Madison Iseman on CMT’s ‘Still the King’ [Exclusive Interview]

Madison Iseman has wanted to be an actress since she first watched Harry Potter.

You probably recognize Iseman from her roles on shows like Modern Family and TruTV’s Those Who Can’t. Now, she stars as Charlotte on the CMT series, Still the King, alongside Billy Ray Cyrus and Joey Lauren Adams.

I recently had the chance to chat with Iseman about her role on Still the King, how she got into acting, and which Harry Potter character she swore she would play one day.

“It’s a super crazy plotline. It’s about one hit wonder ‘Burnin’ Vernon,’ who is played by Billy Ray Cyrus,” Iseman said, describing Still the King.

“He’s drunk, makes a lot of crappy mistakes, runs into a church sign, and is thrown in jail,” Iseman continued. “When he gets out of a jail, he finds out he has to pay child support for a 15-year-old daughter he never knew about, which is where I come into play.”

Iseman was excited to play the role of Charlotte among a cast of some pretty interesting characters. “All of the characters are super fun, super dynamic, and crazy. I fell in love in love with it when I first read the character breakdown for my character, Charlotte,” Iseman said.

“She’s kind of the adult of the whole series, you know? Everyone has these crazy personalities and are going through these crazy things throughout the whole series, and she’s kind of the one who brings it back down to reality. And so I just fell in love with her as soon as I read the script.”

One thing Iseman really enjoys about her character in particular? Her taste in music. “She’s got an awesome taste in music. And that kind of adds a funny element to the whole thing, because her dad is an ex-country star, and she hates country music. So that’s kind of fun. She’s just a super cool girl. She’s who you wanted to be when you were in freshmen year of high school. She just doesn’t care what other people think.”

For Iseman, the biggest challenge in playing Charlotte is identifying with the struggles she’s gone through. “Trying to tap into that world of growing up without a father was pretty tough,” she said. “I was very lucky. I grew up with some of the parents, I think, in the world.”

“That’s been kind of tough for me to figure out,” she continued. “It’s been a fun challenge.”

So far, Iseman’s favorite episode of Still the King is Season 1 Episode 6, “A Family, A Fair,” which airs tonight. “It’s kind of the first interaction of me being with my mom and my dad together,” she said. “It’s where I find out that I was conceived in a porta potty!”

Iseman also spoke about what it’s like to work with Billy Ray Cyrus and Joey Lauren Adams. “They’re both incredible. It’s something I never thought I would get to experience ever in my life. I’ve been out in LA for only three and a half years now, that’s it. And I grew up watching Hannah Montana and Dazed and Confused. I’ve seen them on TV and in the theater forever,” Iseman said.

“I tried to be super unbiased about it,” she continued. “I just wanted to work and have the best connection on and off-screen with them as much as I could. They’re so talented. It’s unreal. It makes everything go by so easy. And Billy Ray is the biggest sweetheart.”

Iseman has wanted to be an actress ever since she was a little girl, and there was one movie in particular that really sparked her interest.

“I think the first movie I ever watched that I was like ‘oh, that has to be me,’ was the very first Harry Potter. And I swore I was going to be Hermione Granger.”

It was when Iseman was fifteen years old that she had an opportunity to go to LA for a week and do a showcase, and mom agreed to let her give it a try. “I did it, and I had some success, and so we kind of just packed up the Mini Cooper and drove across the country.”

As for what kinds of things Iseman likes to watch on television when she has the time, she described herself as a “Netflix binge-watcher.”

“Lost was always my number one,” she said. Her current favorites include Californication, Bloodline, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

But when it comes to projects Iseman hopes to be able to work on in the future, she’s especially interested in sci-fi.

“I’ve always been in love with sci-fi,” she said. “I fell in love with The Vampire Diaries. That was always my show through high school. And so that was always… [I] was like, ‘I want Damon Salvatore to kiss me!’ So I would love to be a part of something like that.”

You can catch Madison Iseman on Still the King, airing Sundays at 9/8c on CMT.

Featured image credit: Wes Klain