time at home that it’s really important to me that my home is a constant source of comfort and creativity. I have all my books and my records and my clothes. Everything has individual meaning for me. I’m a big creature of comfort in that way.
Where do you shop for home decor? In terms of furniture, I’ve been really basic—IKEA, Crate and Barrel. But I have a somewhat elaborate record-playing system. I have vintage Klipsch speakers. And I have this custom little table made on Etsy for the turntable and the amp. I also have an old library card catalog that I got on Etsy that I use as a side table.
Speaking of music, what was the last thing that was playing in your home? Oh, the last thing I had on was Prince’s Love Sexy. I think I’m having a real moment with that album right now.
What do you always keep on your bedside table? Let me go look. I guess I don’t really have one. I just have a stack of shoeboxes, with a book, my glasses . . . nothing terribly special.
What are you reading right now? I’m reading The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North. It’s a very good novel. I hop back and forth between fiction and nonfiction. It kind of depends on what my brain needs that day.
Most nights you eat dinner . . . I’m such a helpless child. I am very bad at cooking. I’ll usually eat out and then make my leftovers last an extra night.
Any favorite places since you’ve become a New Yorker? I really like Russ & Daughters Cafe. I feel very at home there—probably my Jewish upbringing and all of that.
As this is the first time you’re really living alone, did anything come as a surprise? The thing that took me by surprise the most was that when I lived in a house in a suburb, there were so many voids where you could just keep s—. Things could just go in the basement or the garage, and now if I have something, I’ll probably see it every day, two feet from my bed. So one thing that I’ve adjusted to is just trying to be less of a hoarder. But I like living alone. I function very easily this way, and being in New York, it’s so easy to see my friends or go and be around people. If I need that, it’s there.
Architecturally, do you have a favorite building or neighborhood of New York that just appeals to you? I love living in the West Village. I love the thin house that Edna St. Vincent Millay lived in at 75 1/2 Bedford Street. I tend toward very stereotypical New York–looking neighborhoods.
So you’re an old-house person versus a new-house person? Yes, although I’ve lived in a loft. I lived in a newer apartment on the Lower East Side when I first moved here, and I loved the neighborhood. So that was nice, too. Living here is so hard, but I don’t care—I can make a home anywhere. Oh, one thing I just remembered, too, about my apartment is that there are these tiles that someone put on the mantel, and they're so beautiful. Even though you could just do that on your own if you wanted to, they made me especially drawn to this apartment. And my bathroom tiles are pink.
If you could own any famous work of art, what would it be? Probably a Joseph Cornell box. He’s one of my favorites, and when I lived in Chicago, they had so many of his boxes at the Art Institute, and, like I said, I have an inclination toward miniatures or keeping a box for each play I’ve been in. A Joseph Cornell box would be very meaningful to me.
Do you any have favorite props you’ve saved from your movies or plays? I got to keep my costumes from the two shows I did before this one, and I have my name and my character’s name from the marquee, which I keep in my bookcase. I have all the little friendship bracelets and jewelry that I wore in This Is Our Youth. I’m a big hoarder, or maybe I should say archivist. I have a box for my This Is Our Youth stuff, a box for my Crucible stuff, and I’ll probably have a box for The Cherry Orchard stuff.
