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Picture this: You're spending the summer hanging by the beach with your BFF—when you get caught up solving a paranormal mystery in your town together (and going on tons of adventures in the process). Sounds pretty amazing, right? 

Well, that's exactly what happens to besties Sam and Jade in the new Apple TV+ series Surfside Girls (streaming starting Aug. 19). Of course, we're instantly obsessed with this super fun series (based on the graphic novels by Kim Dwinell)—and had to know ~everything~ about Miya Cech, who plays outgoing, stylish Jade. So, what did we learn about Miya? Here are 5 fast facts: 

1. She and her Surfside Girls co-star became IRL besties on set.

Miya and YaYa Gosselin, who plays Sam, bonded right away. "We had a Zoom meeting and it was an instant click. We [first] bonded over socks—we have a love of fun, fuzzy, patterned socks." One of their core memories on set: Their Encanto soundtrack-fueled dance breaks between filming scenes.

2. Her character Jade gave her some serious fashion inspo.

Jade's a fashionista—and Miya can definitely relate. "I love lots of color and patterns," Mia explains when describing her go-to fits. After filming, Jade's fashion-forward looks have pushed her to think more outside the box. "In an episode, Jade wears mushroom earrings and a necklace but they're in different colors, like a blue and an orange one. It was such a fun way to take something and make it unique." 

3. Also v. inspiring to Miya? Graphic novels. 

Surfside Girls started as a graphic novel series—and, luckily for Miya, it's a genre she hearts. "I read a lot of graphic novels because I'm an artist," she shares about her passion project. "I read a lot of manga but I want to get into a regular cartoon style as well, so Kim [Dwinell]'s stuff for Surfside Girls is just incredible and really easy to work off of. It seems very simple but the way you make [the characters] have different emotions and the way you draw them is very expressive. And I can look at Jade and be, like, 'Hey, it's me!'" 

4. She learned some fabulous friendship lessons from the show.

Miya shares the super relatable sitch that Sam and Jade find themselves in on Surfside Girls: "They're at that strange age of 13 and they're at a crossroads and just trying to navigate their friendship—they're drifting apart but this big mystery brings them back together." The biggest message she took from the series? "Definitely that your differences make you stronger." 

5. Her fave season is right around the corner.

Though Miya loves the fam bonding and travel time that comes with summer, she can't help but get psyched for her fave season: fall. "It's warm but not too warm, it's cozy, lots of pretty colors and it always smells like cinnamon," she explains of her pick. Plus, Miya's got tons of awesome projects coming up the rest of this year, like her starring role in American Girl: Corinne Tan, based on the 2022 American Girl Doll of the Year. "That one is so exciting to me," Miya gushes. "I got to film it with my little sister. I'm just, like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm an American Girl.' It's just insane." 

Stream Surfside Girls on Apple TV+ now!

Image: Lee Clower.

by Katherine Hammer | 8/19/2022