Becca Breitfeller Is Learning to Trust Where Acting Takes Her

By Kyra Greene

There is a particular kind of uncertainty that comes with the beginning of an acting career, when instinct has to arrive long before evidence does. Becca Breitfeller knows that space well. She went to Pace University imagining a future behind the camera, only to discover that being in front of it felt harder to ignore. What followed wasn’t a clean ascent so much as a collection of small confirmations: standing on a set for the first time as an extra on Mr. Robot, taking acting classes, enduring the almosts and near misses, and eventually finding her way into projects including The Summer I Turned Pretty and Pain Hustlers. Now, as Sasha on Chad Powers, Breitfeller is stepping into the kind of role that allows a larger audience to begin learning her name. But she is still learning herself, too. For an actor this early in the journey, that may be the more interesting story — not who Becca Breitfeller has become, but how willing she is to keep finding out.

GREAY: You went to Pace University studying film and communications because you thought your future would be behind the camera. Then during the pandemic, you took an acting class from your parents’ home and realized you wanted to be in front of it. Do you remember the specific moment when acting stopped feeling like something you were trying and started feeling like something you couldn’t imagine not doing?

Becca Breitfeller: There were two very specific moments. One of which I don’t know if I’ve ever actually told to anyone funnily enough. The first moment was so random. I got the opportunity to work as an extra on Mr. Robot while I was living in NYC, and being on that set and simply looking around at what that machine was like, kind of made me stop in my tracks and go “Oh I can’t imagine being in any other environment.” I had never stepped foot on a set before. But there was just a sense of pure magic in the air. The other moment was quiet. I had finished an acting class and really just felt in my gut that this is what I was MEANT to do. So I very boldly marched downstairs to my parents (in tears of course, haha) and told them I wanted to be a professional actor. I was so afraid to say that out loud to them, but their immediate joy and support completely changed my mindset. From that moment on I was like “wait a minute, I can totally do this.”

GREAY: Changing direction is one thing when you’re established; doing it when you’re just beginning means accepting that you don’t really know where it’s going to lead. When you decided to pursue acting seriously, what scared you most about that decision—and what made you trust yourself anyway?

Becca Breitfeller: Everything about pursuing acting scared me. I had no idea how to navigate anything. I had no blue print or guidelines to show me the way. But I think what concerned me the most about doing this was also the thing that made me feel at ease and trust myself the most, oddly enough. I’m from a teeny tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Texas and had conquered my fears and gone to school in New York at 18. So for me, acting was just the next journey in self discovery and being bolder than I had ever been before. I think too, I have to give the biggest shout out to my family here. Never once did my parents or siblings waver in their support for me. Even when all I had under my belt was a background gig and a few actng classes — they made sure I felt secure and supported beyond belief. I don’t think I would’ve kept going to class and auditioning if it wasn’t for their encouragement.

GREAY: Before Sasha, you had smaller opportunities, including The Summer I Turned Pretty and Pain Hustlers. You’ve talked about your experience around Chris Evans and Emily Blunt changing something in the way you saw acting. What did you observe on those sets that you still carry into your work now?

Becca Breitfeller: The BIGGEST thing I have taken from all of those sets and actors is to be kind. I have been beyond lucky to work with some of the kindest and hardworking people and time and time again upon stepping on set, I’ve realized that it’s okay if you flub a line here or there. It’s okay if you don’t hit your mark perfectly the first time. If you work hard and you are always kind (to others and yourself) you’ll be set up for success.

GREAY: You actually auditioned for Chad Powers more than once and for different characters before Sasha came along. Actors are constantly told to audition and then “let it go,” but you’ve admitted Sasha was one you couldn’t quite let go of. What was it about her that made you think, I need this one?

Becca Breitfeller: It’s so funny because I feel so fundamentally different than Sasha. But there was something in my heart that just knew I understood her. She’s so sassy and intense, but I knew underneath all of that she was just a girl in her late teens/early twenties figuring things out. And woof, I have been there. I try really hard to let go of every audition, but with Sasha there was truly just a gut feeling. I was dance captain of my high school team by my senior year, and at the time it felt like the BIGGEST deal on earth. I see now that it obviously wasn’t, haha. But for a girl in Texas (much like Sasha in Georgia) it was everything. I think I really just related to that part of her and found it hard to let it go.

GREAY: Sasha could have existed simply as the stereotypical mean head cheerleader. Instead, she’s loud, unpredictable, funny and completely comfortable creating chaos. What did you understand about her that wasn’t necessarily written on the page?

Becca Breitfeller: Her confidence was honestly something I immediately admired. She’s never afraid to say the wrong thing because she doesn’t even think it’s ‘wrong’. To her, her chaotic statements are simply how she feels. I’m far more introverted and careful with my words, but for some reason I could immediately see in the script how brazen she was. That quickly helped me lean into who she was as a person, beyond just the cheerleader of it all.

GREAY: You’ve said that even when you’re playing someone audiences may not like, you have to find what makes that person human. So what is the humanity you see in Sasha that the audience might miss underneath all that chaos?

Becca Breitfeller: It’s no secret that Sasha is longing to be the popular “it” girl. She’s an agent of chaos, as I like to call her, but I think beyond that, she wants to belong. She wants Chad to think she’s cool. She wants everyone to listen to her. I think she’s just like SO many of us at that age who just want to feel like they belong and are important. I think that’s why she likes to take life by the reigns so often.

GREAY: Sasha appeared in three episodes during the first season, and now you’ve returned as the series has moved into Season 2. What did it mean to learn they wanted Sasha back—and did returning give you a different sense of ownership over who she is?

Becca Breitfeller: Oh my gosh I just felt like the luckiest person on earth when I heard they wanted to see more of Sasha. This cast and crew are so phenomenal I could honestly write a novel on them all. And the fact that they trusted me to bring her back for more, meant more than I could ever express. Getting another season with her definitely let me drop into her vibe and personality more. The AMAZING hair and makeup team (my angels Nicole Amos, Zoey Belton, and Antoinette Black) really made me feel like I had more ownership of Sasha’s beauty decisions. Small things like what color lip she’d like. Or if she’d like her hair up or down for a certain moment. It sounds small, but those decisions made me feel so much more in charge of her direction. And of course our showrunner extraordinaire Michael Waldron. He gave me so much freedom with Sasha this season. He was always so game to try new things with her and try to elevate her anarchist vibe haha.

GREAY: Glen Powell is not only your scene partner and the star of Chad Powers, he’s one of the people who created the series. When you’re working opposite someone who can think simultaneously as actor, producer and storyteller, what have you learned from watching how he approaches a scene?

Becca Breitfeller: Once again, I could probably write a novel about how much I’ve learned from watching and acting with Glen. But my biggest takeaway is how present he is for every single scene. He’s wearing so many hats, like you said. You’d think it would be easy for his mind to race or be elsewhere. But he is ON IT. He is so present with you as an actor and just a creative in general. He wants to make each scene fantastic and larger than life. He’s just so unafraid to push boundaries, ask you questions, ask himself questions, etc. It’s genuinely an honor and a joy to watch him work.

GREAY: Chad Powers is absurd on the surface—a disgraced quarterback literally creates another identity to get back onto a football field—but underneath that comedy is someone desperately trying to get another chance. As a young actor building your own career, does the show’s larger idea about reinvention and second chances resonate with you differently than it did when you first got the job?

Becca Breitfeller: Absolutely. When I first got the job I was just beyond excited and nervous. Now that I’ve had the opportunity and gift of time to sit with it all more, I can see just how insanely important this story is. It’s so much more than football. It really speaks volumes to the idea of second chances and what it really means to forgive people, but more importantly to forgive yourself. For me, my journey as an actor has been all about learning from and forgiving myself for the mistakes along the way. It’s the ONLY way you learn! I think the same is true for Chad. And Glen does the most brilliant job of bringing that layer to all of us for season 2.

GREAY: Acting careers are strange because audiences often see the breakthrough without seeing everything immediately before it—the auditions you didn’t book, the uncertainty, the jobs that almost happened. What has been the hardest stretch of your career so far, and what did you learn about yourself while nobody was watching?

Becca Breitfeller: Man oh man. The in-betweens are tough. I’d say the stretch right before and after Chad season 1. Booking that job is such an incredible high, obviously. The stretches both before and after for me were filled with so many almosts, pins, avails, etc. and those moments were both incredibly validating and frustrating. I think the beautiful thing about this career is I’m still learning so much about myself currently. Certainly in that stretch of time, I learned to lean in to the hurt and how to truly understand the idea that “rejection is redirection”. All of those moments where I got so close, I think were protection in some round about way. But every single day, still, I’m learning who I am in those quiet times. What it means to work hard without any instant gratification. What it looks like to be so close, but just not be the right fit. I’m still becoming who I’m supposed to be, but this career has given me the opportunity and joy of getting to figure that out each day with an open heart.

GREAY: You’re entering the industry at a time when young actors are increasingly expected to be actors, personalities and content creators all at once. How much of yourself are you comfortable giving the public, and what have you decided belongs only to Becca?

Becca Breitfeller: I love this question. I think it’s ultimately about trusting my gut as I go. Some days I feel like posting my entire day. Then I like to go radio silent. I’ve tried to just adopt the mindset of “private, but not secret”. I really love opening up and being connected to people. But I feel super confident in guarding the things that are meant just for me.

GREAY: Sasha may be the character introducing you to the largest audience you’ve had so far, but eventually every actor has to show audiences that the role that got them noticed isn’t the boundary of what they can do. What haven’t we seen from Becca Breitfeller yet?

Becca Breitfeller: I feel like I have so many unexplored facets of my personality and career to explore, and I’m so beyond excited to share that with people. When people ask me why I act, I often say “I just want to make people feel something.” I know it might sound incredibly rudimentary, but I mean it with my entire being. Even the fact that Sasha plays a small part in making people feel frustrated or annoyed within this story of Chad this season — it makes me ecstatic.

I want to continue to explore the sides of me that even I haven’t quite discovered. And I hope I can continue to make people feel their feelings. Joy, anger, confusion, terror, connection, bliss, etc. I want to investigate each new feeling, and i can only hope I get to be so lucky as to bring that to life for people. That’s what all of my favorite actors and creatives have done for me. I guess I just want to pay it forward in a way.

For Breitfeller, the ambition isn’t simply to be seen more; it’s to discover how much more there is for her to show. Sasha may be introducing her to a wider audience, but Breitfeller doesn’t speak about the character as a destination. She talks instead about unexplored parts of herself, about wanting to make people feel something, and about a career that might give her permission to keep investigating who she can become. There is something fitting about that for an actor whose path began with changing her mind about where she belonged. The certainty isn’t in knowing exactly where the journey leads. It’s in trusting the instinct that told her to begin — and continuing to follow it now that people are starting to watch.

Photography Kathlyn Almeida @photobykathlyn

Grooming Jessica Ladrow @jessicaladrow