‘The Lowdown’s Ryan Kiera Armstrong Talks Ethan Hawke’s Genius and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Guidance on the ’Buffy’ Sequel

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for The Lowdown.]

Summary

In the FX series ‘The Lowdown,’ Lee Raybon’s Tulsa exposé about the Washberg family spirals into danger as his daughter Francis wants to help him in his hunt for the truth.
Francis is a smart, protective teen who guides her dad and finds her voice in a moving poem.
Ethan Hawke’s fearless craft made Ryan Kiera Armstrong hope Francis could become more of a sidekick in a possible Season 2.

From creator/writer/director/EP Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), the FX series The Lowdown spent its first season following citizen journalist Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke, who’s also an EP), a self-proclaimed truthstorian in Tulsa, as he dove into an exposé focused on the Washberg family and things spiraled out of control. The more he dug into the mysterious death of Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson), the more he got himself in trouble with everyone, from Dale’s older brother Donald (Kyle MacLachlan), who was running to become the next governor of Oklahoma, to Frank Martin (Tracy Letts), a political power player making shady deals along the way, to Pastor Mark (Paul Sparks), a white supremacist leading the local church. Always getting beaten up by someone, Ray wanted to keep from disappointing his daughter Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), but having his heart in the right place couldn’t keep him from bringing danger to his own doorstep.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Armstrong discussed why she wanted to be a part of The Lowdown, feeling drawn to her character, Francis’ drive to help her father, how proud she is of that poetry-reading scene, the wedding, her favorite moment to shoot, being a fan of Hawke before she got to work with him, and what she’d like to see in a possible Season 2. She also talked about all the support she’s gotten from Sarah Michelle Gellar on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong Fell in Love With Tulsa While Making ‘The Lowdown’

“Locals will definitely spot some very recognizable landmarks.”

Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Francis standing outside in a hat in The Lowdown

Collider: When this came your way, what got you most excited about it? It seems like a hard show to describe, so what was the biggest draw of it for you?

RYAN KIERA ARMSTRONG: It is hard to summarize it. I got to read the pilot, I auditioned, and then I got a Zoom call saying that I got it and, “Here’s a script.” I just fell in love with Tulsa and the script. The writers are so good, and (creator) Sterlin [Harjo] is so good, and all the directors just captured Tulsa so well. Locals will definitely spot some very recognizable landmarks.

When you’re going through an audition process like that, do you try to stay detached until you find out if you’re going to get the role, or do you get to a point where you get attached?

ARMSTRONG: I’m all about manifesting. I manifest things a lot. I think confidence is key, going into auditioning, and just being confident in yourself.

What were you told about who this character would be, at the beginning? Was Francis someone that you identified with, or did you find her challenging?

ARMSTRONG: We were both going through something very similar, and that’s just being a teenager and changing a lot. You can see her change so much throughout the story. You see her finding herself and her relationship to the world. What was interesting about playing Francis is her relationship with her dad, which is super unique. It’s the heart of the story. She just wants to look after him and protect him, and then they end up going on this crazy adventure.

You’re on your own a bit in this series. Francis keeps wanting to connect with her father and be a part of his life, but he’s always somewhere else or running off somewhere else. And then, you’re also pretty much the only kid in this series. Everyone in the world of the show really talks to Francis like an equal. What was it like to be among this group of actors?

ARMSTRONG: In real life, I’ve worked since I was six, so a lot of my friends were adults for a while. In this show, Francis’s relationship with Michael Hitchcock’s character was so great and beautiful and funny. I love it so much. She’s treated as an equal, and she should be. She is so smart. Dare I say, she’s smarter than her father. She’s protecting Lee Raybon. She guides him. From the onset, she knows there’s something up with Lee and that there’s something going on. She’s very smart. She goes on a cool journey.

She wants to help her father, but at the same time, she probably wouldn’t like any of the information about the corruption in this town. How does she deal with what she learns while she’s trying to help her father?

ARMSTRONG: She sees the bigger picture. She shares the same drive as her dad with trying to get to the truth. He calls himself a truthstorian. Maybe they both share that drive and that desire to get to the bottom of things. She might even fall in love with it. Going on the journey that she does, she might want to go on another one day.

Francis Just Wants a Relationship With Her Father Lee Raybon in ‘The Lowdown’

“You always want something that you don’t have.”

Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon reaching out to Ryan Kiera Armstrong as his daughter Francis in The Lowdown

How would you describe the relationship that Francis and her father have right now, and how would you describe the relationship she wants to have with them? Does it feel like they’ve come a long way, by the end of the season?

ARMSTRONG: Yeah. You always want something that you don’t have. She’s probably just craving a stable environment and a stable relationship with her dad, and unfortunately, it just won’t be that for her. But you see her accept it and accept him for who he is. This is a real growing age for her. She’s a teenager. She’s starting to get her own opinions and become her own person.

In the finale, she gets up at an open mic and delivers a poem. What was it like to have that moment, not only with how she was able to put her feelings down on paper like that, but to be able to do so with her parents right there in front of her?

ARMSTRONG: That takes a lot of courage, just writing poems, in general, and being so vulnerable. I have a lot of admiration for that. I was really nervous for that scene. I read it and was like, “It’s such a nice scene, but oh my gosh, it has to be really good.” I’m such a perfectionist. I remember being really proud on the day. It was fun. I had never done anything like that before. I don’t like speaking in front of a bunch of people, which is funny, but on set, you don’t know that there are so many people there. In a room with you, there are only maybe seven to 10 people max, and you get so familiar with them. But there was actually a lot of people in that room when I was speaking, and I was really nervous. I think my voice was a little shaky on the first take. In this case, it was really helpful because I had a live audience and I actually got to see people. She was nervous, and I was nervous. It was a challenge for both of us, but we crushed it. I really liked that scene.

I love that moment between Francis and her father at the wedding, when she tells him that she can see that he’s good and that if he’s not good, it would mean that she’s not good. What was that scene like to shoot? What was that moment like to find?

ARMSTRONG: You are a reflection of your parents. That’s half of her. She loves him so much. At the end of the day, as much as she’s a teenager, and she’s sassy, and she has mood swings, she also just really loves him and really cares for him. She’s longing for that typical father-daughter relationship. What they have is just so different and unique. It’s really lovely to see. I’ve never really seen anything like it in a show before.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong Loves the Support She’s Gotten From Sarah Michelle Gellar While Making the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Sequel Series

“She’s just as lovely as she seems on camera.”

Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Fern sitting down with her arm leaning across a chair in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

We all saw the video of you getting the role in the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and could feel the true emotion you had about that. With Sarah Michelle Gellar involved, what advice did she give you, from one Slayer to another? Did you have any conversations with her that you feel really helped?

ARMSTRONG: I can’t talk too much about Buffy. She’s just as lovely as she seems on camera. She’s such a great person. She went through Buffy. One of the first things she said to me was, “I will protect you. I’ll help guide you.” It still gets me. I love Sarah.

It feels like she could give you some tips just on surviving this whole business, in general, because she’s been at it for a long time herself.

ARMSTRONG: Yeah. With everything, I have someone to always go to now.

Was it a similar experience to work with someone like Ethan Hawke, who has also been doing this for a long time? He’s played good guys and bad guys and done such a variety of projects. What did you learn from working alongside him?

ARMSTRONG: I really love Training Day. It was one of my favorite movies before working with Ethan, so that was really exciting. One of the first things he told me is that he was also a child actor, and he gets it. They’re both geniuses. I have so much respect for them both. Ethan is so creative, and his freedom and his improv are so good. He’s just so creative, and really one of the best I’ve ever worked with. He just transforms. He’s not afraid to look silly. That all goes out the window, and he’s just so free. He’s just so truthful. That’s the best word I can use to describe it.

When did you guys meet? Did you have any time before shooting the series to know each other?

ARMSTRONG: We had a Zoom meeting beforehand, and we had online table reads and in-person table reads. Those are quite amazing because you can really see the show come together. You almost watch an episode before you even film it. You understand all the relationships that way. I also had my birthday on set, so I had a birthday dinner with Ethan. He’s really awesome. He’s such a great, honest person.

What was your favorite scene or moment to shoot during the season?

ARMSTRONG: My favorite scene will always be the make-up scene. I just think it captures their relationship so well. I loved doing make-up on Ethan Hawke. Who doesn’t want to do that? It was fun.

If you get to do a second season of the series, what would you like to see happen with Francis? What would you like to learn about her and get to do with her?

ARMSTRONG: Maybe she’ll perhaps be a permanent sidekick. We’ll see. The writers are so good that I fully trust them and what they’d do. If it does happen, I just can’t wait to work with them again.

‘The Lowdown’ Was One of the Coolest Sets Ryan Kiera Armstrong Has Ever Been On

“I’ve always been inspired by everyone that I’ve worked with.”

You worked with Sterlin Harjo on The Lowdown. Chloe Zhao did the Buffy sequel series, and she’s an incredible filmmaker. You’re working with people that clearly have this incredible pedigree. When did that start to be something that you paid attention to and that mattered to you? Do you think about that when you’re looking at possible next projects?

ARMSTRONG: Yeah. I’ve always been inspired by everyone that I’ve worked with, and I’ve learned so much on every show. With Sterlin, it was his ability to control a set and get stuff done, but also just have a great time filming with a bunch of friends while making a TV show. He’s so chill. He would play music on set. He brought his guitar on set. Ethan would sing. Truly, it was one of the coolest sets I’ve been on.