Callie McDaniel

Hair Stylist and Owner of Callie's Beauty Lounge (*Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation* & *Sweet L.A. Life: Back Together Again*)

### **Residence**:

Los Angeles, CA (Currently)
 Laguna Beach, CA (Formerly)

## Relationships

### **Parents**:

George McDaniel (Father; Deceased)
 Gayle McDaniel (Mother; Deceased)

### **Children**:

Cayla McDaniel (Daughter)
 Briana Michaels (Goddaughter/Stepdaughter)

### **Significant others**:

Ben Michaels (Husband; In Love with)
 Peter Grant (Ex-Fiance)
 Tim Weaver (Ex-Boyfriend)
 Carlos Garcia (Ex-Boyfriend)
 Ethan Griffins (Ex-Husband)
 Nathan Cross (Kiss)
 Harry Chang (Fling)
 Paige Turner (Kissed; Slept With)

## Series information

### **Featured in**:

*Sweet L.A. Life*
 Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation

### **Total episode count**:

70

**Callie McDaniel** is a main character in the novel series, *Sweet L.A. Life*. She is a hair stylist living in Los Angeles with her older sister and best friend Layla. Unlike Layla, Callie is a heterosexual, however she developed a better understanding to the LGBT community. She even marched with her sister and their friends in PRIDE parades. Although she loves her mother, Callie doesn't approve of her views of the LGBT community, which shows she is the only member of the McDaniel family who accepts and approves of Layla's sexuality. She is known for being loyal for her sister and her friends of the LGBT community. As a hair stylist, she is devoted her life to her career and finds it insulting that people said hairdressing is loser job. During the series, Callie had been in a few relationships with several men such as Ben Michaels, Ethan Griffins, Carlos Garcia. She also kissed and once slept with friend, Paige Turner. Callie was also involved in many serious storylines such as nearly being killed by Nathan Cross's abusive ex-boyfriend, her conflict with her estranged mother, and her struggle with bulimia, which almost destroyed her life. In *Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation*, Callie is much older, but maintains her feisty personality. She owns Callie's Beauty Lounge, a hair and beauty salon in Los Angeles, where main character Erica Myles works as a hair stylist. At age 41, Callie became a mother to a daughter, Cayla McDaniel.

## Early Life

Callie grew up in Laguna Beach, California with her parents George and Gayle McDaniel and older sister, Layla. Callie dream of being a hairstylist was realized at a young age due to her love of doing hair and her creativity, and she attended beauty school while still in high school and graduated from the International Beauty Academy at the age of 18. She worked as a stylist at a premier salon in Laguna Beach. However, her mother didn't approve of her career choice and tried to persuade her into going to college to pursue a career as a lawyer, which Callie had zero interest in pursuing. As if her conflict with her mother wasn't stressful, Callie endured her father's cancer diagnosis while dealing with her high-school nemesis, Madison Drake, who saw Callie as a ditsy mallrat.

## Sweet L.A. Life

Callie made her first appearance in the first episode of the series, the engaged younger sister of Layla McDaniel, the lesbian interior designer. She comes to L.A. to visit her sister and announces that she is engaged to her boyfriend, Peter Grant. Callie hits it off with Layla's gay friends; paramedic Nathan Cross (whom she met and flirted with at her 18th birthday party in 1998), transgender Ben Michaels, and closeted actress, Ashley Thomas

### Bulimia storyline

In 2006, after her mother leaves L.A. Callie began to suffer a mental breakdown due to her mother's homophobia towards her sister and her controlling way, leading her to binge and purge privately to help her cope with the events she endured. Her eating disorder continued when Callie, who was supposed to take a cake made by Sylvia and Janice for a birthday party, ate half of the cake and threw it up. Her bulimia was then coupled with her erratic behavior and when her friends would hear her vomit, she made an excuse that she had a "Stomach Virus". However, when Callie's rival and co-worker, Pete discovered her bulimia, he struggles with telling Layla about it as he knew she would not believe him and would defend her sister. But after he tells her about her sister's illness, Layla revealed that Callie's bulimia has happened before when she was 16. Layla expresses regret that she wasn't there when Callie's first battle with bulimia occurred because she left Laguna Beach and moved to L.A. after her fallout with her mother. Realizing how really sick her sister is, Layla convinces the group to stage an intervention to get Callie help for her bulimia. In the season finale, Callie was confronted by the group and Layla about her eating disorder, which she denies about. Layla tells her sister that she knows that her bulimia had returned to a point that it was interfering with her life. Delores demands that Callie check herself to an eating disorder clinic or risk being alienated. An hour later, the group receives a shocking phone call that Callie had locked herself in the office of the diner and was having a breakdown. Both Layla and Nathan enter and they see Callie in poor condition. Breaking down, she finally admits that she cannot do this anymore and needed help. At the end of the finale, Callie was seen entering an eating disorder clinic.

In the season premiere, Callie is still at an eating disorder clinic, where she was undergoing treatment and counseling. It was revealed that her troubled relationship with her mother was the benefactor of her problem. Callie slowing begins to understand that bulimia was a serious and mental illness and was something people cannot judge.

## Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation

Taking place years after the original series, Callie is now in her late 30's and she owns her own hair and beauty salon in West Hollywood. It is revealed that she is married to Ethan Griffins, but their marriage comes to an end in divorce, due to Callie focusing on her goal instead of her marriage. The divorce devastates Callie as she felt she let Ethan down after everything they have gone through to be together.

## Sweet L.A. Life: Back Together Again

In the Back Together Again series, Callie had reunited with her ex-husband, Ethan Griffins after he revealed that his second wife had left him for her lover and took his son with her.

## Personality

Callie is somewhat naïve and not thoroughly educated but has a lot of common sense (which she does not always use, particularly regarding her car's condition, her spending habits and her flirtation with men) and street smarts. Her dream is to enter the world of fashion, though she becomes a successful hair and makeup artist. She is very kind-hearted and empathetic toward people though she can blow up when made mad, which prompted Braden to refer to her as "The Incredible Hulk" after she went off on him and others. She believes most guys are nice and has been hurt a lot. When someone shocks her, she tends to bat her eyes at them while she is considering her response. She also storms off in frustration when dealing with people like Sheldon (who, for example, she initially does not know has no concept or understanding of sarcasm, causing her to get frustrated when he takes her sarcastic barbs literally) or situations she can't believe or understand. She knows how to throw out wise-cracks and is very loyal to her man as long as she is not betrayed. She also has a tendency to deny doing things that are embarrassing or she suddenly realizes are embarrassing. When she has had arguments with Leonard, she also has a tendency to make assumptions about what he says, twists his comments out of context and puts words in his mouth that he never said (e.g. when Leonard points out that something Penny did was stupid or foolish and Penny jumps to conclusions and assumes that Leonard said she was "stupid").

## Quotes

* Callie, (On stage at a Stop Prop 14 fundraiser): Yes, I've heard. Politicians want to mess with us and women's rights. I AM Callie Rebecca McDaniel. And I see a whole army of my fellow gays and lesbians here in defiance of this homophobic tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, free women, and free men and women you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight? Yeah, fight and you may lose. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!!

## Notes

* She is the younger sister of Layla McDaniel.
* Callie is the feisty, fierce, outgoing one of the McDaniel sisters.
* Prior to the start of the series, Callie was engaged to her boyfriend, until he cheated on her. Leaving her to move in with her older sister, Layla.
* She is a licensed cosmetologist and works as a hair stylist and makeup artist. Many of her friends and her sister are her models.
* She collects hair-related items, makeup, and jewelry.
* She is a fan of Keanu Reeves and watches to of his movies *Speed* and *Point Break*.
* Callie holds the record of have eight ex-boyfriends who broke her heart.
* Her most memorable scene in *Sweet L.A. Life* was when she splashed piping hot coffee in Peter Fairchild's face when he insulted both her sister, her friends, and Callie herself.
* Despite being a heterosexual, Callie has been kissed by female characters on the show. She kissed Maggie, Paige Turner, and her own sister, Layla.
* Before she lived in L.A., Callie lived in Laguna Beach.
* She gave birth to her 1st child at age 41, a daughter Cayla Natalie McDaniel on . Child's father is her deceased ex-husband, Ethan Griffins.