Little Voice Stars Brittany O’Grady, Sean Teale, and Colton Ryan on Why the Series is ‘Authentic’ and ‘Hopeful’

The newest series coming to Apple TV+ promises to be heartfelt, inspiring, and relatable.

Little Voice follows Bess King (Brittany O’Grady), a talented performer struggling to fulfill her dreams while navigating rejection, love, and complicated family issues. The series features original music by Sara Bareilles, and touts itself as being “a story about finding your authentic voice — and the courage to use it.”

I recently had the chance to speak with Little Voice cast members Brittany O’Grady, Sean Teale, and Colton Ryan during a virtual press event about the new series and what makes it authentic and hopeful. 

“I’m really excited to be a part of this show. I think it’s super authentic [and] super sweet. I think it’s easy to relate to, and I think it brings a sense of hope during a time that the world is upside down,” O’Grady began.

“The identity of this show creates a sense of hope with someone pursuing their dreams and how they achieve that in an honest way through failure, through rejection, through all these different trials and tribulations,” O’Grady said. “I think it’s hopeful how [Bess] navigates it, even if it’s not the perfect way. Just the fact that she’s resilient and gets through it is a really special thing.”

Sean Teale, who plays the role of Ethan, said he was glad to be a part of the project not only because of “the lovely people, the very large amount of talent on display, which is abundant and effortless and joyous to be around,” but also because the story was one he could personally connect to. 

“[Twenty-something-year-old] creatives that we are trying to be couldn’t connect more to a story about struggling [twenty-something-year-old] creatives that are trying to navigate not only the hardships of their work and their inner voices, but also the lives that they lead and the cities that they live in, and the families that they fight for and that they fight with,” Teale explained. “It just has everything that you want to be involved with as a performer.”

“We’ve all got aspirations to do other things, whether it’s superheroes or sci-fi movies or whatever, but I think what matters to a lot of us [are] stories that ring true, that are about authenticity and sincerity and about being real. This show has that in spades,” Teale continued.

Colton Ryan, who plays the role of Samuel, agreed. “That’s true. Like most things, it’s better felt than described — or like most good things,” Ryan said.

For Ryan, being a part of this show was quite a dream come true. “I grew up making musicals. My very limited career is mostly me doing musicals. I never thought I would get to be the Jackson Maine / Bradley Cooper to someone’s Lady Gaga, in front of a television camera.”

Obviously, music is an integral part of this unique series. O’Grady said one of the biggest challenges, for her, was making sure that she presented “the struggles or the conversations that [Sara Bareilles] had as a singer-songwriter” and that she represented her well. “That was something that was really important to me,” O’Grady shared.

Working with Sara Bareilles was a highlight for O’Grady.

“Sara is such a genuine, amazing genius,” O’Grady said. “She is honest and true to who she is, which I think is a rare gem in this industry. And she’s really about the work and about the art, and the song and the lyrics. I really appreciate that.”

Both Ryan and Teale also gushed a bit about working with EP and director Jessie Nelson.

“She was so good at making this thing feel wonderful,” Teale said. “Where there was a big hurdle to jump over, she made it feel small. And if was daunting she made it feel safe.”

“What she’s accomplished with this show, what everyone’s accomplished, Sara, and J.J. [Abrams], and Ben [Stephensen], and all of us, and the crew — it’s kind of wild,” Ryan stated. “Maybe I’m just speaking from naivete, but I was hit in the face with it, how inspiring it is.”

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Little Voice is produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. J.J. Abrams, Sara Bareilles, Jessie Nelson, and Ben Stephenson are executive producers.

The first three episodes of Little Voice will premiere on Friday, July 10, and new episodes will debut every Friday thereafter, exclusively on Apple TV+.

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