‘Under the Bridge’s Scene-Stealing Performance Is Not Who You Think It Is

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for all of the series Under the Bridge.

Many people have been tuning in to the Hulu limited series, Under the Bridge, because of its well-known actors. Lily Gladstone is fresh off of her Oscar-nominated part in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Riley Keough has already won tons of fans by starring as the eponymous Daisy Jones and the Six in Amazon Prime’s 2023 series. In this true crime drama, Gladstone plays a tough, yet dedicated police officer who is investigating the brutal murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk in a small Canadian town in 1997, and Keough is her former best friend who has decided to write a book about Reena’s case. The series also stars Archie Panjabi, an Emmy winner for her role as Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife, who takes on the heart-wrenching role of Reena’s grieving mother. While each of these impressive actors helps to create depth and sensitivity surrounding the crime, there is one lesser-known actor who is stealing every scene she’s in.

Chloe Guidry appears in the series as one of the most influential figures involved in Reena’s murder. She plays Josephine ‘Jo’ Bell, a young girl who has perfected the eye-rolling insouciance so often utilized by teenagers. She is obsessed with John Gotti and the Mafia and creates a girl gang that is later directly linked to the death of Reena. Guidry is just 17 years old but has somehow already figured out how to escape the pitfalls of teenage over-acting. Her scenes are infused with vulnerability and honesty (which is so often lacking in performances by younger actors). The entire group of actors has proven to be well-cast in Under the Bridge, but Guidry is a clear stand-out as someone who is sure to create an impressive career for herself going forward.

‘Under the Bridge’ Is Chloe Guidry’s First Major Role

Guidry started acting when she was just six years old and has exactly eight other credits on her resume, including roles in Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser in 2015 and a four-episode stint on The Last Tycoon in 2016. She also appeared in a few lesser known projects, such as the horror film The Park, which is set in a dystopian amusement park where children fight for dominance, and two episodes of the Disney television series, Secrets of Sulphur Springs. Without a ton of high-profile roles, Under the Bridge creator Quinn Shephard still knew Guidry would be perfect for the role of Jo, even if the bad-girl persona she depicts is far from reality. In an interview with Indiewire, she noted, “Chloe is so incredibly commanding as a mean girl in the show, and is such a truly kind person in real life.”

The teenager somehow also knew the role would be a good fit for her skills. She told The Acadiana Advocate:

“I was out in LA when I got the audition, and I had never heard of Reena Virk’s story before, but I found right off the bat that Josephine had many layers to her and I love roles like that. I love the psychology of why people do the things that they do, and Jo was one of those deep roles that’s just more real. I love the vulnerability of it.”

Some actors would be tentative about taking on a role that requires them to play a problematic, morally-gray character. But Guidry understood the many layers of Jo’s complexities. She said, “On the outside she was very mean and wanted to be the top dog, but inside she just wanted that love and compassion that she never got. Trying to relay both messages is what pulled me into it.”

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The series starring Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone is set to premiere April 17.

Chloe Guidry Is a True Scene-Stealer in This Series

If the character had been played by other less talented actors, Jo might have come across as one-note. She’s truly horrible to Reena, acting like she wants to befriend her at one moment, while then dismissing or completely excluding her the next. She steals Reena’s mother’s family heirloom earrings in one scene, and then, horrifically, leads the charge to assault Reena on that fateful night. But Jo is also a young girl who masks her vulnerability by boasting about wanting to join Gotti’s gang and spends time trying to manipulate her friends to do whatever she asks. She’s an example of a true high school mean girl: desperate in her quest for power and control, no matter who she hurts along the way.

But Jo isn’t all grandstanding and fighting; Guidry’s subtle acting allows Jo’s emotions to show up clearly on her face, even when she’s trying to hide behind a tough-girl exterior. The audience eventually learns that the reason she’s living at the foster home where many scenes take place is because her mother’s boyfriend severely abused her, and her mother abandoned her. Jo’s effort to create a gang with her friends is an attempt to form a family that truly cares about her, and her ability to shut Reena out and humiliate her is the result of Jo’s deep pain and insecurity.

Whether Jo is dancing around singing to a Biggie song or trying to convince Keough’s character, Rebecca, to take her back to New York with her, Guidry portrays Jo with heart and honesty (and with all of the immaturity and playfulness that goes along with being a teenage girl). In recent episodes, Jo learns that her best friend, Kelly (Izzy G.) was the one responsible for Reena’s death in a twisted show of faith to Jo. The horror that crosses Guidry’s face is obvious, but like on so many occasions, Jo must stuff down her feelings in order to survive. Like Guidry observed, Jo has many layers, and like most teenagers, she behaved in ways that she would only come to regret once the consequences of her actions were more obvious. A less gifted actor would not be able to capture the nuances of Jo’s personality and her complicated behaviors, but Guidry depicts every boastful rant and show of arrogance with the undertones of a little girl who is scared for her life every single day.

Many times in films and television, the roles of teenagers are played by older actors because it can be so difficult for younger actors to truly nail a believable performance. In the case of Under the Bridge, the most heartbreaking and moving scenes are often with the younger cast members. Guidry proves that you don’t always need an Emmy or a long list of credits to effectively portray a complex and broken person. If Guidry is already capable of effectively depicting characters with this amount of depth, her future is definitely a bright one.

Under the Bridge is available to stream on Hulu.

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