In season 1 of the award-winning vlog series Tinsel’s Town, the perky social media influencer Tinsel Townsend (played by Aimee-Lynn Chadwick) went from a mere face in the digital crowd to an emboldened personality whose sights were set on being the next YouTube star. As season 2 of Tinsel’s Town progresses, though, a once-confident Tinsel comes face-to-face with the devastating realities of her family life while learning how one mistake can shatter the tight relationship she’s created with her fans.
In between both seasons of Tinsel’s Town, Chadwick and series creator David Christopher Barry took the show’s titular influencer outside the four corners of her bedroom and into the world through appearances at the 2015 Razzie Awards (the annual event honoring Hollywood’s worst movies) and the 2016 social media conference VidCon, where Chadwick – as Tinsel – conducted live red carpet interviews and cosplayed as ‘60s TV cartoon character Penelope Pitstop (Wacky Races).
As Chadwick wraps up the first chapter of her experience playing Tinsel Townsend, she and Barry are hard at work on continuing Townsend’s adventures in the spinoff series The Lullaby League. Currently in the scripting phase, the show follows Tinsel as she searches for redemption after her fall from social media grace. Beginning mandatory community service at a retirement community where six former Hollywood stars now reside, Tinsel and her charges all share the same desires: to be loved and understood.
Aimee-Lynn Chadwick stars as social media influencer Tinsel Townsend in season 2 of TINSEL’S TOWN.
Before Chadwick played the energetic yet vulnerable digital star in Tinsel’s Town, the actor worked hard to uncover the many facets and complexities of her character.
Thanks to the support she received from Barry and Tinsel’s Town director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (who legendarily helmed music videos for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones), Chadwick was prepared to become the fabulous yet flawed personality her character represented.
Given the show’s significant tonal shift towards the end of its second season, Chadwick also adjusted her performance to show Tinsel at her most fragile amid the turmoil she faces on and offline.
SR: How did you prepare yourself for playing Tinsel?
Aimee-Lynn: The first time I personally got to dive into Tinsel was for the audition. I remember reading the sides and saying: “I need to be this character! I know her!” I gave myself no option to not be her. Digging deeper into Tinsel’s “psyche”, I could see how if I didn’t find all her layers, her “Achilles heel”, (and) that thing that makes her tick, she could very well come off annoying and unlikable, and that had the potential to completely undermine everything.
I knew she had to have a vulnerability that peeked through, allowing the audience to relate on multiple levels. David and Michael gave me so much encouragement and freedom to be able to do that. I wanted people to understand why she is the way she is and to really root for her even at her lowest and “cringiest” moments.
SR: How has playing Tinsel in this series, and in the public appearances you did in that character at the 2016 Vidcon and the Razzies, helped you to grow as an actor?
Aimee-Lynn: With the series, we shot so many episodes in a such a short period of time. I definitely had no choice but to work on my memorization skills and (on) different ways to deliver the lines – time was short, but the pages weren’t. Also, it was just really fun and liberating to help develop this character that David conjured up in his imagination and (to) really be able to bring her to life. I grew so much more confidence in my improv abilities as well, and (in) “taking it to the streets” of VidCon and The Razzies. Before those events, I think I would have felt insecure or embarrassed that the audience actually thought I really was Tinsel and that I actually behaved with her mannerisms and wacky naïveté.
Because I felt so connected to this character (the second the hair extensions go in, I am Tinsel) and because that connection was reciprocated in person and on the spot instead of just in the comments section below a YouTube video, all that attention became the greatest compliment, and so I felt even more connected to the fans and the character. I truly believe the love and support everyone in our little TT (Tinsel’s Town) Family has for this project and for me really helped me grow as a person and an actor. It’s rare to have that kind of “winning” connection. That’s pretty cool to me.
Chadwick, as Tinsel, performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in cosplay as popular ’60s cartoon character Penelope Pitstop (WACKY RACES) at the 2016 VidCon conference.
SR: In what ways were you able to adapt to the show’s shift from a vlog-based series to a more conventional narrative style?
Aimee-Lynn: David is truly such a talented writer. The way he writes always paints a picture in my head. Like Tinsel, I’m an actress and I understand how much (too much) our careers are tied social media.
Tinsel takes that all to an extreme, but for me the vlog episodes provided a lot of source material for those later episodes. They became almost backstory; a way for me to see inside her head.
So just knowing who Tinsel truly is, knowing that backstory, her wants, her fears, her secrets, and just her day-to-day routine, helped immensely. I came to those narrative-style episodes really prepared because of that, and it helped. I better understood the dynamics with the other characters, and all those scenes came together perfectly. We were all just aligned. So making the transition was natural and, for me personally, seamless.
SR: What do you hope viewers take away from watching this show, and from seeing how it portrays the rewards and difficulties of fame in the digital age?
Aimee-Lynn: I hope that people can see through the pink smoke and glittery mirrors, and realize that deep down inside we’re not that much unlike Tinsel – we all crave to be heard, to be understood, to be accepted, (and to) feel loved. I think social media too easily gives the appearance that we have it all and don’t need more, but it’s just an appearance. The reality can be very different, very isolating and very lonely. Only showing the shinier parts of our personalities and our multi-layered lives strips us of those layers and those parts of our personality.
A lot of life is hard. It’s dark, and we tend to feel shame at not showing our vulnerability. Vulnerability is so denigrated when it should be celebrated. I think Tinsel eventually shows us a bit of that vulnerability we all have, and it is refreshing to see. It is relatable. It’s genuine, and it’s needed. I would hope it could encourage others to “drop the act” and just be real. Not everyone is going to like you, so why not start with one person: yourself. I’m looking forward to seeing and exploring how Tinsel evolves, or maybe devolves, but the exciting part is (that) wherever she goes and whatever she does, she will be looking fab doing it and being her authentic Tinsel self.
Watch all episodes of Tinsel’s Town at: