‘American Housewife’ Star Meg Donnelly Teases Season 2, Hopes For Musical Episode

“American Housewife” fans can expect to see more of Meg Donnelly on their screens this year. The 17-year-old plays Taylor on the ABC comedy, which returns for Season 2 Wednesday, and she told International Business Times that her character will be explored more in the new episodes.

“You don’t really know what her personality is like really, and then in the second season, you really get a feel of what she’s actually like and they go more in depth with the character, which I think is cool,” Donnelly told IBT.

“American Housewife” follows Katy Otto (Katy Mixon), a mother of a middle class family in the upper class town of Westport. While Katy doesn’t fit in with the other Westport mothers, her family adapts a little too well. Teenage daughter Taylor has quickly found herself in with the popular crowd and jocks, but she isn’t too brainy.

Donnelly revealed that Taylor won’t come off quite as dim this year. “American Housewife” will show that while she doesn’t succeed in the classroom, she has some knowledge. “She’s definitely more worldly smart. I wouldn’t say she’s book smart, but you kind of get a glimpse of why she acts the way she does. I think that’s cool,” Donnelly explained.

Throughout the first year of “American Housewife,” Taylor clearly didn’t excel in school, and that’ll play into her character’s Season 2 storyline. In Wednesday’s premiere, Taylor will reveal that she does not want to attend college. “She definitely struggles with what she wants to do after high school and that’s definitely in the storyline a lot. I think it’s relatable to a lot of girls,” the real life high school senior explained.

While Taylor’s lack of direction will cause tension with her parents Greg (Diedrich Bader) and Katie (Katy Mixon), Donnelly actually has a great relationship with her onscreen parents.

“Diedrich is actually like my best friend in real life,” the actress laughed. “We text all the time and he has so much great advice, so many awesome stories cause he’s so experienced. He’s definitely someone I look up too. And Katy too. Katy wakes up at 5 a.m. and just has monologues like every day, and also has a kid. She just had a baby and then she has a fiancé, and I just really look up to her because she like juggles all of that. And she always gives me advice on how to manage every thing.”

Mixon and Donnelly are often found singing on set. Donnelly hopes that an “American Housewife” musical episode happens one day. “You know, they were talking about that and I really hope that’s a thing because Katy and I sing too much,” Donnelly said. “I think it would be so cool to do a musical episode. And also, Carly Hughes, who plays Angela on ‘American Housewife,’ one of Katy’s best friends, in real life she’s like a Broadway legend. So if she could sing on the show, that would be insane.”

It doesn’t sound like the ABC comedy is planning any musical numbers yet, but Donnelly will get to show off her musical side next year in “Disney’s Zombies,” a Disney Channel original movie.

“It’s the first year zombies are allowed to attend human high school. They have a curfew, and they’re not treated well. Humans and zombies are segregated. And the movie centers on the two different worlds [of] Addison, who I play, who’s a human, and Zed [played by Milo Manheim], who is a zombie. The movie is about all the chaos that happens after they meet.”

Donnelly, who grew up in Manhattan, says she hopes to continue working on musical projects. “I was definitely prone to doing musicals because they’re all around me. And I’ve loved musical theater since I was born, so music is definitely something that I want to continue to do because it’s so much fun,” she said.

Fans will have to wait until 2018 to see Donnelly show off her pipes, but until then, they can enjoy her performance on “American Housewife.” The show premieres Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EDT on ABC.