Dianna Agron Knows Exactly What She Likes
After more than a decade in the spotlight, the former Glee actress has a slew of exciting new roles—and a whole new take on her personal style.
Ryan Murphy’s campy, high school musical dramedy Glee permanently altered the face of pop culture when it first aired on Fox in 2009. As Quinn Fabray, the blonde head cheerleader with a husky contralto singing voice, Dianna Agron turned a character that could have been a one-dimensional mean girl into a sympathetic, layered human being—and left a lasting impression on a generation of television viewers.
At 37, Agron is stepping into the spotlight again—not that she ever left. She’s had a successful string of acting roles in recent years, starting with 2020’s cult favorite, Shiva Baby, which sparked a wave of creativity for Agron and simultaneously introduced her to a whole new audience. Thanks to Glee clips on TikTok and the series’ current streaming status on Hulu, viewers are either discovering her or falling in love with her all over again.
But the actress’s current CV extends far beyond the realm of nostalgia. In Hulu’s new psychological thriller Clock, directed by Alexis Jacknow, Agron plays a Jewish woman pressured by everyone around her to kickstart her nonexistent biological clock (Agron is Jewish herself, and having been in the public eye for her entire adult life, the actress understands the strain). There’s also Acidman, in which Agron plays a woman trying to reconnect with her estranged father (Thomas Haden Church) as his mental health declines. Agron, who was a producer on the project, was able to tap into her past for the film—as a teenager, she watched her own father’s health deteriorate after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and suffered a stroke. This summer, The Chosen One (El Elegido), a Netflix adaptation of the graphic-novel trilogy American Jesus, will debut, with Agron opposite Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Tenoch Huerta. Between shooting projects and enjoying an intimate singing residency at Café Carlyle in New York City, which she calls home, Agron sat down with W to discuss her personal sense of style and the impact of Glee’s legacy.
How are you choosing roles these days?
Shiva Baby was just before the pandemic. The first projects I made after that were Acidman, immediately followed by As They Made Us. The grounded family drama was not an arena I had entered in that way; the jump from that place to what I made last year, between Alexis’s film Clock and Eduardo’s show El Elegido, I couldn’t have anticipated those moves. With Clock, I thought, If I’m going to try something that sits in a psychological thriller/horror genre, why not have that be related to women’s issues and fertility—things I had already experienced by way of people’s ideas about how and when you should be having children? It’s something I really could understand.
What about those themes really struck you?
We were filming in Austin, Texas right when the opinion paper had been leaked. Then when Alexis was filming the cold open a few months later, it was when Roe had been overturned. It was very sad to be on set to receive that information. In some ways, I couldn’t have imagined we’d be here. Then I remember a decade ago, women a few decades older than myself had said, always be watchful. This is always going to be something that’s contested. That’s something we were feeling when we were making this film.
Shiva Baby introduced you to a younger audience, who have also been rediscovering Glee. What’s that been like?
With Shiva Baby, I had a strong sense that if people were to come across it and watch it, they would feel tethered to the film. That proved to be very true. It truly is one of the most watched things I’ve been in, and especially because it’s an indie film, it’s not a given that you're going to have as many eyeballs on a project.
Because Glee is now on Netflix, it has these cycles. For example, the young people that were working on El Elegido, all of them about 13 to 15 years old, didn’t know me prior to filming. They started watching Glee, and Bobby, who plays my son, was like, wait a second! You sing, you dance, you act, you were this character and you were pregnant. Because I look so different now than I did then, he couldn’t quite believe it.
We’re in reboot-mania. Would you ever participate in any Glee-related projects?
You never know what’s going to present itself. In the entirety of my career, I’ve always stayed open. I never, ever thought I would return to TV and do a series that was predominantly in Spanish—you never know what’s around the corner.
Who’s your ultimate style icon?
Katharine Hepburn for sure, Diane Keaton for sure. And my friend Jane Wenner is a huge style inspiration for me. Miuccia Prada—she’s incredible.
Biggest fashion regret?
There are plenty of photos I look at from the first decade of my career where I think, wow, what an interesting hair color. What an interesting assemblage of pieces. But it’s also endearing. I mean, I walked out of the door with confidence.
What’s your daily uniform?
Oftentimes, I feel most comfortable in a suit. While I always admired women who wore a lot of suiting—like Katharine Hepburn and Diane Keaton—it never was something that I incorporated into my wardrobe until the last couple of years. But it’s an easy go-to that I know will make me feel like myself. While there are exceptions to every stylistic choice, I would rather you see me as I am in my presence more than notice an article of clothing I’m wearing.
You’ve got Prada loafers on right now; do you tend to favor a flat shoe?
I definitely like a flat shoe, because I love to dance. After so many years of wearing heels, I would never want to be inhibited by the shoe I’m wearing.
Do you remember your early experiences at fashion shows?
The first time I went to a fashion show in Paris was Marc Jacobs’s last show for Louis Vuitton. It was the show where a train appeared, and all the women and the porters came off of the train. It was so magnificent, otherworldly—I could hardly believe what I was seeing, or the fact that I had been flown there to participate. It was too much for my brain to handle.
Back in 2015, you directed a video for Tory Burch. Are you still interested in working with fashion houses in that capacity, as a creator?
Absolutely. I definitely am moving toward directing in a long-form way, but short form is so fun and a great way to tell stories, especially as it relates to clothes or music. People still have a big appetite for digesting small pieces in that way.
Hair by Xavier Velasquez; makeup by Samantha Lau.
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