Madison Bailey isn’t interested in wearing a mask that grins and lies.
She aims to live a life of honesty and truthfulness about her reality, something that isn’t all too common in today’s day and age.
“I want to be respected. I want people to think I’m glamorous. I want people to see pictures of me and be like, ‘She’s stunning’. But I also want people to know that I don’t look like that every day. I’m not perfect, and I’m trying to show y’all I’m not.”
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Madison has her own rare kind of Hollywood magic!
She isn’t interested in being anything but herself, and that is why people feel like they truly know her.
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Madison has been an open book ever since her first role back in 2015 to this day!
She talked openly about being a mixed-race Black daughter of white adoptive parents.
She talked openly about living with borderline personality disorder.
She talked openly about being pansexual and in a loving relationship with her girlfriend of three years, Mariah Linney.
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However, Madison explains how this honesty shouldn’t confuse others to think that she has it all figured out.
“I’m still learning”
Madison acknowledges that there is perfection within imperfection, and today’s society needs to learn to accept and put it into practice.
Madison is busy bringing this representation into her new projects to the front row at Paris Fashion Week.
“As long as my fans are willing to grow and learn with me, then we’re good.”
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She explained her Instagram bio “Self-discovery is a lifelong endeavor.”
Madison said that she saw it on TikTok and it was a really good reminder that she doesn’t need to be one thing.
“I don’t need to spend time searching for labels for myself. Because I don’t need to be easy to describe and by the time I figure out the language, I’m going to be a different person. It’s a reminder to people not to limit themselves.”
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Another one of her favourite quotes is “When nothing matters, anything can matter.”
She explained that “As somebody who has an existential crisis every four minutes, I love that. We really don’t know what we’re doing on this planet. We can just make up our own sh*t and create our own purpose.”
Madison also explained how it felt like to gain tons of followers after Outer Banks took off.
“I always thought things would feel different on the other side, and then it’s like I woke up the next day and literally nothing has changed except all these people are looking at me. In a way, I’m like, “Boom. I’m ready for this.” Because I believe that my beliefs are correct. I believe the way I see humanity is helpful. I was excited to have a platform so I could preach what I preach. But there are other ways I wasn’t 100 percent ready. People are looking to me for answers, but I’m still filling in so many of my own.
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She also talked about being a representation for her communities and what it means now that she has a bigger platform than before.
“It’s overwhelming at times. I have a love-hate relationship with it because sometimes I don’t think I am the best example. It’s hard to sift through what version of myself to bring out I love so many different sides of me and I’m still all over the place.”
“A lot of the demographics I’m representing, I’m just now learning about. Being raised by two white parents, I’m learning about my ethnicity as I’m getting older. Being queer but not from a queer family, I’m learning about that too. I’m also trying to explain myself at the same time. I feel like people are looking for somebody who’s more concise or put-together.”
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Madison explains how she tries to be vulnerable and show what it means to simply be human.
There were times where she taught about deleting her socials and forget about social media all together.
There were times where she felt like because of her job, having to play different roles, audiences would either love her or hate her.
She explained that she often finds herself bouncing back and forth with different feelings and emotions, sometimes all in one day.
Madison also discussed mental health and her self-care journey and what it was like talking about living with borderline personality disorder a few years ago.
“I think people are comfortable with mental health now, but also, they pick and choose. People are comfortable talking about depression, about anxiety. I have one of the disorders that people don’t like talking about. There are still so many harsh stereotypes. What I hope I can deliver to my fans is that I’m human to a fault. I used to wish that one person I looked up to would admit they’re not perfect, admit they’re a hot mess. That’s all I seek out in celebrities. I’m here for the people who are figuring it out.”
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Madison went on to talk about her Outer Banks cast mates and how it has been navigating life with them around.
‘It’s been comforting to have people to rely on when you need to explain something that nobody else understands. We’re all having our own experience, but we’re the only people who can closely relate in this way. I don’t know what I would do without them, without Jonathan and his whole family and Chase, who’s the oldest of the group and like our leader. We know each other’s pain and this love-hate relationship with being in the spotlight.”
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She also said that she is looking to play a queer role.
“Obviously, my eyes are peeled for a queer role. Where are they? I don’t know. They’re not coming through my inbox. I would love to get cast in a queer role and them not ask me to cut my hair or add something more”
She also took the opportunity to talk about this year’s Pride and discuss the intense legislative attack on LGBTQ+ culture.
She expressed that all she can do is to just live.
“I’m just living. I hold my girlfriend’s hand everywhere. We’re PDA all day. I think I’m navigating it with a “f*ck you” attitude in a way. Like, “I’m here. Nothing you’re saying is changing attitudes.” I feel like I’m very, very lucky to be in a position where my safety has not been affected. I get hate but all I can do in my position is keep advocating, keep being proud of who I am, keep spreading whatever word I can spread.”
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Madison also said that before acting she initially wanted to be a singer!
“I’ve been singing since I could talk. I think it’s part of coming in at number seven in my family, something about wanting attention.”
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Does Madison Bailey inspire you to be your true self ? Let us know!
