Lilan Bowden Disney's Andi Mack Interview

Astounding Actress by Day and Sketch Comic by Night

Astounding actress by day and sketch comic by night, Lilan Bowden stars as the free-spirited 'Bex Mack' in Disney's award-winning, coming-of-age series "Andi Mack" which has since garnered a Peabody Award nomination and a GLAAD Awards win. The first of its kind on the Disney Channel, the show ventures through unchartered waters as it features a gay middle school boy, Cyrus Goodman, and Andi Mack who try to navigate their very interesting middle school lives. Bex (Bowden) returns home to her younger sister Andi's 13th birthday in order to get her life together, only to later reveal that she is not Andi's sister, but her mother!

Born and raised in San Leandro, California, Bowden came into acting at only 10 years old. Not only was she doing school plays from middle school and throughout her high school years, she was even able to graduate early at just 16 years old. While attending UC Irvine, Bowden decided to focus on her true passions: improv and activism. She joined the university's improv group Live Nude People* with Clothes On and became a founding member of CALPIRG (California Public Interest Research Group) students' rights movement. After being offered a job at CALPIRG upon graduation, Bowden turned down the job to move to Los Angeles and pursue acting full time booking roles on NBC's "Parks & Recreation," TBS' "Conan" and ABC's "Suburgatory," just to a name a few.

When she's not busy on set, Bowden spends her time as half of the comedy duo "Lilan and Wilder," where she and her best friend Wilder Smith perform sketch comedy at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, The Pack Theater, Meltdown Comics, and various festivals around America. Still a passionate advocate for so many different causes, she splits her free time between supporting local human rights campaigns and LGBTQ+ organizations, and reading about social psychology.

Interview with Lilan Bowden

Question: Can you describe Andi Mack, to us?

Lilan Bowden: Andi Mack is a coming-of-age show about a 13 year old girl who has a seemingly "normal" life, but then finds out the person she thought was her older sister, is actually her mother.

Question: How can you relate to your character of Bex Mack?

Lilan Bowden: Bex is wild and fun, and uses sarcasm and humor to deflect uncomfortable situations. I don't think I'm as effortlessly cool as Bex, but we're both people who are learning to "grow up," and improve upon our flaws, and I feel like those are things we definitely both have in common.


Question: What's it like on set of Andi Mack?

Lilan Bowden: It's lighthearted and fun. The whole cast, the crew, we all feel like friends. We all work hard, but over three seasons now, we've developed so many jokes and traditions that are specific to the set of Andi Mack.

Question: Why is participating in modern coming-of-age shows, like Andi Mack, so important for you?

Lilan Bowden: I mean, I feel like any actor is just happy to have a job. But a job like this, where you can make a difference in lives by the stories you're telling, that's so valuable. The media we watch affects us, whether we are aware of it or not. So I always want to be a part of telling the stories that help us connect to each other.


Question: Who originally inspired you to begin acting?

Lilan Bowden: I can't say. My parents studied programming and work with computers. I liked computers too, but acting was something I knew I always wanted to do from a very young age.


Question: Can you tell us about Lilan and Wilder?

Lilan Bowden: Lilan and Wilder is the simple name of the two person comedy duo of me and my best friend Wilder Smith! We met in college doing improv and before we were getting paying acting jobs, we were writing our own comedy sketches together and filming them by ourselves. We still will film fun videos (you can see them on our YouTube channel or on Funny Or Die) and do live shows. I don't think we'll ever stop.


Question: Currently, what's a typical day like, for you?

Lilan Bowden: Well the season's wrapped now so I'm enjoying my vacation time! A typical day right now is pretty a-typical- Yesterday I went to a friend's wedding in LA. The day before I was in Nevada snowboarding with my aunt and uncle. Before that I was having Christmas dinners at my aunt's and then at a fire station with my parents and little brother (who just became a fire firefighter). Before that I was in LA doing improv shows. I have no idea what I'm doing today.

Question: What's next, for you?

Lilan Bowden: I'm planning on making more content with Lilan and Wilder and you can catch me around the live comedy scene in LA.


Question: Where can we find you, on social media?

Lilan Bowden: I'm @yourfriendlilan! On Twitter and Instagram. Instagram I'm on the most. Twitter I just pop in and out.


Interview by Brooke Hunter
Image credit: Eric Schwabel