Scarlett Estevez

Scarlett Estevez

on auditions, growing up on screen, and what’s next

Scarlett Estevez has been acting since she was four years old, which means she has more professional experience than most people twice her age — and she just turned eighteen. She played Trixie on Lucifer for the larger part of a decade, bought the rights to her favorite book sometime in between, and is currently auditioning, considering a move to New York, and figuring out the rest as it comes. Talking to her felt like catching someone right at the edge of something — all that foundation behind her, and every path still completely open. Thank you to Scarlett for being open with us. We can't wait to see what comes next. — Cariann, 2026 ◇

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Cariann Bradley: Maybe you could tell me a little bit about what you're working on right now and what's present for you. Are you working on any projects right now?

Scarlett Estevez: I'm auditioning right now. It's kind of tricky because I just turned eighteen—and so that's like a whole weird thing on its own—before I couldn’t go out for certain roles and now that I am eighteen, you realize people who are playing fifteen on TV shows are actually twenty-five. So it's a complicated place to be in. Also, there's a book that I bought the rights to that I've been trying to develop into a project for a while, but that also takes forever.

Cariann: Wait, are you allowed to tell me what that is?

Scarlett: It's called One for the Murphy's. It's this book that I read when I was in elementary school, in like fifth grade, and I'm a terrible reader, and it was like the first book ever that I fell in love with and I couldn't put it down. So, I was like, this would be really cool to turn into something. 

Cariann: That's awesome. What did you like about the book? What's it about?

Scarlett: It's about the foster care system and one girl, Carley. I personally am a very big people pleaser and I think that's from growing up in the business. It's kind of what I've become. I've learned to be very polite and just always be ready. [Carley] is not that. She doesn't care what people think about her and she's struggling to feel loved because she's afraid to feel loved. She pushes everyone away because she thinks that they have a reason to not love her. She's really interesting to read about. I am fascinated with the way that she interacts with people because it's so unlike myself. So yeah, I was like, “How do you do that?” It's so crazy. 

Cariann: Yeah, that's really interesting. I did want to ask you, since you've been in the industry for so long, how early did you start acting?

Scarlett: I started when I was four and now I'm eighteen. Crazy!

Cariann: Was there a point for you as you were growing up where you had to stop acting like yourself and actually be like, okay, I need to pretend to be a character? Because when you're a kid, are you just kind of being yourself and saying different lines? What was that like?

Scarlett: Yes! I remember my first table read, I had no idea what was going on. It was for Daddy's Home, the first big movie I ever did, and I was six years old and I couldn't read yet. So, I was there with my mom and she literally would be like, "Okay, your next line is," and she would say it to me and I'd have to go after that. It was an age where you get an awareness of things like, "Oh my god, I'm playing pretend and actually working right now." That was a fun time. 

Cariann: Yeah. When I was a kid, no one was really perceiving me except myself. I guess probably too much, because I was really hard on myself as a kid. I, as an artist now [and] about to turn thirty-one—I'm a writer and I try to create art and do this stuff. And something that I've struggled with recently is that criticism feels so difficult for me which—it's almost ridiculous ‘cause it's like, okay you're thirty, like, get over it, take the criticism. But when something is so close to you and it feels like an extension of yourself, it almost feels like, okay, well if you're criticizing this then you must think I'm trash. Like, you must hate me too. Like, I must be awful. I'm wondering, being a kid actor, how do you separate that and treat it as a job rather than, oh, you must not like how I'm carrying myself in this scene or… you know what I mean?

Scarlett: Yeah. It's weird, too, because, in my everyday life when I'm not working, I'm very aware of what I'm doing and how people react to stories I tell. I'm just very aware. For some reason, when I'm acting, it's like a switch where my brain is just able to completely be. I'm just being, it sounds weird, but like a vessel, I guess, of this different person that is in myself and I'm going to try to do justice to tell their story. So, then it becomes less about me and more about, how do I convey this story for this person in the best way? If people want to help me with that, I'm like, “Great. What do you see that I'm not seeing about this person?”

Cariann: That's a really mature way of thinking and you do it so young. Was it based on advice you got or maybe the way your parents presented the work to you?

Scarlett: I don't really know what it was… I don't know if it's from watching other films and seeing other people do great work and just being like, “I want to be able to do the character justice like they did.”. 

Cariann: Oh yeah, most definitely. I mean, I think it's a really selfless way of approaching work when you're able to not take it personally in order to do a story justice. That's powerful.

Scarlett: Thank you.

“I'm just being, it sounds weird, but like a vessel, I guess, of this different person that is in myself and I'm going to try to do justice to tell their story.”

Cariann: And so you said you just turned eighteen. At what point do you feel like you started having agency over where you wanted to go in your career? Like, is that a pretty recent thing?

Scarlett: Yeah, I think so. You can become legal before you're actually eighteen if you take a proficiency test. Taking the test, I would be high school proficient, I would be technically done with high school if I wanted to be, and so I had to make the decision of do I want to stay in high school even though I believe it's holding me back? The only reason I'd be staying was to experience it a little more. But I had already gotten experience from high school that I felt like did it justice. So, I left high school—I graduated early sophomore year. So that was sort of a turning point. I started getting into acting classes and just really focusing on this is what I'm going to do. This is my job. Let's get going.

Cariann: Yeah. And it really was your decision to do that!

Scarlett: Yeah. My mom was like, "Are you sure you want to leave now?" And I was like, "Yeah, I'm so done." I was in chemistry class and I hated it. That was kind of my breaking point. [Laughs]

Cariann: That was your moment. I feel that. That's so interesting. I also really haven't gotten to talk to many actors about the audition process. So, I was kind of hoping going into this that you were  doing a bunch of auditions right now. I'm so fascinated because it's almost like a bunch of job applications. How would you describe how many you do and what that looks like? 

Scarlett: Yeah. It comes in waves and I also feel like they find a way to do it whenever something's happening in your life—whenever the most inconvenient time for you to have an audition is when you get like five. You'll have nothing for a month and then you'll have something planned and then it's like, “No, just kidding!” But yeah, auditions are fun ‘cause you get the character description and you're like okay, this is who this person is and get dressed based on [what you think] this person would wear. The way that you can interpret the few words that they give you to describe the character could be so different, which is always why it's so interesting. I used to love when auditions were in-person because I could feel the energy of the room and get notes in the actual appointment. But now, with everything over Zoom, you'll not hear from something for a month and you'll be like, "Okay, they must have not liked my audition ‘cause I never heard back from them." And they're like, "Oh, no, no, we've just been playing your same audition to all these different people. You just haven't known." It has completely changed from when I was younger. I miss in-person auditions, but self tapes are good too because I can pick my best one and make sure I get good work in. But yeah, you win some, you lose some. 

Cariann: Do you get attached to certain characters you get for auditions and then just have to let them go?

Scarlett: Yes, it's actually really bad! I had to talk to my acting teacher about it, because every single time—if they send the full script of either the pilot episode or the full movie, I read it all and then I have dreams about certain scenes. I'm like, "Oh my god, this would be so fun." It's really hard to not get attached ‘cause I want to do this so bad. Especially when it's set in a cool place and stuff like that. It's really hard. 

Cariann: Yeah. Because it's written. It's this whole vignette of a life that you're like, I could do it.

Scarlett: Yeah.

Cariann: I can't really imagine. And if you're auditioning and you're really putting yourself in that person's shoes, it's hard to let go of because you're creating a relationship with the character.

Scarlett: Totally. Then you're just like okay and that's it, it’s gone now. It's like never gonna… [Laughs]

Cariann: Send it over the invisible internet and bye bye, I guess. [Laughs]

Scarlett: Yeah, it's so interesting, too, to then watch something that you didn't get and see how the other person did it and be like, "Oh, that makes sense."

Cariann: But also, I would have really loved to do it, too!

Scarlett: Yeah, exactly. [Laughs]

Cariann: Yeah. I think about that in characters that I write and even [the] stories that I've abandoned and put on the shelf. Sometimes I think about those characters and I feel sad because I'm like… they're half done! I think it's as much writing to act in a role as writing it as well.

Scarlett: Yeah!

Cariann: And you bought the rights to that book, do you want to write or direct in the future?

Scarlett: I don't know. Directing it would be really cool, but also you're just completely in charge, which is crazy, but I would be able to produce and act in the film if it gets done. That would be really cool to be a little bit more a part of the creative process.

Cariann: Yeah, that's cool! Do you have any producers that you really look up to that you love their work?

Scarlett: We have one producer attached, she's done the Kissing Booth movies, which is really fun. The team that we have has done the process a lot. So, I’m like, "Teach me your ways. I know nothing." [Laughs] And just see all that they have to say about all of the steps we are going through. I love being on this different side of the business and am learning so much.

Cariann: Just be like a sponge.

Scarlett: Yeah.

Cariann:  I had a conversation with an actress yesterday who just had her first lead role, she had never done a leading role before, and it was also just so fascinating to talk to her because she approached it the same way. Like it's just, no matter what age you are, if you're just doing something new, that's the mindset you have to take into it and just be like, "Here I am. I hope it goes well." [Laughs]

Scarlett: Yeah. It's crazy.

Cariann: What roles are you enjoying auditioning for? What is your kind of ideal next project?

Scarlett: I've been really enjoying complicated characters, if that makes sense. Like people who are going through a lot or horror has been really interesting recently ‘cause I've never done horror. It'd be so fun to have a really big challenge that would freak me out or I'd be like, "Oh my god, can I even do this?" That would be really exciting to do next. Horror especially has been super cool recently. I used to be so scared of horror movies, too. I could never watch them, and finally, I'm at a point where I might not have a nightmare if I watch the movie. [Laughs] So, it would be cool to see the behind the scenes and figure it all out.

Cariann: Would probably make it less scary watching. I've always loved horror movies and horror projects and recently, I've really enjoyed watching horror a lot more because I think I've realized that using the horror genre as a metaphor for things that are scary but don't seem scary in life—like othering and disconnection between people—but then making it this really jump scare kind of horror is super fascinating to me.

Scarlett: It's so cool. I feel like it gets into a lot of deep stuff and psychological thrillers, too. Those are awesome.

Cariann: Yeah, those are really good. I just watched this show called Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.

Scarlett: Oh my god, I literally binged it all in one day! I stayed up until one in the morning and finished the whole show. 

Cariann: Did you like it?

Scarlett: Yes, I loved it. 

Cariann: I loved it, too. I loved that it was also a metaphor for marriage and connection and a dialogue on who you really trust and believe that you trust.

Scarlett: Yeah, totally. 

Cariann: And the way it was shot was just beautiful as well.

Scarlett: Yeah, it was so cool. I really enjoyed it. And I like that I kept thinking that I knew what was going to go on and then every time I'd be like, "Oh my god, it's completely different."

Cariann: That's what I thought too. It was a completely different show for the first half.

Scarlett: Yeah!

Cariann: And then the second half of the show was just a completely different story almost. Which I really liked. The filmmakers or the writers who made that also did the show Brand New Cherry Flavor.

Scarlett: I didn't see that one.

Cariann: That one was—it was weird, but it was good. I really like their vibe. Because I think in Brand New Cherry Flavor, it kind of explored sexual assault and things like that from a scary almost slapstick… It came out a while ago, so I could be wrong, but yeah, I really liked Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.

Scarlett: Yeah.

Cariann: Do you have any other recent horror projects that you like?

Scarlett: I just watched The Drama which, I guess it's horror, but was really cool too. That’s another one that had a whole metaphor. Did you see that?

Cariann: I didn't see it, Kass saw it, but I've heard it's good. I was kind of scared to go see it because…

Scarlett: I didn't realize what the whole thing was going to be and I have a very big fear of movie theaters. So that wasn't a great combo, but the movie itself was really good.

Cariann: Yeah. I do want to see it because the idea of thought crimes is really fascinating to me. Like even if you didn't do something but you just thought about it, is that wrong or is that human? I find that really interesting and yeah, I definitely want to see it.

Scarlett: Yeah, it was really cool. I was a little uncomfortable the whole time but I was also laughing at some points which was super interesting. So yeah, it was good. 

Cariann: Yeah, we were talking about that recently. Did you see the movie Die, My Love?

Scarlett: Yes! Yes, I saw Die, My Love.

Cariann: We interviewed Debs Howard, who had a role in that, and we talked about how, you know, there was all this discourse online about how people were walking out of the theater because it made them so uncomfortable. But like really, isn't that what art is supposed to do sometimes is make you uncomfortable?

Scarlett: Yeah, totally. I feel like it's cool to be not sure if you're feeling the right emotion, because you're like is this wrong? That's just super cool to be like what is going on inside my body right now?

Cariann: Yeah. Because characters and stories should make us feel like we're in someone else's shoes and that is a little uncomfortable and like foreign feeling.

Scarlett: Yeah. Totally. 

Cariann: You worked on Lucifer for a really long time, didn't you?

Scarlett: Yeah, I did. Yeah.

Cariann: How many years was that?

Scarlett: I'm pretty sure it was from, I want to say seven or eight till I was like fifteen or sixteen. So, like half my life!

Cariann: Wow. What was it like? Did you like having the recurring kind of show? Would you want to ever do that again?

Scarlett: Yeah, I think TV shows are really cool ‘cause you really get so much time to expand the character. The story just keeps going which is awesome, so I think a series would be really fun. But yeah, it was just so crazy, too, when there'd be a few episodes and be like, "Okay, what she's up to now." That part's so cool—to grow with the character, which is why Trixie will always be someone really special to me ‘cause I played her for so many years of my life.

Cariann: Yeah. Are there parts of you that are Trixie and you don't really know the delineation between the two because you played her for so long? 

Scarlett: Yeah, definitely. There's definitely parts of her that live in me. Even like, I don't know—there's weird things that I just learned on the TV show because it was a very adult show. Like one scene I was playing with like knives or something and my boyfriend had a knife or something one time and I was like, "Oh, I've played with one of these before." And he was like, "What are you talking about? That's really freaky. Like, what are you talking about?" [Laughs] I still have one of the stuffed animals from that TV show that I sleep with in my bed that they let me keep, which is really cool.

Cariann: Really?

Scarlett: Yeah. It's so funny. It has the serial code on the back for them to find it and it says Warner Brothers on it ‘cause that's where we filmed. It's a giant alligator.

Cariann: That's so cool though that you still use it and have it, because it was such a big part of your childhood. It's really special.

Scarlett: Yeah. And a lot of my memories, too, are always weird when I think about certain moments of my childhood ‘cause a lot of that is broken up between what I was working on at that point. I have a lot of memories just sitting in my bedroom there. 

Cariann: Yeah. I feel like it must make someone so mature to play a character as a child. I mean, I just really can't fathom it because I didn't have a job as a child. I was just, like, in the fourth grade. I don't know what I was doing. [Laughs] Do you think you'll go to college or do you definitely want to do acting stuff?

Scarlett: I don't know. College is so expensive right now, which is kind of the reason I don't know that I want to do that, at least right now, but I'm moving. I'm going to move to New York ‘cause my older sister lives there, and I just love New York so much. It'll be a good change of scenery, so I'll do that instead of going to college.

Cariann: Okay, cool. Are there are there like good—I don't really know much about it—but are there good acting opportunities in New York same as LA?

Scarlett: I feel like yeah because all of the auditions are self-tapes. You can work in this industry from anywhere. It used to be very much like go to LA, go to LA, but now, I'm in LA and I'm still doing self tapes so it's not really that worth it. New York's still a creative hub of many people who are motivated to do something. So that will be really fun to be around.

Cariann: Yeah. And you'll have your sister there so you won't be away from family.

Scarlett: Exactly.

Cariann: Does New York inspire you in a different way than LA does?

Scarlett: Yeah, totally. LA is just such an interesting place. I think, in my opinion, in New York, I feel like it's so much more collaborative and enjoyable to be with the people there. 

Cariann: Yeah. It's also architecturally so much more condensed and so it just feels like it's bustling and bursting at the seams with creativity and people. I've only traveled to both. I haven't lived in LA or New York, but they're both special for different reasons, I think.

Scarlett: Yeah, for sure.

Cariann: Did you grow up in LA?

Scarlett: Yeah, I grew up here, and I moved around for different projects. But yeah, this has always been my home. My brother, my sister, and my dad have always lived here.

Cariann: Haven't you worked with Adam Sandler?  

Scarlett: Yeah! He's producing the movie that I worked on last summer. He produced it and his daughter Sunny is the lead role in the movie. It's called Don’t Say Good Luck, and is premiering on Netflix this August.

Cariann: Okay, cool. Have you gotten to work directly with him on projects?

Scarlett: No, I haven't acted alongside him, produced though.

Cariann: Are you friends with Sunny? You guys both acted in that film together over the summer?

Scarlett: Yeah, we got really close during it which is really nice because she lives here in LA also. So now we  hang out all the time. She's like one of my best friends now, it's great. 

Cariann: I meet all my best friends through work. [The jobs] look a little different and we're not filming, but yeah. I feel like it's the best way to meet people and makes the most lasting friendships, when you work together. 

Scarlett: Yeah, totally.

Cariann: Is there anything that we haven't touched on that you're working on that you wanted to talk about?  

Nicole [Agent]: The podcast!

Cariann: Podcast!

Scarlett: Oh, yeah! I'm working on this scripted podcast [American Afterlife] right now, which has been really cool 'cause it's been a completely different realm from what I'm used to. It's a series and it's based on a book, but it's not the same as a book. It's really cool. It's kind of like interrogation scenes, which is why it's a podcast. It's been really fun and the story is super interesting. That's coming out soon!

Cariann: That's cool. Are you voicing? 

Scarlett: I'm voicing a character—Cielo is her name.

Cariann: Oh, that's a cool name.

Scarlett: Yeah, it's super cool. I like it.

Cariann: Scripted podcasts are really interesting. I've actually thought like, as a writer, I have in the idea graveyard of doing a fictional radio show podcast. I think that could be really cool and a kind of an undertapped market in a way.

Scarlett: Yeah, for sure. We went to this convention center for one of the things to try and do some networking and stuff, but yeah, it's so much of a bigger thing than I realized—like the whole podcast [world]—but I love podcasts. I always listen to them in my car.

Cariann: Do you have any favorites?

Scarlett: My boyfriend introduced me to Armchair Expert, which I love, the story times and stuff on those are always really fun.

Cariann: Yeah, when I just listen to stuff, it does put me to sleep. So, if I listen to an audiobook, it will lull me to sleep. I don't know why. And then if I listen to a podcast, it will lull me to sleep. But I watch videos of some podcasts when they film them, so like Good Hang with Amy, I watch the videos of those.

Scarlett: Okay, nice.

Cariann: I really love her and I love her podcast. She's great. Butyeah, that's cool. Podcast stuff is really unique and that's a different kind of genre and industry for you.Will you do any promotion for that? Like what does the release of a podcast look like? 

Scarlett: Yeah! I know we're going to Barnes & Noble to do a meet and greet there. And then tomorrow I'm doing radio interviews to promote it, so if other people are listening to that, they'll hear it. 

Cariann: Cool. What did you like about the character that you voiced?

Scarlett: It's about a giant earthquake, so it's kind of dystopian in a way, which is really cool 'cause that's something that I've been interested in. And then Cielo is, I don't know—she goes through a lot, which I just felt for her. So, I kind of wanted to help her in a way and, I guess, the way to do that was to give her space to tell her story. She's really cool and kind of the same vibe of the book. That kind of same vibe as the character from [the book I bought the rights for] where she's just kind of—you can tell she's scared, but she's putting on a whole front to be tough and keep herself okay and stuff. But yeah, the whole story is crazy, I was like, "Oh my God." So yeah, that was just really fun.

Cariann: I really like dystopian stuff and I'm hoping dystopia makes a comeback.

Scarlett: Yeah, I know! I'm like, guys, it's so good.

Cariann: I'm really excited for the new Hunger Games movie.

Scarlett: Yeah, me too. I'm so excited. I love those movies.

Cariann: Yeah. Would you ever want to act in a dystopian?

Scarlett: Yeah, totally. I've been saying I would love to do something like Maze Runner or something like that. I feel like that'd be so awesome to film too, like I don't even know what that would be like. It would just be a completely different thing from what I'm used to. But yeah, that would be so awesome. I would love to do that.

Cariann: Yeah, it'd probably be pretty physically intense. The ones that come to mind like Divergent, Maze Runner. I feel like they were running around just doing stuff. [Laughs]

Scarlett: Yeah. [Laughs] Like get a workout while on set. It's great.

Cariann: But it's interesting as a narrative device to talk about the world and have questions about the world through this dystopian kind of story. I really like those stories. 

Scarlett: Yeah.

Cariann: Cool. Well, I don't want to take too much more of your time, but I'll end with one question. Other than like what we talked about, what are you most excited about in life right now? What lights you up right now?

Scarlett: I think so much of my life is changing right now—it's a whole interesting place. I have no idea in the next five months what my life will look like at all, but that's kind of exciting. I don't know who my people will be. I don't know where I'm going to be living. I don't know anything. So, that's kind of fun. I'm excited to not know and figure it all out.

Cariann: Beautiful. What a beautiful ending, Scarlett. Thank you so much.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Interview By Cariann Bradley  | edited by Kass Ringo | design by Madeline Westfall |   Photos By DIMitrI TZOYTZOYROKOS & ShILOH KACHMANN