You’ll probably remember Dora Madison (known previously as Madison Burge or Dora Madison Burge) as Becky Sproles from Friday Night Lights. She played the cute, curly-haired neighbour of Tim Riggins and quickly became one of the most lovable characters. She’s gone on to be a recognisable face on many of our favourite TV shows, playing Lexi Samuels on The Lying Game, Niki Walters on Dexter and most recently, Jessica ‘Chili’ Chilton on Chicago Fire. Dora grew up in a small town in Austin, Texas as the youngest of seven siblings, and always knew she was going to be an actress.
“I didn’t know anybody in the industry, I didn’t have any family ties or any connections. I was just this kid who watched a lot of TV and movies. I would always say, “I’m gonna be an actress, I’m gonna be an actress,” and everybody would tell me how hard it was and I’d say, “Anything worth doing is hard!”
At just 24, she’s already worked on films with Richard Linklater, Terrence Malick, Natalie Portman and many others. For her, it’s important to be ever-changing in her roles. She’s always wanted to be a chameleon and likes to be as different as possible in each project.
“These days most actors don’t really change very much. It’s like oh, “She’s that blonde bombshell actress who’s the blonde bombshell in everything.” I feel a lot of times actors get chosen for their go-to archetype and it’s actually pretty distracting when you’re watching a movie because you can’t get past recognising them. Sometimes an actors own worst enemy is their face. You recognise them being splashed on a magazine or whatever so by the time you’re at the movies you can’t separate the person from the public persona they have.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________
We spoke to her about first auditions, Friday Night Lights and how she accidentally got the part on Dexter.
Taylor Magazine: We’re really excited to hear about what you’re working on at the moment.
Dora Madison: Right now I’m in Austin, Texas with my friends. I’m doing two independent films. One of them, The Honor Farm, is a play on those classic teen movies. It looks at how we don’t have many meaningful rites of passage for young people and it’s just high school kids who go into the woods and eat a bunch of mushrooms. It’s really cool. My character is kind of the leader. She’s quite mischievous.
Taylor Magazine: What is it that attracts you to each role?
Dora Madison: I definitely like doing different roles. I’m really into the idea of transforming and completely changing my look so my characters are all very different and I can get lost in them. Once I’m in costume and I have the hair and make-up, especially if it’s a character that’s really different to me, it’s a little extra blanket. You look in the mirror and you don’t recognise yourself and then all of a sudden your mannerisms naturally change.
Taylor Magazine: What’s the next big project you’re doing?
Dora Madison: I’m a series regular on Chicago Fire! I’m excited about it. I already shot three episodes of the last season so they renewed my deal and I’m going to be the new paramedic.
Taylor Magazine: Congratulations! Let’s talk about the role people know you most for, as Becky from Friday Night Lights. What was the best part of being on the show or the best lesson that you took from it?
Dora Madison: I got that role two weeks before I was supposed to go to college. Friday Night Lights was always the show that was here and I auditioned for it several times but it never ended up working out. I was so glad because I got the right role on that show and I didn’t just do an episode. I got to be one of the series regulars so for me that show coming along was a saving grace. It totally crafted the way I come at scripts and characters because Peter Berg would say “The script is not God, you are the God of your own character,” and he was very adamant that if you were doing a scene and you don’t feel like your character would do these things or respond this way, you could change things up. The way they shot the show was sort of like a play because they’d shoot with multiple camera’s. But Friday Night Lights gave me so much freedom and confidence. When I moved to LA I would go to an audition and people would say, “We’re huge fans!” When you’re acting, your job is to forget there’s a camera there so after I shot it, I didn’t really watch any of the episodes.
Taylor Magazine: How did the role of Becky come about then?
Dora Madison: They were trying to find new characters and there was a local casting director in Austin who found a lot of the local Texas talent. I’d been auditioning for a while but when they were looking for Becky, something in my core told me that it was mine. It was weird. I did my audition and I just started to feel really good about it. It was a few weeks until I got a call that they wanted to screen test me in LA so I was really nervous because sometimes people are like, “What do you mean you wanna give this girl with no credits and no nothing this part?” There were three more rounds of call backs before I got to LA but then I ended up going out there and remember thinking to myself, “Don’t let them have flown you out here, put you up in a hotel and then fall on your face. Don’t do that.”
The first night I was staying at the Grafton on Sunset and it was exciting to be in a fancy hotel, so I opened my blinds and the view I got was the back of the other building and an alley. I auditioned that day and was supposed to fly home after my audition so afterwards I got in the car to drive to the airport and my agent called and was like, “We need you to turn around, they want you to come back!” They wanted to see me cry so Peter Berg made up a crazy improv and it ended up working out. They had to give me a different room at the hotel because I’d checked out and this room had a balcony and a view of all of Los Angeles. So it was definitely an improvement.
Taylor Magazine: Did you put any of yourself into the role of Becky?
Dora Madison: Yeah. Becky was a really lonely kid and the main question for her was “why doesn’t anybody love me?” Her dad was always gone and had a new family and her mum was off doing her own thing. She lived out in the middle of nowhere so her only real time to see friends would be at school and I had a similar experience growing up. I had both parents but there’s seven kids in my family so growing up it’s hard for your parents to give everyone the proper attention they need. We lived in the middle of nowhere and I went to this really weird, private Christian school that was thirty minutes away, so growing up I was really isolated and I wasn’t around anybody that I was very close to. I definitely drew on some of my own experiences with that.
Taylor Magazine: How was Becky different? What as honest or authentic about her?
Dora Madison: Originally Becky was supposed to be a little sex pot, giving Tim Riggins a run for his money but Taylor (Kitsch) was offended at the thought of Tim and Becky getting together and he was right, because he felt like his character had grown past that. He wasn’t that guy anymore who was using girls and getting drunk. He had his big love and had done his time. On TV and in the media you get this idea of girls in high school that are being played by full grown women so they’re all sexy and in control. What I liked about Becky was that she wasn’t that. She would kinda try but I thought that was more genuine and more real for the majority of teen girls.
When you’re growing up, you wanna carry yourself with a woman’s confidence and you wanna be strong and sexy and mysterious but in reality, you’re awkward and dorky and the guy that you’re trying to get to notice you isn’t into you and the dude that does like you, likes you way too much. What I liked about Becky was that we didn’t make her too stereotypical. In the first scene, I was meant to be in the kitchen in a t-shirt and panties singing, and they gave me these little girl panties with little hearts on them and a flannel robe. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind! But what they did was make the character more realistic and they didn’t go down the cliche root.
Taylor Magazine: You were on Dexter for a while. How did you find working on that?
Dora Madison: I got the part by accident because I was auditioning for another pilot. I don’t know what my problem was that day but my audition was really bad and so I didn’t get cast. The casting director said, “Your eyes are so interesting… you are so unique looking. We’ve been casting for Dexter and I just got a role on my desk this morning that I think you’d be great for. I’m gonna bring you in for an audition.” I knew it was a really big show and that people loved it but I hadn’t seen it. I still haven’t seen all of the episodes. With Friday Night Lights I’d never seen it and then I watched all the seasons before I started filming. I almost wish I didn’t do that because then you get attached and a little starstruck with the characters. It took me a few episodes to get over that so I didn’t watch Dexter. I think I was the only girl who auditioned for that part, so it was just pretty lucky. Right place, right time.
Taylor Magazine: We couldn’t find you on social media. Do you use it at all?
Dora Madison: I don’t have a Twitter or anything but I have an Instagram. I had Twitter for a minute and I found it a little boring but one of the PA’s on a movie I’m doing right now said to me, “I wish I could follow you around and tweet all the things you say.” I think I was telling everyone I was gonna pee on them or something. I have my Instagram because it’s more fun and I like the pictures. It’s an homage to my dog.
Taylor Magazine: Aw, that’s adorable! Tell us about your dog.
Dora Madison: I recently figured out Bandita is my spirit animal. I met her in Oklahoma when I was doing a movie. Me and my friends went to the lake and one of the guys that worked there asked if we wanted to see some puppies and there were so many adorable ones. Bandita was the first one I saw. She’s black and white and so cute. She crawled up into my lap and tried to nurse me through my bathing suit and I’ve had her ever since. She’s four years old now. I actually have a theory that she’s gonna be President some day. I feel if there’s ever an intense hostage situation where we need something severely adorable, Bandita will lick everyone’s faces and roll around. Maybe I’ll make Bandita a Twitter page…
Taylor Magazine: Have you ever been to London?
Dora Madison: Oh my god yes! It was the first place that I went to outside of America. I went when I was 19, after Friday Night Lights and I fell in love. I met this dude on the plane and he offered to let me stay at his house. He lived with a bunch of musicians so my first experience going there, I was able to see this piece of London that you don’t get in the brochure. We went to a place called Cable Street Studios where they would host this music jam. The shows were kind of secret and free and you could see the most amazing bands play from all over Europe. I couldn’t believe little old me stumbled into this place and met the coolest people. I adore London, I think there’s a really cool scene there and it’s really welcoming and warm. I’ve really been longing to go back.
Taylor Magazine: That sounds amazing, what an experience! Let us know when you’re back and we’ll take you out somewhere fun.
You can see Dora Madison now on Chicago Fire, which airs on NBC in the US and Sky Living in the UK.
