We would like to introduce you to Zibby Allen! Allen is an actress, writer, producer, and singer/songwriter who has appeared in a number of films and television shows and is a member of the band Sock and Chimes. Despite the fact that she has already provided us with a plethora of options to watch or listen to, she is not done yet and has some exciting new projects in the works, including the fifth season of Virgin River and the lead role in the Lifetime thriller Lies Between Friends. She and her family also established The Baby Dragon Fund in memory of her brother. Although this fund is no longer active, she continues to do philanthropic work and has contributed a great deal to the Human Rights Campaign. Please continue reading to learn more about Zibby Allen's acting projects and characters, as well as The Baby Dragon Fund and other philanthropic work.

Where are you based?
I’m based in Los Angeles California, but for the last several years I’ve been splitting my time between LA, Vancouver Canada (where Virgin River is filmed) and N. Ireland / Edinburgh, Scotland (where my husband is from).

You work as an actor, a writer, and a producer. Where did this love of the industry come from?
Funny, I wouldn’t say it’s a love of the industry that I have, as much as a love of entertaining and storytelling. The industry aspect of entertainment has been more of a complex love affair for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to act/write/produce on larger platforms, and I feel tremendously lucky to get to make a living in entertainment, but as we all know, this industry can be fickle, unsympathetic and existentially challenging at times. Though it has probably been the impetus for most of my personal growth work. Regardless, one thing remains true, which is that with or without the industry, I’ve always been and will likely always be inexplicably compelled to make things and take part in creative expression. I’m not sure exactly where that came from, though perhaps it’s just simply that I’ve been the most moved and transformed in my life through stories that I see on the screen, on stage or in a song… and so my heart just can’t help wanting to be a part of the power of that medium!

What is your favorite aspect of acting, writing, or producing?
Acting is incredibly satisfying, when I get to do it. Writing is super satisfying because I can do it without waiting for permission — I don’t need a scene partner, I don’t need to audition for it, I can just write. Producing is grueling when I’m in it, but the satisfaction that comes with seeing a creative vision come to full fruition is addictive. So I enjoy all three for their own reasons but if I had to choose, I’d say I’m perhaps the most fulfilled when I’m acting. I love the immediacy and thrill of living in a scene with the other actors I adore, collaborating with my fellow artists to compose a scene. It’s a singular experience that lives and dies between “action” and “cut” and it can never be exactly replicated again. It’s magic for me.

You've appeared in Grey's Anatomy, A.N.T. Farm, Nancy Drew, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Exorcist (FOX), and $h*! My Dad says. Do any of the characters you've played in these shows represent who you are?
Ha! Yeah, I mean, maybe all of the roles I’ve played represent a little part of who I am? They must, right? If I’m relating to the character on the page enough to fall into their point of view and find their rhythm, then those aspects must live inside of me somewhere too. The coolest thing for me about being an actor is that I get invited into other people’s worlds … and no matter how different the characters seem from me, through my work I seem to discover over and over again just how much more humanity lives in me than I knew.

You star in Virgin River as Brie Sheridan. What can we expect from the fifth season of Virgin River and your character? Is there anything you've learned on set from the five seasons?
We’ve just started filming season five and I am so excited for the storylines that are coming out of this new season. Without giving anything away, I can tell you that Brie is determined to make good on her promise to hold her abuser and ex-boyfriend, Don, accountable, per her encounter with him season 4, episode 12. Plus she’s finding ways to open up and let her brother Jack into her truths a bit more, along with the good people of Virgin River, as she begins to integrate the trauma she spent so much of the last two seasons trying to keep at bay. I’m so proud of her. As far as what I’ve learned from my time in Virgin River so far, I like to think that every character I play needs a little something from me and I need a little something from them. Brie has shown me a sense of durability and self-dignity that I appreciate so much. She’s got strong boundaries and she’s an effortless advocate for herself in many ways… playing her over the last few seasons has given me the chance to really put those qualities to practice in my personal life.

You are also starring in the lead role of a new Lifetime thriller, Lies Between Friends, which will premiere this summer, 2022. Could you please tell us more about this?
It’s a really fun and scandalous movie for TV. I play the role of Claire, who is happily married to the CEO (played by Peter Benson) of a multi-million dollar company and who, unbeknownst to Claire, has some dark skeletons in his closet from his college years. Those skeletons come back to haunt Claire’s entire family when her husband's old college buddy pushes to cash-in on a favor still owed to him. It will be packed with drama, and a healthy dash of camp. Ha!

You are also a singer/songwriter and member of the band Sock and Chimes, with whom you released a song called "I Love You Overall" in 2011. What was it like working on an album and releasing it? How did it feel to get such a good response from your first album?
Yes, Socks and Chimes is a little folk duo I’m in, alongside dear friend and collaborator Ian Merrigan. Wemake whimsical, unpolished tunes that kinda tug at the heartstrings. I never had any designs to be in a band. It was only in my twenties after the tragic loss of my older brother - Hunter - whom I was very close with, that I took interest. For nearly a year after Hunter’s death, I was extremely overcome with grief. I couldn’t sleep most nights. Just before Hunter’s death, a customer at the bar I worked at in L.A. gifted me one of his spare ukuleles. So during my long stretch of insomnia I started late-night learning how to play my ukulele (thank you Youtube), and writing simple little songs. I started sharing some of those songs with Ian, who just had this amazing ability to meet me in that vulnerable and expressive place so graciously at the time.

Fairly organically, we began sharing our own personal songs, harmonizing with each other, writing new tunes together… Honestly, it was an act of healing for me at the time, even if I didn’t know it. It helped that Ian is a brilliant musician (compared to my musicianship, which leaves much to be desired)! Eventually we ended up with enough songs for an album, which we titled “I Love You Overall.” The album is made up of the music that captures that emotionally potent time for me, and the strong soulful friendship I have with Ian. We didn’t intend to release it on any large scale… but one night, shortly after we'd finished recording the scratch album, Ian and I were at a concert where we met someone who, unbeknownst to us at the time, was a radio DJ. He asked for a copy of our album which we sent just for giggles. The following day, that DJ - Chris Douridas - texted to tell us to turn our radios on to KCRW’s Mornings Become Eclectic because he was about to play one of our songs! We were absolutely shocked. From that radio moment, we managed to gather a little Socks and Chimes following and ended up going on a Pacific Northwest music tour with that album. It was such a special and unexpected series of events.

Any albums or EP’s coming out in the near future?
We have enough songs for another album, but we may start with an EP of our favorites just to keep the train moving. Working title for our next EP or Album is “Mind The Gap”.

In memory of your brother, you and your family established The Baby Dragon Fund. Could you please tell us about it and why it is so important to you?
My older brother, Hunter, (who was also one of my best friends) took his own life just about 12 years ago. He was gay and struggled a lot with his sexual identity growing up, which led to a few other issues in his adolescence. He ended up running away in his late teens and spending a couple of years living on the streets, on and off. In those first early years as a runaway, he started using drugs, mostly as a means of street-survival and coping. It's incredibly common for homeless youth to use drugs to survive their lifestyle, stay awake and alert at night, stave-off hunger, and mentally manage the things they have to do, see, and endure to get by. A surprising and heartbreakingly large percentage of homeless youth in Los Angeles are LGBTQ+ children who’ve been kicked out of their homes or communities for being queer. Eventually, Hunter got sober, though for the rest of his life he struggled with addiction issues.

Hunter went on to be quite the philanthropist himself. He fought hard (and won) alongside Rob Reiner to preserve the Santa Monica Mountains which were under threat of being developed at the time (there's a trail loop in the Santa Monica mountains named after him!) He also advocated for LGBTQ+ rights throughout his living adult life. One of his closest friends was Chad Griffin for whom Hunter was an integral support on his journey of ‘coming out.’ Chad and Hunter did a lot of political campaigning together. In fact, Chad went on to become the President of the Human Rights Campaign - the largest LGBT advocacy and political lobbying organization in the United States.

Despite the beautiful legacy Hunter was creating, he ultimately still felt wholly defeated by his addiction, or more specifically, by the stigmas that people assigned to his past. The shame, the stigmas, and his struggles with mental health seemed to follow him everywhere he went... even when he was thriving in his career, socially, etc. It all was just too much to bear.

While Hunter was alive he benefited greatly from the services offered at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. So when he passed, my family and I set up The Baby Dragon Fund in his loving memory with a specific goal of advancing the causes for which he cared about so passionately. Funds raised benefitted The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's programs, specifically for homeless youth and addiction issues. "Baby Dragon" was a nickname I gave Hunter when we were young. He was fierce and fiery, but also so very adorable and vulnerable... like a baby dragon.

While the fund is no longer active, you continue to do philanthropic work and have contributed a great deal to the Human Rights Campaign. Can you tell us more about your work with the Human Rights Campaign and why you are an advocate for it?
I contribute to the HRC however I can, I attend local events, and do my part in helping to mobilize those who envision a world strengthened by diversity, where our laws and society treat all people equally, particularly LGBTQ+ people and all those who are marginalized. As an up close witness to the utter degradation that hateful, discriminatory, devaluing thoughts, actions, laws, and beliefs have on a human life, I consider it my life’s work to create a safe society where all are seen as equal, valued and belonging.

Mental health has been a huge struggle these past few years for a lot of people. Do you have any advice for anyone struggling? How about for the family members of those with mental illness?
We share this planet with billions of people because we aren’t meant to do it all on our own. We need each other. All of us. Letting support and love in, seeking support, reaching out to ask for help is one of the greatest acts of self-care you can offer yourself and your loved ones. My own greatest moments of healing and transformation have happened through the help of others. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of and I’m so happy to see that we are collectively moving toward dissolving negative stigmas around mental illness. I was just saying the other day that one of my absolute favorite things about Gen Zs is that they seem to understand that mental health is important, mental illness is normal and not necessarily a life-sentence — that there’s no need for shame or pretending you're okay when you're not. It's so admirable to see a younger generation embrace and normalize mental health. If we can all look upon our mental well being as something that deserves our utmost attention, as something doesn’t need to be hidden away in shame, qualified or disguised, then I believe we can start to shift ourselves into a new realm of honest and authentic expression… which inevitably gives way to a the kind of healing and communal support that we all need and deserve.

What is your motto in life?
Out beyond reason and just past the mind where it gets quiet, there’s a knowingness… When I meet myself there, I can never go astray.

To keep up with Zibby Allen, please follow her platforms below:
Instagram: @zibbyloo
TikTok: Zibby_Allen

Photo Credit: Storm Santos

Zibby Allen - Hollywood's Dragon