Playboy Club model Viola Odette Harlow has a fascinating story. From being homeschooled and becoming a child actor to fighting both lupus in her 20s and heart disease in her 30s, Viola is clearly a fighter. But she continues to bloom, both through her writing, her music, and simply living one day at a time. Learn more about her in our Q&A below.
Playboy: Where were you born and what was your growing up experience like?
Viola: I was born in Los Angeles, California. I started working at six on Broadway. I played Shirley Temple. I tap danced for 17 years because of that. I can tap dance like Ginger Rogers.
I was homeschooled. I loved it because my dad is a philosophy teacher and he’s like Steve Martin funny. So, it was really fun. And I feel like I learned a lot of really cool stuff. I remember I went to one year of school of my senior year, which is always a huge mistake to do it that way, if you’ve been homeschooled and you’re 16 and you’re like, “Let’s just try college.” It was very strange because I had already done most of my credits, so I had AP lit and then just electives. I was just hanging out because I just wanted to have a normal experience. And then two weeks into my wanting to have a normal experience, I’m like, I don’t want a normal experience. I just want to go home.
Playboy: What’s the first thing you dreamed of achieving that you remember?
Viola: My parents struggled financially. That was the only thing they fought about. I saw this biopic of Judy Garland and [learned] her parents fought about money and she went and did this crazy thing. She got an audition on Broadway and then she got signed to MGM and then she was able to get her parents a house. It actually still ended up being very sad, but I was like, “That’s what you have to do.” I had this crazy plan to just do the Judy Garland kid acting thing [so] I could get my parents a house and then everyone could chill. So my first dream was to try to do the Judy Garland thing, but end it differently. That was my first attempt at altering reality.
Playboy: Do you have a dream place you want to travel to?
Viola: Yes, I lived in Paris last summer and I got too sick and I had to come home to my doctor. But it was all financially based. If I had an appropriate fund for moving to another country it could have been sustainable. So, one day I hope to get one of those ads online where this castle’s in the middle of nowhere and it’s only $500,000, [and I can be] doing what Enya’s doing with the cats and the castle.
Playboy: What makes you happiest in your life right now?
Viola: [Holds up a sweet dog] This little girl is saving my life right now. She’s 16 weeks old and she’s the most loving creature in the world. My dad’s dog passed and a really good friend in the music industry offered my dad a new dog. He was a Cavalier guy and that’s way out of our tax bracket. So I got a DM from this musician and they were like, “Hey, my friend breeds Cavaliers. Would your dad want one?” And I said, “Yeah, absolutely.” I got a text from the lady and she said, “I have your two Cavaliers.” I was like, “Wait.” And then I was like, “Don’t correct it. Don’t. Shut up. Take the dog.”
Playboy: What’s her name?
Viola: Hedi Lamar. Because I love Zeigfeld Girl.
Playboy: What is your superpower?
Viola: I feel like when I was in the ICU – I don’t know what happened when I was out and when I was back – but I feel now my brain chemistry was hard rewired. I didn’t have high anxiety before, but now I have absolutely none because you face your worst fear and then you have to face it almost every day for a whole year. At some point you just appreciate the moment. And I really somehow am able to choose: is this worth reacting to, or no?
It was weird. I’m really peaceful, without maybe any right to be. I was a child actor. I had a very crazy upbringing. I had to support my parents financially. I got lupus in my 20s. I got heart disease in my 30s. I’m constantly trying to figure out how to exist in a world that doesn’t have places for income for people like that.
Playboy: In your opinion, how can people interact in a more thoughtful way with disabled creators?
Viola: I think the way that you can do that [is to ask yourself], does questioning them benefit you? Does it make your day better? Does it get you your job that you want? Does it make you prettier? Does it get you the plastic surgery you want? Does it get you the husband you want or the wife that you want? No. So just you can either not comment, or if you feel compelled to, say, “I hope you feel better.” But there is absolutely no reason, benefit, or help to say, “Yeah, but you look fine.”
Dynamic disability is so baffling for people. For instance, when your grandpa gets heart disease he doesn’t turn purple. He still just looks like your grandpa. Everyone knows at Thanksgiving not to upset grandpa because he might have a heart attack. And when you have a young heart disease, no one thinks that way. No one’s like, “Don’t upset Viola.” Disability isn’t the other. It’s actually everybody. So whether you become disabled at 75 or in your 30s, we all will be disabled at some point. And how will you want to be treated when that happens to you?
Playboy: Perhaps part of the reason why people have such reactions about a disabled person who is visibly attractive and youthful is that it stimulates a fear of everyone becoming disabled.
Viola: So I posted a couple years ago one video called Chronically Ill Bitches on TikTok. It was when I just made a TikTok and I was still letting people think I was Gen Z. I just posted because I was like, maybe this will make people feel less alone, the tiny amount of people who look at it. And it went super viral and Lena Dunham shared it, Vogue shared it, everyone shared it, Jamie Lee Curtis. It was everywhere.
That’s how I got a record deal. And that comment section was the most wholesome, best thing I’ve seen on the internet. The internet’s a wild place and it’s just always a mixed bag. There was no mix in this bag. This was the most supportive group of hundreds of women talking to women and commenting, “I have that too. My gosh, know what? I’ve learned this helps.” And “That is so hard. I’m so sorry.” And “I see you.” I was shocked because I thought it was going to get a mixed reaction and it was just beautiful and it made me so happy.
Viola has both an album and book release right around the corner. We’ll dive more into both in an exclusive interview with her, coming out next week!
Viola is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.
