NEW GLUE INTERVIEW: Lauren Donzis
"I saw a man walking a possum the other day. I hope the next time I see that will be on a screen."
Lauren Donzis began her acting career at the age of 7, booking her first ever audition- a roundtable pizza commercial. Since then, she has moved onto more notable roles in Disney’s “Liv and Maddie,” Netflix’s “No Good Nick,” Peacock’s “Punky Brewster,” and more. She just executive produced and acted in her first horror indie feature and cannot wait until she can share more about the project.
Not only an actress, she’s a current screenwriting major at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. She aspires to be a multi-hyphenate, wearing as many hats as possible.
1) What’s the first thing that burned you?
Lauren Donzis: There could be two answers to this. I got burned in the sense that I once grabbed my mother’s hair curler. I also got burned when in preschool I proposed to a boy and he said “your shirt is on backwards.” It would’ve been better if he just said no.
2) What do you smell like?
Vanilla, youngest child syndrome, fear of rejection, with a hint of marshmallow!
3) What do you feel is more true: every crazy person is a movie, or every movie is a crazy person, or neither?
Every crazy person is a movie. We take inspiration from real life. I saw a man walking a possum the other day. I hope the next time I see that will be on a screen.
4) How does your heart feel?
It used to feel like a little kid going through a haunted house. Now it’s one of the scare actors.
5) What was it like to ride in your parents' car as a kid? What about now—or equivalent?
Degrading. They made me use a booster seat until I was 13. Now I ride shotgun, but the memories will forever haunt me…
6) Does your misery love company?
Yes. The more of us being miserable at the same time the better. Let’s throw a dinner party where instead of eating we just cry.
7) What does a potato chip mean to you? What does it taste like?
When I think of potato chips I think of the bag being 90% air. They taste like a reminder to take my cholesterol medication. Wish I was kidding.
8) What does touching feel like?
It used to feel scary. Now it feels rare and warm.
9) Do you belong to and on Earth?
I like it here for sure, but I think I belong somewhere that doesn’t exist. Hogwarts, where’s my letter?
10) What is your first memory and what does it mean to your work?
I was “riding” on a shopping cart and then I face planted and my baby tooth died. It literally turned brown. I’m big on teeth whitening now in fear it ever happens again. But it also made me cautious. I don’t take as many risks as I’d like to.
Luke Goebel is an award-winning author and screenwriter known for his novel Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours, and his screenwriting work on the films Eileen and Causeway.
His novel, Kill Dick (RHP) comes out in Spring 2026.