Alice From 'The Politician' Is My New Stone Cold Inspiration

Few shows have characters with one-liners that hit you deep in the soul. Netflix's The Politician has a lot of said one-liners, mostly from Gwyneth's iconic role as Georgina Hobart mother of Payton Hobart, but also several from Payton's girlfriend in the show, Alice Charles. Alice is played by TV newbie Julia Schlaepfer, my new hero and inspiration for getting where I need to in life.

If you didn't spend a major chunk of your weekend binging The Politician, then what did you even do, really? I mean, I knew Ryan Murphy's new show was getting lots of hype, but wow. It's amazing in every sense of the word. The fashion, the language, the almost-too-real perspective that makes you second-guess everything you know. In a time where television is getting better by the season, this show is so good, it's almost too good.

If you haven't seen the show yet, here's what you need to know: Payton Hobart (played by Ben Platt) attends Saint Sebastian HS in Santa Barbara, where he plans to win the school's election and head to Harvard before becoming President of The United States. That's it. Those are the only options. Payton is joined by his political advisors James Sullivan, (Theo Germaine) McAfee Westbrook, (Laurie Dryffus) and Alice.

When the series starts, River (hottie David Corenswet) is running against Payton, until he commits suicide and the race gets out of control. River's girlfriend Astrid Stone (Lucy Boynton) decides she is going to run with the first female ticket in the school's history, and honestly, you just need to watch it because it's so good I don't want to spoil it for you! All I'll divulge is that when we are reunited with Alice three years after the election, she is more badass than when she started.

“I love you. Unconditionally. You are the front man of my favorite rock band, you are the star of my favorite movie, you are my king of kings." These are the words Alice says to Payton while on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and they really set the tone for who Alice is: a stone cold, loyal fox who knows just what to say to get what she wants. It was in that exact moment that I knew I had to know more about the actress behind this Hillary-meets-Jackie-Onassis amazingness.

This is the first major role for the actress from Lake Washington, but you may have seen her in guest roles in Madam Secretary in 2017 or Instinct or film Charlie Says in 2018. She's obviously already confirmed for the second season of The Politician, but all other roles are currently TBD which makes her one to watch for sure.

In the meantime, I dug deep to get us a little background on Julia and you're going to want to see more of her. For starters, she's a fan of skiing and loves Colorado. She is also a blue-eyed Taurus and her birthday is on March 3. Julia used to be a ballerina with Pacific Northwest Ballet until an injury in high school, and credits her drama teacher for getting her into acting. “I went to Lakeside High School and (drama teacher) Alban Dennis is my angel,” she said. “He got me into acting and I wouldn’t be here without him.” Other than that I can share she's a big fan of Halloween and did a spot-on costume of Vivian in Pretty Woman.

What we do know for sure is that Alice a stone cold bitch with ice water in her veins. As for what comes next for the actress, Julia lives in NYC and has been open about her aspirations to win a Tony award. I'm ready for more, Julia, I'm ready!

You can stream The Politician on Netflix now.

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