14
The star ofA League of Their Ownrecalls her obsessive grunge phase.
DArcy Carden was straddling two different worlds at 14.
She was a certified grunge girl with photos of Eddie Vedder plastered over her bedroom wall.
She cried so hard on the day Kurt Cobain died she almost couldn’t play in her basketball game.
I was trying to figure out who I was between sports and music and theater, Carden tells Bustle.
Fourteen was one year but two separate lives.
But for Carden, the summer of 1994 the months between middle school and high school changed everything.
I was making out and doing drugs, she says.
High school brought the joys of parties and homemade bongs crafted out of fruit.
It was one of the biggest changes I ever went through.
When I first read the script, I just sort of idolized Greta.
She leaned on Jacobson,the shows creator and star, for support.
The cast spent months playing baseball together before the cameras began rolling.
We became an actual baseball team first, and the show was the secondary thing.
They giggled their way through night shoots; that joy is transparent on screen.
Take me back to 1994, when you were 14.
How was your life going?
My 14-year-old, 8th-grade life and my 14-year-old, 9th-grade life are completely different times in my life.
Lets start with 8th grade.
What were you up to as you were finishing junior high?
I was obsessed with a few things, as all junior high students are.
I had joined an outside-of-school theater company that year that completely took over my social life.
I remember wishing my family would move to Seattle.
I remember being like, Thats where it is, man.
I dont think I would have survived it.
We were dressing like boy skaters and identified as grunge girls.
What about grunge spoke to your 14-year-old heart?
Then I remember seeing the video or a picture of [Nirvana] and thinking, HUH, WHAT?
It was so new and young, and it was like they were singing to me.
Eddie Vedder was singing to me.
Stop talking about them.
How did theater shape you at 14?
I always loved to do things on stage.
I was the first one to jump up to be on any stage, as pathetic as that sounds.
So acting was always the goal?
As a grounded individual, I know that is not a smart move.
What happened during the summer between 8th and 9th grades that changed you so much?
Junior high was a pretty sweet time in my life.
I had a lot of great friends; I was doing theater and playing a bunch of sports.
I loved my teachers.
I remember not having any enemies in junior high.
Junior high can be tough, but in general, junior high was innocent and sweet.
Until my small group of very best friends was like, Hmmm, should we try a cigarette?
Or should we hollow out this apple and attempt to smoke weed out of it?
When you started high school, were you nervous?
Although, I kept trying to smoke cigarettes, and every time, I would throw up.
I clearly was absolutely allergic to it and could not hang.
What was a typical fun night for you at 14?
What do you think your 14-year-old self would think of you now?
The cheesy truth is I am doing exactly what 14-year-old DArcy would have wanted to be doing.
I know that is a bold statement because there are ups and downs and good days and bad days.
The 14-year-old me wanted to be an actress and loved getting to do comedy and be funny on stage.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
