Shalita Grant on Playing the New Queen Bee of Netflix’s ‘You’: “She’s Truly All Love”

Step aside, Peach, because there’s a new queen bee on You. In the third season of Netflix’s thriller series, actress Shalita Grant plays a momfluencer named Sherry, and it sounds like her character is about to stir up some drama. After Joe and Love tie the knot and welcome a baby boy, the murderous couple take up a whole new life in the suburban town of Madre Linda, where they meet a few new neighbours who just might end up becoming their next victims.

As a big fan of the show herself, Shalita was quick to gush to POPSUGAR about how this new season plays out, including how season three will be different from past ones. “It’s watching Joe mature, weirdly,” she said. “This suburbia, it’s an exotic vacation for Joe [that he doesn’t] know anything about.” Shalita also teased that two of the central themes of this season are “community” and “relationships.”

While Joe and Love’s relationship changes over time, their relationships with Madre Linda residents play a big role in the story. “I love thinking about Sherry’s backstory and how she got to where she is and how who she is influences Love and how that influence is immediate. It [starts with] episode one. Love is like, ‘How can I be more like the queen of this community?’ Because even though Love comes from community, it’s different because she was rich and her family is who they are.”

While it’s easy to make comparisons between Sherry and season one’s Peach (Shay Mitchell), Shalita noted that they are very different queen bees. “There’s just so much more that you get to see about who Sherry is and how she’s actually different from Peach,” she said. “Because what we learn about Peach by the end of season one is that like her name, her core is hard. She’s bitter. But what you learn about Sherry is that she’s truly all love – heart-shaped mistakes – that’s really her. She’s like an egg. There’s a harder exterior but there’s a lot of love in there.” As we patiently wait to see how Sherry’s story unfolds when season three premieres on Oct. 15, read the rest of Shalita’s Last Call interview ahead.

PS: What’s the last thing you did for self-care?

SG: The last thing I did for self-care was come to Mexico a month and a half ago. My girlfriend and I – my girlfriend’s Jessica Aguilar, she’s a former MMA world champion – [we] sold my house in Los Angeles and we are currently renovating her house in Houston, TX. The month of August [in Houston is] the worst month of the year. There’s so much driving you have to do, even though you’re in a car with air conditioning, it’s still hot outside. In May, we were like, “Why not just leave Houston and go somewhere really cool for August?” Well, we found Puebla, Mexico, which is in the mountains. It’s the second highest elevation in Mexico and the month of August it doesn’t get above 79. It’s amazing. The windows are open at night.

What’s the last song you listened to?

“You So Done” by Noga Erez. I pole dance for my exercise. My thing that I do here in Mexico is I just rent a studio and I just work on my own choreography. It’s hard and it’s good exercise and it feels really good. That’s the newest song I’m working on. It is so f*cking fun.

What’s the last piece of advice you received that changed your life?

I have a business coach and he’s helping me through my pre-launch launch of Four Naturals. I struggle a lot in my company and inside with this imposter syndrome that I shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. Because I knew that I had a knowledge gap and an experience gap with having a successful company, I was like, “I need a coach. I need somebody who’s done this successfully and has the knowledge and wants to give it away.” My coach, Dave Labowitz, he works super holistically. It’s not just B to C, which is where I am with my company now, it’s business stuff and also your spirit as an entrepreneur and why you’re doing what you’re doing and how to keep going. One of the things that happens for me is that I get overwhelmed and when I get overwhelmed it’s kind of hard for me to not just focus but know what to do next so I freeze. The thing that he told me was, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

What’s the last show you binge-watched?

Well, I’m currently [watching You season three], but for my spirit I’m binging the World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. Jess and I are here in Mexico, we beat the heat, but we’re also here because we’re looking for new property. That’s what we want to do next is renovate vacation homes in Mexico. We’re starting with the one in Houston and selling that and then going to set up here. I’m watching Amazing Vacation Rentals to get ideas and keep myself inspired.

What was the last book you read?

I have so many books. I am a straight up bibliophile. I have books from when I was 10. I’m like, “This book changed my life, so I have to keep this with me.” I’ve moved so much, I had to go through my books and I found this book Taming Your Gremlin. It’s basically like a therapy book but it’s how to talk to yourself, how to manage your habits of being and thinking and feeling. [The book’s author Richard David Carson] calls them your gremlins. It’s not just a feeling, it’s a system of feelings that cause you to do what you do. Because I’m focused on building my spirit in entrepreneurship, I have to talk to myself different again. In the middle of a launch for my hair care line, in the middle of my house renovation launch, and buying new property with my partner in a different country, there are a lot of emotions that come up and a lot of habits. That book, it’s amazing. It’s a short read. It’s easy and it’s a functional book.

What was the last gift you received?

Wanda, Jess’s mum, gave us the gift of managing the house [in Houston] while we are away. She’s been letting in the contractors and the designer. We’re managing a renovation offsite. We are doing this but from a different country. That’s been a real big gift having her do that for us.

What about the last time you were starstruck?

I was at the California African American Museum and I saw Syd Tha Kyd from The Internet. She was totally cool. I actually took a picture with her and in the picture I was bugging out because I listen to her all the time. I was also bugging out because I was like, “You’re a f*cking actress. You’ve been on TV.” I was really amused with myself and she had her arm on my shoulder and I was giggling. I’m truly an introvert who has learned how to be extroverted but I have a real strong relationship with myself that I was in the middle of carrying out. I was like, “This is totally not the right time to be doing this because she feels me giggling.” I just said, “I’m giggling.” And then that made her giggle because she was feeling my shoulder bouncing up and down. It was such a great sequence of photos of she was really cool, stoic, and everything. That was my last genuine star starstruck moment.