‘Katy Keene’: Who Is Jorge/Ginger Actor Jonny Beauchamp?
Katy Keene introduced a whole new gang into the Archieverse. Katy (Lucy Hale) herself moves from Riverdale to New York to pursue fashion, along with Josie (Ashleigh Murray) pursuing music. Viewers are getting to know Katy’s new friends too, and Jorge (Jonny Beauchamp) is already a scene stealer.
Jorge is an aspiring dancer who has a hard time on the audition circuit. He gets more love when he’s Ginger. Beauchamp spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet in August about his background before landing the role of Jorge and Ginger. Katy Keene airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Jonny Beauchamp had theater and musical experiences before ‘Katy Keene’
Before Katy Keene, Beauchamp had roles in a few movies and on the series Penny Dreadful. What TV and movie audiences didn’t see was all the training Beauchamp did.
“I do train in theater,” Beauchamp said. “I have a B.A. and I’ve been singing my whole life and dancing my whole life, I just never have gotten the opportunity to do it actually on camera. So that’s been the biggest gift. Not only do I get to play this awesome role, but I actually get to sing, I get to dance and the world gets to see me.”
Jonny Beauchamp has prior experience in female performance
Ginger was not a stretch at this point in Beauchamp’s career. He playd Angelique on Penny Dreadful and he’s played women on stage many times before Katy Keene.
“I’ve gotten cast a lot as a drag queen since I was a kid actually,” Beauchamp said. “All my theater credits actually in New York off off off Broadway have always been adjacent or drag related. I’ve never been a professional drag queen but I’ve played them a lot.”
Jonny Beauchamp never told off a director like Jorge did
In the very first episode of Katy Keene, Jorge tells off a director in an audition. That comes back to haunt him in his next audition. Jorge let Beauchamp act out a common actor fantasy.
“We talk about that sometimes. I kind of wish. What do we have to lose, right? But in the moment you don’t want to burn bridges and you want to be professional and you want to be humble. I just love that I got to do that and a bit emotional actually. I mean, does it happen a lot with directors or casting? No, but there’s been a few times where you felt a little bit cast aside or people just being a little bit unkind. To kind of put it back to them and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I am good enough and if it’s not good enough for you then it’s not good enough for you.”
Jonny Beauchamp, interview with Showbiz Cheat sheet, 8/4/19
The ‘Katy Keene’ audition was easy
When Jonny Beauchamp auditioned for Katy Keene, he had a much better experience than his character.
“It was actually the easiest audition process I’ve ever had but the pressure was super on because this is me,” Beauchamp said. “I’ve never seen myself on a page before and I was relentlessly fighting for it. To me, I was like I can’t let this go.”
That goes for both Jorge and Ginger.
“I was referring to Jorge and Ginger is kind of like my spirit animal, this inner diva that just pours out with sequins,” Beauchamp said.
