Serinda Swan — The Bare Magazine

Serinda Swan stars as Dixon in the hit suspense/drama “Reacher,” season 2 is streaming now on Prime Video. We’ve been obsessed with the show and her compelling performance. So we jumped at the chance to chat and take some snaps when she whirled in to NYC for fashion week fun. Serinda shares some of her thoughts on fashion, style, Reacher’s success, working with Blueprint, her recent frozen banana/almond butter obsession and those bare essentials. Scroll on down and get a closer look at this gifted beauty.

The Bare Magazine: How was your whirlwind trip to New York fashion week?

Serinda Swan: I think that’s the perfect word for it. This trip had two of my worlds colliding (NYFW and promoting Reacher) which was intense but also a lot of fun. Ever since I was a young girl, I loved fashion, and when I go to New York, I get an opportunity to be able to express myself in a completely different way than I do at home in LA. I think that’s one of the things I love most about NYC, the sense of community. Even if you’re there by yourself - there’s always something to do even if you’re not really doing anything, you know? Just sitting in the lobby bar reading a book, there’s an energy, it’s very different than in Los Angeles which can feel slightly isolating at times. That being said, NYFW can make me feel like I’m my little teenage self again, scared she won’t fit in with all the cool kids which can be fun to navigate lol! Things have obviously changed in my life with Reacher being such a big hit. I get to sit front row and have these amazing designers dress me, but for some reason there is still that little girl inside me - that never felt like she fit in - wondering if she should be there. As an adult I know my worth and I just tell my little self she is home wherever she is and that I know the space I get to fill, but I definitely have to decompress for a few days afterwards. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way!

Bare: What are your favorite ways to unwind recharge after hectic schedule or when you’re filming?

SS: For me, my favorite way to unwind is usually to spend two or three days in my house recharging. I’m a true Cancer, I love being home. I live in a very green and wooded area in the hills of Los Angeles, and to be around nature really allows me to come back to myself. When you’re filming, you don’t get two or three days to yourself, so you have to find those micro pauses and those micro moments to recenter either onset or on the ride home. Sometimes it can look like sitting down and eating a good meal, a moment to take a long bath, or just trying to get as much sleep as possible. When I was shooting REACHER, I was averaging five hours of sleep a night and sometimes I worked six days a week, so you take what you can get.

Bare: Aside from your passion for acting you cofounded Blueprint supporting mental and emotional well-being of young people. Can you update us on recent progress and goals?

SS: Blueprint is sort of a love letter to little me. I never considered myself intelligent as far as normal standards go and yet somehow, I always knew there was an inner intelligence that just couldn’t figure out how to fit within the world. When we look at what our youth are going through these days, 80% of the jobs that they will be filling currently don’t exist, so we need to focus not just on skillsets, but also life skills. Blueprint is a software platform that specializes in mental health and wellness for youth. We focus on building adaptability and resilience, while also nurturing self-awareness and empathy.

One of our thought leaders is brain coach Jim Kwik. He talks about how ‘it’s not if you’re smart, but rather how you’re smart” (something I wish I had learned many, many years ago). I always ask people in my life “what do you wish you knew then, as a child, that you know now?”. Or “What would you tell your younger self if you could give them some advice?” And every time, it’s not an answer to a question or an equation, it’s the advice, the life skills to be able to face anything coming their way. Blueprint is based in self-love, self-respect, kindness (to yourself and others around you). Not in science or math, but in emotional intelligence - to be able to persevere, know things get better, learn how to communicate, ask for help, believe in yourself.

We don’t know what the next generation will face so we can’t give them the answers, but we can give them the tools to be able to discover them for themselves. I believe that every child has a unique offering to this world and that with the right support systems and guidance we can create change, together.

Bare: You must be pretty particular about your skin. It’s so beautiful please share some of your top treatments and products.

SS: First off, thank you for saying that, it has definitely been a journey with my skin. I struggle with rosacea as well as some random breakouts/red patches when I’m super stressed. For a while there, they couldn’t figure it out so they put me on so many steroids and creams, only to find out it was more internal than externally caused. I’ve also recently starting having extreme allergies to products so what I do for my routine is very simple. When I wake up in the morning, I ice my face with a blend of chamomile tea and if I feel like I want to get really fancy, I use some rose petals from my garden (thanks to a recipe from Clarite wellness- Colette is an absolute magic worker). Then I use Angela Caglia serum on my face, and finally I have this magic moisturizer that I use that is created by a woman in Vancouver. You send a picture of what’s currently going on with your face and she sends you back an unlabeled little pot. It looks stretchy but it works!! I’ve been using it for the past 10 years. Life is a journey and so is your skin care routine. Oh! If I do have a crazy breakout or my rosacea starts to flare up, I use an LED mask on the yellow setting (those can be hard to find as mainly it’s blue and red, but if you can find one that has yellow, I do 15 minutes). Then use an ISclinical mask that I keep in the fridge to calm my skin down. This seems to be the best for rough days.

Lace tank: Rue Saint Paul BK Jeans: Serinda’s own

Bare: On Reacher what were your main make-up or hair must haves? What do you love about your character Dixon’s style?

SS: I felt so bad for my incredible make up artist on Reacher, Alex Rotundo, because if we used a product I was allergic to, I would get hives all over my face (which is not great when you’re about to go on camera). She was amazing and worked very closely with me to find products that wouldn’t cause flare ups with my skin. For Dixon, we wanted to keep things natural but beautiful (knowing that she would start clean and then end up covered in dirt and blood). We used ILIA tinted serum for my face (or Koh Gen Do Moisture Foundation for days I wanted more coverage but still looking natural). My go to mascara for the last few years is ILIA in ‘after midnight.’ I just love the way it accentuates my lashes without looking clumpy. Now for bronzer, we found this amazing palette by Victoria Beckham that kept me looking like I had seen some sunshine, even though we shot in the dead of winter in Toronto for 5 months. For Hair, we just kept it super simple and added a few curls. Most of the time there was nothing in it but a little bit of hairspray, and I can’t even remember the name of it, but obviously it was a hypoallergenic one lol. And as for Dixon’s style, the season is shot over a five day period for the characters so we had to get strategic (maybe she has a small suitcase or duffle bag for her changes etc). I remember doing a big fight scene in sky high Stuart Weitzman stilettos. After that, I requested the next two episodes be in flat boots, well almost flat.

AOTC Blazer, Pants and Shirt from (CURVE) Jacket: Vintage Dior Serinda’s own. Shoes: J Crew (the A List)

Bare: How long did it take growing your hair from a pixie to its current length? Who is the hair stylist that gave you the recent French girl bangs?

SS: My hair grows like a weed. When I was on the set of Marvels Inhumans, we had to shave my head every eight days. It’s been a slow process growing it back to the length it is now because I was previously on another show for 4 years where my character has a pixie cut. But for the last season, I started to grow it out and that was 2022. My favorite phase was when it was either shaved or a super short ‘French boy’ cut that was platinum blonde or my new ‘French girl’ cut by Jesse Alexandre.

Bare: Fill in the blanks:

Currently my favorite song is: hmmm it’s dependent on my mood but either “The Fault Lines” by David O’Dowda or “Milkshake 20” the Alex Wann remix.

I can’t stop eating: frozen bananas slices with cashew butter (or this one specific turmeric and pea flour bread I get from the farmers market every Sunday… actually, I should put them together and make the best cashew butter banana toast!)

My favorite recent purchase is: a pair of black Chanel Chelsea boots. I wear them everywhere.

I’ve been watching: a lot of trash television but I cannot wait for the new season of F1 to come out at the end of this month.

I would love to work with: Cillian Murphy. I’ve been a fan of his for a very long time and am excited to see the world recognizing his immense talent.

If you could step back into time: I would spend the afternoon at the park with my grandmother and my dog Bu.