Jillian Shea Spaeder

cover story

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cover story ✦

Photography: Grace Wethor | Cover Design: Laramie Cheyenne

When it comes to the universal concept of a childhood dream, there’s a significant number of people whose interests consistently change as they shift out of adolescence and into adulthood. However, for some, there’s a innate degree of certainty that comes with their younger selves, establishing the exact path they’re destined to embark on.

For actor, writer, singer-songwriter, and more recently, director Jillian Shea Spaeder (@jillianspaeder / @jilliansheaspaeder), that sense of conviction always translated into a full-throttle commitment to her journey as an expansive artist – all leading up to her recent debut in the pop music space after years of exposure to everything the industry has to offer.

During the earliest stages of her career, Spaeder’s passion as an entertainer was quickly recognized by powerhouse companies like DreamWorks and Nickelodeon before eventually earning a spot on the popular 2016 Disney series Walk the Prank, which has since garnered more than 750 million views across YouTube alone. On the family-friendly Disney series (reminiscent of the classic hidden-camera series Punk’d), Spaeder received her first full-fledged industry job as a leading cast member, consistently leaning into a demanding schedule with stunt-heavy pranks, where she’d eventually receive opportunities to collaborate with names like Zendaya and Sabrina Carpenter.

Looking back at her experience as a child star for three seasons of Walk the Prank, Spaeder admits that it was almost easy to become singularly fixated on getting the job done. “The biggest lesson I have learned is to slow down and enjoy every moment,” Spader tells us. “It’s easy to get stuck thinking about the future because it is a goal-oriented industry. Because of that, sometimes I forget to enjoy every experience – I’m working on changing that.”

Photography: Grace Wethor

By the time the series wrapped, Spaeder found herself transitioning into other endeavors with original music, and appearances on Netflix and Disney series before eventually nabbing her first movie role in the whimsical 2020 Disney+ original film Godmothered alongside veteran actors Isla Fisher and Jillian Bell. In the film, Spaeder was dually given the chance to incorporate her longstanding admiration for music with heavily-streamed original tracks titled “Rise Up (Joy to the World)” and “Hero” putting her musicality on the map for an even larger audience.

When recalling her experiences on the Godmothered set, she divulges, “My favorite part about working on Godmothered was working with the incredible cast, like [Fisher and Bell]. I learned so much from all of the incredible and experienced actors around me.” She then makes sure to add, “And I even got to work with a pig!”

After gaining that invaluable experience and broadening her skillset as an actor, Spaeder would then undergo an introspective period where she began to process her own well-being and mental health, leading to her most personal project to date – The Noise. A rather moving, short film that Spaeder would star in, write, and direct, centered on a young woman’s painful, internal struggles stemming from an eating disorder.

“I wrote The Noise while I was going through a tough time with my mental health.” Spaeder candidly explains, “The story fell out of me and onto paper very quickly. I didn’t start making the film until almost a year after I wrote it.” She then adds that, if anything, she’d like the film to change people's perceptions about eating disorders. “I hope The Noise shows audiences that eating disorders are very internal. The media tends to portray eating disorders as a physical disorder rather than a mental disorder, but you can’t tell who has one just from looking at people.”

Photography: Grace Wethor

As of now, The Noise has been screened at two film festivals so far including the Beverly Hills Film Festival, which offered Spaeder the perfect platform to present her vision to a public forum. “Sharing The Noise has been a very exciting experience,” Spaeder explains. “It has pushed me a bit out of my comfort zone because I haven’t talked about my mental health publicly before, but it is extremely rewarding to be spreading awareness!”

Much like her career as a child actor, the short film became yet another opportunity for Spaeder to challenge herself for personal and artistic growth. But more importantly, a chance to discover the importance of a safe space. The film’s star, writer, and director emphasizes that, “The biggest takeaway I had from [The Noise] was to always work with friends! Like everything in life, it is much easier when you are surrounded by a supportive team.” She continues, “I was very grateful to have my crew to lean on during production.”

After really pushing herself in the acting and filmmaking space, Spaeder has since pivoted to dig into her unwavering musical roots with her debut EP Fall At My Feet, an assortment of a multi-talented artist’s sonic strengths. So, considering that she’s been eyeing this path since childhood, it’s become a euphoric, full-circle moment as a performer.

Photography: Grace Wethor

“My childhood self would’ve been the most excited about my single-release show [in March]. I got to perform my EP live for the first time and it was a blast.” Spader then reiterates how monumental the process has been for her, adding, “As a child, my dream was to be a pop star! So that was a moment that my past self would’ve been very excited about.”

The EP itself consists of several indie-pop constructs with sporadic band elements throughout, giving her a unique introduction to pop music. Though on each track, one consistent attribute comes from Spaeder’s ability to funnel her raw, powerhouse vocal range into a genre and make it her own.

When the topic of the EP’s intended tone comes up, she notes, “The biggest themes are dealing with broken relationships and self-love. The sound is indie, but it does lean a bit into the pop world.” The EP’s lead single, “XY” plays up some of the aforementioned acoustic pop charm, becoming a very different sound for Spaeder.

“The production process [for ‘XY’] was a lot more difficult than the other EP tracks.” The singer-songwriter continues, “My second single, ‘Serious’, is much simpler and softer. The biggest challenge while writing ‘XY’ was the verses – we wrote the chorus first and loved it so much that we didn’t want to ruin the song with a bad verse. But we got it eventually!”

Photography: Grace Wethor

While there are a lot of genres, styles, and sounds to dissect across Fall At My Feet, one of the most impactful songs from Spaeder is undoubtedly the aforementioned “Serious,” an emotionally sincere, heartfelt track we can’t help but adore. “Serious is one of my favorites as well,” she admits to us before adding, “I don’t have a genre preference sonically, but lyrically I like songs that give off a strong emotion.”

To her point, it requires little effort to locate Spaeder’s tangible solace through her craft, having put her heart and soul into each track regardless of its message. And through the artist’s debut EP, her willingness to present complete authenticity firmly suggests an evolutionary career will follow.

Thankfully, the singer-songwriter isn’t going to shy away from sharing her journey with listeners either. “I am very proud of the vulnerability I put into this EP. Writing about personal feelings can be scary sometimes.” Spaeder confidently explains before going on to conclude, “But I’m glad that I did!”