Revenge

Before she embodied Charlotte Grayson, Christa B. Allen was best known for playing the young Jennifer Garner in both  13 Going on 30 and Ghosts of Christmas Past, or a damsel in distress on various TV procedurals where death is always imminent.

Well, Christa is in distress no more — if you don’t consider possibly ending up in the crosshairs of revenge-driven Amanda Clarke on ABC's Revenge a threat.

In an exclusive interview with Wetpaint Entertainment, the 20-year-old actress talked about her character, Charlotte Grayson, and why she loves her most recent job.

"Every role that I've played up until now has been the sweet girl or the girl next door or the victim that something bad happens to,” she says.

“I guess that Charlotte has some interesting things happen to her too, but she's a very strong young woman and headstrong and capable. It's exciting for me to get to play a strong character like that.”

For Christa, being a regular on a TV series has been like entering different world, but one that she’s been happy to throw herself into. 

“Oh my God, that whole work schedule is different for me,” she tells us.

“The fact that it's week after week for several months out of the year is amazing. It kind of consumes your life, and I love it. I couldn't be more excited about it.”

While Christa admits her character is a good girl at her core, what she likes most is exploring Charlotte's shades of gray.

“We've seen her do some shady things,” says Christa. “She slept over at a boy's house without permission. She's always around her mean girl posse. Not to say that she is one of the mean girls, but [she] associates herself with that kind of crowd and takes on that persona of the popular girl. You know, Grayson royalty.”

But it’s clear that it’s not her girlfriends that she can rely on in the wake of recent news, that she is not, in fact, a true Grayson. Now the question is whether or not Declan Porter (Connor Paolo) will be able to step up the plate for his lady.

"Declan’s the only relatively sane person in her life, so naturally, she starts to lean on him,” she teases of what’s to come.  

"And it's going to depend on how Declan responds, and how he handles that responsibility. Is he enough of a man yet to take care of this young woman in his life?”