Image Source: Brittney Janae
In our Q&A series POPSUGAR Crush, we get to know some of our favourite celebs’ more intimate details – from their first celebrity crush to the best love advice they’ve ever received. This month, we’re crushing on The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Lauren “Lolo” Spencer.
The Sex Lives of College Girls star Lolo Spencer is full of personality – I could barely keep up! The actor and disability lifestyle influencer, who plays Jocelyn on the HBO Max comedy series, called her character a “dream role” while speaking to POPSUGAR. “To be able to be a Black and disabled woman . . . [It was fun] being able to play a role that has very much nothing to do with her disability and all about her humanity and who she is and how she shows up in the world. And she’s a bad b*tch and she’s just owning it, loving it, and really enjoying it.” Jocelyn’s role on The Sex Lives of College Girls is certainly a bad b*tch (albeit a shady one), and she stands up for her friends with fierceness.
“There’s an energy to Jocelyn that’s way more paramount than the fact that she has a disability, to the point where you may even forget that she has a disability and not that the goal is to forget, but the goal is to not make it the crux of who she is.”
Lolo also credits the series, cocreated by Mindy Kaling and writer/producer Justin Noble, for doing a “wonderful job” of making sure Jocelyn’s personality wasn’t based on her disability by “focusing on her womanhood, her ability to make choices on her own, and being bold in her dialogue as well.”
Her character’s big personality and confident energy, Lolo told POPSUGAR, are “way more paramount than the fact that she has a disability, to the point where you may even forget that she has a disability and not that the goal is to forget, but the goal is to not make it the crux of who she is.” We’re also excited to see Jocelyn’s character develop in the recently announced season two of The Sex Lives of College Girls!
Check out the rest of Lolo’s POPSUGAR Crush interview ahead, and be sure to check out The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO Max.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
My first celebrity crush was Allen Iverson. To this day, he is still a crush. I just love that man. He was so bold, he was a trendsetter, he was fine. Just goddamn. To this day, it’s like, you still look hella good. And I just love that he was almost like a fish out of water in the NBA at that time, the tattoos, the braids, the hip-hop fashion, all of that. That was not welcomed in the NBA at that time. And now look at the NBA because of Allen Iverson . . . People don’t give him enough credit in that field.
What is your favorite pickup line?
You know what? It’s always been some variation of wanting to ride in my chair some kind of way. I always find those to be funny because it’s like, I know they’re trying to be inclusive about it, but then they’re also like deadass. So some variation of like, “You going to let me ride in your chair?” Some sh*t like that. And then I always rebuttal, like, “Can you handle it?” And then they’d be like, “Oh, what we talking about then?” And so it turns into really funny conversations.
What is your favourite flirtatious emoji to send?
Probably the eye squinting with the tongue hanging out . . . I’ll say something slick and then [use] that emoji.
What is your favourite form of self-care?
My favourite form of self-care. It’s a tie between doing absolutely nothing and shopping. Retail therapy is so good. It’s so good. Or just doing absolutely nothing. Like, I don’t feel like doing sh*t, literally. So I’m just going to sit here or I’m going to lay here and do nothing.
Do you prefer dogs or cats?
Dogs, for sure. Cats, they shady. I got a couple of friends with cats, and it was always like, girl, get this thing away from me. But dogs, it’s always like, aww, little dogs . . . I don’t want to discriminate against cats, but I’m just more of a dog person.
What is your biggest turn-on?
I love me a hygienic man, girl. Clean nails, fresh lineups, clean hands, clean feet. They be forgetting about their feet and their skin on their legs . . . That’s still skin, men! Anyways, hygiene is one. A nice voice is another. Someone who is funny. Humour is also a big one for me. Someone who’s intelligent, but not in like a book smart kind of way. Just intelligent in life. A protector . . . Girl, you’re about to have me list my whole man. Fashionable . . . So yeah, so I’m going to keep there . . . if there’s any men that feel like they’re suitable candidates, slide in the DM. My DMS are open.
What is your biggest turnoff?
Ego. Men who live out of their ego, toxic masculinity, dirty. If you just dirty, I can’t do that. Men who live in fear . . . whether it’s fear of, just fear just in general. I don’t like a scared man, I need brave, I need courageous.
Let me see. What else is some turnoffs? I think that’s the main. Oh and breadcrumbers, that is such a turnoff. Don’t breadcrumb, because you don’t have to do that. Just leave me alone.
What is your go-to coffee or tea order?
I’m definitely a tea girl. I drink tea every night that I get from a local vendor from my local farmers’ market. The name of the company is NYA Tea. It’s the loose-leaf-style tea.
What would your dating profile say about you?
Oh, that I’m goofy. I like to have fun. Something on there about Nipsey Hussle being the greatest person that has ever influenced my life . . . And I’m just open to whatever the universe wants for me, that’s probably what my dating profile would say. Or some sort of funny pickup line. Like, “Don’t let the wheels fool you,” or some sh*t like that.
What is your ideal first date?
I want it to feel like it was completely planned to make me happy. I want one of those dates where the dude calls me and is like, “Be dressed by 7:30 p.m., wear X, Y, and Z” . . . And I want it [to be tailored to me] from everything, from the food to the music we’re going to listen to whether it’s a concert, a show. I don’t want it to be just a restaurant. I want to eat. I definitely want to eat, but eating with an activity, and I want it to go until literally we pass out.
Image Source: Courtesy of Lauren “Lolo” Spencer
What is your most memorable fan encounter?
I’ve had a couple of girls who were also wheelchair users come up to me. There was one time I was at Beautycon a few years ago, and a girl came up to me. She did the whole “Oh my gosh, Lolo” thing and was about to cry. I was like, “Girl, please don’t cry. Please don’t do that.” I can’t handle that. I’m a Cancer, I’m extra emotional. So there was that moment, and she wanted to take a picture.
Then there was one time I was at the farmers’ market and this girl had some really dope wheels on her wheelchair. So I go up to her and I’m like, “Yo, I love your wheels on your wheelchair.” She’s like, “Lolo?” . . . And she kind of like freaks out. And I was like, oh my god, this is crazy, we’re at the farmers’ market.
And then another one is when I did a speaking engagement in Arkansas for this organisation that helped teenagers with disabilities. One of the counselors came up to me with this piece of artwork, with the girl who – because she was nonverbal – was basically saying this young lady had drawn this because she was inspired by what I had said in my speech earlier that day. And that she wanted to be like me when she grew up. And so I actually still have the artwork on my refrigerator. I take it with me everywhere.
What is your go-to movie for movie night?
Poetic Justice. That’s one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s just classic. Janet Jackson and Tupac, just gold, just gold. Just hood love. It’s just my favorite treat.
How do you make the first move?
I’ll give a compliment. So whatever, like, a dude might be wearing or he might just have a certain energy about him, something, or he just may look good. I’ll just go up to him and be like, “Yo, I think you’re fine as f*ck.” Or like, “Damn, those shoes are dope.” Something like that. And they’d be like, “Yo, thank you.” And I’d be like, “Yo, so what’s your name? You got an Instagram?”
I actually told one guy . . . I was at the mall, and we were wearing our masks. But something about his face, I knew he was fine. I just knew he was fine. So he helps me to the elevator, and I said, “Can I see you with your mask off?” And so he starts laughing and he takes his mask off. I said, “I knew it. I knew you were fine as f*ck.” He gave me his Instagram, and I slid in the DM. So every time I see him at the mall now, I give him a hug. Built a friendship. He was young, so I wasn’t even trying to go past a certain point.
What is your best love advice?
Listen to your partner, listen to your partner’s needs. What they tell you is their truth. Don’t be offended by their truth, just accept their word as their truth and learn to be OK to walk away.
What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you?
There was a guy I was dating, and he cooked like a seven-course meal. It was buffet-style. It was so much food. And I’m like, “You know it’s just me and you eating it?” And he was like, “I know, but I wanted to show you I could make all this food.” And so it was literally just grabbing handfuls of just food and eating it. It was just us, and we just stuffed ourselves with the amazing food that he a and then followed by some amazing loving afterwards.
What is the most romantic thing you’ve ever done for someone else?
The intention wasn’t to necessarily be romantic, but I guess in hindsight, it’s romantic. I rented a chauffeur car. [This guy] was in town from New York, this is someone that I like . . . It’s a long story. This was his first time in LA, and I got us a chauffeur car, and we drove to every area of LA that he wanted the entire day.
What is the best trip you’ve ever been on?
It was this summer. I went to [the Dominican Republic] with a bunch of my friends because it was one of our friends’ weddings. Me and the homies, we all got a villa together, and we turned up for four days straight in DR. It was so much fun. And their wedding just so happened to be on my actual birthday . . . It was the best trip. And it was right after we wrapped season one of Sex Lives. So it was just the culmination of good and positive energy.
What is your go-to first-date outfit?
It depends on where we going. I’m just going to assume that it’s a traditional dinner moment. It has got to be something with some heels. I have to wear heels on a first date. Something that gives leg, got to show a little bit of thigh out. And so maybe like a dress, preferably a dress or some sort of sexy energy without it looking raunchy. A dress, some heels, and a fire-ass jacket or coat.
