In the Netflix docuseries that follows the cheer squad of Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, 20-year-old Harris became a breakout star for his indefatigable jubilance and characteristic “mat talk”—shouts of encouragement to pump up teammates. Here, the beloved underdog turned Hollywood hero shares quarantine motivation, memories from his first Oscar night, and what’s next for Navarro.
HIS PASSION began “at a very young age. We never had the most money and I lost my mom at 16, but cheer has become my family. It has made me the person I am today.”
WHEN NETFLIX first arrived at Navarro, some teammates turned it on for the cameras—“girls wanted makeup, guys wanted a haircut”—but not Harris: “I wasn’t going to just change the way I look, absolutely not!”
THE SHOW catapulted Harris to stardom. He has more than 1 million Instagram followers, a roster of fans including “JJ Watt, Chrissy Teigen, Oprah,” and, as Ellen DeGeneres’s red-carpet correspondent at the Oscars, he interviewed winners Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, and Renée Zellweger. “The newfound fame won’t change who I am because just as quick as it came, it can get taken away.”
HIS FAVORITE memory from the V.F. Oscar party? “Hailey Bieber was obsessed with me,” he says with genuine modesty. “I was like, ‘Am I really talking to Hailey Bieber for 30 minutes right now?’ It was just so pleasing.”
ALTHOUGH HIS TEAM trained for a year, the 2020 cheerleading competition in Daytona, Florida, has been canceled. But the current college student remains hopeful. “We were heartbroken, but I might have another year of eligibility now. And I’m looking at business opportunities at school as well.”
AS FOR a second season of Cheer? “We would love it, but we don’t know yet. We’re thrilled to just ride the ride.”
AWAY FROM the gym amid coronavirus, the self-proclaimed sci-fi fan is “listening to Billie Eilish, bingeing the Scream series,” and offering some timely mat talk: “This is only temporary. It’s going to be over before we know it. Try to make the best of it—we got this.”
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