Ginny & Georgia Star Antonia Gentry Is Turning Delusions Into Reality

[This story contains spoilers for Ginny & Georgia season three.]

If there’s one thing Antonia Gentry is going to do, she’s going to turn her delusions into reality.

As a self-proclaimed “couch potato” growing up, “watching anything under the sun” with her parents, the 27-year-old actress says that’s where her love of film and television began. She later got involved with theater in high school and college, which only helped her prepare to land her breakout role as Ginny in Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia.

Now, after playing the character for three seasons, Gentry tells The Hollywood Reporter it was “so fun” to play a new version of Ginny in the third installment, which sees her take on a more adult role as her mom, Georgia (Brianne Howey), is on trial for murder. “I absolutely love this version of Ginny, and I don’t know what’s gonna happen in season four yet, but I hope we get to see more of this sort of cutthroat Ginny, where she’s like, ‘If you don’t do what I need you to do, you’re dead to me,’” she says.

Below, Gentry opens up about tackling the heaviness of season three, if she’s happy Georgia got away with murder, her hopes for Ginny in season four and her dream role.

With season three being notably heavy and emotional, what did you make of it compared to the first two seasons?

It was just a completely different beast entirely. What’s funny about the first season is that it was my first professional real job, and it was the show creator’s first show, showrunner’s first time showrunning, so a lot of us were just having a good time doing these things for the first time. It felt very much like a community effort, and then the show blew up and so that was also crazy and unexpected and wonderful. And then by the time season two came around, there was like that pressure of, oh my gosh, everyone loves the show, we have to keep the momentum going, but there was the challenge of COVID and filming in the winter and it was a lot darker of a season, so that was really tough for me as well. And then when we went back to film season three after the strikes and everything, it’s like I see my cast every two years (Laughs) and so we’re all like checking in like, “Hey. How have the last two years been?” I did feel coming back for this season a lot more centered and like I had grown into the responsibility of the character, and just what the show means to so many people. I absolutely love, love, love, love my cast. This season was obviously the biggest plot-wise so far, so much happens every single episode. It was honestly hard to keep track because we film out of order and half the time I was like, wait, what’s going on? But we managed to pull off so many things this season, and I’m just super excited and nervous to see how everyone reacts to it, but I will say one of the the the biggest things from this season is I feel like I just got even closer to my cast, which is fantastic, and we got to film in the summer so it wasn’t dark and cold the entire time, so that’s fun. 

Your character, Ginny, goes through so much this season, I kept thinking, she needs a long solo vacation or something.

I think she should move again. I think if it was up to me — and this is there’s a reason why I don’t write the show (Laughs) — Ginny would just like leave everybody. Get a new name, start a new life, just like Georgia, but without everybody, just like by herself. 

What preparations did you make to take on such heavy topics and make sure you’re displaying them accurately onscreen?

One of the things from the start that gave me a bit of reassurance in going forward with certain story points is in terms of mental health, for example, we work alongside Mental Health America, and so I was always told that before we even get to filming anything on the screen, before things are finalized in the script, it’s vetted by professionals and people who actually care about how these things are portrayed on screen, because one thing we never want to do is glamorize anything. But one of the great things about the show tonally is that it’s sort of all over the place, you know, it’s very melodramatic and sort of ridiculous in a sense, but it grounds itself as well in addressing these very real issues in a way that I think doesn’t go too deep. There’s a balance, you know, you can either over glamorize it or and not really show the real ramifications of some of these circumstances, or you can go too deep into the ramifications of the circumstance and there’s sort of no room for hope. And I think we sort of strike the balance between what it’s like for many different characters. 

I think one of the beautiful parts of the show is the fact that we do showcase sort of an array of issues and how different people deal with those issues. I think the main new issue other than Georgia being on trial and the continued work that Ginny is going through with her own mental health and self harm is obviously the pregnancy, and that is something that I know the show creator wanted to include because it is something that does occur in people’s lives, especially young girls’ lives, and of course it happened to Georgia, an early teen pregnancy. So really showcasing the difference between the two women in the show and the differences in their positions and support systems is really the key aspect of how they then move forward in deciding what to do, and I just think it’s beautiful.

Ginny also goes through a major turning point this season, where she really has to grow up and make some big decisions to keep Georgia from going to prison. How was navigating that shift for your character?

So many people love the character of Ginny, but I also understand how frustrating Ginny can be, because she is 16, but she has so many moments where she seems so much more mature, which can come off sometimes as like, “OK, I like know everything, I’m a know-it-all,” and she actually doesn’t know for much of the first season and into the second. I mean, it’s the end of the second season when she finds out her mom is a murderer. So you have these moments of Ginny being like an immature child who’s never had friends before and she’s like fumbling through that and her crushes, and then having to come home and be the adult and her mother-daughter relationship, just sort of all over the place. And I think with season three, what’s wonderful is we do see — because of Georgia’s situation, she’s no longer able to really fully be in her kids’ lives — Ginny has to take on the role of parent for real this time, for herself and for Austin. She still has Zion and Paul, but the whole mantra of us against the world really hits true for Ginny this season. So to see her by the end of it make these decisions that are very Georgia, it was just so fun for me. I absolutely love this version of Ginny, and I don’t know what’s gonna happen in season four yet, but I hope we get to see more of this sort of cutthroat Ginny, where she’s like, “If you don’t do what I need you to do, you’re dead to me.” 

From your perspective, are you glad Georgia got out of going to jail?

No one’s ever really asked me what I think of Georgia and the things that Georgia has done. I obviously do support Georgia and I want her to win, but also I’m like, girl, you gotta stop. Like you have to stop killing people (Laughs). The whole Tom thing, I genuinely don’t understand, and I wonder what [Brianne’s] take on that is. I always ask [Brianne], “How do you get into this mindset of this character?” Like the other murders, sure, if I squint at it, I’m like, “Yeah, all right, cool, go queen.” But with the whole trial and killing Tom, I’m like, “Why did that happen, and is Georgia crazy?” Probably, but I love her, and so yes, I’m glad that she got out of jail and I want to see her continue to have the upper hand and it’s just such a fascinating thing to watch this character. 

What’s it like playing into that mother-daughter dynamic with Brianne, especially since she isn’t that much older than you in real life? 

It’s really funny. I mean, my own brother is older than [Brianne, 36] (Laughs), so having to play [Brianne’s] daughter is very funny because I see her more as an older sister figure, which works for the characters. There’s a reason why they do act more like friends than parent and child. But [Brianne], as a person, is a very nurturing, caring person and I’ve always admired the warmth and grace that she carries herself with. A lot of our scenes, we are used to being at odds with each other, like our characters, and so whenever they call cut we’d like check in like, “Hey, are you OK? How are you doing?” But [Brianne] is such a wonderful person to work with. 

What was your reaction to reading Georgia’s pregnancy cliffhanger in the script initially, and do you think it’s Joe’s or Paul’s baby?

That was my first question. I was like, whose baby is this? And I still don’t know. Will I ever find out? Probably, but I hope sooner rather than later. I really need to know whose baby this is. I think I had known that’s how we wanted to end it. There were a few different things that the writers wanted to do, and that was one of the main ones, like we’re gonna end the show with Georgia’s pregnant and we don’t know who the baby daddy is (Laughs). I’m also curious about season four, I don’t know how much time will pass. Like will we be working with a baby? I don’t know what’s going on, and I’m scared, but also very excited. 

Since the show has already been renewed for a fourth season, what are your hopes for Ginny?

I want Ginny to be single, free, happy and ready to cut a bitch, basically (Laughs). I mean she’s got another sibling on the way. I genuinely don’t know. I just want her to have more agency. I want her to not be cornered into making decisions. I want her to sort of have a bit more agency in the actions that she takes, even if those actions are very Georgia and hurt other people. But if it’s to protect the family, there you go. Like, be a bit more confident in her capabilities of getting things done. But also I want her to be a kid and I don’t know, get into college if that’s what she wants.

Do you have a dream genre, project or role that you would love to take on in the future?

I’ve always been a fan of sci-fi or psychological thrillers, like Alien is a huge franchise that I love, and right now, The Last of Us I’m obsessed with. I think it would be really fun to be in a show or a film that sort of takes place in an alternate version of events, you know, no high school lockers (Laughs). I wanna be like running through the woods, running away from something, running towards something, and I just want to do something kick ass. I think that would be really, really fun. But right now I feel like I’m just a sponge. I wanna have a good time on a set, not that I’m insinuating that I don’t have a good time playing Ginny, but I think it would be really, really fun to do like an action thriller, or a really scary horror film. Osgood Perkins is a director right now that I’m really vibing with, and I love his work and so something along those lines. 

When you need creative inspiration, playing Ginny or another role, is there a performance, film or TV show you turn to?

Before I even flew to start filming [Ginny & Georgia] season one, the homework that I was given was to watch Gilmore Girls and also the movie Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. I watched Gilmore Girls with my mom, because my mom loves TV so we were both watching it, and I was like, OK, I get the vibe. Then I read all the scripts and this is literally nothing like Gilmore Girls, what am I gonna do? There’s not really a specific thing that I can point to that I’m like, OK, this is how I’m going to approach the character. I think that’s one of the things about our show is that it’s just so totally unique and it sort of hangs in the balance. 

If you had to describe what makes Antonia Gentry, Antonia Gentry, what would you say?

I’m a little delusional in a good way. Here’s the recipe, you have to have 33 percent delusion, 33 percent love for what you do, ‘cause that helps the delusion, and then humility is such a stupid word to say right here, but I genuinely do not walk into spaces and experiences thinking that I know everything, so I guess it would be 33 percent an open mind. Then I’m also a little bit annoying and that’s the one percent (Laughs).