For Camryn Jones, Paper Girls is more than nostalgic. The sci-fi drama series, which premieres on Amazon Prime Video on July 29, stars Jones as Tiffany Quilkin, one of four newspaper delivery girls who, unbeknownst to them, travel to the future, where they meet older versions of themselves as they try to find their way back home all the while running from a mysterious force set on hunting them down.
The show—which is based on Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang’s popular comic book series of the same name—flashes back and forth between the 1980s and 2019, a device that allowed the series to explore themes not often seen in ‘80s-set shows. “I liked how it touched on racism, sexism, homophobia,” Jones, who plays one of several Black characters, tells StyleCaster. “I liked how it didn’t glorify the ‘80s. I liked how it didn’t make it just seem nostalgic. It was a genuine, authentic representation.”
For Jones, the representation and diversity in Paper Girls was one of the main reasons she was drawn to the show. “Representation is a big thing to me. It’s what originally got me into acting. Seeing people on screen that looked like me, it gave me that, ‘Wow, this isn’t just for white people. This isn’t just for people who don’t look like me. This is something I can do,’” she says. “That’s why I felt so connected to Tiff. I think she’s going to be representation for a lot of people. Race plays a big part because there was a lot of racism going on in the ‘80s. Plus, it gives Erin and Tiff that bond because they’re both discriminated against. It just affects how they had to grow up in that time period and how they carry themselves due to the hatred they got.”
“I liked how ‘Paper Girls’ didn’t glorify the ‘80s. I liked how it didn’t make it just seem nostalgic.”
While they grew up in different decades, Jones related to the discrimination Tiffany faced and how it shaped her into who she is. “They discriminate against you because of the color of your skin because they see you as not intelligent or they see you can’t be in a position of power. You can’t amount to anything is what is assumed,” she says. “Tiff felt that and I felt that because I’ve been told I can’t win this award because I am Black. I’ve been told, ‘There’s no way you’re going to pass high school.’ There’s stuff like that has been said and I feel like Tiff had that ‘I’m going to prove you wrong’ mentality.”
Still, despite the specific themes of the show, Jones believes that the characters of Paper Girls can relate to anyone, no matter their identity. “Everyone can find a piece of themselves in this show, honestly,” she says. “No matter who you are, what you do, you can relate to this show and at least one of the characters.”
Ahead, Jones talked to StyleCaster about how she was cast in Paper Girls, the advice Ali Wong (who plays the older version of paper girl Erin) told the cast, and the question she would ask her future self.
Image: Irvin Rivera.
On how she was cast in Paper Girls
“My agent and my manager sent me the audition. I fell in love with it as soon as I read the blurb for Tiff and the blurb for the show. I enjoyed there was representation in this show and the amount of diversity, and the amount of female representation was really cool to me. I read it and I was like, ‘Wow, this is something I need to be a part of.’ I had the audition and then I had the callback, and before I was about to test, I bought the first book of the comics. Read it, loved it, really got into Tiff. I tested and then they told me I got it! After I got it, I bought the rest of the books, and here we are!”
Everyone can find a piece of themselves in this show.
On how she relates to Tiffany
“Me and Tiff are similar because we always want to know more and we have some of the same struggles because of the color of our skin. I would say that was the automatic way we understand each other. We’re different in that Tiff is an only child and I grew up with two sisters. She’ll never understand the crazy dynamic of sharing a bathroom and the running across the house to go into the other sister’s room to steal her stuff back. She turned to technology because she doesn’t have a lot of friends because she doesn’t have a lot of siblings.”
On if she could play another character in Paper Girls
“That’s hard! I would probably say Prioress. I think Prioress is really cool. She’s a baddie. Period. The way Adina Porter plays it, she has this vulnerability that makes you relate to her. If it wasn’t Prioress, I would go with Mac. Cause I just really like Mac.”
Image: Irvin Rivera.
On the advice Ali Wong gave her
“She was so funny. One of her first days on set, in the middle of a scene, she started ad-libbing and we didn’t expect it at all. We had to try not to laugh. She was making jokes. She also gave us a lot of really great advice to apply to our careers. She would say, ‘Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and to ask for what you want. Speak up for yourself.’ That’s going to stick with me for the rest of my life.”
On how Ali Wong fact-checked the show’s ‘80s references
“It was just, ‘This was not here.’ Or she’d be like, ‘I didn’t use that!’ She would do little jokes like that.”
On the surprising thing she learned about the ‘80s
“That kids were actually going out at four in the morning to deliver papers in strange neighborhoods. That and the labels on all the foods and all the wrappers.”
On what she would ask her future self
“One, I would test them to know if it was me. But if I knew it was me, I would say, ‘Are we happy?’ I feel like that’s just a base question. And then I would go into what stocks do I invest in when I go back so we’re rich now. I know people always say to live in the present, but I would want to go see my future self. I’d want to ask her questions and gauge, ‘OK. Do I want to end up like this?’”
Paper Girls is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. Here’s how to watch it.
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