Reign Edwards Goes Into The Wilds

Welcome to The Come-Up, where rising Gen-Z talent checks in on their way to the top. Here, actor Reign Edwards, star of Amazon's daring new Lord of the Flies-esque series The Wilds, tells us how she got her start.

Hometown: Harford County, MD 

Pronouns: She/Her

IG: @reignedwards

Sun Sign: Sagittarius 

Rising sign: Taurus 

Moon sign: Leo

Where you’ve seen me: Snowfall on FX, Pilgrim (Into The Dark) on Hulu, Hellfest by CBS Films, MacGyver on CBS

Where you’ll see me next: The Wilds on Amazon Prime, and my new film Love You Anyway from Wayfarer Studios

Cause(s) I’m passionate about: I’m passionate about a lot of things, but I would say as an actress, I’m really passionate about telling Black stories that show our humanity as a people. I tend to lean away from stereotypical roles. I would hope that with every role I play, whether I’m playing a young Black girl or a grown Black woman, that the audience leaves understanding that she’s human and she has the right to be human. It’s always been important, but I think during this time where the world is seeking to understand and help mend the pains of the Black community, one of the biggest things is to simply recognize our humanity.

Fictional character: Brandy as Cinderella in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Comfort food: Burger and fries

Role model: My mom

Song I know all the lyrics to: “Satisfied” from Hamilton

Hobby: Watching YouTube vlogs (lmao)

Three items I can’t live without: My Bible, my lip balm, and music
Curse word: Shit or fuck are my go to’s. You become a sailor when you work on set!

Pet: A kitty named Midnight

Role: Zonia Loomis in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson

Couple I stanned: Cinderella (Brandy) and The Prince (Paolo Montalban) in Cinderella. It was sealed once they sang the song “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?” 

Audition story: I can’t remember my first audition, but I technically didn’t audition for the first thing I booked. I booked a photoshoot off of a headshot when I was three years old. I covered my eyes the entire time because I thought the photographer looked scary.

Time my alarm goes off in the morning: That heavily depends on whether or not I’m in the process of filming a project. If I’m filming, my alarm most likely goes off early for call time reasons. If I’m not, it’s definitely between 9 and 10 a.m..

Time I saw myself represented on screen: Brandy as Cinderella in Rodgers  & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

Show I binged: Currently binging Alex Rider.

Movie I saw: A Knight’s Tale

Book I read: The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

Person I texted: Helena Howard, who plays my fraternal twin on The Wilds

Weird Instagram buy: I haven’t bought anything off of there yet. I intentionally avoid that section of the app so as to not set myself up for failure.

Last time I felt proud of myself: A few weeks ago! I just did a whole bunch of things I’ve been telling myself I’d do for a while that really just made my spirit happy. 

How I want to change the world: Honestly, I just want people to feel loved.

How my generation will change the world: That is a huge question to answer! I feel like the passion of my generation has, in so many ways, already changed the world. We’re loud. We make noise. I’d say a flaw we have is that, because of social media, I think many have come to believe that the only way to be loud or passionate is done by a post or by way of documenting events on camera. For myself, I just believe there’s something rewarding about being present and in the moment when you make change, regardless of social media or having to document it in some way. The changes I want to be a part of are personal to me. They’re close to my heart, so it’s not necessarily for everyone to see. This doesn’t mean that the actions I take won’t be a part of an outcome that everyone will see. Not to say that posting about your passions is bad; it’s definitely a tool. But it’s not the only tool in the shed. I think that if we can grasp that — if we can find the balance in everyone using their voices and actions in their own unique ways and coming together with all of those different elements — we could do some pretty powerful things. We could help this world get some peace and harmony.

Dream role: I just played a dream role of mine in a film I did called Love You Anyway, but I have a few. I want to play a badass warrior, badass secret agent, a badass hero, and badass businesswoman. (That’s the most I’ve ever used badass in a sentence!)

I’d star in any movie with: Cicely Tyson or Angela Bassett

If I weren’t acting, I’d be: Definitely thought I’d be a basketball player, but my height didn’t quite get to where my doctors and entire family predicted it would.

Dream dinner guest: Rest her soul, but Maya Angelou. Every now and then I really do wonder what it would’ve been like to have a conversation with her. What wisdom would’ve been gained through it.