Mallory Jansen Talks ‘The Big Leap,’ Hints at ‘Intriguing’ Dynamic Between Monica and Nick [Interview]

Mallory Jansen’s ballet background gave her a unique insight into her character on the new FOX series The Big Leap.

Jansen plays Monica Sullivan, the choreographer tasked with preparing a group of amateur dancers for perform Swan Lake as part of a reality television series. She’s also a producer of that reality series along with Wayne Fontaine (Kevin Daniels) and Nick Blackburn (Scott Foley). 

I had the chance to speak with Jansen about her role on the series, her background in dance, and what we might expect from the dynamic between Monica and Nick. (You can watch the full video of our interview below.)

“I just love this show so much,” Jansen began. “It’s just such a positive atmosphere to be around. It’s a show about second chances, about trying to do something with your life, and something really positive. And going to work every day on set is that feeling. Everyone’s just so happy to be there.”

Monica is a tough choreographer who is frustrated with the situation she’s found herself in, but there’s a lot going on underneath — even when she’s throwing chairs at people.

“It’s so much fun. I know she’s not the inspiring character from the beginning, but I think audiences might be intrigued to know where this character goes, and that’s why I was so drawn to the character of Monica,” Jansen said. “Obviously there is a reason why she is the way she is. There’s so much beneath the surface.”

“She comes from such an elite world of dance. She worked her entire life to be at the top, and she was at a company in Chicago. She was a principal dancer, and it takes so much work to become a principal dancer,” she continued. “I have so much respect for the ballet dancers after all the research I’ve done for this role.”

“She really takes it seriously. And coming into a competition like The Big Leap, on reality TV, which she finds a hard pill to swallow, let alone working with amateur dancers — but to see that they don’t take it as seriously as she does is a little hard for her to take.”

Watch the full interview with Mallory Jansen:

On The Big Leap Season 1 Episode 3, “The White Swan Lives,” we see a flashback of Monica and her days of performing with a major ballet company. We also see her injure her knee — leaving the key role of the White Swan to the understudy. That one moment changed Monica’s entire career.

Also on that episode, in the present time, she travels back to Chicago with the group so the dancers can watch a professional performance, and she’s embarrassed about her situation.

Jansen described that moment as seeing “the sense of trauma resurfacing in Monica. She’s almost spiraling at this thought of being in front of her former peers.” 

Of course, I also had to ask Jansen about the “interesting” relationship (if you can call it that) that we see forming between Monica and Scott Foley’s Nick. 

“Interesting is the right word,” she laughed. “I don’t know if anyone saw that coming.”

“Monica initially feels like she needs to maintain control of the situation. Nick is very similar to Monica in a lot of ways, and they both need that sense of control over what they’re doing,” Jansen said. “As interesting and bizarre as this relationship is, I think people might be sort of surprised where these two go from here.”

“They work together every day, and I feel like they have a bit of understanding of each other,” she said. “I think it’s going to be intriguing.”

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The Big Leap airs Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.

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