Hana Mae Lee Interview: Fashion, horror and Freddy Krueger

The Babysitter: Killer Queen begins streaming on Netflix today, with most of the original cast intact. We had the chance to chat with Hana Mae Lee before the premiere.

You probably recognize Hana from either 2017’s The Babysitter (as the murderous Sonya), or as the quiet talking Lilly in the Pitch Perfect films. But, as it turns out, Hana is much more than just a talented performer who can be funny or act like a psycho.

1428 Elm had the opportunity to chat with the actress a few days before the premiere of The Babysitter: Killer Queen.

1428 Elm:  It’s a pleasure to talk to you, Hana. Obviously, I know you from both Pitch Perfect and The Babysitter, but your biography online lists you as an actress/model/comedian/fashion designer, that’s pretty impressive! How did you go from fashion designer to actress?

Hana Mae Lee: Well, I always wanted to be in the entertainment business, and my mom has a whole history in the fashion industry and she does well, so it just sounded like a way to make money in the arts world. So that’s kind of what happened there, but I always loved the arts, and while I was in art college, I got into commercials and print during the summertime, because they don’t allow any absences or you fail.

So in the summertime, I booked a few commercials and music videos and I fell in love with the entertainment business, and it was a lot less grueling than fashion design. Now, with the pandemic, everything’s so crazy and different, but back then, it was like: fashion will always be there, and acting won’t because of the age thing.

1428 Elm: And it’s riskier, right?

Hana Mae Lee: Yeah, it is risky, but you know, when you’re young, you’re a little bit stupid (laughs). You’re more adventurous when you’re younger, at least when I was younger, I was like: I can do anything.

Now, as I’m getting older, I’m more like: I’ll just stick with what I’m good at. So, it kind of happened that way, and then I was like, if it’s not gonna work out, I’ll just go back into fashion, and I just haven’t really done that.

I really love it, and now I’m going to direct my first feature, we’re in pre-production right now. It’s been fun, there’s so many things to explore in the entertainment world right now.

1428 Elm: Well, let’s start with Pitch Perfect. You pretty much stole every scene you were in. I think everybody I know that saw that movie watched it multiple times just to decipher what Lilly was saying.

Hana Mae Lee: (Laughs) Yeah, it was so quiet, right?

1428 Elm: But, you were hilarious! Was the role originally written like that, or were you able to do a bit of improvisation with it?

Hana Mae Lee: It’s funny, because when I got the sides, the print whenever Lilly would speak would be in small font. It’s funny, because as the reader, you’re like, that’s hilarious!

I would improv a few lines here and there, but a lot of it was from the script, and I was like, how do I make this really play well? Are people gonna love this, or are people gonna think this is just f***ing weird? I had no idea, but I loved the close up on my face, ’cause then you think you can hear better, but you can’t.

1428 Elm: Well, it was funny, you did a great job with it.

Hana Mae Lee: Thank you so much.