Mia Rodgers On Joining HBO’s Hit Comedy, The Sex Lives Of College Girls

When Reneè Rap decided to leave HBO’s hit comedy, The Sex Lives of College Girls, after two seasons, fans were devastated. But never fear: there’s a new blonde on the block. And best of all, she’s British. We sat down with newcomer Mia Rodgers for the inside scoop on season 3, coming soon to UK screens.

Interview: Mia Rogers

Photographer: By Pip
Stylist: Aimee Croysdill
Hair: Sophie Sugarman
Makeup: Sara Hill

Hi Mia, how’s life going at the moment?

It’s hard putting your dreams coming true into words, so I’d say life right now is pretty good.

You are about to appear in the new series of HBO’s Sex Lives of College Girls – can you give us an elevator pitch for the show?

Sun. Sex. Suspicious parents. Think Girls meets Sex Education but college edition. You learn about love and friendship and navigating the world around you whilst having a laugh and making mistakes.

You play new student Taylor – how would you describe her?

Taylor is a strong minded, opinionated, overly sarcastic lover girl. She has a harsh exterior but once you break down those walls reveals a fiercely loyal and empathetic person.

What can we expect from season 3?

A beautiful rollercoaster.

What was it like playing Taylor?

It was a lot of fun. Whilst we share some similarities, we are also very different. She’s a lot more abrasive than me so getting to tap into a darker side of myself was exciting. Taylor being unapologetically herself was inspiring. I view myself to be a pretty confident person, but Taylor is on a different playing field. She doesn’t adapt who she is based on her surrounding or people she’s with. So, as Mia, having just moved to a new country and finding my feet with my new life, having that influence couldn’t have been more useful. Taylor helped me grow.

How did you get into character?

I tried to gather as much information from the scripts about her as I could and base who she was on that rather than write her story myself. Things she said, opinions given by others, discreet facts that most may not notice – things like that. I wanted to understand Taylor through her eyes and those surrounding her rather than create my own narrative as the actor playing her. I think it’s important to stay true to her story rather than push my influences on her. So, I created a folder of Taylor.

Ruby Cruz & Mia Rodgers in The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3. (HBO)

Did you do anything special to prepare for the role?

I created several playlists for her depending on what mood she was in that day, ranging from when she needed to blow off steam or when she was in a more vulnerable mood. I had a general one that I would listen to the most when she’s just doing her day to day. Lots of Pixies, The Aces, Sarah Kingsley, Wet Leg and Wolf Alice.

Were you a fan of the series before you auditioned?

I was but from afar! I initially wanted to watch the show when it first came out in 2021, but to my sadness it wasn’t available in the UK yet. So I had to settle for online clips. I remember it really circling around social media last year and thinking ‘God, that’s so annoying, I can’t watch it here’. I stupidly didn’t think to look it up again until I got the audition through. My thinking was ‘OK, they want a Brit, surely, there’s going to be a platform on which we can watch it.’ Low and behold there was, on ITV. I binged about four episodes before my first audition and then watched the remainder after. I loved it.

How did it feel when you got the role?

Completely and utterly perplexed and elated. Lots of tears because I couldn’t process it properly. I had waited for an opportunity like this and for someone to say yes for six years. Every thought of doubt and every set back or no I had received came and went in a split second because I was finally where I was meant to be. It was a moment of pure joy. I still can’t get over it.

Any standout moments from rehearsals or filming?

It’s a bit of a cop out, but truly every day on set was stand out. We were shooting at the Warner Brothers lot in Los Angeles – how could it not be? You feel the history as you walk through, as well as feeling the ghosts. If I had to put my finger on one however, I truly enjoyed the episode of parents’ week. For the majority of that episode, we were sat round a table, just having a laugh. It was my first scene with almost all of the cast, old and new and I loved the energy in the room. I felt part of the family!

What was the cast dynamic on set? 

Like I said, family. You are with these people 16 hours a day for five months so you get to know each other pretty quickly and deeply. The girls truly took Gracie [Lawrence, who plays Kacey] and I in from the get go and I’m very grateful for that. No question was stupid, no idea was wrong and I was with people that had been in my exact position before and that’s incredibly rare. I really relied on them and came out gaining some amazing friendships.

Who was your favourite person to work with?

Impossible to say. I cherish all the relationships I built on set, whether that be in the cast or in the crew. But I fell in love with each of them for different reasons. Amrit [Kaur, who plays Bela] really helped guide me through my first scenes and we were constantly singing. And Pauline [Chalamet, who plays Kimberly], my Parisian confidant, gave me constant advice. I had the biggest giggles in our trailers with Alyah [Chanelle Scott, who plays Whitney] and bonded with immediately, texting before we even met and freaking out about LA and what on earth we were doing there.

Amrit Kaur & Mia Rodgers in The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3. (HBO)

You just graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. How would you describe your experience there compared to Taylor at Essex College?

A lot more jazz hands and much less partying. I didn’t have a typical ‘college’ or ‘university’ experience like many of my friends did, or the girls on the show. Drama school for me was about growing as an actor and falling back in love with the craft after some time away. I was older and still in London where I grew up, but Taylor is in a new bloody continent! She’s much younger and worlds away from home while experiencing a new side of life and finding herself through that. We both had a lot of fun though that is for sure. I definitely didn’t have to share a room or go to any frat parties in the UK.

You’ve also starred in the likes of Defending the Guilty and Trauma. What has been your favourite project to date?

Trauma has a place in my heart because it was the first job I ever booked. I remember being astounded at the fact I was going to be in a TV show for the BBC. I also met some lovely young actors on that shoot who I am still in touch with today and it’s amazing to see our evolution. It was a pretty cool introduction to the industry.

Any roles in the pipeline that you’re excited about? (If you’re allowed to tell us!)

Now that would be telling! Right now, I’m just focusing on my present which is the release of The Sex Lives of College Girls and all that is coming with that. Hopefully there will be more exciting opportunities to come in 2025. Keep all your fingers and toes crossed for me.

Who has been your favourite actor to work with in the past?

When I was shooting Trauma, Adrian Lester and John Simms were the two front men of the show and I was an extreme fangirl inside whenever we were in a room together. I watched Adrian in Hustle with my dad for years, and then you’re telling me I was in a room with Mickey stone? As if. John Simms and I were sat in a freezing cold church, he was practicing his lines for a big speech he had to give and I very sheepishly offered to help him. It’s such a simple thing and something he definitely wouldn’t have the faintest memory of but it’s one I hold so dearly.

Which co-star did you learn the most from?

I learnt a lot from all the girls but I have to say Amrit really helped me. She was my introduction to the show and who most of my initial scenes were with. She really listens and cares about those she is in a scene with and I think she could sense how I was feeling even before I could. She was constantly offering help and words of encouragement and taught me that it is okay to play, to have an open dialogue, to share your frustrations but also to feel good in your choices. I didn’t have a great grasp of ‘set life’ and watching her move about it influenced me to learn what works best for me and my character in that environment.

What’s your dream role?

I always get a bit scared stating my dream roles and it’s silly really because the more you shout about it the more somebody could actually hear you! I would love to play Pattie Boyd in the new Beatles biopic – quite literally would jump at the chance. The Beatles have been a huge influence on me since I can remember and Pattie has always been an inspiration – creatively and style wise.

What’s a genre you’d like to try?

Well, off the back of The Beatles, a period piece would be amazing. I’m hugely influenced by the ’60s and ’70s, so getting the opportunity to walk a day in that world would be brilliant. Saying that, also a more so traditional period piece – Regency era England or something to that effect.

Who is an actor, writer or director you’d love to work with?

Paapa Essiedu. I saw him in a play at The National called The Effect last year and I was so unbelievably impressed by his performance. I still think about it often. I would adore to work with and learn from him.

Photographer: By Pip
Stylist: Aimee Croysdill
Hair: Sophie Sugarman
Makeup: Sara Hill

Do you get to spend much time at home?

As much as I can. Most of this year I have been Stateside which of course was amazing but it was my first time leaving home so took some getting used to. I am very close with my family and they mean the world to me but I did love running away for a bit and being my own person. It was great to unlock parts of myself I hadn’t discovered before. I think once you go it alone, you really come into who you are.

Do you live in the town or the country? Which do you prefer?

I am a Londoner born and bred. It is the biggest privilege ever to be from one of the greatest cities in the world – I won the lottery there. There’s a certain buzz that runs through London’s veins. I couldn’t see myself living anywhere else though perhaps a stint in New York at some point. Don’t get me wrong, I love an escape and to go and touch some grass, but the city has my heart. It would be extremely off brand to say the country. Let’s see if that changes… I could eat my words.

What’s your interior design style?

More, more, more. Give me a fur rug, velvet couch, with art on every wall any day. I need colour and life and warmth in my surroundings. I can’t stand houses that feel like a hotel. (However, hotel sheets do win every time).

How do you find balance in your personal and work lives?

Work and personal life can either go hand in hand or have moments of contention. It’s just part of growing up and (luckily) being busy. I think the answer, for me, is coming to understand what means the most. Learning my own boundaries and how I want to spend my time has become more clear. Overall, my priorities right now are my friends and family, my work and my mental health. There are times where one may take precedent over the other, but I am incredibly lucky to have amazing people around me who truly understand and boost me up. I love working and understand that, when that is taking hold, I can’t socialise as much as I burn out. I am quite an extraverted person, but with that I need times of solitude to recharge. So it’s all been a learning curve and I am still figuring out what it means to have balance.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Oh, I have had many phases. When I was extremely young, I wanted to be a teacher and  I would come home from school and make my mum play school with me doing different voices saying ‘Here Miss’ as I read out the register. Bless her. I then dove headfirst into singing and trained classically for the majority of my adolescence. That being said, I was always between going down the performance route or becoming a fashion designer. For a long time, I thought I could have a bit of a hybrid career and sing my clothes down the runway.

If you could give advice to your 15-year-old self, what would it be?

I was a completely different person when I was 15. I was quite toxically happy as a way to protect myself from some girls at school who were not the nicest. It was a defence mechanism. Upon reflection, I would want her to know it’s OK to talk about your emotions and truly feel them. It doesn’t leave you exposed in the way you think it does, instead it allows for you to grow and take hold of who you are.

How can we all live a little bit better?

Get more sleep! Sleep is the cure to everything! Do not neglect your 40 winks!

Anything fun in the pipeline – professionally or personally?

I have just been in New York for press and I think we have some more coming up in the New Year. I love reuniting with the girls and run round town together. It is the perfect combination of professional and personal fun. It is crazy that I get to do these types of things and call it work.

Photographer: By Pip
Stylist: Aimee Croysdill
Hair: Sophie Sugarman
Makeup: Sara Hill

Mia Rodgers Recommends…

I’m currently watching… Industry on HBO/BBC

What I’m reading… Want by Gillian Anderson

The last thing I watched (and loved) was… Kneecap!

What I’m most looking forward to seeing… Babygirl

Favourite film of all time… City of God or Thelma & Louise

Favourite song of all time… Any song Paolo Nutini makes

Band/singer I always have on repeat… Fontaines DC

My ultimate cultural recommendation… The Almeida Theatre 

Cultural guilty pleasure… Popcorn mixed with chocolate at the cinema.

WATCH

Mia Rodgers stars in The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3, coming to UK screens for in 2025. Catch up with the first two seasons on ITVX.

In the US, The Sex Lives of College Girls season 3 kicked off on 21 November 2024, and will wrap up with the finale on 2 January 2025.