Child star of ‘And Just Like That’ excited to celebrate her bat mitzvah in Israel
Fresh off premiere of second season of ‘Sex and the City’ spinoff, actress Alexa Swinton discusses her non-binary character Rock, connection to Judaism and goals for the future
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Alexa Swinton’s character in “And Just Like That…” – the sequel to “Sex and the City” – adamantly did not want to celebrate their Jewish coming of age.
In the much-buzzed about season finale of the first season of the HBO show, Rock Goldenblatt, who identifies as non-binary, refuses to recite their Torah portion despite the colorful “they mitzvah” ceremony their parents have thrown: “I’m not doing it. I don’t believe in it.”
In real life, Swinton, 13, is overjoyed to finally be celebrating her bat mitzvah in a joint ceremony with her sister in a national park in Israel this week, surrounded by some family members she is meeting for the first time.
“I’ve done a lot of work with my mom and my rabbi to mix together this really beautiful sermon that I’m very proud of,” Swinton told The Times of Israel in an interview at a Jerusalem café on the first day of her trip.
She noted that in her remarks she will touch on her weekly Torah portion as well as mention Queen Esther, Anne Frank and other Jewish women in history.
“I feel very lucky to be able to share it in front of people that I am going to meet for the first time, but who I have a lot of love for in my heart just because of my connection,” she said.
Alexa and her older sister, Ava, said they were unable to celebrate their respective bat mitzvahs when they occurred during the pandemic, and ultimately decided to wait and do so together in Israel.
“We got very lucky because it happened to be the perfect timing and I get to be here which is beautiful… and we wanted our family to be there, but so much of our family is here,” she said. “And I’m so happy I picked this over having a huge party at home. This is going to be so much more special for me memory-wise.”
The young actress departed for Israel just a couple of days after the second season of “And Just Like That” premiered on HBO (available in Israel on HOT). In the series, a spinoff of sorts to the iconic “Sex and the City,” which ended its run in 2004, Swinton plays Rock Goldenblatt, the offspring of Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Harry (Evan Handler).
Swinton has racked up a long resume of acting credentials before even turning 14. Her first major role came at age 10 in “Emergence,” the ABC thriller which centers around her character Piper. She later played Maddox in the 2021 M. Night Shyamalan-helmed horror film “Old,” and has also played the character of Eva Rhoades over five seasons of the Showtime drama “Billions,” starting when she was just 7. And she wrapped filming last year on the upcoming Netflix film “Maestro,” playing the daughter of famed musician Leonard Bernstein.
Shooting began for the first season of “And Just Like That” when Swinton was just 11 – and had never seen the original “Sex and the City” series, which was notable at the time for its boundary-pushing frank and explicit approach to discussing and depicting sex.
“I was like, ‘Oh, let’s watch a few minutes’ – and that ended very, very quickly because we realized just how much there was in the first two seconds,” joked Swinton, alongside her mom, Inna. Now approaching her 14th birthday, she said she recently watched all six seasons of the original show after wrapping filming on season 2.
Having now seen the full show, she said, there are elements of the reboot that “are just so much more meaningful that I know what they’re talking about.”
Swinton’s character and storyline got a lot of attention in season one when they announced that they no longer wanted to identify as female, and preferred to go by Rock instead of Rose.
“I got appreciation for having representation on screen because there’s not a lot or even any 12-year-olds on screen who are trying to explore their gender identity,” said Swinton. “I think it’s comforting to see someone like Charlotte not really know what to do, and kind of being confused, equally as confused as they are. And I think it’s comforting to know they’re not alone.”
While Swinton and her character in “And Just Like That” have many differences, they both hail from Jewish families: Her mom, Inna, was born into a Jewish family in the former Soviet Union, and moved to the US when she was a child, while her father, Rolfe, is Canadian with Scottish roots.
“My grandma is so proud of her heritage, and she reminds us constantly, she keeps us more involved in our Judaism,” said Swinton. “My dad is not Jewish, so we also celebrate Christmas and Easter,” she added while noting that the family attends a temple in New Jersey. “I’ve never been into a church,” she said, adding that her maternal grandmother “is always making sure that we keep the tradition alive.”
This trip to Israel was an extended family adventure, with Swinton and her sister accompanied by their parents, younger brother Maxim (recently seen as Solly in the FX series “Fleishman Is in Trouble”) as well as her maternal grandparents and paternal grandmother. The group toured Jerusalem, visited Yad Vashem, swam in the Dead Sea, rode camels in the Jordan Valley, and spent time in the Golan Heights.
The trip is the first visit for Swinton to the Jewish State, and she said many members of the cast and crew of “And Just Like That” were excited to hear of her plans to visit and celebrate her bat mitzvah in Israel.
“When I told people I was coming here, they were all like, everyone on set, all of the cast and crew… they were all like ‘you’re gonna be obsessed with it, it is perfect, it’s the most amazing thing,'” she recalled.
While Rock’s failed “they mitzvah” was a key storyline in season 1, Swinton said the character arc this year is less focused on identity and labels and more on their personality.
“I think Rock is a bit more funky this time around, I think they’re trying new things,” she said. “It’s more about who they are, what they like to do in their free time.” And the family’s Jewish identity in season 2 is less front and center, but yet “I think that Judaism is relevant in every single scene,” she said.
Swinton – who attends public school when she is not filming (during which she has on-set tutors) – has a lot of big plans for the future: to attend Yale University (where her parents met), host Saturday Night Live and get cast as a superhero.
“I absolutely would love to be Wonder Woman, or Super Girl or maybe another version of some random Marvel superhero that has like one comic book about it and then gets an entire movie franchise,” she said. “I would not complain about any of that.”
In the business for close to a decade, Swinton said she believes she has found her calling, even at such a young age.
“I’ve been very lucky to have found my passion so early in life,” she said. “I think if my mom did not get me started at 3 years old… maybe I would have gotten lucky, and maybe I wouldn’t have. But I have gotten lucky now.”
