Betti of ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’: Why Talent Is The Expected Norm And Finding Who You Are Outside Of It Matters Most

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Betti.

Betti (Charles Platt) is an actor and director who was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised primarily in the San Franciso Bay Area. He currently resides in both Boston and Los Angeles. This fall, he will be co-starring on The Sex Lives on College Girls (HBO Max) portraying the best confidant to the girls. . Betti’s drag debut was in June 2020, and she continues to perform in Boston, with shows booked for November and December.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

How much time do you have? Growing up I moved quite a bit. The short answer is that I was born in Boston and mostly raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. The long answer is that I was born in Boston, moved to Colorado, then back to Massachusetts, then to Singapore, then to the Bay Area in CA, then ton Austin TX, back to the Bay Area, then we moved from a suburb to the city of San Francisco itself. I moved to Los Angeles for college, then to NYC, then to Boston during the pandemic and now I go back and forth coast to coast. If you kept up with that, I think it's safe to say that I didn’t have a very “normal” childhood. I’m incredibly grateful to my parents however, through all of that moving they always provided support for anything I was passionate about no matter what it was. When I was in my barbie phase I had all types of barbies; Pokemon (not a phase I actually grew out of) we had all types of cards. I’m very fortunate to always have my family in my corner.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I wish I had a grandiose story about ending up in acting, but the answer is quite simple: people told me I was good at it. When you are a young, obnoxiously, homosexual child adults around you might steer you towards the arts. I really craved (and still crave) validation as a kid. Nothing brought me more joy than being told I was “good” at something whether that was spelling, geography, speeches, or acting. That type of validation is addictive when you are a young child trying to hide certain aspects of yourself from the world.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

Okay so I, like many musical theatre actors, did a non-union tour. I will not name the show although I will say that Gavin Leatherwood has also done this non-union tour. On this tour I sprained my ankle tripping over a set-piece on one of the stages where we couldn’t use the full set; so we had to adjust our choreo day of. Unfortunately, this happened 6 days before my grandmother was going to see the show. My grandma drove I believe 9 hours to see the show and had booked herself a hotel room. The night we were in the town my grandma drove up to; I begged my stage manager to let me go on even with my sprained ankle. Initially, my stage manager refused but then I came up with a complete fabrication about how my grandma was 92 and we didn’t know how much time she had left, and that my aunt had driven her all the way to see me onstage. It was a total lie but my stage manager bought it and let me perform. Afterward, my grandma drove me to dinner herself.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake I made was actually auditioning for The Sex Lives of College Girls. I received an email from my agent about an audition for an upcoming HBO Max show. I believe the first line of the email was from casting and said something along the lines of “still awaiting audition sides you will receive them in the next 24–48 hours. I got this email on a Monday and the deadline was Saturday, so I didn’t think anything of it and closed the email to await the sides. Saturday rolls around and I’m hanging out at my brother’s house, I think… huh… that’s weird; wasn’t this audition due today but they never sent the sides. I go to check my email and there was never an update sent, so I click to expand the original email to respond to my agent to ask about the sides, and then I see the breakdown and the sides attached to the original email. Obviously, I panic because the character sounded so right and the script was so funny and right up my alley. I thought I totally blew my chance and I ended up not being able to film and send in the tape until Sunday, 24 hours after the deadline. One of the things that is drilled into your head when you are a theater major is “early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” Because of that, I assumed that casting wasn’t even going to look at my tape because it was 24 hours late. I suppose they did though because I booked it. Moral of the story though is to always expand your emails and read all the way to the bottom.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I am currently obsessed with the upcoming drag parody of high school musical I am working on in Boston. “High School Dragsical” will be performing at Jacque’s Cabaret in Boston December 10th and 11th. I may or may not be playing a character named “Diana Darb-Ross.” I may or may not also have pinned dates for an upcoming television project but I can’t say more than that.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

I know that this sounds corny, but be yourself. Talent is the expectation, and quite honestly the norm. I have so many incredibly talented friends in this industry, and that are pursuing this industry. Talent is common; so I guess my biggest advice is who are you outside of your talent? What do you love, what makes you so excited that you can’t help but share it with everyone around you? What is something that you only like to do in private? What scares you… makes you upset… etc. Basically, I think anyone pursuing acting should have a firm grip on who they are as a person, and then not be afraid to share that exact person with the world. I spent so long being afraid of doing that. I felt like I could only be successful if I put myself into this one exact mold of a musical theatre character actor. It made me miserable, and through drag I have come out a more well-rounded actor as well as a more interesting and capable person.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

I probably won’t be able to say anything on this front that hasn’t already been said by people of greater intellect and renown than myself. I believe Marian Wright Edelman’s quote “You can’t be what you can’t see” gives the baseline first reason as to why diversity in the industry is so important. People don’t know that things are possible unless they see it happening in front of them. Secondly, diversity of people intrinsically creates a diversity of thought; and in my opinion, creates better entertainment. When a diverse group of people works on a project together, the project can be cycled through so many more experiences. Different people approach problem-solving differently; and ultimately having more creative ways to tackle a huge undertaking, such as creating a tv series, only serves the project. Simply put a diverse workforce on a project is going to make that project more entertaining and broaden its audience. Lastly, I want to speak to the power that including marginalized people in the workforce has on culture. This year alone, over one hundred pieces of anti-trans legislation have been introduced across the U.S. in an effort to dehumanize people of trans experience. Any effort to combat this dehumanization in the culture is an important and vital part in fighting against discrimination. Including trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people in the entertainment industry as not only performer, but directors, cinematographers, marketing team executives, etc… is an integral part in fighting against the dehumanization put forth by these legislators.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Don’t go to every single audition you are physically able to be at. You won’t show up as your best unless you want to be there.
2. You are going to continue to evolve your understanding of yourself as an artist and a person, and some people will be with you on that journey and others won’t.
3. You are going to spend a LOT of money on being in this industry. We together need to work to change that so that more people can have access to the entertainment industry as a career, but right now it takes quite a bit of money to be in this industry.
4. Speaking of money… if you are going to make an investment in school do it WISELY. Majority of the theatre programs out there do not teach you what the industry is currently like.
5. MAKE CONTENT. You do not have to wait for people to give you creative jobs, make TikTok, youtube video essays, podcasts, songs, write scripts.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Create a support network. My friends and family really support me every time I spiral out. As a person who craves validation, it is so important to have people in my life who remind me of my worth. Also go to therapy, its 2021 (almost 2022).

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Universal Healthcare. Not a new idea, just something that we need a true movement for here in the United States. I really thought a global pandemic would have made us want that more but I would do whatever I could to inspire people to vote for politicians at all levels who are advocating for universal healthcare.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I have too many people that I could answer this question with. I will give the copout answer though and say my parents. From the bottom of my heart they have supported every decision I have made whether or not they understood it. My mom was the one who pushed me out onto the street corners of Boston during the pandemic to do a drag show. My parents are the most important people in my life and they are the sole reason I never quit; because they always believed in me.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be” -Maya Angelou. Is it cliché? Possibly. I owe all of my successes in life not only to being extraordinarily lucky but also because of embracing all of the unique aspects of myself that make me who I am. My queerness, gender-fluidity, my drag artistry, my nerdiness, my loudness, my empathy. All of these things have never made me normal but “normal” is in direct opposition to my own joy and power.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I’m hardcore crushing on Rahul Kohli right now so them for sure.

How can our readers follow you online?

@betti_with_an_i on all platforms.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!