<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"I was never good at that Disney/Nickelodeon kind of acting. It's not really my cup of tea,\" Morgan Saylor explains with an apologetic shrug. But the eighteen-year-old actress's decision to bypass those happy-go-lucky parts for a \"juicy\" role on Showtime's high-octane hit Homeland (and the fact that she feels more herself in a ripped rock tee than a frilly cocktail dress) is exactly what makes her the perfect Teen Vogue guest to this year's punk-themed Met Gala.\n\n Literally fresh off the heels of her senior prom (she wore ASOS), the Georgia native popped up to New York City for a style t\u00EAte-\u00E0-t\u00EAte with yours truly and Met Gala co-chair and Moda Operandi cofounder Lauren Santo Domingo. \"True fashion lovers have always been attracted to the unusual and avant-garde,\" Lauren says as she and Morgan play dress-up with a slew of studded, edgy accessories. \"I love a girl like Morgan who is willing to take a risk. What's the point of being young if not to be a little outrageous?\" (Fittingly, as Morgan peruses Moda Operandi's exclusive punk collection, she models a New York Vintage Mohawk with nonchalant confidence.)\n\n Since the meteoric rise of Homeland's popularity, the starlet, who spends most of her time in the South, has honed her style chops. \"What we do, filming in Charlotte, is so small compared to how huge the show has become,\" says Morgan, who prefers thrift stores to malls. \"You can Google old photos of me and tell I didn't understand what I was doing. At the first premiere of the show, I wore Vans. Now I've developed my own style and know what is appropriate from experience.\"\n\n Although her burgeoning career has won her coveted insider invites, Morgan chooses to lead as normal a life as possible in lieu of the flashy Hollywood scene. \"I'm really glad I did all four years at a totally normal public high school,\" she explains.\n\n The actress's desire to find a balance between TV stardom and teen life is especially evident the night of the ball. Decked out in a dress by cool London designer Holly Fulton, she reveals, \"It all still feels so surreal. Obviously this is part of my life, but it's not the crowd I hang out with every day.\" So it's no surprise she opted out of the after-parties: \"I walked away and sat on a bench with my boyfriend for a long time and told him all about it. And then got into a taxi and went home! Sharing these things with my friends is important so it's not just me, off living a fairy tale.\"\n\n Because even fairy tales have their pitfalls: \"I get so bummed when I have to return the clothes I'm lent,\" Morgan admits. \"It's easy to feel so special, but like Cinderella, you lose your shoes.\" With or without the fancy footwear, this girl's got her feet planted firmly on the ground."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/morgan-saylor-met-costume-institute-gala?slide=2>