‘All American’ Star Greta Onieogou Originally Auditioned For This Prominent Character in Season 1
The CW sports drama All American follows Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), an aspiring football player who dreams of making it into the NFL. In the show, actor Greta Onieogou plays Layla, a wealthy socialite at Beverly Hills High School. Although fans couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Layla, Onieogou originally auditioned for another role on the teen drama series.
What role did Greta Onieogou initially audition for in ‘All American’?
In an episode of Daniel Ezra’s podcast titled The Hangout, Greta Onieogou revealed she originally auditioned for the role of Olivia Baker. Onieogou recalls seeing Samantha Logan, who currently plays Olivia, dressed in a “grunge, emo” look on the day of auditions. Based on her interpretation of the character, Onieogou argued that she “completely missed the mark.” The actor said, “I had space buns and [had a more] eccentric look.”
Logan chimed in and said she had a different approach to the character. The 13 Reasons Why alum went for the grunge, goth look when auditioning for Olivia during the audition. To get into character, she wore heavy eye makeup, chains, and emo clothes. “At the time, Olivia was very different from how she is now. She was very goth, kind of a wallflower, very dark and angsty,” she said.
How did Greta Onieogou land the role of Layla?
During the final test audition, Logan and Onieogou went for the role of Olivia. But, All American producer Robbie Rogers suggested she audition for another character named Layla. In the podcast episode, Onieogou details the “stressful” audition process.
“At the end of that initial day, Robbie Rogers came up to me and was like ‘Hey, we’d love to see you read for this other character, [named] Layla,” the actor explained. She went on to say the character was originally from a Persian background.
Before auditioning for Olivia, Onieogou revealed that she had to buy all new clothes to fit the role of Layla. Since she flew out to LA for the audition, she only had grunge, goth clothes to wear. “I went in to read for Olivia, ran to the bathroom, changed into a ‘Layla’ outfit, and then went back [to audition],” she explained. “It was [a bit] stressful.”
In the end, Onieogou booked the role of Layla Keating on All American.
What’s next for Layla in ‘All American’ Season 4?
In season 4, Layla is recovering from the terrifying ordeal with Carrie (Anna Lore). To ensure her safety, Layla is living with the Baker family. With Coop (Bre-Z) out of the hospital, the two plan to get back into the studio and make new music together. Aside from that, Layla appears to be in a good place in life.
Many fans speculate the fourth season is setting up a romance storyline for Layla and Jordan Baker (Michael Evans Behling). After sharing a sentimental moment in the season 4 premiere, some fans are rooting for them to form a romantic bond. Now that Simone (Geffri Hightower) is going away to college, Jordan is officially single. But, there has been no indication that one romantically likes the other. So, for now, fans will have to keep watching and see what happens.
All American airs on Mondays at 8 pm E.T on The CW.
