No One Knows Olivia Holt’s Next Move

It’s impossible to typecast Olivia Holt — despite her perfectly-toned honey bronde hair and megawatt smile. The 27-year-old got her start on Disney Channel sitcoms before going on to impress audiences in the teen mystery series Cruel Summer and the Broadway show Chicago. Lately, she’s been touted as a “scream queen” for her acting chops in horror projects like February’s Heart Eyes and the upcoming zombie apocalypse film This Is Not a Test. But before you attempt to pigeonhole her, she also has a Christmas-themed rom-com in the works.

“I love every genre that I’ve been a part of — not only as an actor, but also as a fan. Sometimes, I'm feeling a rom-com, and other nights, I want to be spooked,” she tells me over the phone from her home in California, just three days after Heart Eyes’ premiere. Our conversation has a slow cadence, and she’s thoughtful about her responses. (When I ask her about the advice she’s traded with other former child actors, she takes an especially long pause before telling me, “Try and stay as absolutely sane as possible through the process.”)

Holt is only 27, but her stardom harkens back to an earlier era of celebrities — ones who didn’t give every detail of their personal lives away. There are no love life updates, daily posts, or constant stories on her social media pages. And yet, she’s still a loyal Instagram commenter, often leaving a face-exhaling emoji (😮‍💨) under her best friends’ photos.

Despite the sporadic posts and rare glimpses into her personal life, the Tennessee native has amassed over 5 million followers on Instagram and 525,000 on TikTok — a huge following for anyone, especially a non-influencer. How does she handle that kind of attention? “I don’t know if I manage it at all,” she says, laughing. “I definitely love going on there and connecting with fans. For the most part, I love popping on, sharing a little bit of what’s going on in my life, and then popping right off.”

Going into auditions, I do still feel a lot of the same nerves that I felt 10 years ago.

More than anything else, she’s protecting her peace. “I will delete apps whenever I need to,” Holt says. “I fiercely believe in taking my breaks.” She has three essentials for those pauses: a warm bath, a glass of wine, and a distraction. (Love Is Blind is her current go-to. She views it as a bit of a character study: “I’m super into it. It’s such a brilliant idea, and it’s just very entertaining. It taps into human behavior. You get some interesting people on there.”)

Holt has had plenty of time to figure out how to balance her life in the public eye. She started acting in her hometown’s local theater nearly 20 years ago. At 14 years old, she was cast on Disney’s Kickin’ It. “As a kid, it was always a dream to be on Disney Channel. It was like my religion, watching it after school every single day,” she says. She was a kid of discerning taste — aka a Lizzie McGuire fan.

Holt played the show’s main character, Kim Crawford, for three seasons before starring in another Disney sitcom, I Didn’t Do It. Eventually, she moved away from child stardom to pursue other projects — a transition that’s known to be rocky, even if Holt’s evolution has seemed smooth. “Everyone has a different experience with the shift from being a child actor on a really well-known network to trying to pursue something different. It’s a tricky thing to navigate,” she says.

Since leaving Disney behind, she’s starred in Marvel’s superhero drama Cloak & Dagger and Cruel Summer. In 2023, she took on the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway — a return to stage acting. (“Fifteen to 20 years later, and I’m doing exactly what I did back then, but on a much larger scale. It’s totally surreal.”) Chicago’s performance schedule is known for being one of the most grueling on Broadway with eight performances a week. While playing Roxie, Holt didn’t miss one show. “There’s truly nothing like doing musical theater,” she says. “You’re not stopping for almost three hours straight. You’re singing, you’re dancing, you’re acting your butt off, and you can’t miss a beat.”

Years of industry experience mean that Holt can be “a little pickier” when selecting projects — they’ve taught her how to trust her instincts. “The first job that I had without one of my parents there — my first as an adult, not a minor — I really learned how to take care of myself and use my own voice,” she says. “Even though this industry is incredibly collaborative and creative, it’s also still very much a job. And you do have to show up and you have to be prepared.”

Despite the years of experience and success under her belt, Holt still sometimes questions her place in Hollywood. “I’ve gone through moments of wanting to step away from this career path. Once you finish a job, the question is always, ‘What’s next?’ Having to constantly lock in that next project is one of the bigger challenges. It feels unstable at times,” she adds. “Going into auditions, I do still feel a lot of the same nerves that I felt 10 years ago.”

Luckily, Holt has plenty of answers to what lies ahead, including Jingle Bell Heist, a holiday-themed rom-com about two thieves, and This Is Not a Test, based on the YA novel by Courtney Summers. Part of her homework before a new project involves brushing up on her co-stars. “I will always watch their work, 100%. If I love it, I will tell them. If I hate it, I probably won’t tell them, but I’ll still watch,” she says. (This includes watching her Jingle Bell Heist co-star Connor Swindells’ show Sex Education: “It’s one of my favorite shows of all time, and I sure have told him that.”)

It’s always memorable when her co-stars return that kind of investment. Holt recalls when Mason Gooding, who starred opposite her in Heart Eyes, showed up to set in an “Olivia Holt’s #1 fan” tank top. “Mason’s my biggest hype man. He does things like that,” she says. “He’s one of the most charming people in the world.”

To this day, one of her best friends is fellow actor Kelli Berglund, whom she met on Disney Channel. “It’s one of those special things that you can’t compare to anything else,” she says. “You really go through it together. You’re spending so much time away from your family and your friends and, most of the time, your home. You’re immersed in a new city and a whole new environment of people.”

Britney Spears is the ultimate icon to me. I grew up obsessed with her.

Fans have some ideas for her next moves, hoping one particular project will soon be added to her slate: the Jon M. Chu-directed Britney Spears biopic. “Britney Spears is the ultimate icon to me. I grew up obsessed with her. I had lots of her merch. I listened to all of her music,” Holts says. “She has inspired me in so many ways as a performer, so I really am just honored that people are even thinking of me in that way.”

The biopic wouldn’t be her first time returning to the ’90s — Cruel Summer is set between 1993 and 1995. “I’m a sucker for the ’90s. I love anything ’90s, around the ’90s. So I was really excited to lock into that world and that era,” she says of the Freeform series.

Holt’s love for Spears could also help her land a Britney casting. She refuses to pick a favorite Britney song. Instead, she offers, “One that has always stuck with me is ‘I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman.’” It’s easier to get her to choose a favorite Britney fashion moment: “Probably the ‘Oops!... I Did It Again’ jumpsuit. That’s the first thing that comes to my head. The metallic red catsuit. So good. It’s such a perfect look.”

While fans may be manifesting that role for Holt, she has her sights set on something unexpected for the future. “I would really like to be a period piece,” she says. “I think that would be really fun and a good challenge. I have never put on a corset or ball gown before. I would love to work with Emma Stone, too. She’s been my mood board, vision board, inspo for my entire career.”

A period piece co-starring Emma Stone might be the only thing missing from Holt’s IMDb, but she’s got plenty of time to make the dream a reality, corsets and all.