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Aisha Dee isn’t a boss bitch. She’s a boss, bitch.
That’s the motto of her self-assured character on The Bold Type – Kat Edison – and one Dee lives by in real life. “I’m drawn to Kat because we both have a con dent and strong personality,” says Dee of her character in the cult-hit series, which follows three friends trying to make it in the magazine industry in New York.
It’s a long way from her home on the Gold Coast, where she grew up with her opera-singing single mum. Dee, now 25, decided she was going to be an actress while watching Sesame Street, at age four. An ambitious teen, she scored a starring role in the iconic tween drama The Saddle Club before moving to LA seven years ago. It was a period that required Dee to draw on her aforementioned inner strength – most nights eating “five for $10 frozen meals”.
Since landing her breakout role in The Bold Type, in 2016, Dee says the biggest change in her life has been being able to pay her rent on time.
“I also have a washer and a dryer in my unit now, which is the bougiest thing about me,” she admits with a laugh, drifting between her Australian-born and American-learnt accent.
As well as the white goods, Dee has also gained a “second family” in the form of The Bold Type cast and crew. She refers to her co-stars Katie Stevens and Meghann Fahy as her “sisters” and is up-front about the fact that she doesn’t know what she’d do without them. So what does it take to be friends with Aisha Dee?
“You have to be down for an impromptu dance party whenever I say, have a sense of humour and be honest. If it all goes to my head, you need to say ‘Hey Aisha, you’re full of shit,’” she says, in true self-deprecating Aussie style.
The Bold Type Season 3 is available for streaming on Stan.
This article originally appeared in the June issue of Marie Claire.
