Halsey has admitted she never planned for her stage name to become a persona.
The Without Me singer, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns, admitted that Halsey has grown into a character over the years and she feels like she has to “play” her.
“I always compare Halsey to (TV show) Grey’s Anatomy, where everybody who did Grey’s Anatomy, I’m sure they loved it, but after 25 seasons, they’re like, I can’t play Meredith anymore,” the singer, real name Ashley Frangipane, told Paper magazine.
“That’s kind of how I felt about Halsey, which brought up an even greater existential question: ‘Why do I feel like I’m playing Halsey?’ It’s meant to be just a stage name, not necessarily a persona, and I realised at that point it has kind of grown into a persona, which I never really intended for it to.”
The 30-year-old recently made their first foray into acting, with appearances in films such as MaXXXine and Americana. They noted that it felt refreshing to play a character other than Halsey in those projects.
“Acting gave me a chance to step out of that, but also it gave me a chance to be a part of someone else’s vision,” she added. “So much of what I make, the impetus is on me all the time to be in control of everything. It was nice showing up to someone else’s set, and my only job is to serve you in the best way that I can and you have the harder job. It was nice to be new at something, be a part of a community and collaborate.”
Halsey will release their latest album, The Great Impersonator, on 25 October.
