Lexi Janicek began acting at a young age in Nashville, TN. She’s since taken on several roles for major networks including NBC, Nickelodeon, AppleTV+ and Amazon Studios.
Most recently she portrayed the role of Lisa Loud in Nickelodeon’s holiday movie special ‘A Loud House Christmas’. She will reprise her role as the second youngest and family genius in the upcoming TV series The Really Loud House on Nickelodeon.
You can also see Lexi in the upcoming Amazon Prime comedy ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding’ where she plays a young Kristen Bell. After that, takes on a more dramatic role in the yet to be released AppleTV+ action/ thriller series ‘Echo 3’. Both of these will premiere in November 2023.
In addition to acting, Lexi enjoys competitive gymnastics, skiing and just about any other sport thanks to the influence of her three big brothers.
Let’s find out more in Lexi’s Q&A with TWK!
All Photo Credits: Laura Janicek
Hello Lexi, great to chat with you! For those unfamiliar with you, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background outside of the world of showbiz.
Thank you so much! I am the youngest of four kids and my 3 siblings are all big brothers. One good thing about growing up with my brothers is that they’ve introduced me to lots of sports and things that I might not otherwise be interested in. I’ve always tried to keep up with them and I’ve definitely learned how to embrace sibling jokes and teasing. It’s actually a lot of fun being the youngest and the only girl in the family.
Tell us about your role in Really Loud House and what the show is about?
“The Really Loud House” is a live action show based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon, “The Loud House.” It’s a super cute and funny show about the Loud Family, who have 11 kids, but only one boy. So it’s one boy with 10 sisters! The opposite of my family, but on a bigger scale! The show revolves around our one brother, Lincoln and his best friend Clyde. The sisters, mom and dad all have very specific, fun personalities. Together the family (and Clyde) find themselves in crazy, funny situations.
My character, Lisa, is the second youngest of the kids and is the genius of the family. She is very matter of fact and loves science. She does a lot of experiments that don’t always quite work the first time. She’s definitely known for causing a few explosions. She’s a quirky, but lovable character. I love getting to be Lisa!
Why do you think people are going to love watching it?
“The Really Loud House” is a great show for the whole family to watch together. It’s a Nickelodeon show so it’s mostly geared toward kids, but parents will appreciate the wholesomeness of the show. It has great characters, funny storylines and catchy songs that will really appeal to everyone. It’s definitely a comedy, but it also has some really sweet family moments too.
What’s been the funniest moment on the Really Loud House set so far?
I know we have lots of funny moments on set because we all laugh a lot, but I can’t think of a specific story to tell! I will say that Brian Stepanek (the dad on the show) is always super funny and makes us laugh all the time. He makes the best jokes and has such funny ad libs during filming. You will love him in the show!
You also have a role in the upcoming “The People We Hate at the Wedding.” What can you tell us about that?
“The People We Hate at the Wedding” is an Amazon Prime movie and it looks hilarious. It’s rated R, so I hope my parents let me watch it! It has an amazing cast with Kristen Bell, Allison Janney and Ben Platt. I’m a huge Kristen Bell fan, so it was really cool to get to play the younger version of her character, Alice. I got to have a bit of a tantrum in the role which was really fun. I hope that part makes it into the movie! I don’t normally wear contacts, but for this role I wore blue colored contacts so my eyes would match Kristen’s. The movie will stream on Amazon Prime beginning November 18th, 2022!
And how about your role in Echo 3 starring Luke Evans?
“Echo 3” is totally different from the other two projects. It’s a military thriller starring Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman. Again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch this one, but I’ve seen a lot of war- and military-type movies, so I’m hoping! I play the younger version of Jessica Ann Collins’ character, Amber. I don’t want to give anything away, but as a child she witnesses something pretty horrible. It was definitely the most dramatic and emotional role I’ve played, but it was really cool. I was very emotionally into the scene while we’re shooting and then as soon as we cut, my mom was standing by for lots of hugs and reassurances to help me get out of that dark place.
What is your favorite part about being an actress?
There are so many things I love about being an actress. My favorite thing is getting to play different characters and play in different scenes. It’s really fun to get to be someone else for the day and live their life, but then still get to go back to being myself once the work day is over.
I also really love getting to meet new people and friends on different productions and traveling to different locations for filming. Oh- and the costumes! I love getting to see what my characters will wear. You have to tune in to “The Really Loud House” to see all of Lisa’s fun outfits throughout the series!
And your least favorite?
The hardest part about acting is being away from my family and friends while I’m filming. My mom travels with me which is great, but I do miss everyone else when I’m away. It’s funny because traveling and meeting new people are some of my favorite things about acting, but that also means I’m not with my family and friends back home. I guess I just wish I could bring everyone with me all the time!!
What has been your number one favorite moment in show biz so far?
My number one favorite moment so far has to be when my agent and manager called to tell me I booked the role of Lisa Loud in “The Loud House Christmas Movie.” That was my first big SAG role and I was so shocked and excited! We had the phone on speaker when my agent called. She said ‘Hi, can I talk to Lisa, please?’ I just looked at my mom. Neither of us knew what to say. Lexi sounds pretty similar to Lisa, so I thought maybe she had called the wrong person or used the wrong name!! I was awkwardly silent for a minute not knowing what to say. Then she said ‘I’d like to speak to LISA LOUD please!’ My mouth just dropped when I realized what she was saying and I started celebrating and jumping up and down on my bed. Such a cool, memorable moment!!
Who are your role models and inspirations?
My mom is my biggest role model. She’s with me all the time so we’re really close. I admire how she takes care of our family, runs her own photography business and does so much to help me with my acting career. She’s always there for me and we have a lot of fun together. I’ve also had some really great teachers who have inspired me. If acting doesn’t work out for me in the future, I think I’d like to be a teacher… and I definitely want to be a mom one day too!
If there was ONE thing you could change about the entertainment industry, what would it be?
I think if I could change one thing about the entertainment industry it would be that we could all get feedback on our auditions. There are obviously so many roles and actors, that agents and casting directors can’t possibly provide detailed feedback to everyone all the time, but that would be kind of amazing, right?
What advice do you have for actresses your age who want to be successful like you?
Oh thank you! I would tell other actresses to have fun and keep working at it. I’ve learned so much with every acting class and audition and little by little I’ve grown and developed. It’s just like any other activity, sport or talent you want to be good at. It takes practice, but as long as you’re having fun it’s definitely worth the time and effort!
The other thing I would say is that you just never know what role you’ll be right for. I definitely didn’t think I would be cast as Lisa Loud. I don’t look anything like her in real life! I also didn’t think I would get to play young Kristen Bell because she has blue eyes and mine are green/ hazel, so you just never know!!
If you could have one super power in real life, what would it be and why?
If I could have one super power, it would be teleportation. It would be so awesome to be able to easily get from one place to another without a car or plane and no travel time! It would be especially great to be able to teleport from filming locations, back home to see the family and then right back to set. That would be the perfect set up! Plus, I could easily pick up Chipotle for dinner- bonus!
If we asked your friends what your best quality is, what would they say?
Oh wow. I don’t know, I think my friends would say my best quality is probably that I’m a good mediator. (That seems like a Lisa thing to say, haha) But I always want everyone to get along. I think I’m good at seeing things from both sides, understanding how people are feeling and trying to smooth things over whenever I can.
Favorite snack?
My favorite snack has always been cheddar Goldfish. So good! And not messy- perfect for any situation.
Favorite holiday (and why)?
My favorite holiday is Christmas, well really the whole holiday season. We have a lot of family traditions including our Christmas morning brunch, which is one of my favorite things. It’s all of my favorite breakfast foods, my favorite people and my favorite time of year. We don’t exchange any gifts or anything until we’ve had that time together in the morning, which makes it even more fun because we’re excited for what’s coming up next too!
The other really great thing about the holidays is that we get together with some of my extended family and a lot of my cousins between Christmas and New Year’s so it’s just a long, fun season!
Tell me something people would be surprised to know about you.
I think something people would be surprised to know about me is that I’m the only actor or entertainment type person in my family. My mom never imagined that I would be an actress when I was born. The rest of my family has always been a lot more into sports, especially my brothers. I actually started out doing sports and I still love gymnastics, tennis and skiing.
Tell me ONE food you REFUSE to eat and why?
One food that I won’t eat is blue cheese. I don’t know why that stands out to me so much, but it just kind of creeps me out that it’s literally moldy cheese!
What else are you working on or have coming up next?
We’re still working on filming the first season of “The Really Loud House” right now. We’ll wrap season one in December and we’ll see what happens after that!! But you can look for new episodes of “The Really Loud House” to air weekly on Thursdays beginning November 3rd and continue through early December. We’ll have more new episodes airing starting in early 2023!