High Potential fall finale was a turning point for the show! We sit down with Amirah Johnson, who plays Ava, to talk one of the season’s most intense episodes, sharing how Ava’s difficult decisions and emotional moments unfolded both on and off screen.
Amirah Johnson Talks Emotional Moments on High Potential and Her Role as Ava
When asked about the pivotal moment when Ava decided to stay at the police station, Amirah shared that Ava’s choice was not a calculated plan but rather an instinctive response. “I feel like she didn’t necessarily really know what to do in that moment when she decided to stay there,” she explained. “I think she was more so worried about her mom. And, you know, she doesn’t know if her mom is okay, if she’s alive, even; she doesn’t really know what’s going on. And so I feel like that was mostly her main concern when making her decision to stay at the police station during all of the madness that went on.”
Amirah also opened up about another significant scene in the episode: when Ava was forced to say goodbye to her mother and leave her in a dangerous situation. “That was a very emotional scene to film, for sure,” Amirah said. She described how her co-star, Kaitlin Olson, supported her through this challenging moment. “Kaitlin, who is incredible, before we started filming the scene, she kind of just grabbed my hands and took deep breaths with me because her and I both kind of knew what this scene meant for the episode. It was like a turning point.”
For Ava, this was a moment of heartbreak and bravery, and Amirah captured the depth of that conflict. “I feel like Ava just kind of felt like she didn’t want to leave her mom behind. That was kind of the last thing that she wanted to do. But she knew she had to be brave, not only for herself, but also for her mom and helping Tom who needed help and who needed to get out so he could seek medical help,” she said. “It was very intense and very emotional, but I feel like it’s a very important and great scene. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the episode, for sure.”
MORE: Here are our reviews of High Potential Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3.
Ava’s Emotional Journey in High Potential and Her Evolving Bond with Morgan
Reflecting on the episode, Amirah explained that this experience had a profound impact on Ava’s relationship with her mother. “I definitely think that this had a very big impact on them,” she shared. Amirah noted that, while Ava and her mother have had a complicated relationship since the start of the show, marked by both conflict and closeness, this particular moment revealed the depth of their connection. “Their relationship has been very complex since the very beginning of the show. And they have butted heads a lot and have had a lot of emotional and vulnerable moments with one another.”
The tension and warmth between them have always been a key part of the show, but this episode, Amirah explained, took their relationship to a new level. “I feel like this specific episode, we kind of see just how much they really value one another, and how much the other one actually really means to them,” she said. Despite the intense environment, Amirah believes the events allowed Ava to truly realize the importance of her mother in her life, and vice versa.
Amirah described the shift in their relationship as both beautiful and bittersweet, adding, “While it’s very sad, it’s very beautiful to kind of see how much they mean to each other, even though it’s kind of being portrayed in a very intense environment. It’s really, really sweet to see how impactful they are in each other’s lives.” Through this turning point, viewers witness Ava’s newfound appreciation for her mother, as well as the emotional weight of their relationship.
Balancing Emotion and Joy
To capture the emotional arc of the episode, Amirah explained that the production team scheduled the emotionally heavy scenes first, a process that helped her settle into Ava’s mindset. “We had filmed the emotional scenes first in the episode,” she shared. “We had filmed all of the scenes at the police station, my first few days of filming. And then we ended with filming the more like happier family scenes, which I think was nice. It was very nice to get the emotional stuff out of the way.”
Amirah revealed that diving into the intense scenes involved collaboration and solitude. “When it came to the emotional scenes, I would talk to the director about what he was expecting from the scenes and what we thought would be necessary to tell the story correctly,” she explained. “And then I would just take some time to myself, go over my lines, and get myself into that headspace of what Ava was going through at that time.” She added that imagining Ava’s distress—being “trapped in a police station, being dragged away from my mom, not knowing what’s gonna happen”—helped her bring an authentic sense of fear and resilience to the screen.
After the emotionally charged scenes, Amirah enjoyed shifting into the episode’s lighter, family-centered moments. She shared that these were a joy to film and allowed the cast to connect in a relaxed way. “When it came to the family scenes, those are so much fun to film and all of us kind of just feed off of one another’s energy,” she said. “It’s always like the best day on set when we get to have those nice family scenes; they’re my favorite for sure.”
MORE: Here are our reviews of High Potential Episode 4, Episode 5, and Episode 6!
Ava’s Journey in High Potential Second Part of the Season
Amirah revealed that Ava will finally start to find a sense of belonging within her family—a theme that has been central to her character’s story. “I think we see Ava kind of progress definitely after this episode for the last half of the season,” she explained. A big part of this growth involves Ava uncovering more about her father, which Amirah hints will be both “very interesting and very fun.”
For Ava, understanding her background and her father’s story is a long-awaited step toward understanding herself. Amirah noted, “We will see her kind of find her footing in her family finally, because I think that’s what she’s been struggling the most with—feeling so out of place in her own family.” This struggle has shaped Ava since the beginning, as she’s grappled with unanswered questions about her family and her identity.
As more details about her father emerge, Ava’s perspective on her family shifts, allowing her to move past the uncertainty she has long felt. Amirah described this character development as “really nice to kind of see her finally find her own footing,” adding that the journey toward acceptance and understanding brings a new layer to Ava’s story. “So I think it’ll be a great progression,” she concluded, clearly excited for audiences to witness Ava’s transformation. And we’re excited too!
High Potential airs on Tuesdays at 10 pm ET on ABC.
