Memories From The Set: Jeanine Mason
Dizzy Feet Foundation's Inaugural Celebration Of Dance - Inside
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE
Mason was four days past her high school graduation when the Fox reality competition began shooting Season 5, which she'd eventually win. The finale was held at Los Angeles' Kodak (now Dolby) Theatre, and when host Cat Deely announced "It's Jeanine!" during the start-of-show rundown, "I ran out on stage, and for the first time in my life, I got spooked by the audience," Mason remembers. "They were just so excited and so loud that I had a little deer-in-headlights moment... Still thinking about it gives me chills, because I thought I knew what being on a stage felt like, but Jesus. That kind of warmth and love coming at you, you're just like, 'Holy s—t!'"
jeanine-mason-memset-youre-the-worst
YOU'RE THE WORST
The then-FX (now FXX) sexy comedy was in its first season when Mason guest-starred as Gretchen's work buddy Dana, so she had no inkling that her character would end the episode making out with Gretch while boyfriend Jimmy looked on. "Aya Cash... she's a New York theater girl, and I was like, 'F—k it, I'm just going to go to town with these people,'" Mason recalls, laughing. "I have people stop me on the street for that show, and I did one episode. People are such fans of that show, and I feel so lucky."
jeanine-mason-memset-of-kings-and-prophets
OF KINGS AND PROPHETS
Shooting ABC's biblical drama required living in Cape Town, South Africa, for six months, "and that was really the dream," Mason says. "When I was in Miami growing up, going, 'I want to be an actor,' the thing that people tell you is that it has the potential to take you to far-off places." She laughs. "I mean, I have a selfie on my Instagram with a zebra, you know? Where else does that happen?!" Alas, the series' quick cancellation meant that Mason's time playing Saul's older daughter Merav was short-lived. But she says she's grateful for the friendship of Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Legends of Tomorrow), who played Merav's sister Michal: "That's really nice," Mason notes, "when you walk away from a job with someone that you're a champion for."
jeanine-mason-memset-greys-anatomy
GREY'S ANATOMY
Mason shot a pilot with Grey's showrunner Krista Vernoff. That potential show wound up not getting picked up, but during a pool party at Vernoff's place, the EP asked whether Mason would be interested in being one of Grey Sloan Memorial's new interns. "I was like, 'Girl, if you need me to be Patient Number 4, I will be Patient Number 4!'" Mason says, chuckling. Now she's playing surgical intern Sam Bello, whom Mason says is "making a committed effort to stay away from" Andrew Deluca, because he's not exactly the best thing for her career. "To an extent, [her work] is being sabotaged, because she's so in love with him, and he's so actively her addiction," she says. "She is going to try to pull herself away from him... 'try' being the active word there."
jeanine-mason-memset-bunheads
BUNHEADS
"I would sign up to do that job again today," Mason says of Amy Sherman-Palladino's short-lived ballet drama, adding that the series' creator "is literally the best thing on this planet." Mason's Cozette was a student at the Paradise Dance Academy, which afforded the actress a lot of on-set time with one of her Broadway favorites, series star (and, per Mason, "master crafter") Sutton Foster. "She taught me how to knit," Mason says. "To this day, I knit on set and I think of Sutton every time I bring my needles with me."
jeanine-mason-memset-big-time-rush
BIG TIME RUSH
Her first guest-starring gig involved playing Muffy the Vampire Slayer (heh) during the Nickelodeon comedy's Season 2 Halloween episode. "In the audition, they asked me to be physical.," Mason says. "I was like, 'Oh hell yeah, I'm going to do a fan kick and I'm going to throw out some dance moves.' The casting director, who's now a dear friend of mine, was like, 'Who the hell are you? That was so badass.' So my epic fan kick got me my first acting gig."
jeanine-mason-memset-major-crimes
MAJOR CRIMES
The dramatic moment that eluded Mason during her CSI experience finally happened in a Season 2 episode of the TNT drama. Her character, Heather, was involved in a case concerning a newly paroled yet missing rapist, which made for some tense scenes. But Mason remembers feeling very comfortable off-camera. "My buddy Graham Martin, who I went to acting school with out here in L.A. for years, is on that show," she says (though they didn't share any screen time during her episode). "I love that I'm at the point now in my career where the industry feels so much smaller."