IN CONVERSATION WITH CHLOE TUCKER CAINE
interview by JANA LETONJA
From Broadway to billion-dollar listings, Chloe Tucker Caine is redefining what it means to sell with flair. One of the breakout stars of Netflix’s hit real estate series, ‘Owning Manhattan’, Chloe returns for Season 2, which premiered on 5th December, and this time, she’s raising the bar, and the curtain. Before conquering the luxury property world, Chloe spent a decade performing under the bright lights, starring as Sophie in the national tour of ‘Mamma Mia!’ and building a devoted fan base for her onstage energy. Now, through her hit digital series ‘Chloe in Manhattan’, she continues to merge her twin passions for performance and property, chronicling her evolution from center stage to closing deals.
We can currently watch you back in Netflix’s ‘Owning Manhattan’ when it returns for Season. What can fans expect from you in this new chapter of the show?
You will definitely get to see some very different sides of me. I start the season just as I am coming back to work after 6 months away on, unpaid, maternity leave. You get to watch me figure out, in real time, who this new version of me is, not only professionally but also personally.
Your Broadway-inspired listing video has already gone viral. How did that idea come about?
It may sound silly, but whenever I start on a new listing, I always take time to walk through the space like I’m a director getting ready to shoot a film. I try to pinpoint exactly what about the space I personally find the most interesting or exciting. Once I figure that out, I build the story from there. I’ve learned that if I can get myself excited about a home, I can get buyers excited about it too.
With this townhouse, I knew right away I’d need something extremely unique and attention-grabbing to get people in the door. It’s a 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom townhouse, and every floor is basically just one room. It has a charm to it, a fun quirkiness, but it’s definitely a hard sell. I kept walking up and down the townhouse, trying to understand how it wanted to be seen, and then it just clicked. To me, it felt like every floor was its own character, like you were stepping into a different scene of a musical each time you went up. And once that hit me, we got to work.
You spent years in musical theatre. What made you decide to transition into real estate?
It all started out of necessity. Between performing gigs, I picked up work as a bartender, but the truth is I was a terrible one. I’m pretty sure I’ve been hired and fired from half the bars in New York. To make ends meet, I began renting out my Hell’s Kitchen apartment on Airbnb while I stayed with my boyfriend, now husband. It took off surprisingly well, and one day he said “Why don’t you just get your real estate license? You’re basically already doing it, but legally!” I figured, why not? So I got licensed, and pretty quickly realized I was actually great at it. Within my first year, I went from renting my own apartment to finding clients on Facebook, and eventually became the leasing director of an entire rental building on the Upper East Side. I think I closed more than 150 rentals in that first year alone.
How do your theatre roots influence your approach to real estate and your on-screen personality?
Once a theater girl, always a theater girl. Every showing feels like a performance, and every listing is an opportunity to tell a story in the most effective way possible.
On screen, my theater roots can definitely be both a blessing and a curse. This is a docu-series following our real lives, but because I’ve been performing forever, season 1 was tough for me. Besides Ryan, I think I was the only one with a performance background, and I was very comfortable on camera. This season, the rest of the cast is more comfortable, maybe even too comfortable. Everyone is very spicy this season.
What’s the most dramatic or unexpected thing you’ve done to sell a property?
Definitely 304 West 18th St.: The Musical, which you’ll get to watch come to life this season. I had an original six-minute mini musical written, complete with a live band, a troupe of dancers, costumes, lights, you name it. We even had the orchestra playing on the balcony while a drone captured the whole thing. I even convinced my boss, Ryan Serhant, to dance with us. And to top it all off, it played in every taxi cab in New York City. It was truly epic, and I’m so proud of what we pulled off.
You bring such a unique mix of creativity and business savvy to the show. How do you balance both worlds?
With lots of coffee and prayers.
You’ve hinted at “more surprises” off-screen. Can you tease what’s coming next for you personally or professionally?
Let’s just say the townhouse musical unlocked something in me, and I’m definitely not putting it back. I’ve been quietly training for years—singing, dancing, acting. I really love the craft. But now that the world knows I still have that side of me, I’m leaning into it in a much bigger way. I’m creating more, performing more, and really exploring how to balance real estate and the stage in a way I never allowed myself to before.
I can’t say much yet, but I can share that I booked a role in my first movie this year, which comes out in 2026. I’m also making my solo show debut in New York, which I’m incredibly excited about. There’s a lot on the horizon, and I can’t wait for everyone to see whats next.
How do you handle the pressure of being both a real estate agent and a public personality on a hit Netflix show?
If growing up as a theater kid in Los Angeles taught me anything, it’s how to perform under pressure. And becoming a mom is teaching me how to wear a whole lot of hats. It’s a constant balancing act that requires plenty of compartmentalizing, but I’m learning to navigate it all in real time. You’ll get to see a lot of that in my journey this season.
Your web series ‘Chloe in Manhattan’ blends humor, style, and entrepreneurship. What inspired you to start it?
It was kismet, really. Deep down, I had been missing performing so much that you could often find me sneaking into a rehearsal studio in midtown Manhattan to practice singing in between real estate showings. Then, out of the blue, two very important people from my performing days reached out to me in the same week. One was a close friend from college who has since become a major director/choreographer, and the other was my music director from the first off-Broadway show I ever starred in, and they both just so happen to be named Michael.
Michael McCrarry and Michael Ferrara each reached out with the exact same sentiment, “Chloe, you’ve been on my mind. I really think you need to start performing again. Let’s do something together.” Luckily for them, I knew exactly what I wanted to create. I’d always had this idea of rewriting ‘The Wizard and I’ from Wicked into ‘Ryan Serhant and I’, telling the story of how I went from an out-of-work bartender to working for the one and only Ryan Serhant. And these boys, being the true geniuses they are, took what was in my head and turned it into a reality.
What’s your personal philosophy when it comes to success, both in real estate and entertainment?
Go big or go home.
What’s coming up next for you? Any dream projects, listings, or surprises we should look out for?
Yes, there is a lot on the horizon. I’m releasing a studio version of ‘Fly High’, the song I sing in my audition scene on the season finale of ‘Owning Manhattan’, and it’s coming out this week. I’m also working on my solo show debut, which I’ll be able to talk more about soon.
I love to dream big, and of course the dream is still real estate by day and Broadway by night. I’m very lucky to work with the most talented group of people. I have an incredible team around me, and I really feel like we’re just getting started. I’d also love to turn ‘Chloe in Manhattan’, my viral musical Web series into a scripted series, à la ‘Emily in Paris’, where I can go deeper into my personal story and current life in the fast pace world of New York Real Estate through a scripted lens. Ryan Serhant would play himself. It would be hilarious. Think ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ meets ‘Glee’. We’re working on it.
