INTERVIEW: Liz Lee

Liz Lee

Liz Lee was a normal “nerdy” teen living in Burleson, Texas until MTV offered her the chance to star in her own reality show! The show, ‘My Life as Liz’ offers viewers a glimpse into Liz’s daily life, filled with mean girls, crushes and friendship drama. Get to know Liz Lee, the spunky, small town girl who’s not afraid to be different and stand up for what she believes in!

Q: How did you get your own reality show on MTV?
A: It started off as [MTV] trying to do a spin-off of “The Paper” and a friend from my broadcast journalism class saw where we could send videos about ourselves to MTV. So we sent them in and MTV actually came down to do a casting and it just sort of changed directions.

Q: What was it like having cameras following you around?
A: The first three weeks, it was kind of awkward and it was hard to act normal with six cameras pointing in your face but after that it became normal, like second nature.

Q: What’s it like to see your daily life being broadcast on national television?
A: Kind of hard at times to see those vulnerable moments, like getting dissed on by Cori [the blond arch nemesis who picks on Liz]… that’s kind of hard and embarrassing. It’s the kind of stuff that you don’t want people to see. But in the end, it’s good because I know that other kids are going through that and I think that’s the most rewarding part of this, that other people see that it’s happening and they don’t have to feel as alone. And they can see that they can get through it. I feel like nerds and outcasts are the silent majority yet the popular kids still reign and there’s no reason for that.

Q: What do you like most about being on ‘My Life as Liz’?
A: The most rewarding part is getting feedback from people. This one girl said that she basically has the same story as me and she was having a hard time dealing with getting picked on by the mean girls and now that she sees someone else was going through that, she doesn’t feel so alone in it. I think that’s really awesome, I can get my story out and maybe help other people that are going through the same thing.

Q: There have been rumors that ‘My Life as Liz’ is scripted. Is this true?
A: There’s no acting… l I really do love Star Wars, I love comic books. I have an amazing bond with Sully and Troy and Miles I love them with every fiber of my being. And… On the other end, I hate Cori with every fiber of my being and it’s been that way for years and years, before the MTV cameras ever even came into my life. Of course certain parts are scripted [i.e. things that are clearly shot in a studio against a screen to illustrate the thoughts in Liz’s head] but everything else is true to life, it really happened. There’s not a script though, we weren’t handed scripts… But there are some parts that are just molded to be in my view.

Q: On ‘My Life as Liz’, you play yourself. Would you ever consider taking on different roles and becoming an actress?
A: I like being behind the camera more than in front of it, which is kind of ironic with how this worked out. It’s actually really fun. I don’t know how I’d be able to deal with trying to act in real life instead of just being followed around and having to adhere to a specific schedule and having to be someone else other than myself. That’s what’s awesome about the show, that I just have to be myself on camera, I don’t have to put any work into it. It’s the most fun job ever. Everybody wants their story told and I’ve got that opportunity.

Q: Were you treated any differently by your classmates after ‘My Life as Liz’ began filming?
A: I can’t say there was a huge difference in the way they acted when the cameras were there.

Q: What made you want to leave the popular crowd in favor of the more “nerdy” kids?
A: (Mean Girl) Cori Cooper. I felt like I found my ‘nerd herd’. I found friends that I could actually be myself around and I had so much more fun with and wasn’t getting backstabbed and that was important to me.

Q: Why can viewers relate to you?
A: I feel like everybody can relate to being an outcast, at least in one area of their life at one time. A lot of people don’t think that I’m an outcast, they think that I’m an actor, but what you see is what you get. That’s really me, I really do like ‘Star Wars’ with every fiber of my being, I really do hang out with the larping kids.