Photo by: Corinne Louie
We were joined on the Popternative show by Madison Elizabeth Lagares who portrays a younger version of the bubbly Grease character, Fran ‘Frenchy’ Facciano, in the prequel series Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies on Paramount+. The musical series, which premiered on April 6, takes place four years before the original Grease movie. In 1954, before rock ‘n’ roll ruled, before the T-Birds were the coolest in the school, four fed-up outcasts dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever.
The series stars Marisa Davila as Jane, Cheyenne Isabel Wells as Olivia, Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia, Tricia Fukuhara as Nancy, Shanel Bailey as Hazel, Madison Thompson as Susan, Johnathan Nieves as Richie, Jason Schmidt as Buddy, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper as Wally, and Jackie Hoffman as Asstistant Principal McGee.
In the series, viewers meet Jane Facciano’s younger sister, Fran ‘Frenchy’ Facciano, before the Pink Ladies are even a thing, making this one of the few original Grease characters in the series. Viewers and fans were treated to quite a surprise when it was revealed that Jane was the older sister of Frenchy as well as meeting a young Betty Rizzo (played by Emma Shannon).
“I’ve always loved Frenchy as a character, I love her personality, she’s so bright and bubbly and welcoming to others, and I think I can find a way to bring myself into a lot of that because I’m a very outgoing person. And I love the way she’s so supportive of her friends and she’s very loyal. And with prequel Frenchy, you notice she’s very supportive of her friends, and I think it will be interesting to see how her character grows throughout the season and how she grows as a person and a friend, and how she eventually becomes a Pink Lady,” Madison tells us about portraying Frenchy.
We also asked Madison about her audition process and if it included her best Frenchy impression: “It was really funny because in the actual breakdown of the self tape for the audition, it said ‘do not imitate Didi Conn for Frenchy’, it said do not imitate her voice. So I did the audition, I got a call back and for the final call back and I was ready for it, so I went to my mom, ‘I think I’m going to do the voice,’ and my mom’s like ‘no, no you’re not’ and she’s across the camera, and I’m like ‘sorry I’m going to do it’, and so I did it and they loved it, and I kind of pulled it on the spot.”
Watch the full interview with Madison below.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is streaming on Paramount+
Follow Madison Elizabeth Lagares: Instagram
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